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

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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]