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Judge Says ICANN Must Disclose Documents
July 29, 2002
The organization that manages the Internet's addressing system must hand over confidential financial records to one of its fiercest critics before the week's end, a California judge ruled today.
California Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs ruled that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has until Friday to turn over its financial documents to Karl Auerbach, an ICANN director and longtime critic of the organization.
Auerbach was elected in 2000 by North American Internet users to serve as their representative within ICANN. Since that time, Auerbach says he has been trying - to no avail - to obtain access to the organization's financial records.
In March, Auerbach sued ICANN, claiming that California law required the organization to provide him access to the records.
Although ICANN makes decisions that affect Internet users worldwide, it is incorporated as a nonprofit company in California and is bound by the corporation laws of that state. The court ruled that California nonprofits have no legal standing to restrict directors' rights to inspect confidential documents.
Shortly after Auerbach filed his lawsuit, ICANN President Stuart Lynn publicly decried the move, saying that ICANN was not stopping Auerbach from viewing the records in question. Had Auerbach simply signed a confidentiality agreement drafted by an internal ICANN committee, he could have viewed ICANN records without getting the courts involved, Lynn said in March.
More at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17807-2002Jul29.html.html
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