The Associated Press also reported on 13 May over the conflict of interest involving the coalition’s president Robert Barchiesi and Alibaba.
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Following the circulation last week of an anonymous letter expressing concerns about president Bob Barchiesi and the organization’s operations and governance, the IACC’s board of directors said Friday that it would suspend the memberships of Alibaba, Wish.com and The RealReal, as well as the recently announced “general membership” category that those companies fell under.
Since Alibaba joined, Gucci America, Michael Kors and Tiffany have quit the Washington D.C.-based coalition, which has more than 250 members. Its board said it will hire an independent review.
The International Anticounterfeiting Coalition (IACC) has suspended Alibaba Group’s membership after concerns were raised about the organisation’s president and governance.
According to a report in the Guardian, several links have been made between IACC president Robert Barchiesi and Alibaba, including that he owns shares in the business.
“It’s crossed the line ethically”, said Deborah Greaves, a group board member from 2011 to 2013. She said that it was however “unfortunate that it was made only after a revolt by members”. This means Alibaba is no longer the member of the anti-counterfeit group – which works to halt the production of counterfeit copies in the fashion industry. “Global problems demand global solutions”, he said.
The storm has bared the deep loathing some harbor for a company heralded as one of communist China’s greatest capitalist success stories.
Critics, however, fear Alibaba will use IACC membership to gain legitimacy while papering over fundamental flaws in the way it does business. Alibaba has called the related lawsuits filed against the company “wasteful litigation”.
The suspension came only about a month after the company became the first e-commerce member of the nonprofit global organization that fights counterfeit products and piracy. The foundation has received grants of $10,000 from the anti-counterfeiting coalition every year since 2012, tax filings show.
The Wall Street Journal cited Michael Kors as saying in a letter to the IACC board that Alibaba’s admission provides “cover to our most risky and damaging adversary”.
In a statement, the coalition said the family connections had been disclosed and the contracts were fairly valued.
In a letter, the board of directors said “certain aspects of the disclosed conflict” were “not communicated to the board because of a weakness in our corporate governance procedures”.
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The IACC’s annual spring conference is slated to take place May 18-20 in Orlando, Florida.
