Court Bars Collection of SAT Booklets by Tutor (who thinks tests unfair)

NYT: Court Bars Collection of SAT Booklets by Tutor
By KAREN W. ARENSON
Published: October 13, 2005


Sergio Camacho makes a living teaching high school students how to raise their scores on the SAT exam. But in 10 years of tutoring, he said, he has become increasingly disenchanted with the test.

Differences in scores between boys and girls, white students and members of minorities, wealthy students and disadvantaged ones helped convince him that the exam was unfair, he said.

So, said Mr. Camacho, a Harvard graduate whose father was a Mexican immigrant, he decided to conduct his own research and write about it. On more than 20 Web sites directed toward college applicants and in faxes to dozens of high school guidance counselors, he offered to pay students $25 to send him copies of their SAT test booklets.

Last week, Mr. Camacho's research got him into trouble. On Friday, the College Board went to court to stop him. A federal district judge in Los Angeles, Florence-Marie Cooper, temporarily barred Mr. Camacho and an associate, Elizabeth Ulrich, from copying or distributing the tests.

Judge Cooper said it was likely that the College Board would be able to show that Mr. Camacho and Ms. Ulrich had induced test takers to infringe the College Board's copyright. A hearing has been set for Oct. 24....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/13/college/coll13sat.html?ex=1132030800&en=8aeedd083a5a1709&ei=5070

As noble as the cause may be, SAT takes the copyright VERY seriously. They'll push this as far as possible. Camacho's argument seems pretty weak, in that he was caught red-handed. But the remedy should fit the "crime" and I can't see how harsh the remedy could really be unless SAT can prove some sort of real damage.