Police Seize Assets of TestKiller.com
7/10/2002 -- On June 6 San Antonio police seized assets of TestKiller Ltd., the company that runs the practice exam Web site TestKiller.com.
According to a police report filed with the Bexar County, Texas District Court on June 20, the raid was prompted by Microsoft, who alleged that the site was selling Microsoft certification exam questions.
In his affidavit, seizing police officer Daniel Flaharty, a detective in the Special Crimes Unit of the San Antonio Police Department, wrote that he was contacted by a representative from the anti-piracy office of Microsoft. The unnamed representative alleged to Flaharty that TestKiller Ltd. was selling Microsoft "trade secrets" in the form of questions and answers to Microsoft exams.
According to the report, Flaharty began an investigation based on Microsoft's complaint, which led to the June 6 seizure of $408,566.84 in cash as well as several phones, printers, computer equipment, software and other items from at least one location.
No charges have been filed in this investigation. Calls made to the Bexar County district attorney's office to determine whether the investigation was ongoing were not returned as of press time.
Garry L. Neale, one of Testkiller Ltd.'s owners, politely declined CertCities.com's request for an interview, referring all questions to his attorney, who is out of the country this week.
A spokesperson for Microsoft confirmed that the company was aware of the investigation but said he could not comment on it due to the legal nature of the story.
The Testkiller.com Web site has been offline since early June.
Neale is the former owner of Troy Technologies (TroyTec.com), which in December settled a civil copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit brought by certification vendor CompTIA (see "CompTIA v. TroyTec Settled; Company Pulls CompTIA-Related Products from Site, Denies Wrongdoing").
CertCities.com will continue to follow this story and bring you further updates as they develop.  -B.N.
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There are 254  user Comments for “Police Seize Assets of TestKiller.com”
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| 7/27/02: Anonymous says: |
Welcome to the real world! This is how business is. Your MCSE means nothing. Your experience is what counts. Learn the product and show the world what you can do. Save your money, don't spend it in stupid certifications like MCSE. |
| 7/30/02: Deborah from Dallas, TX says: |
It's a shame that supposedly intelligent individuals can't debate an issue without resorting to profanity and insults. You might have an MCSE, you might have 15 years' experience, you still won't get hired where I work, as the main thing here is to be a team player, which includes helping your coworkers study for the certification exams, and I don't see much that shows me you guys are team players in the exchanges posted here. "I got my MCSE by studying the network I built by myself and learning all by myself how NT works, not even Microsoft could have helped me! So if you needed a book or a class to learn it, you're worthless and stupid and degrading my certification!" Please, people, act like the adults you supposedly are. Nobody else can cost you a job OR GET you a job, not Microsoft, not other MCSEs, nobody but you. Do the job, do it right, have the certification as a plus, not as a right-to-work guarantee. Make yourself look good by being the best you can be, not by trying to tear down everyone else. Your MCSE, paper or not, is not going to matter if I do the job, do it right, and do it with a good attitude, because I'm going to keep my job, and have a good reference if I try to get another one. Who do you think the boss wants around, someone with 15 years' experience who's always complaining, or someone with 5 years, who is always cheerful and willing to pitch in and get the job done? |
| 7/30/02: CoolDude says: |
Relax guys. No need to be excited with this news. It was bound to happen. There are thousand other sites that do the same thing. Transcender is one of them. It has been around for many years. I uses transcender also for my certification. I bought 3 Cds from transcender and then decided to challange Microsoft exam by just reading the books. I decided not to use transcender anymore because i want to get the certification on hardway and to gain something. And I gained. I became MCDBA, MCSD and MCSE by just reading books online, MSDN, books and microsoft books and other publications for certifications. But I tell you expereince count a lot. if you have certification and not have expereince you are defintely going to be caught. In my job place, people never value certifications that much. It is just to decorate your name. Anyway get expereince and if you think that you are preparing for another interview, prepare for a microsoft test and you will get the interview ositive as the preparation makes you to learn the basic of subject. It clears all your fundamentals. So guys go for it. but make sure you prepare for it (not by using these easy methods) Just my two cents... |
| 7/31/02: Anonymous says: |
Working for 24 years in IT of which 15 with Microsoft products as Admin and DBA, the Troytec/Testkiller guides were the final part to prepare for an exam. I totally agree with a previous poster that sound knowledge of the topics is neccesary anyway to pass these tests anf that the guides do give insight into obscure things not found anywhere else. People who do not know anything about MS products can pass as many tests as they like, but they will fail absolutely when doing the work. Let this last criterium be the one to judge MCP's. |
| 7/31/02: Anonymous says: |
Wah, Wah, Wah!!! All you dorks criticizing brain dumps is totally funny! You guys want to critisize, but I guarantee you that most of you had no problem using Transcender "exams". In my opinion Microsoft should let you use the MSDN and Books Online for their stupid tests, because that's how real life is. |
| 7/31/02: BLAH says: |
BLAH,BLAH,BLAH ....quit whining all of you!!! |
| 7/31/02: john says: |
YO MCT from Los Angeles says can you please email me at: [email protected] I had a question for you & I would realy appreciate. |
| 8/2/02: Sir MS from Missouri says: |
For me, I've done both. When I was just starting I used TroyTec - landed my job - and REALLY started applying what I needed to know. Now, the exams I'm taking have NO means of study other than getting into the documentation, and practicing. Between these two methods - I know more and can do more (while my co-workers still SAY that I'm not a coder) because I've had to REALLY work at passing the .NET beta exams - but, I wouldn't be in the position to pass these new exams if I hadn't started somewhere - and my start was to fill in the blanks by using available tools. |
| 8/2/02: Anonymous says: |
Hey, you cant get a job without the certs and you cant get the experience without a job. I passed three tests without the troytec guides. I sweated every minute of the tests. I bought a Microsoft study guide for the 70-216 test. The readiness exam had questions that they did not cover in their own material. Best study guide for really learning I have seen is the CramSession Study Guides. No questions just areas you need to concentrate on with links to the Microsoft Knowledge base that explain why things work. I highly recommend the site to anyone that is studying or even professionals out in the field. An excellent resource!! |
| 8/3/02: George Lanez from 20 Nunda Avenue Jersey City NJ 07304 says: |
Dear Sir, Hello everyone!! My name is George Lanez Im Studing or Home Study of Microsoft 2000 (MCSE). My problem is I need a reviewer for MCSE 2000,Will you please help me? Thanks, George Lanez |
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