|
|
|
||||
|
||||||
|
For Immediate Release: Monday, July 29, 2002Court Grants Access to Net Regulatory Corp RecordsDirector Successful in Challenge to ICANN's ObstructionElectronic Frontier Foundation Media ReleaseLos Angeles - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Director Karl Auerbach prevailed in his lawsuit against ICANN today, gaining access to records management had improperly withheld for more than 18 months. Rejecting ICANN's claim that it could impose vague and broad restrictions on Auerbach's access, Judge Dzintra Janavs ordered ICANN to provide the records within a week. "I'm pleased that I will finally be able to do what I was elected to do - to oversee ICANN's activities," said Auerbach, who the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) represented. Auerbach began asking for corporate records in November 2000, shortly after he was voted as the North American Elected Director of ICANN. After ICANN management delayed for nine months, it granted Auerbach conditional access to corporate records if he signed a "policy" -- which the Board of Directors had not ratified -- that placed his ability to access and copy the records at ICANN's sole discretion. "California law is clear that directors must oversee the operations of a non-profit corporation," explained Auerbach's lead attorney, James Tyre. "We are pleased the judge recognized that ICANN was essentially trying to deny Mr. Auerbach his rightful access under the law." The court's tentative ruling stated that ICANN's inspection procedures "unreasonably restrict directors' access to corporate records and deprive directors of inspection rights afforded them by law." "Auerbach's intent to reform ICANN is not a legitimate basis for limiting his role as director," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "Today's headlines exposing rampant corporate fraud demonstrate the need for careful oversight by directors." EFF is scanning in the tentative ruling and will soon make it available online. The case, entitled Auerbach v. ICANN, case no. BS074771, was filed in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County. Links:
For this release:
For the court's ruling:
Documents related to the Auerbach v. ICANN case: About EFF:The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most-linked-to websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/ Contact:Cindy Cohn
Legal Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation cindy@eff.org +1 415 436-9333 x108 (office), +1 415 823-2148 (cell) James S. Tyre |
|
|
|
||
|
|
||||||
|
|
Please send any questions or comments to webmaster@eff.org. |
|||||