Reprimand after changing registration fees
Ron (2011-07-13 19:08:21 +0000)
Our member Dan Cohen (id 2007COHE01) registered for US Nationals 2011 in February 2011.
During the registration process he intentionally changed his registration fee to a lower amount.
This act could be explained as abusing a flaw in the registration software to his own advantage.
Therefore WCA Board asked the Independent Advisory Committee to investigate the matter.
Dan did his act while negotiating with the US Nationals 2011 organisational team regarding the registration fees.
It was not correct of Dan to run ahead of this negotiation and decide for himself and abuse the flaw in the registration software.
During the process after the discovery of his act, Dan was cooperative. The organisers and Dan made an agreement on how to proceed at the time of the original incident. There were misunderstandings and poor calls on both sides, eventually leading to that Dan delayed his part of the agreement. The issue was escalated to the WCA Board.
WCA Board has decided to give a formal reprimand to Dan Cohen for his act of changing the registration fees. It was not in compliance with the spirit of WCA, which is that "people from all over the world have fun together in a friendly atmosphere, help each other and behave sportsmanlike.".
If Dan takes other actions against the spirit of WCA during the time frame of July 2011 until end of June 2013 the involved act will be taken into account again.
Dan's registration for US Nationals 2011 has been accepted and he already paid the full registration fees.
We thank the IAC, led by Anders Larsson, for their investigations and advice to come to a solution of this case.
Ron van Bruchem
World Cube Association