but I still think, that while the outcome for a bad project (either badly defined or badly deviced) might cost the student's degree so it's his task to make it as good as possible; the shame goes (or should go) on the tutor.
There is no reason to pretend that there is no internet, Forum etc. While the final year project should simulate to a certain degree the real life's problems, the student should be allowed to use the very same tools we use - and this Forums belongs to those tools. This is not a homework, nor a coursework, and the project should be defined innovative enough to avoid simple copying.

Jan Waclawek