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    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 20/11/20 4:39 PM, Ayden Férdeline
      wrote:<br>
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      <div>Thanks Parminder,<br>
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      <div>On the revolving door point - </div>
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    <p>you may want to see
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolving_door_(politics)#:~:text=In%20politics%2C%20the%20%22revolving%20door,and%20regulation%2C%20on%20the%20other">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolving_door_(politics)#:~:text=In%20politics%2C%20the%20%22revolving%20door,and%20regulation%2C%20on%20the%20other</a>.</p>
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cite="mid:HvBLwl2qFl5AyBGVjWtZaZxqok3CLEBvL7XLyTO0Y02i4hxB-wFsx1h60l2yT5_PCj4iKh-U1jVKdeCHYRL-KD-Rz2Se-h9jSZUiyy42cDI=@ferdeline.com">
      <div>I have also noticed that many former ICANN execs are now
        working at companies in the domain name space, and others have
        pointed this out as well. But I don't see why there would be
        anything wrong with that unless, for example, they made
        decisions <i>prior</i> to leaving ICANN <i>purely</i> for the
        benefit of their post-ICANN careers and against the best
        interests of the ICANN community. If you (or anyone else) are
        able to provide verifiable evidence of such, I think there would
        be considerable media interest in such a story...<br>
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      <div>Best wishes,<br>
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      <div>Ayden Férdeline<br>
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      <div class="protonmail_quote"> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐<br>
        On Friday, November 20th, 2020 at 05:32, parminder via
        Governance <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:governance@lists.igcaucus.org"><governance@lists.igcaucus.org></a> wrote:<br>
        <blockquote class="protonmail_quote" type="cite">
          <p><font face="Liberation Sans"> I understand all that this is
              being directed by a murky mafia behind the scene, of which
              we got some sightings during the .org saga. This mafia
              both consists of ex-CANNers and is in cahoots with
              existing people in ICANN... This is why revolving doors is
              such a bad word in policy and governance circles.... But
              wasnt the multistakeholderism version practised by ICANN
              always a formalisation and white-washing of revolving
              doors...</font> parminder</p>
          <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 20/11/20 4:01 AM, Ayden
            Férdeline via Governance wrote:<br>
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            <div>Hi all,<br>
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            <div>Just flagging this press release that says Afilias has
              been acquired by Donuts:<br>
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            <div><br>
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            <div><a
href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/donuts-inc-to-acquire-afilias-inc-301177508.html"
                target="_blank" rel="noreferrer nofollow noopener"
                moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/donuts-inc-to-acquire-afilias-inc-301177508.html</a><br>
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            <div>This means that Donuts now owns over 450 generic
              top-level domains (out of a total of 1,200). The
              (continued) consolidation in the domain name industry is
              something that civil society might want to track. I am not
              sure if this sale is problematic from a competition
              perspective (though that is my gut reaction), but it is
              significant nonetheless.<br>
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            <div>Donuts is owned by private equity firm Abry Partners,
              connected to former ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade.<br>
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            <div>Afilias, which Donuts is now acquiring, is paid roughly
              $20 million a year by the Public Interest Registry to
              offer backend services. Late last year another Fadi
              Chehade-connected entity, Ethos Capital, attempted to
              acquire the Public Interest Registry.<br>
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            <div>Best wishes,<br>
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            <div><br>
            </div>
            <div>Ayden Férdeline</div>
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