Fair Warning to Copyright Violaters

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An audio file from Mark Meldrum about candidates who are violating the copyrights of CFA prep providers and CFA Institute, and fair warning that he will hand over evidence of those violations to CFA Institute’s Professional Conduct staff unless the violations stop immediately:
 
There are 120+ volunteers looking for exam related posts, and other violations like copyright violations on digital platforms. No wonder hundreds get caught every year…..
 
I really honestly sort of feel him on the “other good people deserve your spot” part. There are so many ass hats in sweet jobs out there that I want the chance to do instead.
But I’m self-righteous in that probably.
 
@CEO10K - remember that you have to put the interests of the clients before your own…they just love us ass-hats in sweet jobs who study CFA just for the fun of it, and to pump up the MPS with all the time we study between luncheons and golf tournaments. Even a simple chore like going to the grocery store is cumbersome when all you have is large bills, and they have to scan every single one with the validator because of some “Company policy” made by people not used to see some zeros on their bills…….It’s a hard knock life ….(hints of irony intended)
 
@Sweep the leg - Referring to the Palladium of course;-) Maybe I secretly love holding up the line with my crisp bills…Have to have time for that professional care, and reasonable basis you know…As my old mentor said when confronted with billing more than 20 hours a day….”Guess the one who was billed for my time at the gym was a bit out of luck, but I can assure I was working hard in there….”…(still irony)
 
^I appreciate your humor but that’s not irony. I’m surprised S2000 has let you live this long.
 
@Sweep the leg: tragically ironic that people like i portray actually exist, and of course ironic that people think that “minor infractions” are not reflections on true caracter. I have been shocked by the obvious sharing of material myself, and have my subscribtions in order myself. Full support there, and as my first post clearly state - risk og getting caught should also be a deterrant for the week og caracter.
Deeply sorry for causing offense! These weeks are troubeling times playing havoc on my and orhers nerves!
 
Hjernetrim wrote:
@Sweep the leg: tragically ironic that people like i portray actually exist, and of course ironic that people think that “minor infractions” are not reflections on true caracter. I have been shocked by the obvious sharing of material myself, and have my subscribtions in order myself. Full support there, and as my first post clearly state - risk og getting caught should also be a deterrant for the week og caracter.
Deeply sorry for causing offense! These weeks are troubeling times playing havoc on my and orhers nerves!
Click to expand...
You should really venture over to the Water Cooler (the best part of AF!). You’d do well there. Or terribly. It’s really hard to tell.
https://www.analystforum.com/forums/water-cooler
All are welcome. Come enjoy while you wait for your results.
 
S2000magician wrote:
An audio file from Mark Meldrum about candidates who are violating the copyrights of CFA prep providers and CFA Institute, and fair warning that he will hand over evidence of those violations to CFA Institute’s Professional Conduct staff unless the violations stop immediately:
Click to expand...
Haha i understand where he is coming from but I’d say that “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.” It’s funny how people bend ethics according to their own subjective view. In one of his videos, Mark advocates buying water jets and other big ticket items for your own personal use through your company (which I guess he did), so that you can get the benefits of depreciation and other expenses and thus save money. Ethical? Definitely not, but it seems that unethical becomes ethical when you’re the one who reaps the benefits.
 
Uh, what? Personal expenses are not tax deductible. You would adjust your result to reflect that, so there’s no benefit. You could choose not to, but that would be tax fraud, not only unethical.
 
Yeah, personal expense are not tax deductible and I do not think Codtrawler87 was stating that. I think he is referring to a video where Mark is explaining how he bought 5 jet skies for his company on the company’s account with the purpose of allocating 2 of the jet skies for private use…while allowing his company to depreciate the asset and benefit of the consequent tax benefits. Would the tax authorities notice this kind of scheming? No way. Is it unethical? Definitely. 100%. Something that CFAI would definitely disapprove.
This reminds me of a dude for whom I worked during summers when I was in college. This guy owned a small construction company and used to make the company pay as much for his personal expenses as possible…as long as they fit the company’s business model. E.g. He had bought a car on the company’s account (nothing unethical as he actually needed the car to run his company) but then he would deduct ALL (not only construction business related) gas expenses as “business related expenses” even if he went to see his old grandmother 500 miles away…something that definitely did not have anything to do with construction.
This is something that goes all in all small businesses and tax authorities cannot and will not anything about it since it’s not cost efficient to start tracking down some poor soul running a 5-man gardening company who happens to buy a $2,500 John Deer mini-tractor for his personal use on the company account. However, it is still unethical.
So in conclusion, I do not think Mark Meldrum is in the wrong getting all rattled with someone trying to chizzle him out of his hard earned $ (I would too if I’d be in his shoes). However, I would not get all high and mighty regarding the “ethical” and “unethical” stuff.
 
If he’s not adjusting his personal use of firm assets, that’s tax fraud, period. It’s not just unethical. Whether or not the tax authorities investigate the matter, and regardless if they catch him or not, the fact stands.
 
^was also wondering this today…did Mark give those names up and get that one person fired? I remember he said he’d give a 2 week period for violators to smarten up so i don’t really know if anything came of it. Come to think of it, no one here probably has any clue.
 
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