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.
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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 255  user Comments for “Police Seize Assets of TestKiller.com”
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| 7/11/02: A#1 Detective from duh...take a guess says: |
Hey guys, it's copyright violation. It's illegal for good reason. If it were your intellectual property you would protect it as well. If you don't like it support open source standardized OS......that way we won't be beholding to MS... |
| 7/11/02: Rawhart says: |
F*ck all of you who have a problem with these study guides. There just like anything else. In the wrong hands it's bad, but if you use the guides along with studying and doing labs there a great tool. |
| 7/11/02: Anonymous says: |
What's the point of paying money for an exam that you already saw? These sites are selling the actual questions, they have stolen the exams! This is cheating and a waste of money and time. |
| 7/11/02: Anonymous says: |
Hey people, I am sure everyone who knows and talk about these braindumps site have used it for their testing prep. Don't tell me that you are willing to give out your $120 test and failed the first time. Even though you might have yrs. of expericence. You might not be so comfedence taking a test without some sort of ideas what on the exam. |
| 7/11/02: Someone who has a problem with tim says: |
Tim what you said is very offensive to me and my fellow instructors/students, because we are all still students, to say if somebody doesn't "understand the material in class they were idiots", where do you get off? people learn differently not everyone can be as smart as you are, but I will put my knowledge up against you anytime. If it takes an extra study guide to understand the material I say get it, whether its from microsoft or another vendor. |
| 7/11/02: jsprague says: |
The insane justifications for cheating never cease to amaze me. 1) Just because your professor provided you with previous tests in college, does not mean that Microsoft has to, nor does it give you an open invitation to cheat on their exams. 2) "If they can't keep their test questions secret then why should someone else go to jail?" That is the most insane thing I have ever heard. I guess I should find a way to steal everything you own and then blame you for your lack of security. Duh! The bottom line is that certifications are owned by their respective vendors and if you want what they have to offer, then you should play by their rules. Doing anything less is cheating. Unfortunately, most people know this, but are so morally vacant that they just don't care. It appears that many parents never taught their children the importance of right and wrong. The good news is that people generally get what is coming to them.. Testkiller certainly did. |
| 7/11/02: Tim says: |
Rawhart - there,their,they're. Must give you fits. If you consider having questions & answers ahead of an exam 'a tool', you have a rare gift for euphemism and rationalization. It's cheating. Solely on the basis that MS says so, it's cheating. Because they make the exam and set the parameters for it. Do you think so little of yourself that you're sure you can't pass the exam without cheating? Wouldn't you take some pride in doing so? Sure, it's much harder that way. That's where the pride comes from. You really should give it a try some time, it feels great. |
| 7/11/02: Anonymous says: |
For those who think you can't pass by just taking the MOC classes and studying... you have no clue.. You are scum ripping off employers because you can't do your job properly. I am sick and tired of people who THINK they are the experts and they don't know shit! All they do is make us legit people look bad because our credentials don't mean as much any more... |
| 7/11/02: Tim says: |
Someone with a problem with me - you still don't get it! You're not stupid, you're ignorant. The good news is it's curable, and taking classes is one very effective treatment for many people.
The MS exams are NOT intended to test your understanding of the material in a MOC class! They're intended to verify you have (generally, some variation per exam) a couple of years of ACTUAL experience and specific working skills.
I know that's not what the training centers imply, but it's true. They fooled you, no doubt to convince you to give them money. A certification with no experience and twenty five cents will get you a hot cup of JACK SQUAT.
The MOC classes are generally introductory. Many cover some topics also covered by an exam or two. But the best student in the world with no prior expertise should not expect to pass a certification exam after a week or two of classes.
And please, spare me your euphemisms too. Did TestKiller provide 'extra study guides' in your view? Is there anything - ANYTHING - that you would consider cheating? How about some 'extra tutoring lessons' from your instructor over your shoulder as you take the exam? As long as he EXPLAINS why you should click 'C', he's just helping you understand the material, right? That's all that really matters in the end.
I sure wish these posts preserved paragraph breaks.
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| 7/11/02: Tim says: |
FYI, inserting HTML 'p' tags seems to create paragraph breaks. But it also ate my closing 'MattFoley' tag after 'JACK SQUAT'. :P |
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