10-1-393.21. Commercial cheating services prohibited; penalty.

As used in this Code section, the term:#

1. (1)

   “Assessment task” means any assignment, essay, thesis, dissertation, report, examination, project, or other assessable part of a course of study assigned or otherwise given to a student or examinee for credit.#

2. (2)

   “Assignor” means:#

   1. (A)

      Any local school system or public school, private school, or home study program in this state;#

   2. (B)

      Any institution of the University System of Georgia or unit of the Technical College System of Georgia;#

   3. (C)

      Any organization that issues a professional license in this state; or#

   4. (D)

      Any employee or agent of such schools, programs, institutions, units, or organizations.#

3. (3)

   “Commercial purpose” means a purpose relating to financial gain or other compensation.#

4. (4)

   “For credit” means for evaluation by an assignor as a factor in the issuance of any grade, evaluation, degree, diploma, certification, certificate, credential, exam score,or professional license.#

5. (5)

   “Home study program” means a home study program as defined in subsection (c) of Code Section 20-2-690.#

6. (6)

   “Person” means any individual, partnership, firm, limited liability company, association, corporation, or other legal entity or unincorporated organization.#

7. (7)

   “Private school” shall have the same meaning as private school set forth in subsection (b) of Code Section 20-2-690.#

8. (8)

   “Student or examinee” means:#

   1. (A)

      Any student of a local school system or public school, a private school, or a home study program in this state;#

   2. (B)

      Any student of an institution of the University System of Georgia or a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia; or#

   3. (C)

      Any examinee for a professional license in this state.#

9. (9)

   “Work product” means any written, electronic, recorded, pictorial, artistic, or other form of work.#

It shall be unlawful for any person, for a commercial purpose, to provide or otherwise cause to be provided any work product to a student or examinee in a substantially completed form that could, under the circumstances, reasonably be considered as being, or forming a part of, an assessment task.#

No disclaimer or contractual language between a person providing work product and a student or examinee shall exempt such person from the provisions of subsection (b) of this Code section.#

Any violation of subsection (b) of this Code section shall constitute an unfair or deceptive act or practice in the conduct of consumer transactions under Part 2 of Article 15 of this chapter, the “Fair Business Practices Act of 1975”; provided, however, that enforcement against such violations shall only be by public enforcement by the Attorney General pursuant to this part and shall not be enforceable through a private right of action under Code Section 10-1-399.#

Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to:#

1. (1)

   Prohibit any person from providing tutorial assistance, research material, or general information to a student or examinee; or#

2. (2)

   Prohibit any person from providing an automated system, software, or platform that generates specific responses to a student’s or examinee’s prompts; provided, however, that such responses shall not constitute a substantially completed assessment task and the primary purpose of such automated system, software, or platform is not the provision of assessment tasks.#