Mr. George Madden

-George Madden, Sales Rep, Chariot Software Group

"We've mastered Colleen's selling techniques, and gained over 50% in our sales efforts!"

They were a dream client," Chariot's Chief Operating Officer George Madden said of the $120,000 annual contract."But something like this makes you wonder."

Because of the high volume of students using the programs, Madden said he offered to end the contract in an attempt to renegotiate.

The university declined to renew it in August 2002.In an e-mail to Madden, which Madden provided to The Associated Press, administrator Elizabeth Tice said the university was "moving the entire system back in house."
...
Madden became suspicious.

He says computer system logs show that beginning in April 2002 - before the contract ended - Momentum Technologies' computers accessed Chariot's server.He said the system was not hacked, but rather accessed through secure passwords granted to three top-level university administrators.
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Gonzales acknowledged Monday that Chariot's servers were accessed after the contract expired, but only for 15 days - not the five months that Madden contends.She said the university offered to compensate Chariot for that extended use.

Madden said there was a $2,000 settlement offered, which he declined.

The University of Phoenix has been rapidly growing in the past several years.

George Madden, Chariot's chief executive, said in an interview that its relationship with the university soured after a contentious May 2001 meeting with an Apollo executive to discuss a possible investment in or purchase of Chariot by Apollo.

They were a dream client," Chariot's chief operating officer George Madden said of the $120,000 annual contract."But something like this makes you wonder."

Because of the high volume of students using the programs, Madden said he offered to end the contract in an attempt to renegotiate.

The university declined to renew it in August 2002.In an e-mail to Madden, which Madden provided to The Associated Press, administrator Elizabeth Tice said the university was "moving the entire system back in house."
...
Madden said computer system logs show that beginning in April 2002 -- before the contract ended -- Momentum Technologies' computers accessed Chariot's server.He said the system was not hacked, but rather accessed through secure passwords granted to three top-level university administrators.
...
Gonzales acknowledged that Chariot's servers were accessed after the contract expired, but only for 15 days -- not five months as Madden contends.She said the university offered to compensate Chariot for that extended use.

Madden said there was a $2,000 settlement offered, which he declined.

The University of Phoenix has been rapidly growing in the past several years.

George Madden, Chariot's chief executive, said in an interview that its relationship with the university soured after a contentious May 2001 meeting with an Apollo executive to discuss a possible investment in or purchase of Chariot by Apollo. After Chariot's $10,000-a-month contract with the university expired in September 2002, the university replaced it with another vendor, closely held Phoenix-based Momentum Interactive.

Mr. Madden said three University of Phoenix administrators had access to Chariot's proprietary code. An investigation by Chariot, he said, found Momentum used that access to copy and modify Chariot's code to develop a replacement system that the university now uses.

He said the replacement system developed by Momentum directed University of Phoenix students to test-question illustrations contained in Chariot's servers -- even after the Chariot contract expired. As a result, Apollo offered a $2,000 settlement to Chariot, which the software vendor rejected, Mr. Madden said.

They were a dream client," Chariot Chief Operating Officer George Madden said of the $120,000 annual contract."But something like this makes you wonder."Because of the high volume of students using the programs, Madden said he offered to end the contract in an attempt to renegotiate.

The university declined to renew the contract in August 2002.In an e-mail to Madden, which Madden provided to The Associated Press, administrator Elizabeth Tice said the university was "moving the entire system back in- house."
...
Madden said computer system logs show that beginning in April 2002 - before the contract ended - Momentum Technologies' computers accessed Chariot's server.He said the system was not hacked but rather accessed through secure passwords granted to three top-level university administrators.

George Madden, chief executive officer of Chariot Software Group, said, "We went to the FBI. . . . You know the FBI doesn't mess around with shoplifting."
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Madden said his 20-person firm had provided online placement tests and study materials to University of Phoenix students from late 1997 to Sept. 15, 2002, when the contract expired.