EXCLUSIVE: CompTIA Settles Suit Against Cheet-Sheets.com; Launches Industry "Security Council"
10/3/2001 -- The Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) confirmed to CertCities.com last week that it has settled a copyright and trademark lawsuit against Keen Interactive, owners of the site Cheet-Sheets.com.
According to court documents, the suit was originally filed by CompTIA in both the Cook County State Court and the U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois (where it was eventually litigated) on May 21. It stemmed from allegations that Cheet-Sheets.com -- known for its advertising motto of "actual questions from actual tests" -- violated CompTIA's copyrights by selling questions that appear on CompTIA's A+ and other exams.
"We feel obliged to protect the integrity of our program," said Lutz Ziob, vice president of certification for CompTIA. "We also believe that as an industry association...we have a role to play."
Ziob told CertCities.com that Keen Interactive agreed to the following settlement terms:
- Destruction by Keen of all CompTIA-related materials in its possession.
- Disclosure of all customers who purchased CompTIA-related materials.
- Payment of undisclosed financial damages.
- A permanent injunction prohibiting Keen from using CompTIA's trademarks on its site.
Keen Interactive confirmed the settlement terms to CertCities.com, but the company otherwise declined to comment for this story, citing legal concerns. CompTIA materials have not been available on the Cheet-Sheets.com Web site for several months.
The settlement and injunction were filed with the court on Sept. 17. Days later, CompTIA sent a mass e-mail to Keen's customers asking them to either destroy the Cheet-Sheets in their possession or send them to CompTIA (reports vary as to the e-mail's content).
CompTIA said it sent the e-mail for two reasons. "We wanted to notify them [the recipients] that the information they received violates a whole slew of copyright and other laws, both at the state and federal level," Ziob explained. "We also wanted to stop them from disseminating the information further and opening themselves up [to] possible liability."
When asked if CompTIA was planning on taking any disciplinary actions against those who received the Cheet-Sheets, Ziob replied, "Absolutely not...There's no kind of judgment here." Ziob also said that so far the response to the e-mail has been mostly positive: "Many [people] thanked us for letting them know."
While this suit has been settled, future litigation may not be far off. Several certification programs whose tests are also covered by Cheet-Sheets.com materials confirmed to CertCities.com that they have been keeping an eye on this suit, including Microsoft and Prosoft Training.com. (Novell declined to comment.)
None would confirm whether they are considering legal action, but Microsoft's Director of Certification Skills and Assessment Anne Marie McSweeney issued the following statement to CertCities.com: "Microsoft is aware of the issues surrounding Cheet-Sheets.com. The value of certification resides in a given credential clearly representing a skill set and demonstrating that an individual has experience working with the technologies. Those companies and individuals who attempt to circumvent the normal process of earning a certification do a grave disservice to the industry and to themselves. Microsoft is committed to maintaining the integrity of the MCP program credentials and supports exam security across the high-tech industry."
As part of the commitment, Microsoft -- along with Novell, Prosoft, Vue, Prometric and other industry vendors -- has joined a "security council" started by CompTIA to address the issue of "braindump" sites as well as other industry concerns. CompTIA is scheduled to announce the new council officially next week. According to Fran Linhart, director of certification for CompTIA, the council is a joint effort with the Association of Test Publishers. Rob Pedigo, former director of Sun Microsystems' certification program, has been hired to run the program, Linhart said.
While the security council has been in the works for some time, CompTIA was careful to point out that the Cheet-Sheets.com suit was not connected in any way to the council: "We [CompTIA] did this on our own," Linhart said.
CertCities will bring you more on this story as it develops. -B.N.
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There are 159  user Comments for “EXCLUSIVE: CompTIA Settles Suit Against Cheet-Sheets.com; Launches Industry "Security Council"”
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| 10/8/01: Audrey says: |
These debates are all nice, but how about going after the real culperts. I have been trying to get a job for over a year with no luck. It is nice they have these certs and training but what about the jobs they promise. This is no better than the cheating people. They dangle the carrot out their and only certain people can get in. They say they want women in the field but I do not really see anything being done to promote women in IT. I have many books and have studied very long and hard to no avail. Of course I am going to have more academics than experience, because nobody gives me a chance and it is not that I am not trying. All these vendores are putting huge amounts of money toward the Sept. 11 attack which is nice and all (and really needed), but how about really taking care of the American way of life and economy with really helping the middle aged and women in the IT field. From one who has spent their own money and much time studying obtaining certs MCSE, CNA, CCNA, and CCA just to get in and get started, doubts whether getting a Comp TIA cert will really do anything different to help. Again, I have more academics than experience because nobody gives me a chance. I have very good potential but I do not get a chance to show it. I was on the front page of the Detroit newspaper in regards to middle years crisis, which is going to become more prevalent as people get displaced from their jobs, and these people do not want to have to work two jobs to equal the pay of their one last job Audrey Benson |
| 10/8/01: Anonymous says: |
I personally know dozens of people in exactly the same situation as Audry. There is no tech-worker shortage, only short sighted employers. And yet, big businesses are still convincing congress to increase the H1B visa pool despite the massive layoffs going on. It's utterly mind numbing how many resumes are received for our open tech positions and how many are tossed in the trash. Why are they tossed in the trash? Because their skill set didn't include VB, C++, ADO, DAO, ODBC, JDBC, HTML, Java, Unix, ASP, JSP, DB2, Oracle, Web Sphere, IIS, JavaScript, and XML. I've been here over 5 years and haven't even touched on half of those technologies. Hell, we don't even have Oracle. |
| 10/10/01: Rich says: |
Unfortunately, this is something that cannot be stopped. These companies merely give all access to the “inside” exam information. I have seen this firsthand. A Microsoft Solution Provider requires all consultants to acquire the MCSD. Inevitably, they end up talking with a team member who has taken the test. They do anything from stomp their foot to saying, "this is on the test." In order to "purify" the testing process, MS would have to severely penalizing ANY sharing of ANY test related material. Still, this could be done "informally." So the individuals who have access to “experienced” test takers will be at a huge advantage. I believe the way things are now is the lesser of two evils. In the end, certification simply means you passed a certain exam or set of exams. It does not mean you have the formal education, experience, analytical ability or discipline to be considered a professional. Rich |
| 10/11/01: anonynous says: |
ComTia, Selftest,Microsoft are GREEDY BASTARDS! they want you to buy books, training materials directly to them. Yet the questions that appear on the tests is nowhere to be found on their training materials. they want to shut down braindump to insure their multi-billion dollar empire. specially, CompTia on their cheap paper card. Until, they lower their fees, Leave cheatsheet and braindump alone! It's what you know in the real world that counts anyway. |
| 10/11/01: Dan says: |
All those ammentities to the horrible questions that they ask will always be there, u can never take it down. I lovem. the questions are never the same. |
| 10/12/01: Anonymous says: |
I do not have any pitty for companies that set the certification exams. The questions that they ask have no real world significance.In fact, they are out there to get your $100.00 for the exam eg.Cisco which has raised the CCNA pass mark to 850 points. I would encourage the whole world to use braindumps to pass whatever exam they want. God Damn those vendor certification companies for the almighty dollars they want from these desperate exam takers. |
| 10/13/01: Anonymous says: |
I guess the point is are you stupid or not I know stupid people that have a BS in computer science and I know stupid people with the A+ Net + etc. Paper or not it does not matter MS Comptia and the other 10,000 certifiation vendors out there just want the money that comes from taking thier test that have no use in real world applactions. |
| 10/15/01: Anonymous says: |
It's a vicious cycle - you need the experiance to get the job, but a certification doesn't mean that you have the knowledge. As an instructor, I feel for Audrey - if you are interested in IT, how do you start without proving that you know what you are doing? (Audrey, it is my suggestion that you start to do any volunteer work you can just to get it on your resume - non-profits love the help you can give) Everyone has valid points for and against the braindumps but the real validation falls in the certificate holders hands. I have students that stress out about 'how to pass the test' and I have to emphasize that KNOWING what you are doing beyond that certification is more important. Employers also need to be less short sighted and realize that someone who has been working with computers and networks for years, even it wasn't their primary job, has the knowledge that a paper-certification doesn't. At the same time, there are people who have worked hard to gain the skills, just like a college grad, and they need to be given a chance to prove themselves. Just because they have that certification doesn't necessarily mean that they expect to be hired in at a top level. If they've got their wits about them, they realize that, and should be willing to go entry level for a while and move up. The certification just gives them more marketabily from the beginning because they don't have to get certified later on down the line and an employer should recognize the value of someone willing to prove themselves. But I digress! Braindumps can be a useful tool if used wisely, but crippling to your career if it's all you depend on. As far as CompTia - aren't they non-profit? If they aren't can they legally advertise it? The real point is that they present information that they ask YOU to agree not to disclose. There really isn't anything from stopping you from sharing that information, but to CHARGE people for that information (and make a profit) is just as greedy, underhanded and wrong as we are accusing CompTia and Microsoft as being! (I equal this to copying a software CD and charging someone for that copy instead of just giving it to them. . . that's where cheat-sheets went evil) |
| 10/17/01: Anonymous says: |
The majority of my test experiences have been absurd. While some questions may be relevant others seem to come from writers who are running out of material. I do not put much faith in the exams or certifications for that matter. Cheating is certainly not acceptable, but until a certification can become some measure of worth, then who cares how or even if someone achieves a paper credential. |
| 10/17/01: 1 Great Technologist says: |
I like to use dumps as a tool to help study. I do not attend classes for most of my certifications I user the products at work and setup a test lab. I read all I can find and know the product inside and out. I use the dumps to help me study for the exams. I KNOW the material but I NEED the dumps to get use to the exams. I find that most exams are not straightforward, have long questions, and are tricky. I prefer challenging questions, not questions worded in a way to make the user get the questions wrong. Too many times I was asked a questions on a subject I consider myself to be an expert in, and all the answers are wrong, or it is worded in such a way that I do not know if I am being tricked by a double negative. |
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