Jul 31, 2002 : ICANN Reacts to Court Ruling

📅 July 31, 2002 - A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ordered on Tuesday that ICANN (icann.org) director Karl Auerbach should be allowed to inspect certain of the organization's documents, but must respect ICANN's confidentiality designations.

ICANN says that, while it believes parts of the Court's analysis to be incorrect, the overall effect of the ruling is similar to the ICANN procedure rejected by Auerbach last October.
Following the rejection, Auerbach filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles challenging ICANN's procedure. The Judge's ruling Tuesday said that California law does not allow non-profit organizations in the state to place restrictions or conditions on its director's inspections rights, but allows courts to place restrictions after a demand for inspection has been refused.
ICANN says it disagrees with the court's rejection of its position, and will consider appealing the decision after it reviews the written judgment the court will issue next week.
The court also ruled that by Friday, ICANN must provide Auerbach with electronic copies of material he requested that is designated non-confidential by ICANN. But the court said it will decide whether Auerbach may publish materials that ICANN considers confidential, and said that his inspections of confidential material must take place at ICANN's offices.
The ultimate effect of the order is similar to the ICANN procedure originally rejected by Auerbach, giving him the full right to inspect all documents at ICANN's offices, and requiring that disagreements about his right to publish those materials to be resolved by a court.