AICPA Announces Settlement with KAPLI Inc.

NEW YORK, Nov. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Institute of CPAs has settled its copyright-infringement lawsuit against KAPLI Inc., a review course provider, over KAPLI's alleged use of certain of AICPA's Uniform CPA Examination questions and test items not previously made public.

Under the settlement, the review course provider has agreed to a financial settlement, the terms of which are confidential. The review course provider has stated its intent to improve the public's awareness of the AICPA's copyrights and the integrity of the Uniform CPA Examination and agreed to educate its examinees as to the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of the Uniform CPA Examination questions and test items. Toward that end, and pursuant to the settlement, the parties have entered into a license agreement under which the AICPA will release to KAPLI certain CPA Examination content and test materials for use in its review courses.

"We are committed to protecting the public interest by ensuring the Uniform CPA Exam is conducted in a fair and level testing environment," said Craig Mills, AICPA vice president of examinations. "We are pleased that this review course provider has agreed to cooperate in our ongoing investigation of candidates who may have violated their confidentiality commitment by improperly sharing questions and test items."

AICPA will provide any actionable information to the relevant state boards of accountancy, along with possible recommendations to cancel scores and revoke eligibility to sit for the exam.

"The AICPA has a number of tools to detect cheating and question stealing and any individual or group who engages in inappropriate behavior will be aggressively pursued," said Mills.

The AICPA has agreed that once all the terms and conditions of the settlement have been met, the lawsuit will be dismissed.

About AICPA
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (www.aicpa.org), founded in 1887, is the world's largest association representing the accounting profession, with nearly 377,000 members in 128 countries.  AICPA members represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education, and consulting; membership is also available to accounting students and CPA candidates. The AICPA sets ethical standards for the profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies, non-profit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination.
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SOURCE American Institute of Certified Public Accountants