Re: [ga] .com, and possible "material breach" of the contract

[Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

You like Richard forgot about Registrants also largely not being represented.

The answer to your first question is yes as ICANN is supposed to be
a non-profit Calaifornia Corp. As such, 2/3's of it's funding is required
to be from donations. As registration fees cannot be considered a
legitimate donation, ICANN could be challenged regarding such
fees/tax accordingly. As this is an old issue which was hotly debated
over 3 years ago now via Esther Dysons suggestion of this such a
fee, perhaps ICANN BoD and Staff members have thought
such had been long forgotten.

kidsearch wrote:

> Good point Richard. It is akin to a tx and therefore requires ICANN to have
> an active constituency that represents the users that will pay the tax.
>
> I believe it would hold up in court. That may be the action that has to be
> taken. Besides ICANN would cave to lawsuits. That is evident.
>
> Some of you with more legal experience please comment.
>
> 1. Can this annual price hike be related to a tax in the legal sense?
> 2. If so, does law require representation in ICANN or does our supposed
> representation in the US government suffice?
> 3. If yes to #2, how does that affect representation for non-us users?
> 4. If the answers to #1 and #2 were yes, would it hold up in a court of law?
> 5. Even if the answers were not clear on #1 and #2, would a lawsuit shine
> enough light on the subject and cause enough concern among the ICANN BoD,
> that it might be worth the effort?
>
> Chris McElroy, President,
> Kidsearch Network
> http://www.KidsearchNetwork.org
> http://www.MissingChildrenBlog.com
> http://www.RunawayTeens.org
> http://www.disastervictims.org
> http://thingsthatjustpissmeoff.blogspot.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Richard Henderson" <richardhenderson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "General Assembly of the DNSO" <ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Cc: "Jeff Williams" <jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "George Kirikos"
> <gkirikos@xxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2005 9:40 AM
> Subject: Re: [ga] .com, and possible "material breach" of the contract
>
> > What concerns me (among other things) is that this 'taxation' is not
> > accompanied by representation on behalf of the people being taxed.
> >
> > It is abundantly clear that ICANN has excluded ordinary internet users
> from
> > meaningful representation in its processes. Even its supposed body for
> > individual internet users (ALAC) bans the membership of... individuals!
> >
> > Prior to that, ICANN's motives and intentions were transparent when it
> > expelled the elected representatives of the At Large movement from its
> Board
> > Room.
> >
> > Taxation without representation is more like the start of tyranny. Hence
> > Verisign's newly-acquired powers to raise costs to registrants on an
> annual
> > basis have been granted without reference to the people who will actually
> be
> > footing the bill.
> >
> > ICANN's craven surrender to vested interests, and its rejection of
> bottom-up
> > democracy, are profoundly disturbing.
> >
> > Yrs,
> >
> > Richard Henderson
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jeff Williams" <jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >
> > > What's very disturbing to me... is that as ICANN is
> > > supposed to be a non-profit corporation it... has the right to
> > > collect fees (Basically a Tax) on registrants...
> >
> >

Regards,
--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
"Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" -
   Abraham Lincoln

"Credit should go with the performance of duty and not with what is
very often the accident of glory" - Theodore Roosevelt

"If the probability be called P; the injury, L; and the burden, B;
liability depends upon whether B is less than L multiplied by
P: i.e., whether B is less than PL."
United States v. Carroll Towing  (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947]
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