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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| 7/11/02: Anonymous says: |
I have been an MCT for the past 7 years. The MOC is not meant to help you pass the tests. MOC is meant to introduce you to the product so you can work with it. The exams are written to test someone who has been working with the product. As for those who are saying where's the evil. How would you like to go on a job interview where the previous 20 interviewee's were MCSE with their heads up their asses. How impressed do you think the interviewer would be with you when you say you are an MCT? The morons passing the tests only dilute the value of the certification. The hiring manager will probably not hire the idiots but when it comes time to negotiate a salary you better believe you will here something like "why should I pay you 80k a year when I can pay this idiot certified MCSE 30K". Once you hear that a couple times you will know where the evil is. |
| 7/11/02: AngryAdmin says: |
You know, you're right Jclaude8. Testkiller's material may give you ONLY 60% of the questions, but that alone is enough to pass; and the MOC may give you ONLY 20% of the knowledge to pass, but the rest of the knowledge and experience has to come from you taking the time to learn BY DOING. Yes, a PaperCert may get a job and may lose it after the 90 day probation, but it still takes 90 days away from me having that job and being able to do it right. And even if I don't know everything, at least I can prove that I have seen, or done those things. One thing we are not seeing is how much money is being wasted by an organization that has to post a position, hire, fire, re-post, re-interview, and re-hire another person. This takes time, money, and man-hours...So, this really does degrade our Certifications if 10-15 out of 30 MCSEs are PaperCerts. It means that the organization is spending too much money trying to find the right person...therefore they can't, and often will not, pay us what we are truly worth because they have been burned too many times and for too much money. $$$$$ people, that's what it's all about. Testkiller wants your $, you want your $, and Microsoft wants their $. How? By making their products superior. How? By making sure that you really know what you're doing. |
| 7/11/02: Anonymous says: |
If they can't keep their test questions secret then why should someone else go to jail? |
| 7/11/02: Anonymous says: |
my $.02 worth. 1) Love the fact that Vendors "update" certs. Can we say "Job Security" for those of us who stay current? 2) Hate the Braindumps! Do we understand the most basic economic principle of supply vs. demand. With fewer certified folks around, those who are certed will be paid more. Quit pissing and moaning about MS, Oracle, Novell, etc... If their product remained static, then most bottom feeding wage earners could be trained to support something that never changes. How much would the ave IT salary be under those conditions. Can we say DOS. Is that where we would like to be? Oops, maybe we would like to still be using a Tandy machine???? Grow-Up Enough said. |
| 7/11/02: Tom says: |
Good start--keep up the good work. Report any braindump sites to Microsoft at [email protected]. I have sent several emails to them and will continue to report the braindump sites to Microsoft |
| 7/11/02: Anonymous says: |
hang them all up by their balls |
| 7/11/02: Anonymous says: |
I think it is a shame to close down testkiller. I used it for one of the many tests I have passed and it was a great timesaver. The many Microsoft courses I have taken do not prepare you properly for their own tests. The information provided by testkiller is informative as to what Microsoft is not teaching and what I needed to research further before waisting money taking a test I was not yet properly prepared for. |
| 7/11/02: gs from omaha says: |
To those who gloat about troytec being down: You people make me sick. I passed 3 certs for the MCSE so far. What did I learn from the original Micro$oft folders (the bluewhite ones) ? Virtually nothing I could use for the exam. Can I administer win2k ? Yes, but not because I passed the test, nor because of the books. It was teaching it myself and preparing and 'playing' around that made me proficient. The Certs are worth absolutely nothing. They don't prove anything but that you threw money at MS in hope for a 'better' job. I see many of my students having passed the 7 certs and still not getting a job. I have to take the tests so I can teach it but if I have to decide whether to employ one who has the certs and one who has a few years experience, guess whom I will offer the job? I dislike the inbreeding attitude in this forum, as if those who have the cert are somewhat superior andor 'if I had to pass without any help, nobody else should'. That's sad, selfish and countersocial, guys! If I had to take the rough road and I can find an easier way I will (and have) post the easy way for those who have to travel the same road. |
| 7/11/02: Tim says: |
You losers whining that MOC classes don't give you enough info to pass the exams must really miss your high school health class. Remove a word from the key sentence in every paragraph from the book and put a question mark at the end. It must have made you feel really gifted. The exams are not intended to test whether you paid attention in class or not. They are intended to certify whether or not you are minimally qualified in a certain set of skills. The reason you misunderstood this is because you're an idiot. I suppose that's someone else's fault too. And as for it being MS's fault for not protecting their questions, I hope you'll remember that when you neglect to protect your tires from being slashed. You have no business complaining to the police or your insurance company. |
| 7/11/02: Anonymous says: |
It is obvious to me that all the people that are upset about the site being down used it to gain whatever credentials they have. I am glad the exams are tough and that now there will be fewer cheap MCSE's. Nothing like an MCSE that can't create a user account!! |
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