CompTIA v. TroyTec Settled; Company Pulls CompTIA-Related Products from Site, Denies Wrongdoing
12/19/2001 -- The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) has settled its second lawsuit this year against a test prep company it accused of violating the organization's copyright by allegedly selling study materials containing questions that appear on CompTIA exams.
The organization filed suit against Troy Technologies USA and its owner, Garry L. Neale, in the United States District Court, Western District of Texas on Nov. 28 (The Computing Tech v. Neale 5:01cv1078). The case was settled earlier this month.
CertCities.com was unable to obtain the complete terms of the settlement before press time. We attempted to reach both sides for comment on this story. Neale, who earlier this year dissolved his Troy Technologies USA DBA and formed TestKiller LTD, did not respond to our request for comment, but did release the following statement on the Troytec.com Web site, in which the company denies any wrongdoing:
Troy Technologies USA ("Troy") has recently settled a dispute with The Computing Technology Industry Association, Inc. ("CompTIA") regarding certain study guides that Troy previously sold pertaining to various certification exams offered by CompTIA. Specifically, CompTIA alleged that Troy's study guides for CompTIA's A+ Hardware, A+ Operating Systems, Network+, and I-Net+ certification exams violated CompTIA's copyright and trademark rights, among other rights. Without admitting any wrongdoing and, in the interest of ending the dispute and avoiding controversy, Troy has agreed to cease distributing any study guides directed to CompTIA's exams pursuant to a stipulated court order. Accordingly, Troy will no longer offer any study guides for any of the CompTIA certification exams.
CompTIA was unable to respond to our request for comment by press time, but a spokesperson said that the company should be prepared to make an official statement shortly.
It is unknown whether the names of those who bought the study guides were given to CompTIA as part of the settlement terms. This was a condition of the settlement in CompTIA's suit against Keen Interactive's Cheet-Sheets.com, which was settled earlier this fall (click here for story). CompTIA posted a statement regarding its motives behind this settlement condition on its Web site.
The Cheet-Sheets.com site went down a few weeks after its settlement was reached, and has yet to go back online. CertCities.com has been unable to verify whether the company has gone out of business or if the site is down for other reasons, like technical issues.
CertCities.com will bring you more on this story as it develops. -B.N.
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There are 104  user Comments for “CompTIA v. TroyTec Settled; Company Pulls CompTIA-Related Products from Site, Denies Wrongdoing”
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| 12/23/01: JC says: |
I only have a lowly A+, & about 6 months of "real world" experience. My current supervisor is continually amazed at how quickly I find solutions for problems that stump our sysadmins, and other techs with more experience. Just because I dont have 25 framed pieces of paper on the wall & haven't been doing this for money for very long, doesn't mean I don't know my stuff. I know W9x like the back of my hand (actually better, I've never peeled my skin off to see what the inside looks like)....I'm quickly learning the same with W2k...I'm fairly comfortable with NT, can navigate DOS rather effectively and can even muddle through OS/2 when I have to....and then there's hardware (network and PC), and I can make my way around an AS/400 rather well. All with 1 lowly piece of paper....yep, I used practice exams & free study sites I had the advantage of working for the company in another context before this, otherwise I probably would've needed more paper to get in the door...but they knew me and thought I could "handle" it.....& I'm doing my best to prove them right 4 years of 25% field related study and 75% generals wouldn't have helped me....they don't care if I can speak French fluently or discuss Shakespeare....as long as I can speak ASM & discuss LPAR |
| 12/23/01: Mr. says: |
The only "paper" that will get you in the door for your first IT job is a BS degree in Comp Science. Thats it people. Otherwise, keep believing otherwise and keep shelling out dough for certs that won't do rats ass for your resume. |
| 12/23/01: Mr. Anonymous too says: |
Hey ! Stop branding your BS Comp Science Degree! If you have a Bs Degree 10 years ago and your still using 3.11 or Novell systems, what difference does it make? Just like other people say, everyday new ET like software version came and you have to learn to use them. If you dont do that, your not different with any papercerts ! |
| 12/24/01: Anonymous says: |
The people that posted many of these comments are sorely misguided, ignorant, immoral or a combination of the above. The facts are this: 1) Cheating is wrong and those who knowingly do so either have bad wiring or were raised poorly. 2) Not everyone should be in the IT industry. Some people just don't have what it takes and never will. 3) You don't need a certification to get into the IT industry. If you can't break in, then you probably have other issues that prevent you from getting a job. A certification will likely not help you. Maybe your resume sucks. Maybe you are applying for jobs you aren't qualified for instead of starting at the bottom like the rest of us did. Maybe during your interview you have your lunch on your shirt, swear a lot and brag about how easy it was to braindump your way through your certifications. 4) The test vendors (MS et al) get to decide the rules of their certification, not you. If you don't like their rules, then don't get certified. If you break their rules, then you should be ashamed and prepared to pay the consequences. 5) You think that the questions do not relate to real world situations? Tough.. That is their decision, not yours. You still have to follow the rules or not get certified. 6) Certifications are not an entry point (for the most part - CompTIA exams can be exceptions) into the industry - they are proof of existing skills. If you are getting certified first, you are doing everything out of order and it will hurt you later. 7) You think certifications are worthless? Why are you at a certification web site then? Why are you posting here? Why get certified? The only reason that certifications are worthless is because of the proliferation of braindump sites and companies selling real exam questions. 8) If your employer requires that you get certified, they should pick up the tab for the training materials and exams. They should offer some sort of compensation or time off to study for the exams. They should also be involved in your training and offer internal resources and hands-on experience whenever possible. If they do not, check with a lawyer and learn more about your rights(I don't know - not a lawyer) or you can always get a new job. 9) To those of you who claim that it is all about money, I say... Currently the entire certification industry is about a 6 billion dollar one. Let's say that Microsoft's share is 3 billion. This is really nothing to them in the grand scheme of things. The programs are in place because they are necessary to provide proof of qualified and talented support for their products not for the money that they make off of your exam fees. The ones who are money hungry are the companies like cheetsheets, troytec, braindump sites, etc that make a very good living performing illegal acts, doing very little work and preying on your inexperience. Many of them don't even work in this industry at all (talk about the blind leading the blind). On the other end of the spectrum, you have web sites like mine that turn down tens of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue from cheetsheets and MANY others. There are still companies left that care about the industry and your success, companies willing to lose revenue in order to maintain their integrity. Testingcenterowner appears to be such a person and should be commended. 10) There is a lot of complaining in here. How many are actually doing something to make a difference? I email Microsoft monthly.. If I am the only one, then nothing will happen, but if we all do, then they have no choice but to listen. It has worked in the past... |
| 12/24/01: Mr. says: |
The fact is that these Comp-tia certs have become so devalued and worthless, that it isn't worth ones time and money going for them. If your employer requires it, and will pay, fine. For the rest of you guys, who are naive enough to believe that these certs will be worth anything, don't say I didn't warn you. |
| 12/25/01: 267 says: |
Troytech and even cheat sheets can be useful sources to understand what kind of questions you might get. But if you don't research the answers you deserve to fail. What difference is it if I know what CMOS actually stands for? |
| 12/25/01: Anonymous says: |
To my knowledge, Transcender, Cert21, Exam Cram, CertCities, Measure up, Troy Tech AND MICROSOFT AND CIWCERTIFIED AND CISCO AND COMPTIA AND NEARLY EVERYONE ELSE IN THE INDUSTRY MAKE SOME FORM OF "STUDY GUIDE"!! Where do we draw the line? Is one study guide condemned because CompTIA can't vary their exams? Is one study guide "banned" because CompTIA (and Testing Centers) aren't reaping a big enough profit from re-takes? Should an individual who prepares for an examination be held accountable for the content of an exam prep tool? Are the exams so simple that these study guides GENUINELY offer the test-taker an unfair advantage? |
| 12/25/01: Mr. Anonymous says: |
What do think the value of your certification will be when everyone hiring managers & others think that your cert is worthless because you used a braindump or other "study guide", that would allow a ten year old to pass? After reading this report, any employer who would foot the bill for any part of the cost of these comptia certs is probably inept, and dumber than the one "taking the test". Of course for you guys who have the certification, it is a real ego trip. |
| 12/26/01: Anonymous says: |
Do you have any certs? Maybe you do maybe you do not. It does not matter! If you too lazy to get the certs your self Mr. Anonymous Again, do not blame the hiring Mangers when they do not pick up your resume. It is competition, if you were too lazy, cheap, or smart to get you degree, cert, or further you education in the IT field you DESERVE to get laid off. Like many of IT workers now are finding out that bad attitudes and arrogance now get them out of the door quicker than a Fat Man on hunger strike. I understand people feeling that folks are cheating when they use Troy Tec, but look at the study guides and the amount of study time suggested for each study guide 12-25 hours. How much time do you spend the classes about 40-80. So add up the time you spend studying the troytec alone 12X7=84 hours for the Win2K tract alone, but do not worry you are getting a lot of hands on experience with 4 less hours of study. It looks like time is money and they got yours. They say a fool and his money are soon parted so if you want to just drop 100-150 on test, be my guess. I will use my CBT, TROYTEC, SYBEX, AND OFFICAL STUDY MATERIAL FOR THE COMPANIES I CHOOSE TO BE CERTIFIED IN AND IF YOU DO NOT LIKE BUT YOU CAN KISS MY REAR END. BTW, I don’t want my tax dollars going to you all when you are laid off, screaming paper certs. 6 year of experience I have seen it! |
| 12/26/01: Freedom says: |
About a year ago I bought Troy's Network+ material with the intention of using it as a study guide. I did not expect it contained exact questions\answers for the CompTIA exam and even found several errors. It would appear that most study-guide vendors advertise they have the best material. Its the sales quota thing. Who can say if any of them really have exact questions or answers for any exam. I'm sure not going to buy all of them and spend my precious time running a survey. Does anyone out there remember taking notes in school and then using those notes to study for an exam. Maybe thats all Troys Network+ guide is. Notes. I still have not taken the exam, I'm not sure whether I will, but should I decide to I believe its my right to use any and all available options to LEARN the subject. So books, CBTs, classroom, on the job training and yes study-guides are all acceptable. Everybody, Lighten up! |
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