I haven't been able to track down this decision yet, but from the
description of it in the BNA e-news, it looks like strong evidence for
why ICANN cannot successfully "self-govern" as it claims when the MOU
expires.  If ICANN is not a "government actor" or something similar,
which must be accountable to civil liberties, the public will have very
little civil liberty protections online.

Robin


9TH CIRCUIT RULES ICANN NOT A GOVERNMENT ACTOR

BNA's Electronic Commerce & Law Report reports that the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that ICANN is not a
government actor and thus is not subject to the First
Amendment. The decision has been designated as unpublished.
Case name is McNeil v. Verisign. Article at
<http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/eip.nsf/is/a0b0r3u1j3>