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Username: remarque21
Date/Time: Sun, November 12, 2000 at 2:30 PM GMT
Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer V5.0 using Windows 98
Score: 5
Subject: Serious Conflict of Internest for Arthur Andersen: True Motivation for Selecting CORE and Afilias

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      The Report of the Evaluation Committee is infected by a serious conflict of interest which explains the true motivation behind the Report's favorable recommendations for applicants CORE and Afilias:  All three members of the Evaluation Committee’s “Business Financial Team” are employees of Arthur Andersen.  This company is not impartial.  Arthur Andersen was hired by the Core Internet Council of Registrars (“CORE”) in connection with that entity’s selection of registrar members, and, according to published media accounts, received $1,000 per application submitted to CORE.  Despite this prior relationship with CORE, these Arthur Andersen employees were involved in the Evaluation Committee’s review of CORE’s proposal to operate the “.nom” TLD.  In addition, CORE is part of the proposal submitted to ICANN by Afilias, LLC.   

Moreover, the proposals submitted by CORE and Afilias were included within the handful of proposals “recommended” by the Evaluation Committee.  Specifically with respect to CORE’s proposal, the Committee concluded, inter alia, that CORE’s proposal “is stronger than other plans based upon its category from a business perspective.”  Afilias received high praise as well: “Overall, this is a strong application in this category from a business perspective.”  The Report does not disclose the conflict of interest of Arthur Andersen with respect to CORE and Afilias, but does state that with respect to any engagement involving Arthur Andersen and an applicant for a TLD, “no member of the evaluation team had worked on” any such prior engagement, and that the “size and nature of each engagement was determined to be highly unlikely to influence any aspect of the evaluation.”  The engagement by Arthur Andersen for CORE clearly does not fall into such a de minimis category.  Arthur Anderson has an unmistakable conflict of interest that infects the entire Report.  For this reason alone, the Board should ignore the Report. 


     

 


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