I post this on systems as I believe it to be correct. I also repost
a copy of your private mail to me as I believe you made it private as a
courtesy to the list and myself. However your point is so well made
and so important to so many I thought it right to make public.
And so I believe I join in your conclusion. My question *Who owns
ICANN?* is not necessarily stupid (thankyou Ken) but begs the answer which
we all need. If your conclusion is correct then we must have members.
However my reading of our corporate documents seems to indicate we do not
have members.
Alexander I do not believe we can have it both ways or noways.
I believe that Mr. Sotiris would weigh in here and tell us that the At-Large
legally owns ICANN and without it there is no ownership and therefor the
business of the non-profit corp should be wound up by the State of California.
Thanks again for your tireless efforts, and thanks again for your hard
work as a monitor.
Eric,
you wrote to Ken:
> So if the questions are so stupid what are the stupid answers?
I will give
> you
> a stupid one hundred dollars if you can show me stupid proof as to
who really
> and legally owns ICANN.
my posting was really an attempt to answer it:
Tax-exempt nonprofit public benefit corporations have
no "owner", they only have directors. Neither the
Postel trust nor MCI, neither Jones Day nor Microsoft
nor the Agency for Black Helicopters and Conspiracies
own ICANN -- the term makes *no sense* for nonprofit
public benefit corporations!
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=corp&codebody=&hits=All
E.g. read Califonia Corporations Code 5410:
"No [nonprofit public benefit] corporation shall make
any distribution." The term "distribution" is explained in 5049:
"'Distribution' means the distribution of any gains, profits
or dividends to any member as such." --> so no share holders,
no dividends, that's why it's called *public* benefit and
*non*profit.
If you don't believe me, have a look at the Online Compendium
of Federal and State Regulations for U.S. Nonprofit Organizations
http://www.paperglyphs.com/nporegulation/glossary.html:
Nonprofit organization, Nonprofit corporation, NPO
An organization in which no owner, stockholder or trustee
shares in profits and losses, and which exists not to earn
revenue but to promote a mission that typically (but not
necessarily) enhances the public welfare. These organizations
are often eligible for tax-exempt status, but not all
nonprofit organizations are tax-exempt, nor can contributions
to all nonprofit organizations be treated as deductions for
income tax purposes
So, just like all other nonprofit public benefit corporations,
ICANN *has* no owner! The question "who owns ICANN" is
understandable, but it simply makes no sense when you know
how nonprofit public benefit corporations are organized.
Best regards,
/// Alexander