ICANN (incorporated in California), is no more a charity than CIRA (incorporated in Canada and subject to CNPA), while each is subject to acts that each is incorporated under. In Canada, federally incorporated not for profit corporations – exempt from “tax” – have 3 sub categories: charity, soliciting and non soliciting corporation. In California, the applicable Act lumps public purpose and charity into one, recognising that any corporation does not have to do both, but to get a tax exemption must do at least one. In Canada, CRA recognises charities and monitors their activities.
Having reviewed ICANN’s financial disclosure, I could not find any charitable giving. I also want to draw your attention to
https://www.icann.org/en/announceme...-fiscal-year-ending-30-june-2020-11-5-2021-en and the following statement
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The publication of ICANN's financial and tax information is part of ICANN's fundamental commitment to accountability and transparency. The community and the public are invited to review these tax returns and send any questions to planning@icann.org.
That does beg the question what is a charity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charitable_organization states
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“A charitable organization[1] or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
• The legal definition of a charitable organization (and of charity) varies between countries and in some instances regions of the country. The regulation, the tax treatment, and the way in which charity law affects charitable organizations also vary. Charitable organizations may not use any of their funds to profit individual persons or entities.[2] (However, some charitable organizations have come under scrutiny for spending a disproportionate amount of their income to pay the salaries of their leadership).”
A soliciting corporation gets grants from government and/or donations and is subject to more disclosure and scrutiny as it gets a public resource. CIRA gets neither but it has an exclusive license granted by the government to operate the “.ca” domain. What is the value of that exclusive license? Is it in effect a grant in kind (using a government owned resource) and therefore should be subject to far more scrutiny and oversight than say a publicly traded corporation? What would a “Go Daddy” pay for that exclusive license?
While CIRA does not look like a typical philanthropic organisation, when it gives out grants – over $9 million so far – is it advancing a social well-being agenda, acting in public interest (as per its mandate and letters patent)?
When CIRA states that it represents Canada internationally and is building a trusted internet what does CIRA look like to you? A commercial enterprise (For Profit and privately funded) or a corporation in the public interest, to better Canadians and funded by Canadians?
Having reviewed ICANN’s financial disclosure, I could not find any charitable giving. I also want to draw your attention to
https://www.icann.org/en/announceme...-fiscal-year-ending-30-june-2020-11-5-2021-en and the following statement
•
The publication of ICANN's financial and tax information is part of ICANN's fundamental commitment to accountability and transparency. The community and the public are invited to review these tax returns and send any questions to planning@icann.org.
ICANN publishes its compensation for all executives and even its tax returns. What is CIRA hiding?