Looking at the Web log of this site a few days ago I noticed a visit from a server called cr1.turnitin.com. Well, I suppose I am used to seeing hostnames from Brazil, Taiwan and Czech Republic interested in open source software security but this host had me puzzled.

Turns out that Turnitin (as in "Turn It In") is about plagiarism prevention. That means making sure that STUDENTS cannot copy papers on the Internet.

Turnitin products and services help educators and students maximize the Internet's educational potential by making it a safe place for research and learning. Our many unique features and benefits have helped make Turnitin the world's leading plagiarism prevention system.

WOH - It seems like they crawl the net looking for work and then enable schools to check and see if their students are copying someone elses original work. This definitely sounds like a good idea but how does a crawler establish what "original work" looks like? Beats me...

It's also a good way to stop phishing and protect your corporate brand by finding Web sites that copied your intellectual property. Many major brands have been targeted by cyber criminals and this kind of crawling tool can help you authenticate domains reduce your customer data and intellectual property risk exposure.