It's no secret that many MCSEs have used "Braindumps" to pass their exams. It does not automatically make them "Paper MCSEs". If you studied hard, know your material and have experience you are clearly not a paper MCSE even if you've used a "Braindump". If, however, you have only used braindumps to pass your exam, you are only cheating yourself.
Most agree that using "Braindumps" is cheating. But what about posting a "Braindump" to a discussion board? Is it a violation of an NDA? Well, it depends on a "Braindump"...
Take a look at the Non-Disclosure Agreement and Test Center Rules.
"Non-Disclosure
Agreement for MCP Exams
This is the agreement you will see before you begin a Microsoft certification exam:
NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT AND GENERAL TERMS OF USE
FOR EXAMS DEVELOPED FOR THE MICROSOFT CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM
This exam is Microsoft confidential and is protected by trade secret law. It is made available to you, the examinee, solely for the purpose of becoming certified in the technical area referenced in the title of this exam. You are expressly prohibited from disclosing, publishing, reproducing, or transmitting this exam, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, verbal or written, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the prior express written permission of Microsoft Corporation.
Click the Yes button to symbolize your signature and to accept these terms. Click the No button if you do not accept these terms. You must click Yes to continue with the exam."
As you can see, you can interpret this DNA in several different ways.
"You are expressly prohibited from disclosing, publishing, reproducing, or transmitting this exam, in whole or in part...."
In my opinion you are not violating the NDA if you post a message to the discussion board about your exam experience. You can post what areas to concentrate on, what areas you were tested on extensively. For example you can add postings like " I had 10 question on OSI model, 5 questions on RAS, 5 simulation questions, the exam concentrates on connectivity with Novell ...etc.." Even postings like " Remember that Stripe set without parity does not give you fault tolerance.." or "For the exam remember that TCP/IP must be installed on the server before you can install WINS server..." do not violate the NDS.
"Transmitting this exam in whole or in part" only applies to posting actual exam questions in whole or in part. It does not say "transmitting any information about the exam..."
It's up to lawyers to argue what constitutes a NDA violation. For example you can argue that if you change a question and preserve the idea behind the question, you are not violating the NDA because you are not transmitting the exam, but your own question, even if its similar to exam question.
The only clear example of the NDA violation would be posting or transmitting exact exam question or questions.
Basically you can post anything to discussion boards about your exam experience as long as you are not posting the actual exam questions.
It's interesting to notice that at this time there are no punishments for violating the NDA. I suppose that Microsoft can take you to court, but there are no rules at this time that says you will lose your certification if you violate NDA.
You can, however lose your certification if you violate the "testing center rules" . Read the "Consequences of violating Testing Center Rules" below. Straight from Microsoft's web site.
"Consequences of Violating Testing Center Rules
Keeping exams as secure as possible helps maintain the value of Microsoft certification and ensures that only qualified information technology professionals are identified as MCPs. Testing center proctors are authorized to take immediate, appropriate measures against candidates who are caught violating testing rules as explained to all candidates when they appear for the exam. (Examples of cheating include using notes brought into the testing center, copying test questions, and looking at the monitors of other test takers.) This policy is enforced to ensure the integrity and security of certification exams and the MCP program.
If a candidate is caught violating testing rules once, the candidate: loses credit for the exam being taken at the time the candidate is caught, loses credit for all Microsoft certification exams passed, and loses all certifications earned. is ineligible to take a Microsoft certification exam for six months.
If a candidate is caught violating testing rules a second time, the candidate is permanently ineligible for any Microsoft certification.
You can help protect your investment in your certification by making fellow candidates aware of testing rules. Thank you for your cooperation."
Interesting to notice here that you can lose your certification for copying the test questions. What it means is you are not allowed to write down the questions and take them with you. This usually is never explained to candidates before they take the test.
Last but not least - the Revised exam-retake policy.
"Revised exam-retake policy Microsoft has revised its policy for retaking exams to increase security. If you do not pass an exam the first time, you may retake it at any time. If you do not achieve a passing score a second time, you must wait at least 14 days to retake the exam a third time. A 14-day waiting period will be imposed for all subsequent exam retakes. If you have passed an exam, you cannot take it again. Beta exams may only be taken once."
This rule is similar to a driver's license exam in most states in the USA. If you do not pass your exam, you must wait 14 days.
Interesting to notice here that you are not allowed to retake your exam if you have passed it. Why would you want to do that you ask? Suppose you want to get a perfect score to impress your friends or employer.
Microsoft does not want you to retake your exam because they do not want you to see more questions from the question pool. Suppose you work for a company that writes practice exams. The company could then pay you to keep retaking exams to find out more questions.