Yes, Robin, when people like me say that ICANN isn't accountable to anyone we know that the Board has ultimate decision making power but the issue is to whom are THEY accountable? A corporate board is accountable to the shareholders. Most Cal. Non Profit Public Benefits are accountable to a membership. ICANN has no members. > -----Original Message----- > From: Non-Commercial User Constituency [mailto:NCUC- > [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jorge Amodio > Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 7:39 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: [NCUC-DISCUSS] OReilly Media on "ICANN without restraints: > the difficulties of coordinating stakeholders" > > 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] > > > > > >