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Board member sues ICANN

Open the books - Auerbach

ICANN board member Karl Auerbach is suing the organization in order to gain access to corporate records.

"Directors are in charge and need to have access," he told The Register today. The suit has been filed by Auerbach's attorney and is backed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Auerbach says he has been prevented from exercising his responsibility as a director of a public benefit corporation under Californian law by examining the secretive organization's machinations.

Auerbach cites several gagging orders, in the form of Non Disclosure Agreements and other obligations, raised by board chair Stuart Lynn. However he points out that existing company law already prevents him from using the information obtains irresponsibly:-

"What Stuart Lynn fails to recognize is that I have an obligation under law to protect that confidentiality … if I violate that I'm breaking non-profit legislation"

Efforts to reach a compromise have failed, he told us. Auerbach raised the matter shortly after he was elected to the board in 2000, and we covered them in some detail at the time here.

"I look at them pumping way too much money into the travel, and into the law firm, and it's my business judgement that they're not getting value for money," he told us. Auerbach has also been denied access on conflict of interest matters.

ICANN told us that no one would be available for comment until the head of PR returns from Accra, Ghana where the board met last week. ®

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