UPDATED: Prosecutor Recommends 18 Months Prison for Braindumper
1/29/2003 -- In anticipation of Robert Keppel's sentencing hearing in federal criminal court this Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office filed a recommendation with the court yesterday that the owner of the now defunct Cheet-Sheets.com and CheetSheets.com Web sites serve 18 months in federal prison.
Keppel pleaded guilty in August to a felony charge of theft of trade secrets in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1832(a)(2). The charge stemmed from the sale of Microsoft certification exam questions through Keppel's Web sites. It is the first known successful criminal prosecution of a "braindump" site owner in the IT certification industry.
While the crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, Assistant U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes told CertCities.com that 18 months is the appropriate sentence based on her office's interpretation of the federal sentencing guidelines.
The guidelines take into consideration many factors, Hayes explained, including the approximate loss to the victim, how much planning the crime took, whether the defendant accepted early responsibility for the crime (as in this plea bargain) and the defendant's prior criminal record (Keppel has none). "We came up with a sentencing range of 18 to 24 months, of which we're recommending the lower end," she said.
At the sentencing hearing, the judge will consider this recommendation as well as one prepared by the probation office and Keppel's defense. CertCities's attempts to reach Keppel's attorney before press time failed. Keppel is currently out on pre-trial release. (EDITOR'S NOTE 1/30/03: Today, Keppel's attorney provided CertCities.com with a copy of the defense's sentencing recommendation. The resulting story can be found here.)
Federal sentencing guidelines are fairly strictly structured. However, when asked if Keppel could get probation, Hayes said that the defense may argue that this case is unique in some manner and that the judge should "downward depart" from the guidelines. "You never know what a judge will do," Hayes said. "I hate to speculate."
Hayes said that Microsoft has not been given access to the sites' customer list, and that the list played no part in the plea bargain or sentencing. Hayes said that for Microsoft to gain access to the list, it would most likely need to sue in civil court. She said that the FBI would probably destroy the list "unless it planned to prosecute those that accessed the material..." but did not specify what charge might apply. She added, "We have no plans to do that at this time."
Microsoft declined to comment on the case or related aspects before the sentencing hearing.
CertCities.com will report the results of the sentencing hearing on Friday.  - B.N.
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There are 143  user Comments for “UPDATED: Prosecutor Recommends 18 Months Prison for Braindumper”
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| 3/13/03: Gemba says: |
I was an MCSE once, I've expired. Certs will never replace experience. Even when certified, I never tried to pass myself off as an "experienced" network person. I got a job, new my limitations and continue to learn. The problem isn't the certs, or the braindumps. The problem is the employers who use Certs as the MAIN criteria for hiring, and the guys who feel they are network administrators just because that passed a few tests. So much for my 2-cents. |
| 3/13/03: MCSD says: |
I know they are not going to go after the customers? That would be crazy! That's like going after drug addicts after they get the dealer! I know they have more things to worry about than that. Like I've been saying all along, These certs just get you in the door. You have to still prove yourself. If harder, if a cert. is behind your name. Most companies have probation periods, if you don't prove yourself they can throw you out for no reason. Also there is no need to get a cert if you have no work experience with the product. |
| 3/13/03: Dave from Milford, PA says: |
I chuckle every time I read someone saying Transcender and other legitimate practice tests are brain dumps. Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better. Half of you people here complaining about being unemployed can't even type without spelling errors or curse words in your posts - maybe that's why you're having trouble finding work. Transcender and other legitimate practice tests teach the same things the real exam tests for, e.g. how to setup DHCP, DNS, etc. No matter how you word these questions, they're going to be similar to the real test because there's only one right way to do it. But the legitimate tests don't use the same exact word for word scenarios and names so that one can memorize the answer, which is what a braindump does. As for you who say "do whatever it takes to feed your family", does that include kicking down the neighbor's door and stealing his food? That's essentially what happens when unqualified people steal their certification by cheating. Guess what? Lean economic times weed out the dead wood, and that's why so many cheaters are suddenly unable to find work. It's tough out there right now, but skilled, experienced, LEGITIMATELY CERTIFIED people are surviving. |
| 3/13/03: JG from PA says: |
No one in their right mind would higher a person without experience. If MS would gear their classes more toward the test you wouldn't have people dumping, and people wouldn't be looking for that added edge. Although I have to give them credit for desinging the tests to be so vague. It makes it harder to pass and makes their wallets fatter. I'm more concerned about the kid coming out of highschool who's been running his on network and hosting LAN parties, than the guy who lost his job as a shoe salesman and wants to be a Network Admin. Secondly it would be hard for MS to do a lab cert, supposedly it should take you 2 years to master the product and take the exam, but by then they're already introducing another product. With or without dumps MS will always be on top. |
| 3/13/03: Ron Beacom from Peterborough says: |
Ethics and Microsoft. There's a laugh! |
| 3/13/03: Anonymous says: |
Is Microsoft the poster child for ethics? NOT!! |
| 3/13/03: me too from me too says: |
All mumbling complaining that all you guy make. Employers are wisely now, they are gonna test knowledge on interview, not just unconditionally accept your certs. Cert is an evident of your studied commitment. But Degree (I mean real degree in computer science or computer related degree not political science or physical science) and experience will go the long way. P.S. for any smarta*s, this is speaking language. I didn’t write a report here. Do I? |
| 3/13/03: Jeff from Canton Ohio says: |
You paper mcse's will never get past the initial phone interview with me if your knowledge is limited to what you got from braindumps. The certifications however are probably the reason I'd be picking your resume out of the pile. Practice questions are useful as an aid in test preparation as far as what to expect, but are not a substitute for learning the material. I used practice questions for both of the mcse tracks. |
| 3/13/03: Anonymous from South Carolina says: |
Get a clue people. Vender certification programs are mainly for the benefit of the vender. They can A. sell prep materials and courses B. claim there are x number of cerified people able to support their products C. take mindshare from competing technologies by forcing test takers to spend enormous amounts of time memorizing minutia about their product D. use the cert program to drive customer demand for new products. Certifications do have value but with new MS OSs coming out every 24-28 months how much time/money do you want to invest in an MCSE? It's all about the money. |
| 3/14/03: Anonymous says: |
Seriously, I don't know what all the fuss is. This is just like the education vs. experience argument for any career. I don't know about the rest of you, but when I finished my MCSE, I thought I was THE MAN. Let me tell you, those first few months were a very humbling experience. Those tests, the MS books don't teach you anything about real world problems, all the teach and test is MS trivia. Yes, a lot of it IS important, and yes, you DO need to know all about how Windows communicates, but you don't learn the first thing about how to resovlve the day to day stuff that you need. ....besides, has anyone looked at Transcenders? The only difference is that if you're paying for it, M$ gets its cut of it. They don't get squat for braindumps. There's a reason Bill's the richest man in the world. |
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