Microsoft Sues THE main braindump site

A suit filed by Microsoft in federal court in Seattle offers an interesting glimpse into the world of IT certification exams. It's against ****.com, which offers training materials to help people prepare for certification tests given by Microsoft and other companies. The gist of the complaint:

Microsoft is informed and believes, and on that basis alleges, that the
Microsoft Certification Exam materials defendants sell through
****.com contain exam questions and answers that are either
identical or substantially similar to Microsoft's copyrighted exam
questions and answers. Microsoft has not licensed or authorized
defendants to copy or distribute its copyrighted exam content.

Among other things, the suit outlines the measures Microsoft takes to try protect the exams from leaking out. Here's a copy of the complaint: PDF.

Microsoft's allegations, if true, would cast a whole new light on the promise **** makes on its Web site, guaranteeing that people will pass on their first attempt. It adds later: "Each Microsoft resource available from Test King has been hand crafted by our team of practicing Microsoft IT Professionals."

The complaint was filed last week as a John Doe lawsuit, seeking in part to identify the people behind the site. **** lists a mailing address under the name Certification Trendz Limited in Haslemere, United Kingdom, and I wasn't able to find a phone number for that company in an online U.K. directory.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/105855.asp

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Comments

geekie

Excellent news!!

DragonNOA1

Very good indeed. Down with ****.

RussS

Excellent news - hopefully they will close a few more down.

rockstar81

good on them, lets hope for a speedy conclusion.

strauchr

A very welcomed action. This case will set a precedent for other dumpers out there and hopefully it will stamp it out for good.

rockstar81

oh I meant to add, could we see microsoft get hold of the client records for all **** sites and then trace the people who bought them to revoke certs? We could see a the number of people with certs lowered if people are stripped of them.

blargoe

Oh darn! I better hurry up and download those Exchange 2003 ****!!!!!

Just kidding.... great news this is.

Tesl

Yup, great news.

I gotta say, I don't think I've really thought enough about the implication of sites such as those. On that particular braindump site its forum is quite funny. Despite there only being about 3 threads that have any replies, one of the posts goes on and on about how he had memorized 711 questions exactly - and still failed an exam since he memorized incorrect answers.

I just found it funny how he was complaining that he had been cheated by that website. How unfair it was etc. Despite the fact that he didn't know enough to not even realise he was memorizing completely incorrect answers, he still feels like he deserved to pass?

*sigh*

ms_visio

I highly appreciate this step taken by Microsoft and wish it came earlier. I have seen many-many people passing the exam just by brain **** and have NO clue what the Q talks about. And those people dont deserve to pass as they are doing nothing good apart from defaming a certificate.

I am being very st8 4ward about it coz i never use(d) any kind of brain **** even if it takes 2-3 weeks more to read the books etc and understand what the Q is rather than cramming the options.

And..and..and.. I am pretty sure that the .com is not going to get off with this thing easily LMAO

MS lawyers will do them nicely

Great move and i wish Cisco and other companies do the same thing. This will help improve certification standards and value in the market

sharptech

Really good to hear! About time Microsoft gets on this.

Megadeth4168

Excellent news!

rockstar81

also maybe we could see a lot of IT jobs free up. Many companys gain there status through being a Microsoft partner and if microsoft get hold of the client records of **** sites and strip the people of there certs then maybe companys would have to let them go and rehire other certifed people.

bighornsheep

heh.....I just saw somebody on the subway yesterday with a package from *the unknown dumpsite* too...I think he was getting his 70-291. or it might have been 290, didnt see the number properly....

I wonder what will happen to him if MS does revoke certifications........hehehe

Ricka182

I suppose this is good news, maybe even great news. Alas, it's somewhat superficial though, as one goes down, another will surely popup soon enough. I think exam vendors should be held somewhat responsible, because that is where the info is being leaked. I do applaud any effort made towards eradicating ****, good for them. Someday, maybe just someday, IT can be an ethical field, without having to questions ones credentials.

SRTMCSE

They won't revoke any certifications, I could see the lawsuits from MCPs alleging they bought but never used, you can't prove they were used in preparation for an exam. It would be too costly to Microsoft, they're just taking this measure to prevent future cheaters. Besides, the more we fail the more $$ Microsoft makes,

EdTheLad

SRTMCSE wrote:

They won't revoke any certifications, I could see the lawsuits from MCPs alleging they bought but never used, you can't prove they were used in preparation for an exam. It would be too costly to Microsoft, they're just taking this measure to prevent future cheaters. Besides, the more we fail the more $$ Microsoft makes,

I dont agree, you could say the same thing about downloading mp3's or divx's, i downloaded but i never listened or watched them.I dont think it would hold up in court and most dont either as people who get caught are paying their fines.Whats that saying, possesion is nine tenths of the law

Megadeth4168

ed_the_lad wrote:

SRTMCSE wrote:

They won't revoke any certifications, I could see the lawsuits from MCPs alleging they bought but never used, you can't prove they were used in preparation for an exam. It would be too costly to Microsoft, they're just taking this measure to prevent future cheaters. Besides, the more we fail the more $$ Microsoft makes,

I dont agree, you could say the same thing about downloading mp3's or divx's, i downloaded but i never listened or watched them.I dont think it would hold up in court and most dont either as people who get caught are paying their fines.Whats that saying, possesion is nine tenths of the law

Interesting ....
I don't know which way they would take on this... I would feel really bad for the people who did a google search for practice tests and used one of these sites and had no clue what a braindump was ect....

There are a few genuine people that have used them without knowing they have. For anyone else who used those sources knowing full well what they were, I hope they do get their certifications taken away.

mikey_b

ed_the_lad wrote:

SRTMCSE wrote:

They won't revoke any certifications, I could see the lawsuits from MCPs alleging they bought but never used, you can't prove they were used in preparation for an exam. It would be too costly to Microsoft, they're just taking this measure to prevent future cheaters. Besides, the more we fail the more $$ Microsoft makes,

I dont agree, you could say the same thing about downloading mp3's or divx's, i downloaded but i never listened or watched them.I dont think it would hold up in court and most dont either as people who get caught are paying their fines.Whats that saying, possesion is nine tenths of the law

Somewhere on *that* website, it states they are not selling braindumps (yeah, right!) which can be used as an excuse - it's advertised as not being a **** but yet that is what you get. I can just imagine how many people will plead ignorance to that fact. There are also lots of places where people are *sharing* the products with others for free, there is no way to track all those people down unfortunately. A shame though, I get kind of pissed off when people nab their MCSE in 4 weeks and it's taken me a year and a half of study to just get my MCSA.

Now let's hope MS gets the rest of these guys in one striking blow:

xxxxxxxxxx

as they are all listed on *that* site as sponsors and advertisers. And then hope that other heavy hitters (Sun, Cisco, Oracle, CheckPoint, CompTIA, IBM, etc) jump on the bandwagon and restore some dignity and prestige to their certifications.

garv221

As much as we would all like to see these sites fall, I think it will never happen. I think this is more of a publicity stunt to make it aware that braindumps are in fact an issue in the IT field. It took the weathiest company in the world this long to even file a simple suit. There is no controlling what other countries are selling, we have no pull unless that server is on US soil.

LukeQuake

Finally.

mikey_b

mikey_b wrote:

Now let's hope MS gets the rest of these guys in one striking blow:

xxxxxxxxxx

Haha oops, forgot about the filter

SRTMCSE

ed_the_lad wrote:

SRTMCSE wrote:

They won't revoke any certifications, I could see the lawsuits from MCPs alleging they bought but never used, you can't prove they were used in preparation for an exam. It would be too costly to Microsoft, they're just taking this measure to prevent future cheaters. Besides, the more we fail the more $$ Microsoft makes,

I dont agree, you could say the same thing about downloading mp3's or divx's, i downloaded but i never listened or watched them.I dont think it would hold up in court and most dont either as people who get caught are paying their fines.Whats that saying, possesion is nine tenths of the law

The only person that will pay the price is the brain **** sites. Microsoft won't revoke certification just b/c of the material you use, I would be utterly shocked even if they could. I'm not lawyer but I can't see a judge throwing the book at someone b/c they bought something that was infringing on M$ copyrights. The people who bought it didn't steal it from Microsoft and believe it or not I'm sure a large majority don't know the legalities of it. Microsoft and the courts will go after the peddlers of the stuff, not the buyers. Just my $0.02.

On another note, I wonder why Microsoft waited this long. I personally sent them several e-mails regarding the behavior of one of there most popular IT bootcamps and how they use brain **** (the companies in questions to be exact) to make there training material. All I got was a nice thank you e-mail....btw the company has nearly tripled it's attendance this year. They should be going after all the bootcamps in the world who are "Microsoft Certified" but just teach the questions.

eurotrash

SRTMCSE wrote:

Microsoft won't revoke certification just b/c of the material you use, I would be utterly shocked even if they could.

Sure they could. They say somewhere on their website or the exam that if you are caught cheating, your certs will be revoked and you will be barred from future certs.

forbesl

_omni_ wrote:

SRTMCSE wrote:

Microsoft won't revoke certification just b/c of the material you use, I would be utterly shocked even if they could.

Sure they could. They say somewhere on their website or the exam that if you are caught cheating, your certs will be revoked and you will be barred from future certs.

The only way they are going to "catch you cheating" is if your stupid enough to whip out the Q&A's while you're sitting at a test center taking the test. The test center would probably then report you. Think about it. Otherwise, they would have a VERY hard time proving anyone used any type of braindump to pass their exam.

As someone stated before, they'd stand a much better chance going after the makers of these braindumps than the ones who've used them.

keatron

SRTMCSE wrote:

ed_the_lad wrote:

SRTMCSE wrote:

They won't revoke any certifications, I could see the lawsuits from MCPs alleging they bought but never used, you can't prove they were used in preparation for an exam. It would be too costly to Microsoft, they're just taking this measure to prevent future cheaters. Besides, the more we fail the more $$ Microsoft makes,

I dont agree, you could say the same thing about downloading mp3's or divx's, i downloaded but i never listened or watched them.I dont think it would hold up in court and most dont either as people who get caught are paying their fines.Whats that saying, possesion is nine tenths of the law

The only person that will pay the price is the brain **** sites. Microsoft won't revoke certification just b/c of the material you use, I would be utterly shocked even if they could. I'm not lawyer but I can't see a judge throwing the book at someone b/c they bought something that was infringing on M$ copyrights. The people who bought it didn't steal it from Microsoft and believe it or not I'm sure a large majority don't know the legalities of it. Microsoft and the courts will go after the peddlers of the stuff, not the buyers. Just my $0.02.

On another note, I wonder why Microsoft waited this long. I personally sent them several e-mails regarding the behavior of one of there most popular IT bootcamps and how they use brain **** (the companies in questions to be exact) to make there training material. All I got was a nice thank you e-mail....btw the company has nearly tripled it's attendance this year. They should be going after all the bootcamps in the world who are "Microsoft Certified" but just teach the questions.

I can tell you this for a fact. I know that about 20 companies are being de-certified as partners this year. Also, there are about 15 MCT's being decertified for things ranging from teaching **** to teaching un-authorized classes using MOC. They do seem to be trying to tighten things down a little more, which is good for us all.

hanakuin

Lawsuits like these are very hard to pursue. Most of these organizaions use multiple shell companies without anyone to go after. It's highly unlikely that the trail will find someone prosecutable. I wish them all the luck in the world. I believe that Comptia was able to get **** Exams, a couple of years ago for copyright infringemnet, although I noticed that the site is still up and running. Braindumping is an issue and will always be a issue as long as people are taking tests. When and if X is found a shut down, I'm sure that the same people will start another site to sell their services.

Where Microsoft and all of the other venders need to apply pressure is with the testing centers. I'm sure alot of the information available is from certain testing centers are being exploited by the test administrators. Someone could easily use recording software on the testing workstation.

I have had a least two instructors preach during bootcamps that I have attended "I have a sure fire way to pass any exam, it's worked for me and I have 18 certifications." I remember clearly on the whiteboard the last one, number one take a class, number two re-read the class material, number three goto **** you've studied hard, now you just need that extra edge.

frankj1247

I don't see Microsoft winning the war against Brain **** by suing them. When they shut one down in the U.K. or the U.S. another one will just pop up in a third world country where they can't be touched.

I think the only way to really beat the Brain **** at their own game is for Microsoft to draw questions from a bigger pool of questions. Say the pool was 5,000 and they randomly select 50 questions for each exam then it would be nearly impossible to ****. I mean, why would someone read a 5 thousand page book from *BrainDump, Inc.* when they can just read a 500 page book and learn. I think this would eliminate cheating.

I think the engineers at Microsoft are just too lazy to write a big enought pool of questions. What do you guys think?

bighornsheep

I think there's a reason why they are not making a bigger question pool. It will make the exams more variable and harder to standardize. I dont think multiple choice questions are effective. They should have new types of questions that reflect skills learnt rather than just knowing the theory.

rockstar81

they could try out a virtual lab and you have to go through a number of cases, even if they had a pool of 500 issues that would make it very hard to brainsump as you have to actually fix the issue yourself and you will need to know where buttons, items are, they could also time limit each question so you have to do it in a reasonable mannor.

bcairns

One thing I do not understand about braindumps....the people that use them to get certified then get a job and have no clue what to do and end up getting fired ...kinda of pointless.