That's generally right, Jorge.  ICANN is not a true membership  
organization.  Interesting that as a nonproft organization, ICANN is  
not allowed to make any profit for its board members.  However, ICANN  
contracts are the only reason some businesses are in operation  
today.  So it is ironic that ICANN is not allowed to make money for  
its managers (board), but it is largely responsible for doling out  
giant contracts to other businesses so they can make a giant  
profit.   Thus ICANN is a nonprofit, that makes a lot of profit for a  
lot of people.  And this is why ICANN is crawling with lobbyists and  
attorneys for hire to get a policy advantage for a particular  
economic interest.

Robin


On Oct 3, 2009, at 4:39 PM, Jorge Amodio wrote:

> Thanks for the clarification Robin. Then am I right saying that  
> besides the
> BoD under the law the organization is not accountable to its  
> constituents ?
>
> Regards
> Jorge
>
> On Sat, Oct 3, 2009 at 5:39 PM, Robin Gross <[log in to unmask]>  
> wrote:
>> On Oct 3, 2009, at 7:21 AM, Jorge Amodio wrote:
>>
>> [...]
>> I'm not an attorney so correct me if I'm wrong. As far as I know  
>> being ICANN
>> a non-profit CA corp with no institutional "members", legally  
>> besides to the
>> Attorney General, ICANN still is accountable to ... nobody ?
>> [...]
>>
>> Technically, ICANN is a California not-for-profit corporation so  
>> it is
>> primarily accountable to its corporate board of directors.  Under  
>> the law,
>> the buck stops with them because they have a fiduciary obligation  
>> to make
>> informed decisions that serve the public interest.   If they fail,  
>> one could
>> appeal to the California Attorney General's Office who over-sees  
>> California
>> nonprofits.  One could also complain to the US Federal government  
>> because of
>> ICANN's 501(c)(3) tax status it must be meet certain standards of
>> accountability and public benefit.   And ICANN can be sued in  
>> legal courts,
>> most easily in California, just like any other nonprofit  
>> corporation for
>> breach of its legal obligations.
>> Robin
>>
>> IP JUSTICE
>> Robin Gross, Executive Director
>> 1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA  94117  USA
>> p: +1-415-553-6261    f: +1-415-462-6451
>> w: http://www.ipjustice.org     e: [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>




IP JUSTICE
Robin Gross, Executive Director
1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA  94117  USA
p: +1-415-553-6261    f: +1-415-462-6451
w: http://www.ipjustice.org     e: [log in to unmask]