Neumont University Threatens & Bribes CollegeTimes

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Neumont University President and CEO, Edward Levine, sent this threatening letter to Little Bizzy, the former CollegeTimes web hosting provider, attempting to bribe CollegeTimes to remove "negative" student reviews, in July 2012.

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  • -'neumonT.UNIVERSITY

    WWW.NEUMONT.EOU

    July 10,2012 10701 SOUTH RIVER FRONT PARKWAYSOUTH JORDAN, UTAH 84095

    801.302.2800

    888-NEUMONTVIA FEDEX OVERNIGHT

    Mr. Jesse NicklesLittle Bizzy LLC848 N Rainbow Blvd #4064Las Vegas, NV 89107

    Re: collegetimes.us

    Dear Mr. Nickles:

    I am the president ofNeumont University ("Neumont"). I am writing to express my deepconcern regarding the inaccurate and damaging manner in which Neumont is portrayedon your website, collegetimes.us. It is my hope that we can resolve this matter promptlyand amicably.

    Multiple aspects of the Neumont review page on your website (attached as Exhibit 1) castNeumont in a false and highly damaging light. As an initial matter, the top of the pagefeatures the word "Warning" in bright red letters next to a "recommend[ation] that youavoid this college." Clicking on a link associated with the warning takes viewers to apage where you suggest that Neumont may be engaging in unethical conduct such asharassing potential students or imposing fraudulent credit card charges on them.Neumont does not engage in such conduct and any suggestions to the contrary areharmful to its reputation.

    In addition, the Neumont page contains 17 uniformly negative reviews about theUniversity. Although Neumont can establish that much of the information contained inthe reviews is false, we respect the right of individuals to post any concerns they mayhave about the University. However, these po stings - combined with the warning youhave placed on the Neumont page - create a deeply misleading picture of the Universitybecause collegetimes.us has systematically removed all postings about Neumont of apositive nature. For example, a screen grab (attached as Exhibit 2) shows that on August11,2010 there were three positive or balanced Neumont reviews on your site, each ofwhich have now been removed.

    Moreover, because collegetimes.us has disabled the posting of any additional reviews onthe Neumont page, it has blocked any student who wishes to post a positive review ofNeumont from doing so, thus ensuring a wholly negative and misleading picture ofstudent comments regarding the University. Your Neumont page contends that readers"can trust that the comments below are honest, authentic experiences shared by fellowstudents," but in reality collegetimes.us has fixed its review page to ensure that readers do -

    -!!!I!m!I~IIlm

  • Mr. Jesse NicklesJuly 10,2012Page 2

    not get to learn about the "honest, authentic experiences" of students who have afavorable view of the University.

    The cumulative effect of your actions falsely portrays Neumont as a universally loathedinstitution that fails to provide its students with a quality education. Nothing could befurther from the truth, as demonstrated by the positive comments you removed from yoursite, as well as substantial positive comments on other websites. The vast majority ofNeumont students are more than satisfied with their experience at the University.Neumont is in excellent standing with the U.S. Department of Education, the UtahDepartment of Education, and our accrediting body which recently granted Neumont themaximum possible period of accreditation. In fact, our students achieve demonstrablygreater success than their peers. For example, despite the stagnant economy, more than95 percent ofNeumont's graduates obtain jobs in their field of study within six months ofgraduation, with an average starting annual salary in excess of $60,000.

    Your website's false and misleading portrayal of Neumont has harmed the University'sreputation and caused substantial damages for which you are responsible. In fact,Neumont has direct evidence establishing that numerous individuals who otherwisewould have attended the University elected not to do so because of the inaccurate anduniformly negative portrayal ofNeumont on your review page.

    Although Neumont is fully prepared to pursue its legal rights, I would prefer to resolvethis matter amicably. We respectfully request that you either remove the Neumont pagein its entirety from the collegetimes.us website, or that you expunge all content on theNeumont page and start fresh, allowing future site users to post their honest, authenticexperiences in compliance with the advertised collegetimes.us purpose. Neumont wouldbe willing to reimburse you for any direct and reasonable expenses you incur for either ofthese courses of action. Alternatively, we would be willing to discuss acquiring thecollegetimes.us URL if you no longer wish to operate the website (we've noted that thewebsite has not been regularly updated since December 2011).

    Please respond to this letter by no later than July 18,2012. Ifwe receive no response orother good faith action by that date, we will have no choice but to tum this matter over tolegal counsel for further action.

    Sincerely,

    Edward H. LevinePresident

    EHLlrw

  • Mr. Jesse NicklesJuly 10,2012Page 3

    Enclosures: Exhibit (1)Exhibit (2)