The IT Skeptic - Comments for "Acend Corporate Learning systematically plagiarises copyright content"

I feel your pain and I am so

Visitor — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:37:04 +0000

I feel your pain and I am so terribly sorry for what happened to you.

Andrew Hunt of Acend seems incapable of original material

skeptic — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 23:38:00 +0000

I'm fascinated by this like the cleanup after a car smash, or a guy picking his nose in the row in front: you don't want to watch but you just can't stop yourself.

Hunt's blog is just an endless drone of ripped off plagiarism. Look at this from Backbone Magazine back in March

A new government tax incentive means now is the time to buy

Stephen Harper’s January budget may have been born out of political necessity, but from that tumult came at least one business initiative of great value: a temporary measure that allows business taxpayers to fully write off computer investments.

The change centres on the Capital Cost Allowance (CCA), the percentage of a capital asset’s cost a business may deduct each year for tax purposes. Budget 2009 increases the CCA rate to 100 per cent for computer hardware and systems software acquired after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2011.

Previously, businesses could only write off 55 per cent of a technology investment, at a rate of 50 per cent per year. In subsequent years, the write off diminished as the remaining balance decreased. So the tax benefit, in the first year, was effectively 27.5 per cent of the total. If a company spent $10,000, it claimed $2,750 in the first year. The claim in the second year was based on the remaining balance of $7,250, and that amount diminished annually.
...

Act now
This initiative delivers a direct benefit to Canadian businesses, said Peter Coles, a tax research and training specialist with H&R Block. “We are already advising clients to take advantage of this. For example, if a company is thinking of buying computers but had decided to hold off until after the recession, that is not a good decision. Business people should consider buying the equipment now.”
...

and Hunt's latest Acend blog post where this time he rewrote the first paragraph, and deliberately turned a quote from "Peter Coles, a tax research and training specialist with H&R Block" into his own words

A new government tax incentive means now is the time to buy

While many have taken advantage of the Home Renovation Tax credit that Stephen Harper announced in January, not as many are aware that businesses will now be allowed a 100% Capital Cost Allowance for computers in the first year, and that this is a temporary two-year measure. These budget changes may have come from political necessity, but from it comes at least one business initiative of great value. This temporary measure allows business taxpayers to fully write off computer investments.

The change centres on the Capital Cost Allowance (CCA), the percentage of a capital asset's cost a business may deduct each year for tax purposes. Budget 2009 increases the CCA rate to 100 per cent for computer hardware and systems software acquired after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2011.

Prior to this announcement, businesses could only write off 55 per cent of a technology investment, at a rate of 50 per cent per year. In subsequent years, the write-off diminished as the remaining balance decreased. So the tax benefit, in the first year, was effectively 27.5 per cent of the total. If a company spent $10,000, it claimed $2,750 in the first year. The claim in the second year was based on the remaining balance of $7,250, and that amount diminished annually.

...[several copied paragraphs here]

Act Now
If your company was thinking about buying new computers but had decided to hold off until after the recession, that is no longer a good decision. Business people should consider buying software and equipment now.

...

Oh and the post before that is ripped off from the British government.

yeah, nose-picker is about the right analogy.

I had to remove a comment here

skeptic — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:36:00 +0000

I had to remove a comment here because it was potentially libellous.

It certainly indicated that Acend are not universally popular: The biggest joke is the "Acend going Green". [They] photocopy Microsoft Official Courseware and hand it out. Why??? The do not have to pay the $250 for the book. LOL

I reiterate that these are not people I would do business with.

Acend just keep using other people's content

skeptic — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:47:00 +0000

Compare this blog from July 25th:

Microsoft just release expected delivery dates of Windows 7 on a day that saw them change the product version to Ready To Manufacturer (RTM). So what does this mean to you. Here are some of the important dates to remember:

August 6th ...

with Tales of the IT Side on July 23rd

Microsoft just release expected delivery dates of Windows 7 on a day that saw them change the product version to Ready To Manufacturer (RTM). So what does this mean to you. Here are some of the important dates to remember:

August 6th ...

Tales from the IT Side is written by Don of New Horizons of Minnesota. Acend were once part of New Horizons, so maybe Don and Andrew are mates. Maybe Andrew just forgot to credit his old mate Don. [Update: No he didn't. Don didn't know, as if we hadn't guessed. There is no copyright notice on the Tales from the IT Side blog so strictly this is mere plagiarism not copyright theft. A link to the post has appeared on the Acend blog after I commented there (comment not published of course).]

When you compare to what Andrew writes when he is being original, My Life in Computers - The Andrew Hunt Story (no, really), perhaps you can understand why he borrows everyone else's stuff.

I'm doing my bit

skeptic — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:51:00 +0000

...to spread the word. I hope all readers will help. Gotta get back to making a living now, by writing stuff so others can steal it

You need to spread the word

Sarah — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:03:20 +0000

Acend recently won a bid to deliver ITIL training for the City of Toronto, I am tempted to forward your blog post to the city councilors and ask them if they are still happy with their decision...

Acend CONTINUE to rip off material, unattributed!

skeptic — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 06:20:53 +0000

These guys just can't help themselves. Even though they cleaned up their blog, one of the remaining articles is still ripped off!!!

Look at Andrew Hunt's post of 13th July, unattributed to anyone else. "During my conversations with people over the past few weeks, when I've asked ..."

Compare to this comment by Ed Molson on 2nd July. "During my conversations with people over the past few weeks, when I've asked ..."

Just unbelievable.

cease and desist

skeptic — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:40:00 +0000

I know of three parties who have referred the matter to their lawyers, but I wonder if it will not get past "cease and desist " letters. i actually prefer this way. Do a google on "Acend"

legal action

David Moskowitz — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:21:10 +0000

I'll repeat here what I said on Twitter. Legal action strongly suggested!

I know about the difficulties. I also know the practice is despicable! Your blog post, while it draws limited attention to the subject, does nothing to curb the practice.

At the very least, have a conversation with a lawyer. It is not an impossibility. Consider the following Seabeas motto: "The difficult we do immediately. The impossible just takes a little longer."

David

Several other articles on

Jan Vromant — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:20:12 +0000

Several other articles on this web site are plagiarized. I sent a note to the authors of the "CIO’s guide to ITIL in the Midmarket" article and the "How to Market Training to Your Workforce" article. Both articles omit the names of the author. This is plain and simple theft.

sucks

skeptic — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:00:00 +0000

especially the "we gave you grudging credit with a vague link to the homepage not the actual article, no reference to the author, no acknowldgement of original copyright, after you complained we had not right to the material" defence. That REALLY sucks. it shows an utter contempt for other people's intellectual property rights

The thing that kills me about this...

Mark W. Schumann — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:52:52 +0000

...is this idea that a link or a shout-out excuses the copyright infringement. Yeah, and I can crank out copies of Acend training materials too, as long as I tell everyone where they came from. Not.

I know you said this too, but the "we gave you credit" defense soooo gets under my skin. Arrrrgh.