Steve Wozniak to take stand: $1m suit claiming Woz stole idea for branded tech boot camp goes to trial
(2021/05/24)
- Reference: 1621864893
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/05/24/steve_wozniak_lawsuit_trial/
- Source link:
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak will face a trial next month in an Arizona district court over allegations he stole the idea of a Woz-branded programming boot camp.
The original complaint
What ever happened to Woz U?
In 2018, [3]CBS published a damning investigation that highlighted complaints from students about the poor quality of the courses offered.
One student complained about typo-ridden learning materials, saying: "When you're doing code and you're following along, and there's a typo, and you get an error, you don't have any idea why you got the error."
Other points of contention included outdated course materials, the lack of live tuition in certain modules, and unqualified student mentors.
The 33-week course reportedly cost $13,200. As a licensed course of study, students could finance their tuition through student loans. In 2019, [4]Woz U surrendered its teaching licence after Arizona regulators refused to renew it. The school no longer offers direct training programmes but provides services for businesses and universities.
Reilly's allegations that Wozniak infringed on his copyright by launching a Woz-branded tech school without him are what will be looked at by the jury.
[5]Steve Wozniak at 70: Here's to the bloke behind Apple who wasn't a complete... turtleneck
[6]On the seventh anniversary of Steve Jobs' death, we give you 7 times he served humanity and acted as an example to others
[7]Curse of Woz strikes again – first Fusion-io fizzles out, now Primary Data goes down
[8]A good time Woz had by all: We peeked our head into Primary Data and this is what we saw
[9]Washed out summer? Fear ye not: DVDs for DevOps droogs
The Apple co-founder will take the stand on June 7 for a three-day jury trial. Reilly is seeking at least $1m in damages. Wozniak has denied all claims.
In the complaint, Reilly claimed he approached Wozniak in 2010 with the idea of creating a technology school bearing his name, ultimately dubbed the Woz School of Technology.
The idea was simple: the facility would offer vocational education in STEM – similar to what you'd get with a coding boot camp like Lambda School or Code Nation. Its unique selling point was an undeniable star factor.
[10]
[11]
[12]
Woz's contributions to the development of personal computing are legendary. He was the technical nous behind Steve Jobs' vision.
Reilly claimed in the complaint that Woz had agreed to the proposal. The pair exchanged emails and met in person several times, the complaint continued, with Woz ultimately signing a contract.
The pair met with the Apollo Education Group, owner of the online-only University of Phoenix. It proposed operating the school, provided Woz delivered two pre-recorded lectures each year. This level of commitment proved too onerous for the former Apple staffer, and the plan went nowhere.
[13]
In scenes mirroring the infamous founding of Facebook, Steve Wozniak later created his own coding school, dubbed (what else?) [14]Woz U .
Wozniak and his co-defendants, however, "characterize[d] the underlying events as follows:"
Plaintiff tried, albeit unsuccessfully, t[o] market an online school using Defendant Steve Wozniak's name and likeness. Long after the Plaintiff failed in his attempts to do so, another group that was already operating an online school approached Wozniak with what would ultimately become WOZ U."
According to the March 2020 order, Wozniak's lawyers also argued that: "[T]he Plaintiff wasn't seeking to sell anything to Defendant Wozniak. On the contrary, the Plaintiff was seeking to use Wozniak's name and likeness to start his own online school."
Founded in 2017, and without the involvement of Ralph Reilly, the Woz U venture was run in partnership with the existing boot camp Coder Camps. It was, by all accounts, a failure. Woz lent Coder Camps his name in exchange for a cool $1m, but was uninvolved in teaching or developing the curriculum.
According to the complaint:
On or about November 11, 2017, Reilly was informed that Woz had entered into a business arrangement in a form unknown to Reilly with Defendant SCI to form Woz U for operation in the State of Arizona.
The suit went on to allege SCI and Wozniak had "infringed Reilly’s Copyrighted Work in the marketing and publicity of Woz U."
We have reached out to Steve Wozniak's representatives for comment. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/05/24/reilly_vs_woz_complaint.pdf
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/05/24/reilly_v_woz_2020_order.pdf
[3] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woz-u-steve-wozniak-former-students-employees-raise-concerns/
[4] https://eu.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2019/10/26/apple-co-founder-woz-u-steve-wozniak-coding-school-give-up-arizona-license/2457512001/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/11/steve_wozniak_at_70/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2018/10/05/dead_steve_jobs_saint/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2018/01/23/primary_data_looks_to_be_defunct/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2017/06/28/primary_data/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2016/07/26/verity_stob_dvds_for_devops_reviews/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YKvNm8okag3TFcQjN-nQOgAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YKvNm8okag3TFcQjN-nQOgAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YKvNm8okag3TFcQjN-nQOgAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YKvNm8okag3TFcQjN-nQOgAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://woz-u.com
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The original complaint
[1]PDF
was filed in 2018 by Ralph Reilly, an assistant professor of management at Connecticut's University of Hartford. Two of the five claims in the original complaint were dismissed in [2]March 2020 [PDF], including breach of contract.What ever happened to Woz U?
In 2018, [3]CBS published a damning investigation that highlighted complaints from students about the poor quality of the courses offered.
One student complained about typo-ridden learning materials, saying: "When you're doing code and you're following along, and there's a typo, and you get an error, you don't have any idea why you got the error."
Other points of contention included outdated course materials, the lack of live tuition in certain modules, and unqualified student mentors.
The 33-week course reportedly cost $13,200. As a licensed course of study, students could finance their tuition through student loans. In 2019, [4]Woz U surrendered its teaching licence after Arizona regulators refused to renew it. The school no longer offers direct training programmes but provides services for businesses and universities.
Reilly's allegations that Wozniak infringed on his copyright by launching a Woz-branded tech school without him are what will be looked at by the jury.
[5]Steve Wozniak at 70: Here's to the bloke behind Apple who wasn't a complete... turtleneck
[6]On the seventh anniversary of Steve Jobs' death, we give you 7 times he served humanity and acted as an example to others
[7]Curse of Woz strikes again – first Fusion-io fizzles out, now Primary Data goes down
[8]A good time Woz had by all: We peeked our head into Primary Data and this is what we saw
[9]Washed out summer? Fear ye not: DVDs for DevOps droogs
The Apple co-founder will take the stand on June 7 for a three-day jury trial. Reilly is seeking at least $1m in damages. Wozniak has denied all claims.
In the complaint, Reilly claimed he approached Wozniak in 2010 with the idea of creating a technology school bearing his name, ultimately dubbed the Woz School of Technology.
The idea was simple: the facility would offer vocational education in STEM – similar to what you'd get with a coding boot camp like Lambda School or Code Nation. Its unique selling point was an undeniable star factor.
[10]
[11]
[12]
Woz's contributions to the development of personal computing are legendary. He was the technical nous behind Steve Jobs' vision.
Reilly claimed in the complaint that Woz had agreed to the proposal. The pair exchanged emails and met in person several times, the complaint continued, with Woz ultimately signing a contract.
The pair met with the Apollo Education Group, owner of the online-only University of Phoenix. It proposed operating the school, provided Woz delivered two pre-recorded lectures each year. This level of commitment proved too onerous for the former Apple staffer, and the plan went nowhere.
[13]
In scenes mirroring the infamous founding of Facebook, Steve Wozniak later created his own coding school, dubbed (what else?) [14]Woz U .
Wozniak and his co-defendants, however, "characterize[d] the underlying events as follows:"
Plaintiff tried, albeit unsuccessfully, t[o] market an online school using Defendant Steve Wozniak's name and likeness. Long after the Plaintiff failed in his attempts to do so, another group that was already operating an online school approached Wozniak with what would ultimately become WOZ U."
According to the March 2020 order, Wozniak's lawyers also argued that: "[T]he Plaintiff wasn't seeking to sell anything to Defendant Wozniak. On the contrary, the Plaintiff was seeking to use Wozniak's name and likeness to start his own online school."
Founded in 2017, and without the involvement of Ralph Reilly, the Woz U venture was run in partnership with the existing boot camp Coder Camps. It was, by all accounts, a failure. Woz lent Coder Camps his name in exchange for a cool $1m, but was uninvolved in teaching or developing the curriculum.
According to the complaint:
On or about November 11, 2017, Reilly was informed that Woz had entered into a business arrangement in a form unknown to Reilly with Defendant SCI to form Woz U for operation in the State of Arizona.
The suit went on to allege SCI and Wozniak had "infringed Reilly’s Copyrighted Work in the marketing and publicity of Woz U."
We have reached out to Steve Wozniak's representatives for comment. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/05/24/reilly_vs_woz_complaint.pdf
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/05/24/reilly_v_woz_2020_order.pdf
[3] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woz-u-steve-wozniak-former-students-employees-raise-concerns/
[4] https://eu.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2019/10/26/apple-co-founder-woz-u-steve-wozniak-coding-school-give-up-arizona-license/2457512001/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/11/steve_wozniak_at_70/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2018/10/05/dead_steve_jobs_saint/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2018/01/23/primary_data_looks_to_be_defunct/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2017/06/28/primary_data/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2016/07/26/verity_stob_dvds_for_devops_reviews/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YKvNm8okag3TFcQjN-nQOgAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YKvNm8okag3TFcQjN-nQOgAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YKvNm8okag3TFcQjN-nQOgAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YKvNm8okag3TFcQjN-nQOgAAAIc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://woz-u.com
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Woz all the fuss about
knarf
$1M do doing naff all except pay lawyers now.
Woz woz an electrical engineer not software, ok he likely did a fair bit of 6502 on AppleII.
J27
You can't copyright that kind of idea. Common thing + your branding isnt a unique idea, but even if it was it would be too obvious and simple to get copyrightable.
This guy has no case.
45RPM
I don’t know the ins and outs of it, and I’m not sure that I really care. It’s all very well having a good idea, but your good idea is just puffery if you don’t do anything with it. If you do something with it then you deserve protection, if you don’t then you’re just being vexatious if you seek legal redress.
And whatever else he may be, electronics whizz, coding whizz, inventor, prankster, Woz is not a great businessman. He says that it doesn’t interest him, and his actions back up his words. Sure, he shouldn’t have signed the paper - but in his philanthropic heart he probably thought that Wrecker Ralph was a good guy, and that he’d be encouraging future generations by lending his support.
On the face of it, Ralph Reilly is just doing his best to get the whole of geekdom to hate him. Seriously, darling of the geek world (and love Apple or hate Apple, Woz did some amazingly cool things - and probably got more screwed over by Jobs and Apple than almost anyone else, and yet still found it in his heart to forgive. The man is a legend!) vs some puffed up fraudster? Screw that guy!
TOPS
In 1978 I got a 20 week programming course, in an actual building with real lecturers, paid for by the government.
I also got the dole and my travel expenses.
Later on, when I was employed, we recruited one of our lecturers.
I and an associate also helped get another lecturer a job at a nearby bureau services company (remember them?) to which I was now a customer.
Steve should be embarrassed to have his name associated with any of these worthless shysters.
Let’s hope that they fail and Steve learns.