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-----
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2009 7:39 PM
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 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
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