Tnx to Dave for the info on the American Samoa assn. I can understand the awkwardness of not providing them a letter such as RSGB did with PIARA, and the hassles of make-work that might come up from time to time. But -- didn't the DXCC revamp committee have valid reasons for including the IARU society test in the mix for a "Point 1" country? I don't claim any great pool of knowledge or recollection. I wasn't a member of that committee but I did sit in on a number of their meetings..... There were reasons for having IARU membership serve as grounds for parent country status. If ANY of them still have validity, and if methods exist to thwart inappropriate applications to IARU, wouldn't it be worth occasional embarrassment and hassle to maintain the rules as is? I'd like to hear more committee members' recollections of the reasons for including the IARU society test. Also as a sidelight Dave (or Rod), do you think there was an element of a "gift to DXers" counteracting what would (or should) have otherwise been a refusal to sanction PIARA, in RSGB's decision? Bruce