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Subject: OFF: CFJ 818 Final Judgement: TRUE
To: nomic-official@teleport.com
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 95 10:34:14 MET
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Status: RO

=======================================================================

			FINAL JUDGEMENT CFJ 818
The Rules in general should be interpreted that, if the alleged
Compact of the Mousetrap Organization exists, it cannot contain the
Player Swann within its Jurisdiction.

=======================================================================

Judge:		KoJen
Judgement:	TRUE
Speaker:	Michael
Judgement:	TRUE
Cotc:		Andre
Judgement:	TRUE
Justiciar:	Steve (must delegate eir duties)
pro-Justiciar:	Morendil
Judgement:	FALSE
Final Judgement:TRUE

Eligible:	Andre, Chuck, Coco, Dave Bowen, Erick, favor, KoJen, 
		Michael, Morendil, Oerjan, SugarWater, Vanyel, Vlad, 
		Zefram

Not Eligible:	
Caller:		Swann
Barred:		Kelly, elJefe, Steve
On Hold:	

Effects:	KoJen gains 5 Points for speedy Judgement
		Andre gains 5 Points for speedy Judgement
		Morendil gains 5 Points for speedy Judgement
		Michael gains 3 Points for timely Judgement

======================================================================

History:
  Called by Swann, 31 Oct 1995, 00:34 -0500
  Assigned to KoJen, 31 Oct 1995, 14:32 MET
  Judged TRUE by KoJen, 2 Nov 1995, 16:03 -0500
  Appealed by Kelly, 4 Nov 1995, 21:08 EST5
  Appealed by Morendil, 5 Nov 1995, 17:26 +0001
  Appealed by elJefe, 6 Nov 1995, 09:39 -0500
  Assigned to Kelly, Andre and Steve, timestamp lost
  Delegated to Morendil as pro-Justiciar, ?? Nov 1995, 18:19 +1100 (EST)
  Judged TRUE by Andre, 8 Nov 1995, 16:37 MET
  Judged FALSE by Morendil, 9 Nov 1995, 01:05 +0001
  Judged TRUE by Michael, 10 Nov 1995, 18:31 GMT

=======================================================================

Arguments:

Player Kelly has alleged that Swann is under the Jurisdiction of a
Compact belonging to an alleged Orginization known as Moustrap.  Kelly
has since sent a message to the Players in this alleged Jurisdiction
alleging that I Violayted said Compact.

Below, as evidence, I present the message I refer to.  It was the first
I had ever heard of "Mousetrap" and it is an obvious attempt to hijack
the Notary's office by including me in the Jurisdiction of a Compact I
have never seen or consented to belong to.

The question is: Is such a thing possible?  Are the rules so constructed
that any arbitrary Organization's Compact can claim Jurisdiction over
any Player w/o that Player's consent or knowledge?  Obviously Kelly and
the other members of the Threat believe this is so and are attempting to
exploit this loophole for their own ends.

So what do the Rules say about the Jurisdiction of Organizations?

>From Rule 1530:

     "A Compact can only have Jurisdiction over Players permitted to
      it by the Rules governing its Class of Organization.
      [...]
      This Rule takes precedence over any other Rule governing
      Compacts."

That is fairly clear.  A given Organization can only claim Jurisdiction
over those players the Rules grant the Organization the right to claim
Jurisdiction over.  Specifically the Rles pertaining to the Class of
Organization. 

This means that if the Mousetrap Organization belongs an undefined
Class, it can have Jurisdiction over _no_ Players, because there are no Rules
permitting its Class of Organization to have Jurisdiction over _any_
Players.

Unfortunately, Kelly has failed to inform me of what Class of
Organization Mousetrap is, so I must address each possibility in turn.

If Moustrap is of an undefined Class, its Jurisdiction is a set containing
no Players, and therefore cannot contain Swann.

If Mousetrap is a Group, Swann cannot come under its Jurisdiction
because Swann sent no message to the Vizier of Mousetrap and is also a
member of the Misanthopists' Group.

>From 719:

      "ii) No Player shall become a Member of a Group without eir
           sending a request for Membership to the Vizier of that
           Group.
      iii) A Player may never be a Member of more than one Group."

If Mousetrap is a Contest, Swann cannot come under its Jurisdiction
because Swan made no application to become a Contestant, paid no entry
fee, and did not consent to be Contestmaster.

>From 1539:

     " i) How a Contestmaster is replaced. No person may become
       Contestmaster without eir consent. [...]
       A Player becomes a Contestant by notifying the Contestmaster and
       paying the prescribed Entry Fee to the Contest Fund."

If Mousetrap is a Contract, Swann cannot come under its Jurisdiction
because Swann was neither a Foundor of Mousetrap, nor did Swann notify
the Notary of any desire to become Party to it.

>From 1455:

     "The Foundors of a Contract must be the set of all Parties to the
      Contract. [...] If a Party is being added to, or removed from, the
      Contract, the change only has effect if _that_ Party sends the
      notification."

The case of Barerbonds is analogous to Contracts.  Swann sent no message
to the Notary requesting to be part of the Jurisdicton of such a Compact:

>From 1499:

     "A Bearerbond is a Nomic Entity which obeys all the rules
      for a Contract. [q.v. avove, Contract Foundors] [...]
      To change the Rolebearer for some Role in a Bearerbond, the
      current Rolebearer and the new Rolebearer notify the Notary
      of the transaction, clearly indicating which Role in which
      Bearerbond is involved [...]"

Since Swann cannot be forced into a Jurisdiction of any existing
Class of Organization, and Organizations without defined Classes have
no Jurisdiction for Swann to be part of, Swann therefore cannot be
part of the Jurisdiction of Organization Mousetrap's Compact, as Kelly
claims in eir message.

This is TRUE regardless of the existence of Mousetrap itself, which is a
separate legal question for a future CFJ.



========================================================================

Decision & Reasoning Judge:

My decision on CFJ 818 is TRUE.

I.e., that the Compact of the Mousetrap Organization, if it exists, cannot
contain Swann within its Jurisdiction.

Let us assume, for the purposes of this CFJ, that the Mousetrap Organization
does indeed exist, and that its Contract reads as it has been published in the
Public Forum by members of the Triumvirate. (Actually, one or both of the above
are almost certainly false for other reasons, but this will be ignored for the
purpose of this CFJ. See the Appendix for a demonstration of why other types of
Organizations besides Groups, Contests, and Contracts do not exist.)

The question becomes, can Statute 9 (assuming that it exists) compel Swann to
fall under its jurisdiction?

We know that Mousetrap, if it exists, is not a Group, not a Contest, and not a
Contract. So, what kind of Organization is it? None of the above. (Remember,
we're suspending for the moment the impossibility of having other types of
Organizations.)

R1530 sez:

>      A Compact can only have Jurisdiction over Players permitted to
>      it by the Rules governing its Class of Organization.

What are the Rules governing the non-Group, non-Contract, non-Compact Class of
Organization?

None. There are no Rules which force Swann to be under this Jurisdiction.

It has been claimed by some that R116 is the Rule which governs this Class.
However, this is a gross stretch of the term "to Govern". Merely stating that
"the unprohibited is permitted" is not a phrase which I can accept as
"governing a Class of Organization". 

Especially because we have examples of Rules which *do* explicitely govern a
class of Organization. Namely, R766 governs the class known as Group. Rule 1446
govers the Contest. R1455 governs the Contract. Each of these very specifically
and unambiguously defines which Players are under the jurisdiction of an
Organization of that class.

In other words, Rules 1446, 1455, and 766 serve as examples for what is meant
for a Rule to "governs a Class of Organization". Had there been *no* such Rule,
then we could pehaps take some license and look harder for rules which *might*
be interpreted as such. However, since there are such Rules, and they are
unambiguous, it is quite apparent that R116 should not be interpreted as such.


Apppendix: Why the Above Reasoning is Somewhat Irrelevant, Because the
Mousetrap Never Existed in the First Place.

R1528 sez:

>       Let there be a set of Nomic Entities known as Organizations.

Cannot the "set of Nomic Entities known as Organizations" (call it S) be itself
a Nomic Entity? Of course it can. R1011 sez:

>       Any Entity which is created by the Nomic Rules, and which exists
>       only within the context of Agora Nomic (such as Points, Votes,
>       Currencies and any Official Records) may *not* be changed by any
>       action other than those specified by the Rules.

Is S created by Nomic Rules? Yes. R1528 effectively creates it by the phrase
"Let there be...".

Does S exist only within the context of Agora Nomic? Yes. How could a set of
Nomic Entities exist in any contect other than Nomic?

Therefore, the set of Organizations is a Nomic Entity.

To add to this set (by adding another class of Organization) would be to
arbitrarily change a Nomic Entity, prohibited by R116.

We must also remember, in divining the meaning of R116, that R116 merely
"permits" the unprohibited. It does not make "possible" the unprohibited. This
has been discussed before, and I thought was generally accepted. Even if it
were "permitted" to add to the set, it would still be "impossible", because
there are no provisions for doing so.


-- KoJen



========================================================================

Decision & Reasoning CotC:

I uphold the Judge's decision of TRUE.

I also agree with most of the original Judge's reasoning. It is clear that
the Mousetrap is of a Class not defined in the Rules, which on itself is not
disallowed, but being of a Class not defined in the Rules, it can have
Jurisdiction over no Players, as Rule 1530 says:

"A compact can only have Jurisdiction over Players permitted to
it by the Rules governing its Class or Organization."

It is my feeling that Rule 116 cannot be used here. The main reason is that
Rule 116 is much too wide to be counted as 'the Rules governing its 
[Mousetrap's] Class of Organization'. Another main reason is that the 
Jurisdiction of a Compact is not 'not prohibited or regulated by a Rule'. It 
IS regulated by a Rule, namely 1530. And extending Mousetrap's Jurisdiction
to include Swann IS forbidden by a Rule, namely 1530. In other words: Rule
116 simply doesn't apply.

Clerk of the Courts,

Andre

======================================================================

Decision & Reasoning Pro-Justiciar

Decision: FALSE


Introductory comments

The Mousetrap, whatever legal status that entity has, was in recent 
days the source of much debate and activity. Its existence first 
became manifest when a Move of dubious legality, but which went 
uncontested, refused to acknowledge as legal the results of an 
Election conducted in accordance with the Rules.

Much of the debated that ensued, and which continues at the time of 
this writing, revolved upon what interpretation we are to give to 
Rule 116, and specifically to the words "govern" and "regulate", as 
well as "permitted".

Let me know break from that impersonal tone which I find as tedious 
as you do. As a New Player, I have learned much (and gained much
respect for some older Players) from that debate. My conclusion is 
that the Mousetrap, in attempting to point out flaws in the new 
Organization Rules, put a lot of weight to bear on Rule 116, and that 
a clarification is necessary. I have decided on an interpretation of 
that Rule that seems sensible; the results of this CFJ hopefully will 
assist in interpreting further Moves abusing Rule 116, and will 
perhaps be incorporated into it if it's really useful.

My interpretation of Rule 116 :

---
Rule 116 governs all play, if only because Players are required to 
obey all Rules.

Therefore, all constructions of the form 'if the set of Rules governing
X...", when no Rules specifically govern X, shall be taken to refer 
to a set of Rules of one element, Rule 116. Thereafter, <> will serve 
as shorthand for "the set of Rules governing X", and thus Rule 116,
when the set of Rules referred to is empty.

1) Constructions of the form "if <> permit Y" shall be taken to mean
that Y is permitted. This follows directly from 116.
2) Constructions of the form "if <> so specifies, Y is permitted" 
shall be taken to mean that Y is not permitted. This is because Rule 
116 does not specify anything.
3) Constructions of the form "as defined in <>" shall be taken to 
mean that whatever Entity should be defined does not exist.
---

I take as a given that there are no Rules specifically governing the 
Class of Organization that Mousetrap, if it exists, belongs to.

We shall now apply that interpretation to all Rules relevant to
Mousetrap, as a demonstration that this interpretation allows
to make legal decisions without recourse to logical or mathematical 
arguments, and that these decisions can be taken easily and 
unambiguously :

1501 : "An Organization is Public unless the Rules defining its 
Class permit (or require) it to be Private" : Mousetrap is permitted 
to be a Private Organization.

1528 : "An Organization only possess [sic] Treasuries if the Rules 
governing that Organization specify so" : the Mousetrap, if it 
exists, cannot have Treasuries.

1529 : "A Compact may only possess those elements allowed it by the 
Rules defining its Class of Organization. If these Rules do not 
specify, the Compact may only consist of Statutes" : the Compact of 
Mousetrap, if it exists, may only contain Statutes.

1530 : "A Compact can only have Jurisdiction over Players permitted 
to it by the Rules governing its Class of Organization" : the Compact 
of Mousetrap, if it exists, can potentially include any Player in its 
Jurisdiction. My Judgement of FALSE follows.

1531/1532 : "The Administrator and Executor must come from within
the Jurisdiction of the Organization's Compact unless otherwise 
specified by the Rules governing its Class" : in the case of 
Mousetrap, if it exists, they must indeed.

1533 : "The set of required Foundors is specified within the Rules 
defining the particular Class of Organization" : there is no set of
Foundors for Mousetrap that can possibly meet the requirements
specified in Rule 116, for it does not specify any, thus Mousetrap
does not exist. This is an application of case 2) of my 
interpretation. All other examples were derived from 1).

In conclusion, my Judgement of FALSE on CFJ 818 is a special
case of the general interpretation stated above.

======================================================================

Decision & Reasoning Speaker:

Judgement: TRUE

Argument:  I choose to entirely ignore the issue of whether or not
           the Mousetrap organisation exists.  This issue is being
addressed as I write by other Judgements and Appeals.  Of course, if
it doesn't exist, then the Judgement becomes TRUE because the
implication's antecedent is false.  However, to jump to a conclusion
on the basis of a proposition whose truth-hood is before the courts is
very dubious practice, so I will not consider this possibility, and
will instead develop my argument after assuming that the Mousetrap
does exist.

If the Mousetrap does exist, its Jurisdiction is only allowed to cover
those Players "permitted to it by the Rules governing its Class of
Organization" (1530/0).  Those who argue in favour of the Mousetrap's
existence, and its ability to do what is claimed of it, posit the view
that the phrase "the Rules governing its Class of Organisation"
denotes a set of rules that includes R116.

The basis for this claim is that the whole ruleset governs how the
game of Agora is played in its entirety, so all rules in the ruleset
must be considered as possible candidates for something which governs
a particular Class of Organisation.  It is true that R116 does not
explicitly say of itself that it does not govern the Class of
Organisation that Mousetrap purports to belong to, but nor does it say
that it does.  What then is the situation?

Let us consider some other rules first.  Perhaps the decision we reach
on the question of whether or not they govern Classes of Organisation,
and the manner in which we reach this decision will help us decide how
to treat R116. 

Because it appears first in the published ruleset, let us look first
at R1020 ("The Official Name of this Nomic shall be Agora.")  Does
this govern the Class of Organisation to which Mousetrap is supposed
to belong?  My answer is a ready "no".  But then, perhaps this is not
so surprising; this is not a particularly regulatory or "governing"
rule.  It merely states a fact about the "Platonic" nature of our
game.  Let us move on then. 

Skipping a few pages we come to R1497 "Truth in Advertising".  This is
clearly a rule which does govern things.  It explicitly sets out to
limit and control the behaviour of Players.  But does it govern
Classes of Organisations?  Again, it seems fair to answer "no".  Of
course, Classes of Organisation are part of the game, and the game's
behaviour and development are controlled by its rules as a whole, but
it would be a particularly stubborn debater who claimed that R1497
governed Classes of Organisations in any meaningful way.  After all,
if we were to remove R1497, would the permitted behaviour of
Organisations and their Classes change in any way?  Again, the answer
must be "no".  Though the Players involved in Organisations might be
able to behave differently in the absence of R1497,  the Organisations
themselves would not "behave" any differently. 

But what does it mean for an Organisation (let alone its Class) to
"behave"?  Permit me, if you will, a digression to investigate the
properties of those rules which we can all agree definitely do govern
a Class of Organisation.  Scrolling backwards from the bottom of the
ruleset (as good a direction as any other), I come first to R1455/1
"Contracts".  If any rules in the ruleset govern a Class of
Organisation, this must be one of them.  It begins by explicitly
asserting the existence of a Class of Organisations known as
Contracts, and then describes a number of properties which all
Contracts must share.

It would of course be a mistake to conclude that all rules governing
Classes of Organisation should look like this one.  I will not make
that claim, but I will note that this rule does regulate, restrict and
clarify the nature of the Contract Class of Organisation.  All of
these activities (regulation, restriction, &c) are consistent with the
commonly understood notion of "governing".  

Consider the Hypertext Webster's definition of "govern" (available at
http://c.gp.cs.cmu.edu:5103/prog/webster?govern): 
  gov.ern \'g*v-*rn\ \-*r-n*-b*l\ vb [ME governen, fr. OF governer,
fr. L gubernare to steer, govern, fr. Gk kybernan 
  1a: to exercise continuous sovereign authority over; esp : to
      control and direct the making and administration of policy in 
  1b: to rule without sovereign power usu. without having the
      authority to determine basic policy archaic 
  2a: MANIPULATE 
  2b: to control the speed of by automatic means 
  3a: to control, direct, or strongly influence the actions and
      conduct of
  3b: DETERMINE, REGULATE 
  3c: to hold in check : RESTRAIN 
  4 : to require (a word) to be in a certain case or mood {in English
      a transitive verb ~s a noun in the common case} 
  5 : to constitute a rule or law for 
      1: to prevail or have decisive influence : CONTROL 
      2: to exercise authorityrolling(sic) others. 

GOVERN implies the aim of keeping in a straight course or smooth
operation for the good of the individual and the whole; RULE more
often suggests the exercise of despotic or arbitrary power

                                -----

Clearly the first meaning given above is the meaning that applies to
bodies in government, parliaments, congresses, sovereigns etc.  Its
relevance to rules is minimal.  Meaning 1b is archaic and similar in
scope (though opposite in meaning!) to 1a in any case.  Meanings 2a
and 2b do not seem to have much relevance in the abstract world of
rules.  Meanings 3a,b and c do seem to be relevant.  Meaning 4 is
clearly irrelevant.  Meaning 5 with its subclauses also seems quite
relevant. 

Perhaps now we can approach R116 "Permissibility of the Unprohibited".
Its one sentence deserves full reproduction here: 

"Whatever is not prohibited or regulated by a Rule is permitted and
unregulated, with the sole exception of changing the Rules, which is
permitted only when a Rule or set of Rules explicitly or implicitly
permits it."

Does this rule govern Classes of Organisation?  If it does, then it
could be said to permit Mousetrap's jurisdiction to extend over Player
Swann.  If it does not, then even a brief inspection of the Ruleset
will not reveal any other rule that even comes close to permitting
this to happen. 

My answer to this important question is a (tentative) "no".  It is not
clear to me that R116 does any of the things that accord with our
understanding of the word "govern".  Does it control, direct, or
strongly influence the action and conduct of Classes of Organisations?
The only sense in which this might be said to happen, would be if we
first assumed that it was a rule that did so govern, because it might
then have an influence through rules such as R1530.  But this would be
a circular argument and of no merit therefore.

A simple examination of its words reveals that by contrast, R116
"permits" and (allow me a horrible neologism) "unregulates".  If
anything, this activity is the precise opposite of what we should
expect from something that "governs".

Therefore I conclude that R116 does not govern Mousetrap's Class of
Organisation (even assuming that it exists).

Judgement ends.

Michael.




========================================================================

Evidence:

Message #233 (239 is last):
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 95 09:24:57 EST5
>From: kelly@poverty.bloomington.in.us (Kelly Martin)
Subject: Re: BUS: Re: OFF: Elections
To: jlc@camex.com
Cc: gardner@aurora.cc.monash.edu.au, gb485@cleveland.freenet.edu


Most Honourable Triumvir elJefe!

In accordance with Rule 1457, I hereby report that I believe that the
Compact of the Mousetrap Organization has been Violated, to wit:

Statute 9 of the Mousetrap Compact states, and I quote:

9.  The Player Swann shall not accept the Office of Notary.  Should
    Swann become Notary by any means, e shall immediately resign that
    Office, naming any one of the Triumvirs as eir Successor, at
    Swann's choice.

Swann, however, has accepted the Office of Notary, in contravention
with this Compact, and further failed to resign the Office immediately
as required by this Statute.  Thus, Swann is in Criminal Violation of
this Statute and thus the Compact generally.

Swann became subject to the Jurisdiction of the Compact of the
Mousetrap on 25 Oct 1995 at 14:52 UTC, upon the adoption of a
Proscription extending the Jurisdiction of the Mousetrap to all
Players, as duly reported to the Acting Notary at that time.

I quote from Swann's message to the Public Forum to illustrate his
abject comtempt for the Statutes:

"Steven" == Steven A Swiniarski <gb485@cleveland.Freenet.Edu> writes:

Steven> I hereby accept the Office &c.

Respectfully submitted this 30th Day of October, Nineteen Hundred and
Ninety-Five,

Kelly Martin
Speaker and Triumvir of Agora Nomic
--
kelly martin                                 <kelly@poverty.bloomington.in.us>

=======================================================================

Rule 1530/0 (Mutable, MI=1)
Compacts: Jurisdiction

      The Jurisdiction of an Organization's Compact is a subset of the
      set of all Players. A Compact has no force to require, or
      oblige, anything of Players who are not within its Jurisdiction.
      (This does not absolve any Players of duties required of them by
      the Rules.)

      Within its Jurisdiction, a Compact's ability to dictate Players'
      activity is limited to the extent permitted by the Rules.

      A Compact can only have Jurisdiction over Players permitted to
      it by the Rules governing its Class of Organization.

      No Compact may have effect prior to its Creation, nor may it
      have effect subsequent to its dissolution.

      This Rule takes precedence over any other Rule governing
      Compacts.

History:
Created by Proposal 1760, Oct. 21 1995
========================================================================
Rule 719/1 (Mutable, MI=1)
Joining a Group

      A Player not affiliated with any Group may become a Member of a
      Group at any time after creation of the Group, subject to the
      following restrictions:

        i) Membership procedures in the Ordinances are void if they
           conflict with the Rules.
       ii) No Player shall become a Member of a Group without eir
           sending a request for Membership to the Vizier of that
           Group.
      iii) A Player may never be a Member of more than one Group.

      Other Rules, and the Ordinances, may Provide additional
      Restrictions on Membership.

History:
...
Amended(1) by Proposal 1760, Oct. 21 1995

=======================================================================

A Contest's Regulations consist only of Statutes, any one of
      which is referred to as a Regulation. No Player within
      Jurisdiction of a Contest's Regulations is bound by a Regulation
      or combination of Regulations that conflict with the Rules.

      The Regulations can specify the following:

        i) How a Contestmaster is replaced. No person may become
           Contestmaster without eir consent.  If left unspecified,
           the Contestmaster cannot change while the Contest exists.
       ii) How the Currencies in the Contest Fund shall be spent.  If
           this is not specified, they may only be spent when the
           Rules require it.
      iii) The amount of the Entry Fee for the Contest, in the form of
           units of any specific Currency.
       iv) Additional restrictions on Players to become Contestants,
           and conditions under which Contestants cease to be
           Contestants.

      A Player becomes a Contestant by notifying the Contestmaster and
      paying the prescribed Entry Fee to the Contest Fund.  A
      Contestant may quit a Contest at any time by so notifying the
      Contestmaster.  A Contestmaster may resign at any time by
      posting a message to that effect to the Public Forum, at which
      time e ceases to be Contestmaster.

========================================================================
Rule 1455/1 (Mutable, MI=1)
Contracts

      Let there be a class of Organization known as a Contract, whose
      Compact can also be referred to as a Contract.

      A Contract consists only of Warranties, which are known as its
      Terms, the Players within its Jurisdiction are known as the
      Parties to the Contract, and the Administrator for all Contracts
      is the Notary.

      Contracts do not possess Treasuries, nor do they possess
      Executors.

      Contracts have the legal force to impose penalties upon Parties
      that do not abide by the Terms of the Contract.  Parties that
      are unwilling or unable to abide by the Terms are said to be in
      Breach of the Contract.

      A Contract may specify the following:

        i) What actions the parties to the contract are required to
           perform, or are prohibited from performing, and under what
           conditions these requirements or prohibitions have force.
       ii) What penalties are imposed upon a party who Breaches the
           Contract.

      The Foundors of a Contract must be the set of all Parties to the
      Contract. In addition to what other Rules require them to
      provide to the Notary, the Foundors must also specify the
      following information:

       i) The identity of each Party to the Contract, each of whom
          must be named in the Terms of the Contract itself.

      Providing a unique Name for the Contract is optional, this takes
      precedence over the general requirements for information
      provided.  If no Name is provided, the Notary must provide a
      unique Name for the Contract and provide this Name to all
      Parties.  Parties can then change the Name as provided for in
      the Contract or in other Rules.

      A Contract is Private, and the Notary shall send a notification
      to all the Parties of a Contract As Soon As Possible after it
      has been legally  entered into.  The Contract shall be in force
      no sooner than the moment of that notification.

      A Contract ceases to have force at the moment it is dissolved in
      accordance with its Terms, or one or more of the Parties of the
      Contract ceases to  be a Player, or the Contract is breached as
      described elsewhere.

      When a Contract is changed (including any change in the Parties) a
      current Party to the Contract must inform the Notary of the
      change as soon as possible after it occurs.  If a Party is being
      added to, or removed from, the Contract, the change only has
      effect if _that_ Party sends the notification.  The Notary shall
      forward this notification of change to all current Parties of
      the Contract As Soon As Possible thereafter.

======================================================================
Rule 1499/1 (Mutable, MI=1)
Bearerbonds

      A Bearerbond is a Nomic Entity which obeys all the rules
      for a Contract, except:

        In the statement of the Bearerbond, one or more of the parties
        are identified only by unique abstract Role names (such as
        Bearer, or Party of the First Part and Party of the Second
        Part, or Feduciacrator, Honker, and Trusiast, or whatever),
        rather than being identified as a specific Player.  At all
        times, exactly one Player is associated with each Role; the
        Player associated with a particular Role is known as the
        Rolebearer for that Role in that Bearerbond.

        All the copies of the Bearerbond sent and received during
        the setting up of the Bearerbond shall be accompanied by a
        statement clearly identifying the initial Rolebearer for each
        Role in the Bearerbond.  All these statements must be
        identical.

        To change the Rolebearer for some Role in a Bearerbond, the
        current Rolebearer and the new Rolebearer notify the Notary
        of the transaction, clearly indicating which Role in which
        Bearerbond is involved (the notary may assign identifying
        names to Bearerbonds, or otherwise impose identification
        mechanisms as e sees fit).  Unless the Bearerbond specifies
        otherwise, the Rolebearer for any Role may be changed in this
        way at any time.  When any Rolebearer in a Bearerbond changes,
        the Notary shall notify all parties to the Bearerbond of the
        fact of the change, the Role involved, and the identity of the
        new Bearer.  The change of Rolebearer takes effect when the
        Notary sends this notification.

        All Rolebearers in a Bearerbond are in all ways parties to the
        Bearerbond.  When the Rolebearer for some Role in a Bearerbond
        changes, the previous Rolebearer is no longer a party to the
        Bearerbond, unless e is explicitly named in the Bearerbond
        itself, or is the Rolebearer for some other Role in it.

History:
Created by Proposal 1676, Aug. 22 1995
Amended(1) by Proposal 1754, Oct. 21 1995


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Evidence (added by pro-Justiciar) :

Rule 116/0 (Semimutable, MI=3)
Permissibility of the Unprohibited

      Whatever is not prohibited or regulated by a Rule is permitted
      and unregulated, with the sole exception of changing the Rules,
      which is permitted only when a Rule or set of Rules explicitly or
      implicitly permits it.

