Related Quotes
VRSN
29.92
-0.44
delayed 20 mins - disclaimer
Quote Data provided by Reuters
Internet Body Director Sues for Access
to Records
Mon Mar 18, 2:15 PM ET
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters)
- The group that oversees the Internet's domain-name system was slapped with a lawsuit
Monday by one of its directors, who says he has been denied access to the organization's
corporate records.
Karl Auerbach, a director of the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers, filed suit in Los Angeles to gain access to travel
records, payroll figures, and other day-to-day details of the organization that oversees
the system that guides e-mail and Web browsers around cyberspace.
Auerbach said
ICANN (news - web sites) staff has not allowed him to view the records, as required
under California law.
"ICANN management has denied me the tools I need to exercise
independent judgement and fulfill my duties as director," Auerbach said in a statement.
Staff members have sought to get Auerbach to sign a confidentiality agreement
before viewing the records, a move he has resisted.
An ICANN spokeswoman was not
immediately available for comment.
The move is the latest in a long-running battle
between Auerbach and ICANN staff, whom he says wields too much control over the organization.
One of the few ICANN directors chosen by direct elections, Auerbach has been a
frequent critic of the organization and often casts the lone dissenting vote on ICANN
decisions.
Formed in 1998 to take control of the Internet's domain-name system
from the U.S. government, ICANN has overseen the introduction of seven new domains
to join the likes of ".com" and ".org," and has encouraged start-up domain-name retailers
to challenge the monopoly once held by Network Solutions Inc., now a unit of VeriSign
Inc .
But the nonprofit body has drawn criticism from those who say it does not
make decisions in a transparent fashion, and does not hold itself accountable to
the 500 million people who use the global computer network.
At a meeting in Accra,
Ghana, last week, the ICANN board said individuals users should have a say in the
organization, but did not commit to future elections.
The Electronic Frontier
Foundation, a cyberspace civil-liberties group, is representing Auerbach in the suit.