World Plagiarism Crisis

Every week, I filter through newspaper articles and blog entries on the topics of cheating and plagiarism to see what the trends are. More and more, I'm seeing articles addressing plagiarism in other countries. What's interesting is that I've heard from international students that concerns about attribution to authority are uniquely American and that it's not as concerning in other countries. However, articles like this one from Dubai (and this one) indicate that someone is concerned about it in other countries.

This does raise an interesting question, though. Is there a kind of "cultural defense" to plagiarism cases? Is it something that should be recognized in all educational settings? What about law school where a large part of the education has to do with the values of a particular nation?