Axact universities

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by Kizmet, Aug 29, 2015.

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  1. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Johann, yes, they're using the .ac as a link shortener. So what? That's still a legitimate use that clearly shows the relationship of .ac in people's minds to academia.
     
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    John's valuable work carries a lot of weight with me, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to stop thinking independently just because someone posts a snippet from one of his books, even with a smiley attached.

    Do I expect that some mills use the .ac domain? Sure. And some use the .org domain, some the .com domain, and a few older ones might even have grandfathered .edu domains. So what? You already know that plenty of legitimate universities use .ac domains for various purposes, including as URL shorteners and occasionally, like DIU, as a canonical domain. The same seems to be true of the newer .university domain. Do I wish mills wouldn't do that? Sure. But just because something can be misused by bad guys doesn't mean either that it has no use or that it shouldn't be used by good guys.

    In case your objection has something to do with Ascension Island, country code top level domains from tiny and uninhabited jurisdictions have been used as top level domains of convenience since the '90s. Is it a problem that .io has become a TLD of choice for edgier technology startups even though they're not in the Indian Ocean, or that my wife uses adel.la even though she's not in Laos?
     
  3. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    At the time Ezell and I wrote that about the .ac designation, we had a list of about 20 fakes that were using it. The biggest user, apparently, is the huge "dark Internet" site, Pirate Bay.

    Many years ago, when I corresponded (postal mail, and boy was it snaily) with an official of some sort in Georgetown, the response was that most of the .ac registrations were in the air conditioning industry, but also some schools and museums.

    There is much evidence that country registration is not an assurance of wonderfulness. Here, for instance, are just the A's on our long list of schools that use, or have used, the ".edu" registration:
    Adam Smith University Adam Smith University of America
    Advanced Theological Seminary www.atsbible.edu
    Allen Mitchell School of Psychology Alhambra Medical University | AMU: Acupuncture School in Los Angeles, California
    American City University www.americancityuni.edu
    American Coastline University www.amercoastuniv.edu
    American College of Martial Science www.acms.edu
    American Global University www.americanglobalu.edu
    American Graduate School of International Relations and Diplomacy www.agsird.edu
    American Institute of Holistic Theology American Institute of Holistic Theology
    American International University (Suriname) www.aiuniversity.edu
    American Liberty University www.libertyuniversity.edu
    American Pacific University (HI) www.ampac.edu
    American State University www.amstu.edu
    American University in London American University in London
    American University of Hawaii American University for Humanities | AUH.edu
    American University of the Caribbean AUC - American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine
    American World University www.awu.edu
    Andrew University °² µÂ ³ ´ó ѧ
    Asia International Open University www.aiou.edu
    Asia Pacific International University Asia-Pacific International University - AIU Website
    Athena University Education for you, wherever you are - Athena.Education
    Atlantic International University Atlantic International University: bachelor, master, doctoral degree programs by distance learning, online, correspondence, or home study. AIU offers an affordable, nontraditional, online university for adult and continuing education via distance lea
     
  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Right - but as Dr. Bear's work confirms, it IS being used by bad guys. Lots of 'em - more than I knew about, for sure. That's the only use I'm objecting to.

    No, of course not! I'm only objecting if it appears (to me) that a school may be using certain domains in the hope of looking better than it is - i.e. looking like a school that has mainstream degree-granting authority when it really doesn't. And Dr. Bear has kindly provided us with plenty of examples. If a legit school wants to abbreviate its URL and skip the country code - I have no problem. Of course I have no problem with your wife's using what looks like the Laos country code. In fact, I have no problem with legit use of practically anything -- but there have to be reasonable grounds to believe it's legit.

    Gotta go now. Coursework calls... :smile:

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 11, 2015
  5. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Before I go - there's a THIRD university at that same London address - Richmond University, Richmond -dot-ac. The site says it's incorporated in St. Kitts and Nevis and has a dual-degree agreement with the International University of America in London. Like the other two, it states it was established by M E R C Education Corp. The University says it offers "its own awards" in the UK. I presume from that it means St. Kitts & Nevis-originated degrees, as Richmond has no degree-granting authority for UK degrees. You can check that for yourself - I did.

    Here's the latest info I could find on MERC Education Corp:

    M E R C Education Limited (Dissolved) - Company Information - Endole

    (website given for this co. is the familiar www - iua - dot. ac site)

    Interesting buttons on the Richmond U site:

    "The University Collage" (sic)
    "The School of Gradusate Studies" (sic)

    The Richmond site also refers to Isles International University, but does not specify any particular form of association with that school. If you don't know Isles International, feel free to look it up. The site also states that Prof. Dr. Hans Kempe is Chancellor. You can look him up, too.

    Ok - sounds just like any other dot-ac to me. :shrug: But what do I know?

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 11, 2015
  6. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Error on my part. The cited company appears related, but it cannot have established the London Campuses. There's an associated MERC company, same principals, Management Education Resource Centre Ltd., that is still running and has been since 1995. I believe this company must be the one that established the London campuses of the Universities, as (I think) at least two were set up in 1995.

    That report is here:

    Management Education Resource Centre Limited - Company Information - Endole

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 11, 2015
  7. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    He said they'd found about twenty rotten .ac users. That's bad, of course, but the list he just added here was of those abusing .edu, not .ac., and as he said, that was only the A's. So, please feel free to go on at similar length about the perils of the .edu domain.
     
  8. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    No thanks. Thick as I am, I've finally perceived what a colossal waste of time this is. My objections about .ac have taught me quite enough. If you think - or anyone else thinks - it's OK - then let it be OK. Screw it. The "schools" are going to do exactly as they please, regardless of what you or I might say, anyway.

    I can't stop even one less-than-wonderful school. Never have. So maybe it's time for me to quit gathering them up and putting them under the microscope. Doesn't seem to accomplish anything, except irritate other DI posters. Hell, it's not even fun any more. It was for a while, though!

    J.

    Tout le monde hate me, wey I don't know pourquoi.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 14, 2015
  9. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I recently had the opportunity to remind one of our members that we have a tremendous number of members who read through this board without posting and we have an even larger number of lurkers. If you ever have nothing better to do (and I really mean "nothing") you should click on the "who's online" widget and watch the lurkers move in and out of all the threads. Hundreds of them every night. My point is that warnings of this sort are helpful, especially for people who do not have the time, energy or same level of sophisticated knowledge to catch this stuff on their own. Thanks to all for the debate and your many contributions.:smlove2:
     
  10. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  11. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  12. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Right you are, Kizmet. Ms. Krishnamurthy's fake degree IS from the No. 1 University on this list. There's a handy chart to ALL the falsehoods here:

    http://puta.org.in/attachment.php?aid=34

    Interesting to note that her book, "Legal Education in India" was found to be 95% plagiarized and was withdrawn by the publisher.

    The "school" which conferred her "Doctorate Honoris Causa" was one of the first mills I read about when I became interested in the subject. It's the "school" I've referred to a few times when mentioning a "university" which offers PhDs, medical 'degrees' and for a few bucks extra, Knighthoods and Albert Schweitzer awards.

    I think Pondicherry University did the right thing - and in reasonably timely fashion, for such a complete inquiry.

    J.

    PS. I'm glad Pondicherry University Teachers' Association - http://puta.org.in isn't in Mexico. Acronym PUTA doesn't go well in Spanish. :shock:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 24, 2015
  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Well, I'm glad they nailed him on something, but it must be just the tip of the iceberg. 2-3 million Pakistani rupees is only $20,000 to $20,000 US. I'll bet he wants to move WAY more money than that. Last I heard, those phony diplomas were a $70-million-a-year business. Maybe this trickle occurred because the bulk of the money is already abroad - maybe much of it in Arab countries where Axact has sold many fistfuls of degrees.

    Hey - there's another movie title: "A Fistful of Degrees." :smile:

    J.
     
  14. novadar

    novadar Member

    Here you go (sorry it's not the best) but it'll do.

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    It's fine - a keeper for sure. Thanks! :smile:

    J.
     
  16. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    He also didn't pay tax, at least not very much. Less than $1 if memory serves me right.
     
  17. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

  18. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Well, I must admit India does have some completely "real" universities with pretty strange-sounding names, like the 100% legit, UGC-approved "Lovely Professional University." :smile:

    In this case, the city (Pondicherry, now often called Puducherry) is fairly large - plenty big enough to have a traditional University. Population is about 675,000. Here's a pic:

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Pondicherry_Panorama_1.jpg

    Although the city didn't get its name until the Dutch, French, English and Portuguese had all relinquished their colonial hold, the area has been known to the West for a long time. In the 1st century C.E., Roman traders knew a marketplace in the area that they called Poduca.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 27, 2015
  19. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I erred here. Establishment listed as 1673, taken over by the French in 1674. Independence (from France) of Indian Union Territory of Puducherry in 1954. I read that "The history of the City of Pondicherry is recorded only after the period of colonial rule by the Dutch, Portuguese, British and the French" - i.e. 1954. Regardless of "history" the city was there and referred to as Pondicherry long before Independence.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 27, 2015
  20. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

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