Delivered-To: comexk@gmail.com Received: by 10.90.105.4 with SMTP id d4cs110950agc; Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:46:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.151.105.17 with SMTP id h17mr5843370ybm.22.1248454011022; Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:46:51 -0700 (PDT) Return-Path: Received: from yzma.clarkk.net (yzma.clarkk.net [66.219.50.42]) by mx.google.com with ESMTP id 27si6656627gxk.94.2009.07.24.09.46.25; Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:46:49 -0700 (PDT) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of agora-official-admin@agoranomic.org designates 66.219.50.42 as permitted sender) client-ip=66.219.50.42; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of agora-official-admin@agoranomic.org designates 66.219.50.42 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=agora-official-admin@agoranomic.org; dkim=hardfail (test mode) header.i=@gmail.com Received: from yzma.clarkk.net (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by yzma.clarkk.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id EA9C781292; Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:46:15 -0500 (CDT) Delivered-To: agora-official@yzma.clarkk.net Received: from qw-out-1920.google.com (qw-out-1920.google.com [74.125.92.144]) by yzma.clarkk.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3FF17811B0 for ; Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:11:35 -0500 (CDT) Received: by qw-out-1920.google.com with SMTP id 4so1094887qwk.28 for ; Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:11:34 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:from:date:message-id :subject:to:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; bh=puoWo7+KHQV13VmX134SaVOTMTlVVne4f3QKspgCcCc=; b=QVDOxdnzuH4TKQ7/78fhALMENBAlKOu61nUesBgTMSeUXZDBsB+YXJ9dkf5ub+SgiK r8mWrwzWxhx765/ItG8IG+XnxIlwlqYbxsCp/nbLBzwe7hrAXCxQC18iBg6MYGXrYZLh rnj+dHddAJPvpcspVxsmkqujAZ0rY0Y8zQEaI= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:from:date:message-id:subject:to:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; b=m+qHyzTrJWoKv5ggigWCq/xhzSBiTitBgP24t775VKMpRX4KAv2DXNkhS/9xEfR0kh Jbp03TNzZ7R6dwMePUZCHcrpNqMfWn9+RmxMp2+PXK6jNFuQy5DCU2k9oJr8Ihui139u s2Apocwmwko5MDjTKT5we+/OcriQkv0Et17VQ= MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.231.11.136 with SMTP id t8mr1177927ibt.50.1248444694155; Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:11:34 -0700 (PDT) From: Geoffrey Spear Message-ID: To: agora-official@agoranomic.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: OFF: [on behalf of the Rulekeepor] Short Logical Ruleset Sender: agora-official-admin@agoranomic.org Errors-To: agora-official-admin@agoranomic.org X-BeenThere: agora-official@agoranomic.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.11 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: agora-discussion@agoranomic.org List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Agora Nomic reports, etc. (PF) List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:11:14 -0400 I act on behalf of c. to publish the following message: THE SHORT LOGICAL RULESET Last proposal with recorded effect on this ruleset: 6402 Last change to this ruleset: by proposal 6402 Last ratification: Short Logical Ruleset of 18 September 2008 Last ratification date: 24 September 2008 Last updated: 24 July 2009 Rule ID numbers: highest orderly: 2264 chaotic: none ====================================================================== The Game of Agora ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2105/3 (Power=1) The Map of Agora ____ _ /| DARWIN -> \_ |/ | / \ __/ / | | <- DSV / / | \ _ \ \_ | \ MORNINGTON CRESCENT -> / | <- GOETHE BARRIER _ _/ | \_/\_/ \ REEF / \\ <- SHARK BAY | | / | | \ <- TOWNSVILLE ___/ | | \_ __/ | | .___o ) | / | | ~~vv ===~~~ <-OSCAR'S MIRE / O <- SHERLOCK NESS | |/\ | | | |_ | | | EMERALD -> \ \ |__________=_____, \ BRISBANE / | | | <-' \ O <- LT. ANNE MOORE | __ _\ \ | |_______/ \/ | LORD | __/\ <- TARCOOLA / HOWE -> \ PERTH __/ \_ / / | <-' _ __/ | /| IVANHOE -> | <-. / _/ \/ \ / / | / WOLLONGONG |_ / <- ESPERANTO v /__ |_ / <- CANBERRA \_/ \ | \_ _| __ __ | | \__/ __ \ / __ \___=_ ___| / \ | / \ MANUBOURNE -> \/ \|/ _,.---v---._ /\__ /\__/\ / \ | | \_ _/ / \ | / \ \_| @ __| \_/ <- HOBART \ \_ \ ,__/ / ~~~`~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/~~~~ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 101/12 (Power=3) The Rights of Agorans WHEREAS Agora, since its inception, has functioned not only as a game but as a society, and WHEREAS a society, to function, must balance its Rules with the natural rights of its participants, BE IT HEREBY PROCLAIMED that no interpretation of Agoran law or binding agreement may substantially limit or remove a person's rights as defined by this Rule, except through the explicit and legal amendment of this Rule. This rule takes precedence over any rule which would allow or mandate restrictions of the rights contained herein. i. Every person has the right, though not necessarily the ability, to perform actions that are not prohibited or regulated by the Rules, with the sole exception of changing the Rules, which is permitted only when the Rules explicitly or implicitly permit it. ii. Every person has the right to initiate a formal process to resolve matters of controversy, in the reasonable expectation that the controversy will thereby be resolved. Every person has the right to cause formal reconsideration of any judicial determination that e should be punished. iii. Every person has the right to refuse to become party to a binding agreement. The absence of a person's explicit, willful consent shall be considered a refusal. iv. Every person has the right to not be considered bound by an agreement, or an amendment to an agreement, or a Rule Change, which e has not had the reasonable opportunity to review. For the purpose of protecting this right, a rule change which would otherwise take effect without its substance being subject to general player review through a reasonably public process is wholly prevented from taking effect. v. Every player has the right of participation in the fora. vi. Every person has the right to not be penalized more than once for any single action or inaction. However, this right is not violated by replacing part or all of a penalty with a different but comparable penalty, e.g. when the rules governing penalties are amended. vii. Every player has the right to deregister rather than continue to play. Please treat Agora right good forever. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2125/7 (Power=3) Regulation Regulations A regulated action is an action satisfying any of the following: a) It is IMPOSSIBLE. b) It is ILLEGAL. c) The rules explicitly state that it CAN be performed while certain conditions are satisfied. Such an action CANNOT be performed except as allowed by the rules. In particular, if the action in question is publishing a type of document, then a public message is not that type of document (even if it is labeled as such) except as allowed by the rules. d) The rules explicitly state that it MAY be performed while certain conditions are satisfied. Except as allowed by the rules, performing such an action is the Class-N Crime of Restricted Behavior, where N is the maximum power of the rules explicitly allowing it (rounded up as needed to become a valid Class of Crime). e) It would, as part of its effect, modify information for which some player is required to be a recordkeepor. Such an action CANNOT modify that information except as allowed by the rules. f) A judicial finding has determined that it is regulated, and has not been superseded by subsequent legislation. A person SHOULD NOT violate a rule. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1586/6 (Power=2) Definition and Continuity of Entities If multiple rules or contracts (hereafter documents) attempt to define an entity with the same name, then they refer to the same entity. A document-defined entity's name CANNOT be changed to be the same as another document-defined entity's name. A document referring to an entity by name refers to the entity that had that name when the document first came to include that reference, even if the entity's name has since changed. If the documents defining an entity are repealed or amended such that they no longer define that entity, then that entity and its properties cease to exist. If the documents defining an entity are amended such that they still define that entity but with different properties, then that entity and its properties continue to exist to whatever extent is possible under the new definitions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1688/4 (Power=3) Power The power of an entity is a non-negative rational number. An instrument is an entity with positive power. The power of an entity cannot be set or modified except as stipulated by the rules. All entities have power zero except where specifically allowed by the rules. A rule that secures a change (hereafter the securing rule) thereby makes it IMPOSSIBLE to perform that change except as allowed by an instrument with power greater than or equal to the change's power threshold. This threshold defaults to the securing rule's power, but CAN be lowered as allowed by that rule. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2140/0 (Power=3) Power Controls Mutability No entity with power below the power of this rule can (a) cause an entity to have power greater than its own. (b) adjust the power of an instrument with power greater than its own. (c) modify any other substantive aspect of an instrument with power greater than its own. A "substantive" aspect of an instrument is any aspect that affects the instrument's operation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2186/6 (Power=2) Victory Winning Conditions and Losing Conditions are conditions defined as such by the rules. When one or more persons satisfy at least one Winning Condition and do not satisfy any Losing Conditions, all such persons win the game. The game CANNOT be won in any other way, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. Each Winning Condition should (if needed) specify a cleanup procedure to prevent an arbitrary number of wins arising from essentially the same conditions. When one or more persons win the game, for each Winning Condition satisfied by at least one of those persons, its cleanup procedure occurs. A win announcement is a correct announcement explicitly labeled as a win announcement and/or clearly stating that one or more persons win the game. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2244/1 (Power=1) The Games of Agora When used as a period of time, a "game" is the period of time between one instant at which at least one person won the game, and the next such instant. The "first game" was the period of time between June 30, 1993, 00:04:30 GMT +1200, and the first instant at which a person won the game. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2245/0 (Power=1) Win by Not Losing While a player is the only active first-class player not to satisfy at least one Losing Condition, e satisfies the Winning Condition of Solitude. Cleanup procedure: The same person cannot satisfy this Winning Condition again until at least one other player ceases to satisfy any Losing Condition. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2110/5 (Power=1) Win by Paradox A tortoise is an inquiry case on the possibility or legality of a rule-defined action (actual or hypothetical, but not arising from that case itself, and not occurring after the initiation of that case) for which the question of veracity is UNDECIDABLE. Upon a win announcement that a tortoise has continuously been a tortoise for no greater than four and no less than two weeks, the initiator satisfies the Winning Condition of Paradox. Cleanup procedure: Each winner satisfying this Winning Condition SHALL, as soon as possible, make a reasonable attempt to resolve the paradox. The same person can not satisfy this Winning Condition again for the same tortoise or for any other tortoise that was linked to it in assignment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2199/7 (Power=1) Ribbons Ribbons are a class of fixed assets. If winning is secured, then changes to Ribbon holdings are secured with the same power threshold. Ownership of Ribbons is restricted to players. Each Ribbon has exactly one color. Colors with different names are distinct, regardless of spectral proximity. Each color of Ribbon is a currency. The Tailor is an office, and the recordkeepor of Ribbons. When a player earns a Ribbon as outlined below, any person CAN once, in a timely manner (except for White Ribbons, which can be awarded at any time within a month after they are earned), create that Ribbon in the player's possession by announcement, unless the player already possesses the color of Ribbon e earned (earning a Ribbon more than once entitles the bearer to multiple Ribbon awards, though capitalizing on this may be difficult): (+R) When an interested proposal is adopted and changes at least one rule with Power >= 3, its proposer earns a Red Ribbon. (+O) When an interested proposal is adopted by voting with no valid votes AGAINST, its proposer earns an Orange Ribbon. (+G) At the end of each month, each player who held at least one office continuously during that month earns a Green Ribbon, unless e failed to perform an official duty within a time limit during that month. (+C) When a player deputises for an office, e earns a Cyan Ribbon. (+B) When a player assigns a judgement to a judicial question other than a question on sentencing, e earns a Blue Ribbon, unless e violated a requirement to submit that judgement within a time limit. (+K) When a player assigns a judgement to a judicial question on sentencing, e earns a Black Ribbon, unless e violated a requirement to submit that judgement within a time limit. (+W) When a first-class person becomes a player for the first time, e earns a White Ribbon. When a first-class person has been a player continuously for at least three months, was never a player before that period, and names another player as eir mentor (and has not named a mentor in this fashion before), the named player earns a White Ribbon. (+M) When, during Agora's birthday, a player publicly acknowledges the occasion, e earns a Magenta Ribbon. (+U) When a player is awarded the Patent Title Champion, e earns an Ultraviolet Ribbon. (+V) When a player is awarded a Patent Title, e earns a Violet Ribbon, unless e earns a different Ribbon for the award. (+I) When a player is awarded a degree, e earns an Indigo Ribbon. (+Y) At the end of each month, for each contest that awarded points to at least three different contestants during that month, the contestmaster earns a Yellow Ribbon If this rule mentions at least six different specific colors for Ribbons, then a player CAN destroy one Ribbon of each such color in eir possession to satisfy the Winning Condition of Renaissance. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 104/0 (Power=3) First Speaker The Speaker for the first game shall be Michael Norrish. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Rules ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2141/4 (Power=3) Role and Attributes of Rules A rule is a type of instrument with the capacity to govern the game generally. A rule's content takes the form of a text, and is unlimited in scope. In particular, a rule may define in-game entities and regulate their behaviour, make instantaneous changes to the state of in-game entities, prescribe or proscribe certain player behaviour, modify the rules or the application thereof, or do any of these things in a conditional manner. Every rule has power between one and four inclusive. It is not possible for a rule to have a power outside this range. Rules have ID numbers, to be assigned by the Rulekeepor, and are strictly ordered. Every rule shall have a title to aid in identification. If a rule ever does not have a title, the Rulekeepor shall assign a title to it by announcement as soon as possible. For the purposes of rules governing modification of instruments, the text, power, ID number, and title of a rule are all substantive aspects of the rule. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 217/6 (Power=3) Interpreting the Rules When interpreting and applying the rules, the text of the rules takes precedence. Where the text is silent, inconsistent, or unclear, it is to be augmented by game custom, common sense, past judgements, and consideration of the best interests of the game. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1030/8 (Power=3.2) Precedence between Rules In a conflict between Rules, the conflict shall be resolved by performing the following comparisons in the squence written in this rule, until the conflict is resolved. - In a conflict between Rules with different Power, the Rule with the higher Power takes precedence over the Rule with the lower Power ; otherwise, - If all of the Rules in conflict explicitly say that their precedence relations are determined by some other Rule for determining precedence relations, then the determinations of the precedence-determining Rule shall be used to resolve the conflicts; otherwise, - If at least one of the Rules in conflict explicitly says of itself that it defers to another Rule (or type of Rule) or takes precedence over another Rule (or type of Rule), then such provisions shall be used to resolve the conflict, unless they lead to contradictions between each other; otherwise, - The Rule with the lower ID number takes precedence. Clauses in any other rule that broadly claim precedence (e.g. over "all rules" of a certain class) shall be, prima facie, considered to be limited claims of precedence or deference that are applicable only when such claims are evaluated as described within the above sequence. No change to the Ruleset can occur that would cause a Rule to directly claim precedence over this Rule as a means of determining precedence. This applies to changes by the enactment or amendment of a Rule, or of any other form. This Rule takes precedence over any Rule that would permit such a change to the Ruleset. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2240/0 (Power=3) No Cretans Need Apply If a rule contains one or more self-contradictory chains of clauses claiming precedence over and/or deference to one another, then the last claim (when reading the rule from top to bottom) involved in one or more such chains has no effect; this process is repeated as often as needed until all such chains are broken. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 105/3 (Power=3) Rule Changes Where permitted by other rules, an instrument generally can, as part of its effect, (a) enact a rule. The new rule has power equal to the minimum of the power specified by the enacting instrument, defaulting to one if the enacting instrument does not specify, and the maximum power permitted by other rules. The enacting instrument may specify a title for the new rule, which if present shall prevail. The ID number of the new rule cannot be specified by the enacting instrument; any attempt to so specify is null and void. (b) repeal a rule. When a rule is repealed, it ceases to be a rule, and the Rulekeepor need no longer maintain a record of it. (c) amend the text of a rule. (d) retitle a rule. (e) change the power of a rule. A rule change is any effect that falls into the above classes. Rule changes always occur sequentially, never simultaneously. Any ambiguity in the specification of a rule change causes that change to be void and without effect. A variation in whitespace or capitalization in the quotation of an existing rule does not constitute ambiguity for the purposes of this rule, but any other variation does. This rule provides the only mechanism by which rules can be created, modified, or destroyed, or by which an entity can become a rule or cease to be a rule. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1681/17 (Power=1) The Logical Rulesets The Short Logical Ruleset (SLR) is a format of the ruleset. In this format, each rule is assigned to a category, and the rules are grouped according to their category. Rules are assigned to, ordered within, or moved between categories, and categories are added, changed, or empty categories removed, as the Rulekeepor sees fit. The listing of each rule in the SLR must include the rule's ID number, revision number, power, title, and text. The Rulekeepor is strongly encouraged not to include any additional information in the SLR, except that which increases the readability of the SLR. The Full Logical Ruleset (FLR) is a format of the ruleset. In this format, rules are assigned to the same category and presented in the same order as in the SLR. The FLR must contain all the information required to be in the SLR, and any historical annotations which the Rulekeepor is required to record. The Rulekeepor is also free to include any other information which e feels may be helpful in the use of the ruleset in the FLR. Whenever a rule is changed in any way, the Rulekeepor SHALL record a historical annotation to the rule indicating: a) The type of change. b) The date on which the change took effect. c) The mechanism that specified the change. d) If the rule was changed due to a proposal, then that proposal's ID number, author, and co-author(s) (if any). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1051/18 (Power=1) The Rulekeepor The Rulekeepor is an office; its holder is responsible for maintaining the text of the rules of Agora. The Rulekeepor's Weekly report includes the Short Logical Ruleset. The Rulekeepor's Monthly report includes the Full Logical Ruleset. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2221/2 (Power=3) Cleanliness Any player CAN clean a rule without objection by specifying one or more spelling and/or grammar corrections; the rule is amended by this rule as specified by that person. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2216/1 (Power=1) The Repeal-o-Matic The Anarchist is an office; its holder is responsible for proposing the repeal of rules. The Anarchist's weekly duties include picking one or more rules and submitting proposals to repeal each of those rules. The Anarchist SHOULD include in eir proposals other relevant changes so as not to have negative effects on the Rules. The Anarchist SHALL NOT submit a proposal to repeal a rule for which e already submitted a proposal to repeal within the last month. The adoption index of each of the Anarchist's proposals is equal to the maximum power of the rule e is to amend. The Anarchist's monthly report includes a list of the titles and texts of the proposals e submitted as part of eir weekly duties in the preceding month. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2247/2 (Power=1) The Janitor The Janitor is an office; its holder is responsible for cleaning the rules. The Janitor's weekly duties include submitting one or more disinterested proposals that suggests one or more rule changes that helps to do at least one of the following to the ruleset: a) Fix grammatical or spelling errors. b) Elucidate the meaning of rules. c) Make consistent methods of describing rules. d) Rearrange, combine, or separate rules to make their meanings more clear and relevant. These proposals SHOULD NOT modify any substantive aspect of the meaning of the rules. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1750/2 (Power=1) Read the Ruleset Week The first Agoran week each year which falls entirely in February is known as Read the Ruleset Week. During this time, Agorans SHOULD read the ruleset. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2223/1 (Power=1) Win by Junta Upon a win announcement that a rule states that one or more persons CAN cause it to make arbitrary rule changes by announcement, all those persons satisfy the Winning Condition of Dictatorship. Cleanup procedure: Those persons SHALL as soon as possible amend the rule so that it no longer states this, and SHOULD amend the rules to prevent this condition from being achieved again in essentially the same way. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Players ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 869/30 (Power=2) How to Join and Leave Agora Citizenship is an entity switch with values Unregistered (default) and Registered, tracked by the registrar. A player is an entity whose citizenship is Registered. Changes to citizenship are secured. The verb "to be registered" means to become a player (i.e., to have one's citizenship changed from Unregistered to Registered), and the verb "to be deregistered" means to cease to be a player (i.e., to have one's citizenship changed from Registered to Unregistered). Where the verb "to register" or "to deregister" is used without an explicit direct object, the action is implicitly reflexive. A first-class person CAN (unless explicitly forbidden or prevented by the rules) register by publishing a message that indicates reasonably clearly and reasonably unambiguously that e intends to become a player. A second-class person CAN register with Agoran Consent. A non-person CANNOT be registered (or created in a Registered state), rules to the contrary notwithstanding. A player CAN deregister by announcement. A person CANNOT register within thirty days after being deregistered by any means other than by a mechanism that the rules explicitly describe as a means of honorable deregistration. A player who is not a person and has never been a first-class person CAN be deregistered by any player by announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2252/0 (Power=1) The Greetor The Greetor is an office; its holder is responsible for the successful integration of new players into the Agoran community. The Greetor's duties include welcoming newly registered players to the Agoran community, providing them with information they may find useful with regards to Agora, and answering to the best of eir ability any queries they may have regarding Agora. The Greetor's weekly duties include the submission of disinterested proposals which attempt to improve the Agoran experience for newly registered and prospective players, in particular the registration process. The Greetor's monthly report includes the titles and texts of all proposals e has submitted as part of eir weekly duties in the past month, and a short essay which clarifies an issue which concerns or often confuses newly registered players. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2174/0 (Power=1) Aliens An alien is a non-player who is a member of the basis of one or more contracts (hereafter eir visas). A resident alien is an alien with one or more registered visas. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2170/5 (Power=3) Who Am I? Rules regarding persons pertain to those persons directly, not to rule-defined avatars or other entities representing those persons within Agora. A person SHALL NOT make a public statement intended to mislead others as to the identity of its publisher. A player SHALL NOT select a confusing nickname, including but not limited to a name that has generally been used to refer to another entity within the past three months. A public message's (possibly implicit) claim as to the identity of its publisher is self-ratifying, provided that the claim is neither ambiguous nor self-contradictory, and no challenge of identity pertaining to the claimed publisher has been issued within one month before its publication. Upon a judicial finding that the claimed publisher of one or more messages (hereafter the Sock Puppet) was not a person, if any of those claims have already self-ratified, then the judge SHALL as soon as possible publish a judicial declaration that the Sock Puppet was a person during one or more time periods, which SHOULD correspond to general belief prior to that finding. The Executor of a public message is the first-class person who sends it, or who most directly and immediately causes it to be sent. (Upon a judicial finding that the Executor of a public message cannot otherwise be determined within reasonable effort, the judge SHALL as soon as possible publish a judicial declaration specifying the identity of that message's Executor.) The executor of an action performed by announcement is the executor of the announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2150/6 (Power=3) Personhood A person is an entity defined as such by rules with power of at least 2. A person CAN generally be the subject of rights and obligations under the rules. Any biological organism that is generally capable of communicating by email in English (including via a translation service) is a person. A first-class person is a person of a biological nature. All other persons are second-class. The basis of a first-class person is the singleton set consisting of that person. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2145/8 (Power=2) Partnerships A partnership is a contract that devolves each of its legal obligations onto at least one of its parties, but does not devolve all of them solely onto one of its parties. The members of a partnership are those parties onto whom the partnership's legal obligations are collectively devolved. A partnership's identity and partnershiphood are not disrupted by changes to its membership provided that it continues to meet the definition of a partnership. A partnership's basis is the set consisting of the union of the the bases of each of its members. Where circularity occurs in this definition, it is resolved by using the minimum basis sets that provide consistency. A public Legalistic partnership whose basis has contained at least three active first-class players simultaneously at some point in the past seven days is a person, and SHALL act as specified by itself. If a judge finds a partnership guilty in a criminal proceedings, e may sentence one or more members of the partnership for the crime rather than the partnership itself. To be an appropriate sentence in this case, the judge SHOULD use the text of the partnership as a guide to the devolution of sentencing but is not bound to follow the text if it is unclear on the subject or would not adequately apply responsibility. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2139/2 (Power=1) The Registrar The Registrar is an office; its holder is responsible for keeping track of players. The Registrar's report includes: a) Information sufficient to identify and contact each player. b) The date on which each player most recently became a player. c) The Activity of each player, and when each Inactive player became Inactive. d) For each former player for which the information is reasonably available, the dates on which e registered and deregistered. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1789/7 (Power=2) Cantus Cygneus Whenever a Player feels that e has been treated so egregiously by the Agoran community that e can no longer abide to be a part of it, e may submit a document to the Registrar, clearly labeled a Cantus Cygneus, detailing eir grievances and expressing eir reproach for those who e feels have treated em so badly. As soon as possible after receiving a Cantus Cygneus, the Registrar shall publish this document along with a Writ of Fugere Agorae Grandissima Exprobratione, commanding the Player to be deregistered. The Registrar shall note the method of deregistration for that Player in subsequent Registrar Reports. The Player is deregistered as of the posting of the Writ, and the notation in the Registrar's Report will ensure that, henceforth, all may know said Player deregistered in a Writ of FAGE. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2130/10 (Power=2) Activity Activity is a player switch with values Active (default) and Inactive, tracked by the Registrar. The Registrar's report includes the date on which each non-Active player's activity last changed. A player CAN flip eir activity by announcement. "To go on hold" is to become Inactive; "to come off hold" is to become Active. A player CAN flip another player's activity to Inactive without objection. A player who has been continuously Inactive for at least three months CAN be deregistered by any other player without objection. This is a means of honorable deregistration. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2177/13 (Power=2) The Senate A Senator is any first-class player whose most recent registration was at least sixty days ago. The set of all Senators is known as the Senate. The Registrar's report includes a list of all Senators. A Senator CAN call an Emergency Session with 2 Senator supporters, provided no other emergency session existed at any time in the preceding 48 hours. An emergency session lasts until it is terminated. An unterminated emergency session terminates 21 days after it was called. A Senator CAN terminate an emergency session without 3 Senator objections. Terminating an emergency session is a secured change. The Assessor's monthly report includes the dates when the most recent emergency session was called and terminated. The roll call of an emergency session is the set of Senators at the time the emergency session was called. During emergency session, the previous definition of Senator does not apply; instead, a Senator is a first-class player who is a member of the roll call. The Assessor's monthly report includes the roll call of the most recent emergency session. During emergency session, any Senator CAN declare a filibuster on a proposal in its voting period, with 2 supporting Senators, provided no filibuster has been declared on that proposal in the past. Any Senator CAN end a filibuster on a proposal with 4 supporting Senators and without objection from a Minister without Portfolio (any of whom CAN object). While a proposal is in filibuster, its quorum is the number of eligible voters plus one, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. When an emergency session begins, all non-Senators' postures become supine, and non-Senators CANNOT flip their posture while the session lasts. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2215/1 (Power=1) Truthiness A person SHALL NOT make a public statement on a matter relevant to the rules unless e reasonably believes that it is true (or, in the case of a public statement that one performs an action, that is effective). For the purpose of this rule: a) Merely quoting a statement does not constitute making that statement. b) Any conditional clause or other qualifier attached to a statement constitutes part of the statement; the nature of the whole is what is significant. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2228/4 (Power=2) Rests Rests are a fixed currency. The creation and destruction of Rests is secured with a power threshold of 1.7, a person generally CANNOT destroy rests except as permitted by Rules explicitly stating methods by which rests in particular CAN be destroyed. The Insulator is an office, and the recordkeepor of Rests. Ownership of Rests is restricted to first-class persons. If, in the absence of this restriction, a number (N) of Rests would be created in the ownership of a non-first-class person, then for each member of that person's basis, N Rests are created in that member's possession. A first-class player CAN create Rests in eir own possession by announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2229/3 (Power=2) Just Resting Owning one or more Rests is a Losing Condition. While a player owns at least 24 Rests, that player CAN be deregistered by any player by announcement. A person who owns at least 6 Rests, or where every member of eir basis owns 6 Rests, CANNOT register, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. A person who has one or more rests but is not a player is a Fugitive. The Insulator's monthly report shall include a list of all Fugitives. At the beginning of each month, half of each Fugitive's rests (rounded down) are destroyed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Definitions ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 754/10 (Power=3) Definition Definitions Regularity of communication being essential for the healthy function of any nomic, it is hereby resolved: (1) A difference in spelling, grammar, or dialect, or the use of a synonym or abbreviation in place of a word or phrase, is inconsequential in all forms of communication, as long as the difference does not create an ambiguity in meaning. (2) A term explicitly defined by the Rules by default has that meaning when used in any Rule of equal or lesser power, as do its ordinary-language synonyms not explicitly defined by the rules. The following clauses, where X and Y are both nouns or noun phrases, SHOULD be interpreted as "X is/are defined as Y": a) "X is/are Y" b) "Y is/are known as X" (3) Any term primarily used in mathematical or legal contexts, and not addressed by previous provisions of this Rule, by default has the meaning it has in those contexts. (4) Any term not addressed by previous provisions of this Rule by default has its ordinary-language meaning. In determining the ordinary-language meaning of a term, definitions contained in lower-powered Rules, followed by definitions used in contracts or other Agoran legal documents, SHOULD be used for guidance. This rule takes precedence over any other rules which dictate terminology or grammar. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2152/4 (Power=3) Mother, May I? The following terms are defined. These definitions are used when a rule includes a term in all caps, and SHOULD be used when a rule includes a term otherwise. Earlier definitions take precedence over later ones. If a rule specifies one or more persons in connection with a term, then the term applies only to the specified person(s). 1. CANNOT, IMPOSSIBLE, INEFFECTIVE, INVALID: Attempts to perform the described action are unsuccessful. 2. MUST NOT, MAY NOT, SHALL NOT, ILLEGAL, PROHIBITED: Performing the described action violates the rule in question. 3. SHOULD NOT, DISCOURAGED, DEPRECATED: Before performing the described action, the full implications of performing it should be understood and carefully weighed. 4. CAN: Attempts to perform the described action are successful. 5. MAY: Performing the described action does not violate the rule in question. 6. MUST, SHALL, REQUIRED, MANDATORY: Failing to perform the described action violates the rule in question. 7. SHOULD, ENCOURAGED, RECOMMENDED: Before failing to perform the described action, the full implications of failing to perform it should be understood and carefully weighed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1023/25 (Power=2) Common Definitions The following terms are defined: (a) The phrases "in a timely fashion" and "as soon as possible" mean "within seven days". (b) Agoran epochs: (1) Agoran days begin at midnight UTC. (2) Agoran weeks begin at midnight UTC on Monday. (3) Agoran months begin at midnight UTC on the first day of each Gregorian month. (4) Agoran quarters begin when the Agoran months of January, April, July, and October begin. (5) Agoran years begin when the Agoran month of January begins. These definitions do not apply to relative durations (e.g. "within days after "). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1769/7 (Power=3) Holidays A Holiday is a period of time designated as such by the Rules. During a Holiday, the Promotor SHALL NOT distribute any proposals, and judges SHALL NOT be assigned to any judicial case, and judges SHALL NOT assign judgement to any judicial question. If some Rule requires that an action be done prior to a given time, and that given time falls during a Holiday, or within the 72-hour period immediately following that Holiday, then that action need not be done until 72 hours after that Holiday ends. If some Rule bases the time of a future event (including the time limit to perform an action) upon the time of another event, and a) that other event occurs during a Holiday, then the time at which that Holiday ends shall be used instead for the purpose of determining the time of the future event. b) the future event would occur during a Holiday, then the future event occurs 72 hours after the end of that Holiday instead. This Rule takes precedence over all Rules pertaining to the timing of events, and over all Rules which require events to be performed before a specified time. The period each year from midnight GMT on the morning of 24 December to the beginning of the first Agoran week to begin after 2 January is a Holiday. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2161/4 (Power=1) ID Numbers If a rule defines a type of entity as having ID numbers, then: (a) Whenever an instance of that type does not have an ID number, the player held responsible by that rule SHALL assign an ID number to it by announcement as soon as possible. (b) Such an assignment is INVALID unless the number is a natural number (expressed as a decimal literal with at most 14 digits) distinct from any ID number previously assigned to an entity of that type, and (if the type of entity is defined by the rules as strictly ordered) greater than any orderly ID number so assigned. The player SHOULD select the smallest number possible. (c) Each ID number is either orderly (default) or chaotic. Upon a judicial finding that the assignment of an ID number was ILLEGAL, the ID number becomes chaotic. (d) Once assigned, an ID number cannot be changed. (e) If an office is responsible for assigning ID numbers, then that officer's report includes the greatest orderly ID number, and a list of all chaotic ID numbers, previously assigned to the type of entity. (f) If an instance of that type has an ID number, then its name is the combination of its type and ID number. Otherwise, it has no name. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2153/2 (Power=1) Interest Index An entity's interest index is an integer from 0 to 3, default value 1. An entity's interest index SHOULD be proportional to its complexity. "Disinterested" is a synonym for "interest index 0". ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2146/1 (Power=2) Indices Indices are elements of the extended real numbers, which is a total order consisting of the real numbers plus a minimum element, called negative infinity, and a maximum element, called positive infinity or unanimity. The ratio of a positive index to zero is positive infinity. The ratio of a negative index to zero is negative infinity. The ratio of zero to any index is zero. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2162/1 (Power=2) Switches A type of switch is a property that the rules define as a switch, and specify the following: a) The type(s) of entity possessing an instance of that switch. No other entity possesses an instance of that switch. b) One or more possible values for instances of that switch, exactly one of which is designated as the default. No other values are possible for instances of that switch. c) Exactly one officer who tracks instances of that switch. That officer's report includes the value of each instance of that switch whose value is not its default value. At any given time, each instance of a switch has exactly one possible value for that type of switch. If an instance of a switch comes to have a value, it ceases to have any other value. If an instance of a switch would otherwise fail to have a possible value, it comes to have its default value. "To flip an instance of a switch" is to make it come to have a given value. "To become X" (where X is a possible value of exactly one of the subject's switches) is to flip that switch to X. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 478/27 (Power=3) Fora Freedom of speech being essential for the healthy functioning of any non-Imperial nomic, it is hereby resolved that no Player shall be prohibited from participating in the Fora. Publicity is a forum switch with values Public, Discussion, and Foreign (default), tracked by the Registrar. The Registrar's report includes, for each forum with non-Foreign publicity, sufficient instructions for players to receive messages there. The Registrar may change the publicity of a forum without objection as long as: (a) e sends eir announcement of intent to that forum; and (b) if the forum is to be made public, the announcement by which the Registrar makes that forum public is sent to all existing public fora. Each active player should ensure e can receive messages via each public forum. A public message is a message sent via a public forum, or sent to all players and containing a clear designation of intent to be public. A person "publishes" or "announces" something by sending a public message. Where the rules define an action that CAN be performed "by announcement", a person performs that action by unambiguously and clearly specifying the action and announcing that e performs it. Any action performed by sending a message is performed at the time date-stamped on that message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2263/0 (Power=3) Acting on Behalf Acting on behalf of (syn. send messages on behalf of) a person (the grantor) with a specified message is equivalent to sending a public message authored by the grantor. Acting on behalf of a person is secured, with power threshold 3 for first-class grantors and power threshold 2 for second-class grantors. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, acting on behalf of a person is INVALID if not published. Such publication is INVALID unless it specified the text of the simulated message by: (a) clearly stating the text of a message; (b) clearly specifying an action (the message states the grantor performs the action); or (c) performing by announcement an action defined in a public contract's text to (clearly and unambiguously) include causing the grantor to perform a specific action (the message states the grantor performs the action) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1728/24 (Power=3) Dependent Actions A person (the performer) CAN perform an action dependently (a dependent action) by announcement if and only if all of the following are true: a) The rules explicitly authorize the performer to perform the action by a set of one or more of the following methods (N is 1 if not otherwise specified): 1) Without N Objections, where N is a positive integer. 2) With N Supporters, where N is a positive integer. 3) With N Agoran Consent, where N is an integer multiple of 0.1 with a minimum of 1. b) A person (the initiator) announced intent to perform the action, unambiguously and clearly specifying the action and method(s) (including the value of N for each method), at most fourteen days earlier, and (if the action depends on objections) at least four days earlier. c) At least one of the following is true: 1) The performer is the initiator. 2) The initiator was authorized to perform the action due to holding a rule-defined position now held by the performer. 3) The initiator is authorized to perform the action, the action depends on support, the performer has supported the intent, and the rule authorizing the performance does not explicitly prohibit supporters from performing it. d) Agora is Satisfied with the announced intent, as defined by other rules. e) If a set of conditions for the performance of the action was given in the announcement of intent to perform the action, all those conditions are met. A dependent action CAN be performed non-dependently as otherwise permitted by the rules. A person CAN perform a dependent action authorized by a contract as if that contract were a rule, provided that the above requirements are otherwise met, and that the effects of that action are restricted to altering entities and/or attributes whose existence depends on that contract. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2124/11 (Power=2) Agoran Satisfaction A Supporter of a dependent action is a first-class player who has publicly posted (and not withdrawn) support for an announcement of intent to perform the action. An Objector to a dependent action is a first-class player (or other person explicitly allowed to object to that action by the rule allowing that action to be performed dependently) who has publicly posted (and not withdrawn) an objection to the announcement of intent to perform the action. The Executor of such an announcement of intent CANNOT support it, but CAN generally object to it (withdrawal of intent is equivalent to objection). A rule authorizing the performance of a dependent action may further restrict the eligibility of players to support or object to that specific action. Agora is Satisfied with an intent to perform a specific action if and only if: (1) if the action is to be performed Without N Objections, then it has fewer than N objectors; (2) if the action is to be performed With N supporters, then it has N or more supporters; and (3) if the action is to be performed with N Agoran Consent, then the ratio of supporters to objectors is greater than N, or the action has at least one supporter and no objectors. The above notwithstanding, if the action depends on objections, and an objection to it has been withdrawn within the past 24 hours, then Agora is not Satisfied with the intent. A person CANNOT support or object to an announcement of intent before the intent is announced, or after e has withdrawn the. same type of response. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2166/11 (Power=2) Assets An asset is an entity defined as such by a rule or contract (hereafter its backing document), and existing solely because its backing document defines its existence. Each asset has exactly one owner. If an asset would otherwise lack an owner, it is owned by the Lost and Found Department. If an asset's backing document restricts its ownership to a class of entities, then that asset CANNOT be gained by or transferred to an entity outside that class, and is transfered to the Lost and Found Department if it is owned by an entity outside that class. If an asset is owned by the Lost and Found department any player CAN transfer or destroy it without objection. The Lost and Found department may own any asset regardless of restrictions placed upon an asset by its backing document. The recordkeepor of a class of assets is the entity (if any) defined as such by, and bound by, its backing document. That entity's report includes a list of all instances of that class and their owners. This portion of that entity's report is self-ratifying. An asset whose backing document is not a rule generally CAN be created by its recordkeepor by announcement, subject to modification by its backing document. To "gain" an asset is to have it created in one's possession; to "award" an asset to an entity is to create it in that entity's possession. An asset generally CAN be destroyed by its owner by announcement, and an asset owned by the Lost and Found Department generally CAN be destroyed by its recordkeepor by announcement, subject to modification by its backing document. To "lose" (syn. "spend") an asset is to have it destroyed from one's possession; to "revoke" an asset from an entity is to destroy it from that entity's possession. An asset generally CAN be transferred by its owner to another entity by announcement, subject to modification by its backing document. A fixed asset is one defined as such by its backing document, and CANNOT be transferred; any other asset is liquid. A currency is a class of asset defined as such by its backing document. Instances of a currency with the same owner are fungible. A public class of assets is a class of assets whose backing document is a rule or a public contract. All others are private. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2181/9 (Power=1) The Accountor The Accountor is an office; its holder is responsible for keeping track of classes of assets. The Accountor's monthly report includes a list of all public classes of assets and their backing documents and recordkeepors. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Offices ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1006/28 (Power=2) Offices An office is a role defined as such by the rules. Each office is either vacant (default) or filled (held) by exactly one player. An officer is the holder of an office, who may be referred to by the name of that office. An imposed office is an office described as such by the rule defining it. All others are elected. The holder of an elected office CAN resign it by announcement, causing it to become vacant. If the holder of an elected office resigns or announces an intent to resign eir office, and in doing so designates another active player to replace em who is qualified to hold the office; then the designee CAN, in the week following the officer's announcement, make emself the holder of the office by announcement; the ADoP SHALL initiate an election for the office asap after such an office change. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2143/9 (Power=1) Official Reports and Duties For each office: a) If any task is defined by the rules as part of that office's weekly duties, then the holder of that office SHALL perform it at least once each week. If any information is defined by the rules as part of that office's weekly report, then the holder of that office SHALL maintain all such information, and the publication of all such information is part of that office's weekly duties. b) If any task is defined by the rules as part of that office's monthly duties, then the holder of that office SHALL perform it at least once each month. If any information is defined by the rules as part of that office's monthly report, then the holder of that office SHALL maintain all such information, and the publication of all such information is part of that office's monthly duties. Any information defined by the rules as part of an office's report, without specifying which one, is part of its weekly report. While performing weekly or monthly duties or publishing weekly or monthly reports, officers SHALL NOT publish information that is inaccurate or misleading. Reports SHALL be published in plain text. Tabular data must line up properly when viewed in a monospaced font. Publishing reports that deviate from these regulations is the Class 2 Crime of Making My Eyes Bleed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2227/1 (Power=1) Interest Index of Offices Each office has an interest index, tracked by the IADoP. A player CAN set an office's interest index without objection, or without 2 objections if e holds the office. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2160/6 (Power=3) Deputisation Any player (a deputy) CAN perform an action as if e held a particular office (deputise for that office) if all of the following are true: (a) The rules require the holder of that office, by virtue of holding that office, to perform the action (or, if the office is vacant, would so require if the office were filled). This requirement is fulfilled by the deputy performing the action. (b) A time limit by which the rules require the action to be performed has expired, or the office is vacant. (c) If the office is held by an active player, then the deputy announced between two and fourteen days earlier that e intended to deputise for that office for the purposes of the particular action. (d) It would be POSSIBLE for the deputy to perform the action, other than by deputisation, if e held the office. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2154/26 (Power=2) Election Procedure Any player CAN, with support (or by announcement if e is the IADoP), initiate an election for a specified elected office for which no election is already in progress. When an election is initiated, the current holder of the office (if any) is initially considered to have been nominated and have accepted. During the first four days of the election (the nomination period), any player CAN by announcement nominate one or more active players. As soon as possible after the nomination period ends, the IADoP SHALL initiate an Agoran decision to determine the new officeholder. For this decision: 1) The valid options are PRESENT and the active players (hereafter the candidates) who, during the election, a) received and accepted a nomination for the office before the decision was initiated (self-nomination constitutes acceptance), and b) did not decline a nomination for the office, and c) are Senators if there is currently an Emergency Session. The set of candidates can change after the decision is initiated. If the number of candidates falls below two, PRESENT ceases to be a valid option. 2) If there is no Emergency Session at the time the decision is initiated, the eligible voters are the active first-class players. Otherwise, the eligible voters are the active Senators. 3) Each eligible voter's voting limit is one. An ordered list of multiple choices constitutes a conditional vote for the first choice if it could be the outcome, otherwise the second choice if it could be the outcome, and so forth. 4) If there are no valid options for the Decision, instead of initiating the Decision, the IADoP SHALL, in place of initiating the decision, announce this fact, ending the election. If there is exactly one valid option for the Decision, the IADoP SHALL, in place of initiating the Decision, announce the valid option (the candidate), thus installing that candidate into the office and ending the election. Upon the resolution of this decision, its outcome (if a candidate) is installed into the office, and the election ends. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2217/3 (Power=1) Periodic Elections Within a week after an elected office ceases to have (or is created without) an active holder, or after an election for the office ends and the office still lacks an active holder, the IADoP SHALL initiate an election for that office. This requirement is waived if the office comes to have an active holder, or if another player initiates an election for the office. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2138/10 (Power=1) The Intergalactic Associate Director of Personnel The Intergalactic Associate Director of Personnel is an office; its holder is responsible for keeping track of officers and reports. The IADoP's report includes the following: a) The holder of each office. b) The date on which each holder last came to hold that office. c) The date when the most recent nomination period for that office began. d) The date when that office's reports were last published. The portion of a public message purporting to be an IADoP's report that lists the holder of each office is self-ratifying. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1551/12 (Power=3) Ratification A public document is part (possibly all) of a public message. When a public document is ratified, the gamestate is modified so that the ratified document was completely true and accurate at the time it was published. Nevertheless, the ratification of a public document does not invalidate, reverse, alter, or cancel any messages or actions, even if they were unrecorded or overlooked, or change the legality of any attempted action. Ratifying a public document is secured. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2202/3 (Power=3) Ratification Without Objection An official document is a public document purported to be part (possibly all) of an official report; this part is the document's scope. Any player CAN, without objection, ratify an official document, specifying its scope. The date of this ratification and the scope of the ratified document become part of the official report in question, until the same scope is ratified at a later date. Ratification Without Objection CANNOT cause the repeal, amendment, enactment, or mutation of any Rule, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. A player SHALL NOT knowingly use or announce intent to use Ratification Without Objection to ratify a (prior to ratification) incorrect document when a corrected document could be produced with reasonable effort, unless the general nature of the document's error and reason for ratifying it is clearly and plainly described in the announcement of intent. Such ratification or announcement of intent to ratify is the Class-8 Crime of Endorsing Forgery. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2201/2 (Power=3) Self-Ratification A public document defined by the rules as self-ratifying is ratified when it is continuously undoubted for one week. A doubt is an explicit public challenge via one of the following methods, identifying a document and explaining the scope and nature of a perceived error in it: a) An inquiry case, appropriate for questions of legal interpretation. b) A claim of error, appropriate for matters of fact. The publisher of the original document SHALL as soon as possible either deny the claim (causing it to cease to be a doubt) or publish a revision. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Agoran Decisions ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 693/9 (Power=3) Agoran Decisions When the rules calls for an Agoran decision to be made, the decision-making process takes place in the following three stages, each described elsewhere: (a) Initiation of the decision. (b) Voting of the people. (c) Resolution of the decision. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 107/11 (Power=3) Initiating Agoran Decisions An Agoran decision is initiated when a person authorized to initiate it publishes a valid notice which sets forth the intent to initiate the decision. This notice is invalid if it lacks any of the following information, and the lack is correctly identified within one week after the notice is published: (a) The matter to be decided (for example, "the adoption of proposal 4781"). (b) A description of the class of eligible voters sufficient to enable public agreement on which persons are eligible. In particular, an explicit list of the eligible voters is always sufficient for this purpose. (c) A clear indication of the options available. (d) The identity of the vote collector. (e) Any additional information defined by the rules as essential parameters. The publication of such a valid notice initiates the voting period for the decision. By default, the voting period lasts for seven days. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the voting period for a decision with at least two options cannot be shorter than seven days. The vote collector for a decision with less than two options CAN and SHALL end the voting period by announcement, if it has not ended already, and provided that e resolves the decision in the same message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 683/15 (Power=3) Voting on Agoran Decisions An eligible voter on a particular Agoran decision submits a ballot to the vote collector by publishing a valid notice indicating which one of the available options e selects. To be valid, the ballot must satisfy the following conditions: (a) The ballot is submitted during the voting period for the decision, and the submitter is an eligible voter at the time of submission. (b) The ballot clearly identifies the matter to be decided. (c) The ballot clearly identifies the option selected by the voter. (d) The voter has not publicly retracted the ballot during the voting period. ("Changing" a vote is equivalent to retracting it and casting a vote with the new value.) Among the otherwise-valid votes on an Agoran decision, only the first N submitted by each entity are valid, where N is the entity's voting limit on that decision. The voting limit of an entity that is not an eligible voter on an Agoran decision is zero. The voting limit of an eligible voter on an Agoran decision is one, except where rules say otherwise. The strength of an option is the number of valid ballots selecting that option. Other rules may place further constraints on the validity of ballots. This rule takes precedence over any rule that would loosen the constraints specified by this rule. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2196/2 (Power=3) Standard Classes of Agoran Decisions An Agoran decision with an adoption index is either ordinary or democratic. An Agoran decision with an adoption index greater than or equal to 2 is democratic. Any other Agoran decision with an adoption index is ordinary by default. If an Agoran decision has an adoption index, then the following are essential parameters: a) Its adoption index. b) Whether it is ordinary or democratic. For any Agoran decision with an adoption index, the available options are FOR, AGAINST, and PRESENT (syn. ABSTAIN) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2127/5 (Power=1) Conditional Votes If a vote on an Agoran decision is submitted conditionally (e.g. "FOR if is true, otherwise AGAINST"), then the selected option is evaluated based on the value of the condition(s) at the end of the voting period, and is clearly specified if and only if the value of the condition(s) can be reasonably determined (without circularity or paradox) from information reasonably available during the voting period. Casting a vote endorsing another voter is equivalent to conditionally casting a vote whose value is the same as the most common value (if any) among that voter's valid votes on that decision, or PRESENT otherwise. Casting a vote denouncing another voter is equivalent to conditionally casting a vote whose value is opposite to the most common value (if any) among that voter's valid votes on that decision, or PRESENT otherwise. FOR and AGAINST are opposites; PRESENT is its own opposite. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2222/1 (Power=2) Maximum Voting Limits Other rules to the contrary notwithstanding, no entity may have greater a voting limit than as allowed by this rule. The maximum voting limit for any entity on an ordinary decision is 12. The maximum voting limit for any entity on any other decision is 1. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2168/5 (Power=1) Extending the voting period Whenever the voting period of an Agoran decision would end, and the result would be FAILED QUORUM, the length of the voting period for that decision is instead doubled, provided this has not already happened for the decision in question. Upon such an occurrence, the vote collector for the decision SHALL issue a humiliating public reminder to the slackers who have not yet cast any votes on it despite being eligible, and CAN end its voting period by announcement (resolving it constitutes an implicit announcement that its voting period is first ended) if the result would no longer be FAILED QUORUM, or if the decision is whether to adopt a proposal and no voter (other than possibly the proposal's author and the vote collector) has voted FOR. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 208/7 (Power=3) Resolving Agoran decisions The vote collector for an unresolved Agoran decision CAN resolve it by announcement, indicating the option selected by Agora. If it was required to be initiated, then e SHALL resolve it as soon as possible after the end of the voting period. To be valid, this announcement must satisfy the following conditions: (a) It is published after the voting period has ended. (b) It clearly identifies the matter to be resolved. (c) It specifies which option was selected by Agora, as described elsewhere, and provides a tally of the voters' valid ballots on the various options. Each Agoran decision has exactly one vote collector, defaulting to the initiator of the decision. If the vote collector is defined by reference to a position (or, in the default case, if the initiator was so defined), then the vote collector is the current holder of that position. This rule takes precedence over any rule that would provide another mechanism by which an Agoran decision may be resolved. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 955/16 (Power=3) Determining the Will of Agora After an Agoran Decision's voting period ends, it has an outcome (syn. "the chosen by Agora"). (a) If there is more than one available option, and the number of distinct voters who submitted valid ballots is less than quorum, then the outcome is FAILED QUORUM, regardless of the remainder of this rule. Otherwise, the decision achieved quorum. (b) If the decision has an adoption index, then the voting index is the ratio of the strength of FOR to the strength of AGAINST. If the voting index is greater than 1, and greater than or equal to the decision's adoption index, then the outcome is ADOPTED; otherwise, the outcome is REJECTED. (c) Otherwise, the outcome is the option with the most votes, not counting votes of PRESENT. In case of a tie, the vote collector SHALL select one of the leaders as the outcome. If there are no options, the outcome is null. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 879/27 (Power=2) Quorum Quorum for an Agoran decision is N/3 (where N is the number of eligible voters with a positive voting limit on that decision), rounded up, with a minimum of five (unless this is greater than N, in which case quorum is N). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2034/6 (Power=3) Vote Protection and Cutoff for Challenges Any proposal that would otherwise change the validity of any existing vote on any specific unresolved Agoran decision is wholly without effect, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. This does not prevent amendment of the rules governing the validity of votes on Agoran decisions in general. Once an Agoran decision has been resolved, votes on it CANNOT be validly submitted or retracted, and its outcome CANNOT be changed in any way, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. This does not prevent correcting errors in reporting its resolution. A public document purporting to resolve an Agoran decision constitutes self-ratifying claims that a) such a decision existed, b) it was resolved as indicated, and c) (if the indicated outcome was to adopt a proposal) such a proposal existed, was adopted, and took effect. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Proposals ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 106/21 (Power=3) Adopting Proposals A proposal is a fixed body of text which has been made into a proposal using a process specifically described in the Rules. A proposal SHOULD outline changes to be made to Agora, including enacting, repealing, or amending rules, or making other explicit changes to the gamestate. A player CAN create a proposal by publishing ("submitting") a body of text with a clear indication that it is intended to become a proposal, which places the proposal in the Proposal Pool. The author (syn. proposer) of a proposal is the player who submitted it. The author of a proposal may remove it from the Pool by announcement. A player CAN remove (syn. retract, withdraw) a proposal e authored from the Proposal Pool by announcement. A player specifically permitted by the Rules to distribute a Proposal CAN distribute the proposal by publishing it with the clear intent of distributing it. When a proposal is distributed, it is removed from the Proposal Pool. The distribution of a proposal initiates the Agoran decision of whether to adopt the proposal, as described elsewhere. Removing a proposal from the Pool by a means other than initiating an Agoran Decision to adopt it is secured. If the Rules do not otherwise permit at least one current active player to distribute a Proposal, then any player may do so Without 3 Objections. A co-author of a proposal is a person (other than its author) unambiguously identified as such by its author when it was submitted. The adoption index of a proposal is an integral multiple of 0.1 from 1.0 to 9.9. It may be set by the proposer at the time of submission, or otherwise defaults to 1.0. Determining whether to adopt a proposal is an Agoran decision. For this decision, the adoption index is the adoption index of the proposal, and the vote collector is the Assessor. If the option selected by Agora on this decision is ADOPTED, then the proposal is adopted, and unless other rules prevent it from taking effect, its power is set to the minimum of four and its adoption index, and then it takes effect. It does not otherwise take effect. Preventing a proposal from taking effect is a secured change. This rule takes precedence over any rule which would permit a proposal to take effect. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2224/0 (Power=1) Interest Index of Proposals Each proposal has an interest index, which CAN be set by its author at the time of submission. A proposal SHOULD be disinterested if and only if its effects are limited to correcting errors and/or ambiguities. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1607/23 (Power=2) The Promotor The Promotor is an office; its holder is responsible for receiving and distributing proposals. Distributability is a proposal switch tracked by the Promotor, with values Undistributable (default) and Distributable. In a given Agoran week, the Promotor CAN and SHALL, as part of eir weekly duties, distribute any proposal that is in the Proposal Pool and was Distributable at the beginning of that Agoran week. The Promotor CAN but SHALL NOT, in a given Agoran week, distribute any proposal that is in the Pool but was Undistributable at the beginning of that Agoran week, or was entered into the Pool during that Agoran week. A player CAN flip a specified proposal to Distributable without Objection. For an Agoran decision of whether to adopt a proposal, the following are essential parameters: a) Its author (and co-authors, if any). b) Its interest index. Distributed proposals have ID numbers, to be assigned by the Promotor. The Promotor's report includes a list of all proposals in the Proposal Pool. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2250/1 (Power=1) Officer's Proposals If the submitter of a Proposal makes a claim that the proposal is submitted as part of an officer's duties in the same message in which the proposal was submitted, that proposal becomes Distributable upon entering the Proposal Pool. Falsely claiming that a proposal is submitted as part of an officer's duties is the Class 6 Crime of Distribunannigans. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1950/20 (Power=3) Voting on Democratic Decisions The eligible voters on a democratic decision are those entities that were active first-class players at the start of its voting period. The voting limit of each eligible voter on a democratic decision is one. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2156/11 (Power=2) Voting on Ordinary Decisions Caste is a player switch, tracked by the Grand Poobah, with the following values and their numeric equivalents: Alpha - 8 Beta - 5 Gamma - 3 Delta - 2 Epsilon - 1 (default for active first-class players and provinces) Savage - 0 (default for all other players) Changes to caste are secured, lest a coalition of high-caste players grant itself a boring permanence. The eligible voters on an ordinary decision are those entities that were active players at the start of its voting period. The voting limit of an eligible voter on an ordinary decision is eir caste at the start of its voting period, reduced to the next lower caste (minimum Savage) for each positive multiple of 4 Rests that the voter posesses at the start of the voting period. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2142/5 (Power=2) Support Democracy A player CAN, with 2 support, change an ordinary decision in its voting period to be democratic. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2137/2 (Power=1) The Assessor The Assessor is an office; its holder is responsible for collecting votes and keeping track of related properties. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1450/9 (Power=2) Separation of Powers Lest the entire proposal process fall under the control of a single entity, any change that would result in the same entity holding the offices of Promotor and Assessor simultaneously is canceled and does not occur, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1698/1 (Power=3) Agora Is a Nomic In the interest of safeguarding Agora's nomic-ness, if a change to the gamestate would otherwise make it IMPOSSIBLE to make arbitrary rule changes and/or adopt arbitrary proposals within a four-week period by any combinations of actions by players, then that change is canceled and does not occur, any rule to the contrary notwithstanding. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2134/5 (Power=2) Win by Clout Upon a win announcement that a specified player's voting limit on an ordinary decision initiated at that time would exceed the combined voting limits of all other players on that decision, the specified player satisfies the Winning Condition of Clout. Cleanup procedure: Each player's caste is set to its default value, and no player satisfies this Winning Condition again (the remainder of this rule notwithstanding) during the same month. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2211/3 (Power=2) The Grand Poobah The Grand Poobah is an office; its holder is responsible for keeping track of castes. The Grand Poobah CAN generally flip a Player's caste by announcement, but SHALL only do so as explicitly described by the Rules. If the result of a claim of error or court case finds that e has flipped a Player's caste illegally (e.g. not as specified by the Rules), e SHALL flip the caste to the appropriate correct value as soon as possible. If a player believes that a caste switch has been flipped illegally, e CAN switch it back with three Support, provided e has first raised a claim of error or court case concerning the matter. However e (and supporters) SHALL defer to the courts and the Grand Poobah's ability to correct the issue, unless they present a good and pressing reason not to do so; abuse of this ability should not be taken lightly by the courts. At the beginning of each month, each Alpha's caste is flipped to eir default value. As soon as possible after the beginning of each month, the Grand Poobah SHALL do the following, in order, at each step choosing (if possible) a player who has not yet been chosen during the current procedure: 1) Promotions. At each step, the Grand Poobah SHALL choose a player whose caste is as high as possible without equalling or exceeding the new caste: a) Flip a player's caste to Alpha b) Flip a player's caste to Beta c) Flip a player's caste to Gamma d) Flip a player's caste to Delta 2) Demotions. Each step is repeated as many times as needed. a->b) While there is more than one Alpha, flip an Alpha's caste to Beta b->c) While there are more than two Betas, flip a Beta's caste to Gamma c->d) While there are more than three Gammas, flip a Gamma's caste to Delta d->e) While there are more than four Deltas, flip a Delta's caste to Epsilon During the seven days immediately prior to the start of a month, the Speaker CAN publish an Honors List, indicating a list of players other than emself for promotion. If such a list is published, the Grand Poobah SHALL, during the Promotions step above, make as many legal promotions from this list as possible before making any other promotions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2188/1 (Power=1) Win by Proposal Upon a win announcement that a proposal awarding a win to one or more persons has been adopted, all those persons satisfy the Winning Condition of Legislation. Cleanup procedure: The condition cannot be satisfied again for the same proposal. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Adjudication ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 991/11 (Power=2) Judicial Cases Generally A judicial case, also known as a call for judgement (CFJ), is a procedure to settle a matter of controversy. Each judicial case has exactly one subclass, with particular features as defined by other rules. Subclasses of judicial case exist only as defined by the rules. Defining a subclass of judicial case is secured, with a power threshold of 1.7. A judicial case's subclass CAN be specified by its initiator, or otherwise defaults to inquiry. The Clerk of the Courts (CotC) is an office, responsible for managing judicial activity. The CotC's report includes the status of all judicial cases that either require a judge or have at least one applicable judicial question that has no judgement. Judicial cases (other than appeal cases, which have historically been identified by reference to the prior case) have ID numbers, to be assigned by the Clerk of the Courts. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2246/1 (Power=2) Submitting a CFJ to the Justiciar A judicial case may be submitted to the Justiciar. For such a case, the Justiciar CAN, in a timely manner and by announcement, either accept or reject the case. Until the time limit expires or the Justiciar rejects the case, the CotC CANNOT perform any duties with regards to the case; the only appropriate sentence for violations caused by this is DISCHARGE. If the Justiciar accepts the case, e replaces the CotC entirely with regards to that case; e receives all obligations and all powers with regards to it. This includes any secondary duties required to fulfill obligations (such as rotating the bench). This takes precedence over Rules that would otherwise assign duties and powers regarding a judicial case to the Clerk of the Courts. All persons are encouraged to submit a case to the Justiciar only when there is a good reason not to submit it to the Clerk of the Courts. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2225/2 (Power=1.5) Interest Index of Judicial Cases Each judicial case has an interest index, which CAN be set by its initiator at the time of initiation, and CAN be changed by any player without 2 objections, or by the Clerk of the Courts or Justiciar without 3 objections. When a player recuses emself from a judicial case whose interest index equals eir rank, the cases interest index is increased by 1 unless the recusing player announces that it should not. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2158/8 (Power=2) Judicial Questions A judicial question is a question that arises within a judicial case. Judicial questions arise only as defined by the rules. Defining a judicial question is secured, with a power threshold of 1.7. At any time, each judicial question is either inapplicable (default) or applicable. This is not a persistent status, but is evaluated instantaneously. At any time, each judicial question is either open (default), suspended, or has exactly one judgement. This is a persistent status that changes only according to the rules. The possible types of judgement for a judicial question depend on the type of question. When a judicial question is applicable and open, its case requires a judge. When a judicial question is applicable and open, and its case has a judge assigned to it, the judge CAN assign a valid judgement to it by announcement, and SHALL do so as soon as possible, unless e is recused from the case before the time limit for doing so has expired. A judge SHOULD NOT assign an inappropriate judgement to any judicial question. A judgement is valid and/or appropriate only as defined by the rules. Defining these things is secured, with a power threshold of 1.7. If more than one judgement is valid and appropriate, then the choice between them is left to the judge's discretion. When a judicial question is applicable and open, and its judge has violated a time limit to assign a judgement to it, or is not an active player, the Clerk of the Courts SHALL recuse that judge with cause by announcement as soon as possible; however, this requirement is waived if the judge assigns a judgement to it first. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 591/30 (Power=1.7) Inquiry Cases Inquiry cases are a subclass of judicial cases. An inquiry case's purpose is to determine the veracity of a particular statement. An inquiry case CAN be initiated by any first-class person, by announcement which includes the statement to be inquired into. (Including a yes/no question is equivalent to including a statement that the answer to that question is yes, and for such a case, YES and NO are synonymous with the judgements TRUE and FALSE respectively.) The initiator is unqualified to be assigned as judge of the case, and in the initiating announcement e CAN disqualify one person from assignment as judge of the case. An inquiry case has a judicial question on veracity, which is always applicable. The valid judgements for this question are as follows, based on the truth or falsity of the statement at the time the inquiry case was initiated: * FALSE, appropriate if the statement was factually and logically false * TRUE, appropriate if the statement was factually and logically true * UNDECIDABLE, appropriate if the statement was logically undecidable or otherwise not capable of being accurately described as either false or true * IRRELEVANT, appropriate if the veracity of the statement is not relevant to the game or is an overly hypothetical extrapolation of the game or its rules to conditions that don't actually exist * UNDETERMINED, appropriate if the statement is nonsensical or too vague, or if the information available to the judge is insufficient to determine which of the FALSE, TRUE, and UNDECIDABLE judgements is appropriate; however, uncertainty as to how to interpret or apply the rules cannot constitute insufficiency of information for this purpose * MALFORMED, appropriate if the text identified by the initiator as the statement cannot be parsed as a single statement in the ordinary-language sense; however, a compound statement (e.g. "X and Y", "X or Y") counts as a single statement The judgement of the question in an inquiry case, and the reasoning by which it was reached, SHOULD guide future play (including future judgements), but do not directly affect the veracity of the statement. The Rulekeepor is ENCOURAGED to annotate rules to draw attention to relevant inquiry case judgements. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2230/12 (Power=2) Notices of Violation A player CAN publish a Notice of Violation (with N support, where N is the number of valid un-Closed Notices of Violation e previously published during the same week, or by announcement if N is zero) alleging that a single entity (the Accused) has broken a Rule. A notice of violation is invalid if it lacks any of the following information, and the lack is correctly identified within one week after the notice is published: (a) The identity of the Accused; (b) The allegedly illegal action/inaction in question; (c) The Rule that was allegedly broken; (d) If the Rules specify exactly one Class-N Crime (where N is a positive integer) as being associated with the alleged breach, then the name of that Crime and the value of N; otherwise, the Power of the Rule that was allegedly broken. Knowingly issuing a Notice of Violation with incorrect information is ILLEGAL, and the Class-4 Crime of Libel. A Notice of Violation is valid if and only if: (1) it clearly specifies the required information for a Notice of Violation; (2) no previous valid notice specified substantially identical information (i.e. the same violation for the same specific act). (3) when a crime is named, the crime is specified within the Rules. Neither a Notice's incorrectness (i.e. whether its allegation is false) nor its unfairness (i.e. whether the punishment resulting from leaving it Uncontested would be manifestly unfair according to the guidance of the Rules) affects its validity. As soon as possible after a player makes an announcement that is reasonably recognizable as an attempt to issue such a notice, the Insulator SHALL announce whether the Notice was valid. Such an announcement is self-ratifying. Affirming the validity of the notice does not in itself certify the correctness of the allegation. A valid Notice of Violation is initially Uncontested unless a Crime is named, Contested otherwise. Within four days after the publication of an Uncontested Notice, any player CAN make it Contested by announcement; a player SHOULD do so if e believes it is incorrect and/or unfair. An Uncontested Notice becomes Contested upon the initiation of a judicial case questioning its incorrectness and/or unfairness (but not merely by questioning its validity). If a Notice is Uncontested and was published at least four days ago, any player CAN cause it to become Closed by announcement. Any player CAN cause a Notice specifying em as Accused to become Closed by announcement. When a Notice becomes Closed, a number of Rests are created in the possession of the Accused equal to the Class of the specified Crime, or in its absence the Power of the violated rule, rounded up. If a Closed notice becomes Contested, these Rests remain, but CAN be later destroyed by judicial processes as described elsewhere. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1504/42 (Power=2) Criminal Cases Criminal cases are a subclass of judicial cases. Any first-class person can initiate a criminal case by an announcement calling for judgement on the circumstances surrounding a specified valid Notice of Violation alleging a rules breach by a single entity (the Accused). The initiator and each member of the Accused's basis are unqualified to be assigned as judge of the case. A criminal case has a judicial question on culpability, which is applicable at all times following the call for judgement. The valid judgements for this question are: * GUILTY, appropriate if the judge finds, beyond a reasonable doubt, that ALL of the following are true: (a) the Accused breached the specified rule via the specified act; (b) the breach occurred within 90 days prior to the case being initiated; (c) judgement has not already been reached in another criminal case, or punishment already applied through another uncontested notice of violation, with the same Accused, the same rule, and substantially the same alleged act; (d) the Accused could not have reasonably believed that the alleged act did not violate the specified rule; (e) the Accused could have reasonably avoided committing the breach without committing a different breach of equal or greater severity. * NOT GUILTY, appropriate if GUILTY is not appropriate. In delivering this verdict, the judge SHOULD indicate which of of the sub-requirements for a finding of guilty were not found to be true beyond a reasonable doubt. When a judicial question on culpability is judged after a number of rests have been created in the Accused's posession due to the associated notice, those rests are destroyed. A criminal case has a judicial question on sentencing, which is applicable if the question on culpability is applicable and has a judgement of GUILTY. If a criminal case has an applicable question on sentencing which has a judgement, the Accused is hereafter known as the ninny, the judgement in the question on sentencing is known as the sentence, and the sentence is in effect. The valid sentences are: * DISCHARGE, appropriate only in extraordinary circumstances, if any available non-null punishment would be manifestly unjust. Has no effect. * APOLOGY with a set of up to ten prescribed words (the empty set if none is explicitly specified), appropriate for rule breaches of small consequence. When in effect, the ninny SHALL as soon as possible publish a formal apology of at least 200 words, including all the prescribed words, explaining eir error, shame, remorse, and ardent desire for self-improvement. Failure to do so is a Class-3 Crime of Failure to Apologize. * SILENCE, a number of Rests, equal to the defined Class of the Crime or (if the breach is not a defined crime) the power of the breached Rule, rounded to the nearest integer with ties broken by rounding up, are created in the possession of the Ninny. The judge CAN, with 2 Support, set the fine at a different integral level between one half and double that amount, and SHOULD attempt to do so if necessary to ensure that the correlation between the fine and the severity of the breach is appropriate, or to account for the faith (good or bad) shown by the Ninny in contesting the notice or in aiding or obstructing the course of justice. Players SHOULD NOT create rules defining Crimes of a Class greater than 14. An appeal concerning any assignment of judgment in a criminal case within the past week CAN be initiated by the accused by announcement. Unless otherwise specified, an appeal of a judgment in a criminal case is assumed to be appealing the question of culpability. If a verdict or sentence that led to the creation of Rests is overruled, remanded, or reassigned, the Rests are still considered to have been created, but any player CAN destroy any created Rests by announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2169/13 (Power=1.7) Equity Cases Equity cases are a subclass of judicial cases. An equity case's purpose is to correct a potential injustice in the operation of a particular Equitable contract. An equity case CAN be initiated by any party to the contract, by announcement which clearly identifies the contract and a state of affairs whereby events have not proceeded as envisioned by the contract (such as, but not limited to, a party acting in contravention of eir contractual obligations). This announcement SHALL also clearly identify the set of parties to the contract. For the purpose of this rule, the parties to a contract are measured as of the time the case was initiated; however, if the initiating message specifies a different time that falls within the week before the case was initiated, then that time is used instead. The initiation of an equity case begins its pre-trial phase. In the pre-trial phase the CotC SHALL in a timely fashion inform all the contracting parties of the case and invite them to submit arguments regarding the equitability of the situation. The pre-trial phase ends one week after the parties have been so informed, or immediately when all parties have announced that they wish to terminate the pre-trial phase. The initiator is unqualified to be assigned as judge of the case. All other members of the bases of the parties to the contract are also unqualified, except while this would result in all entities being unqualified. An equity case has a judicial question on equation, which is applicable at all times following the pre-trial phase. The valid judgements for this question are the possible agreements that the parties could make that would be governed by the rules. A judgement is appropriate if and only if it is a reasonably equitable resolution of the situation at hand with respect to the matters raised in the initiation of the case and by the parties in the course of the case. When an applicable question on equation in an equity case has a judgement, and has had that judgement continuously for the past week (or all parties to the contract have approved that judgement), the judgement becomes Enforceable as a set of regulated requirements imposed by this Rule. Every party to the contract SHALL act to ensure the terms of an enforceable equity judgement specific to that party are satisfied, though this requirement does not create the ability to perform regulated actions that the party CANNOT otherwise perform. If a party fails to act as specified, e is in violation of this Rule; in such a situation, the judge CAN act on the party's behalf to fulfill said obligations Without 3 Objections, or the party may be subjected to a criminal punishment other than DISCHARGE for violating this Rule, but not both. The judge CAN, Without Objection from the parties, nullify a specified term or terms of the judgement, thereby removing the requirement of parties to act as specified. An appeal concerning any assignment of judgement in an equity case CAN be initiated by any party to the contract in question by announcement. If the judgement is Enforceable when it is appealed, the Appeals Court SHOULD assume that the judgement was fundamentally fair when made, and SHALL restrict its appeals judgement to nullifying terms of the judgement which are no longer applicable due to changed circumstances. If an announcement claiming to initiate an equity case regarding a private contract would otherwise be invalid solely because the contract does not exist or the initiator is not party to it, then it is valid, but its judge SHALL assign it a null judgement. For the purpose of an equity case regarding a scam, it is generally equitable to let the scammers retain at least some absolute gains as reward for their cleverness, while compensating others for at least some absolute losses. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2205/1 (Power=1) Judicial Arguments and Evidence Each of the following participants in a judicial case SHOULD present such arguments and/or evidence (explicitly labeled) relevant to that case as e is reasonably able to collect: 1) The initiator, when initiating the case. 2) For a criminal case, the defendant, during the pre-trial phase. 3) For an equity case, the parties to the agreement in question, during the pre-trial phase. 4) The judge, when delivering judgement. Matters of legal interpretation SHOULD be classified as arguments; matters of fact SHOULD be classified as evidence. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2157/6 (Power=1.7) Judicial Panels A judicial panel is a structure whereby a group of two or more persons (its members) act together for the purpose of judging judicial cases. A judicial panel's membership cannot change, and if two panels have the same membership then they are the same panel. Judicial panels exist implicitly, without any specific act of formation. A judicial panel CAN send messages by means of any of its members sending a message identified as being from the panel, with the unanimous Support of the panel's other members. By this mechanism a judicial panel can act, in situations where the rules state that an action is performed by sending a message. The rules may specify other mechanisms by which the judicial panel CAN act. A judicial panel can incur obligations. The members of a panel SHALL act collectively to ensure that the panel satisfies all of its obligations. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 911/31 (Power=1.7) Appeal Cases Appeal cases are a subclass of judicial cases. An appeal case's purpose is to determine the appropriateness of a judgement that has been assigned to a judicial question, and make remedy if the judgement was poorly chosen. The assignment of judgement being questioned (appealed against, or appealed) is referred to as the prior assignment; the word "prior" in this rule is used to refer to the circumstances of the prior assignment. An appeal concerning any assignment of judgement in a non-appeal case within the past two weeks CAN be initiated by any player with 2 support. However, rules to the contrary notwithstanding, an appeal CANNOT be initiated concerning an assignment caused by a judgement in an appeal case, nor an assignment for which an appeal has already been initiated. The entities qualified to be assigned as judge of an appeal case are the judicial panels consisting of max(3,1+2*R) members (where R is the rank of the prior case), where each of the members is qualified to be assigned as judge of the prior case and none of the members is the prior judge. An appeal case has a judicial question on disposition, which is applicable if and only if the prior question is applicable. The valid judgements for the question on disposition, and their effects, are as follows, based on the appropriateness of the prior judgement at the time it was delivered: * AFFIRM, appropriate if the prior judgement was appropriate for the prior question; the prior judgement is assigned to the prior question again * REMAND, appropriate if there is serious doubt about the appropriateness of the prior judgement; the prior question is rendered open again; this judgement SHOULD be assigned if the judge believes that the judge of the prior case will make a better judgement if given a new opportunity * REASSIGN, appropriate if there is serious doubt about the appropriateness of the prior judgement, or if the prior judge exhibited corruptive self-interest (material, with a specific and obvious impact on eir judgement and arguments, and not arising merely due to a difference of opinion or a wholly incidental material benefit common among many players); the judge of the prior case (if any) is recused, and the prior question is rendered open again; this judgement SHOULD be assigned if the judge believes that the judge of the prior case will not make a better judgement if given a new opportunity * OVERRULE with a valid replacement judgement for the prior question, appropriate if the prior judgement was inappropriate in the prior question and the replacement judgement is appropriate for the prior question; the replacement judgement is assigned to the prior question When an appeal case is initiated, the prior question is suspended, and remains so until the question on disposition in the appeal case is judged. As soon as possible after a judicial panel is assigned, each member of the panel SHALL publish an appeals opinion indicating a valid judgement to assign to the case -- only the last such published opinion for each member is used to determine the outcome. Each member SHOULD choose an appropriate judgement, and include arguments for eir choice. If, immediately after either all members have so published or the time limit for so publishing has ended, a majority of the members have opined for the same judgement, the panel acts to deliver the judgement in question. If the panel publishes a valid judgement via another mechanism specified in the Rules, the requirement for individual members to publish individual opinions is waived. If the time period ends with no majority judgement, then: - if the Justiciar has published an opinion on the case clearly marked as the Justiciar's Opinion and indicating a valid judgement, and that judgement is the same as one given by at least one panel member (other than the Justiciar), then the panel delivers that judgement; - otherwise, the case enters an overtime period, which lasts for four days. The CotC SHOULD publicly remind the Justiciar when an overtime period begins. During this period, if the Justiciar publishes a Justiciar's Opinion that is the same as one panel member's as described above, then the panel delivers that judgement; - otherwise, the CotC CAN and SHALL, asap after the overtime period ends, act for the panel by announcement to deliver a judgement of either REMAND or REASSIGN, whichever e feels is most appropriate. A panel CAN publish a concurring opinion when judging AFFIRM, and SHALL do so if and only if the reasoning by which the prior judge reached eir judgement was incorrect in whole or part. Each concurring opinion SHALL explain the nature of the error(s) in the prior judge's reasoning. Each concurring opinion has an error rating, an integer from 1 to 99; it CAN be specified by the panel when the concurring opinion is published, or else defaults to 50. In the week after the panel publishes a valid judgement, any panel member CAN publish a formal Dissenting Opinion with Support. This Dissenting Opinion becomes a part of the record of the case, and SHOULD aid in interpreting the decision. The judge of a previously-appealed question SHALL NOT assign the same judgement to it without new reasoning that addresses the serious doubt about its appropriateness. Violating this prohibition is the Class-N Crime of Lazy Judging, where N is the judge's rank when e so judged. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2175/4 (Power=1) Judicial Retraction and Excess A new case is a judicial case (other than an appeal case) that has not had any judge assigned to it. The initiator of a new case CAN retract it by announcement, thus causing it to cease to be a judicial case. An excess case is a new case whose initiator previously initiated five or more cases during the same week as that case. The Clerk of the Courts CAN refuse an excess case by announcement, thus causing it to cease to be a judicial case. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1868/15 (Power=2) Judge Assignment Generally At any time, a judicial case either has no judge assigned to it (default) or has exactly one entity assigned to it as judge. This is a persistent status that changes only according to the rules. At any time, a judicial case either does not require a judge (default) or requires a judge. This is not a persistent status, but is evaluated instantaneously. When a judicial case requires a judge and has no judge assigned, the CotC CAN assign a qualified entity to be its judge by announcement, and SHALL do so as soon as possible. The entities qualified to be assigned as judge of a judicial case are the active players, subject to modification by other rules. Being unqualified to be assigned as a judge does not inherently prevent an entity from continuing to be judge of a case to which e is already assigned. When a player is poorly qualified to be assigned as judge of a judicial case, the Clerk of the Courts SHALL not assign em to be the judge of that case; if e has done so, and that player is still the judge of that case, then e CAN recuse that judge from that case by announcement. Making an entity unqualified or poorly qualified to judge is secured, with a power threshold of 1.5. To recuse a judge from a case is to deassign em as its judge. Assigning a judge to a case implicitly recuses its existing judge, if any. A recusal "with cause" is a recusal defined as such by the rules. A player CAN favor or disfavor a judicial case by announcement. When assigning a judge to a judicial case, the CotC, if possible, SHALL assign a player who has favored it and SHALL NOT assign a player who has disfavored it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1871/26 (Power=1.5) The Standing Court Posture is a player switch, tracked by the Clerk of the Courts, with the following values: * Standing. Standing players are generally qualified to judge. * Sitting. Sitting players are poorly qualified to judge, but will generally become qualified when the CotC rotates the bench. * Leaning. Leaning players are poorly qualified to judge, but are generally qualified to serve on appeal panels. * Supine (default). Supine players are unqualified to judge. Changes to posture are secured. A player CAN flip eir posture to any non-standing value by announcement. When the CotC assigns a player as judge, that player becomes sitting. The CotC CAN rotate the bench (change all sitting players to standing) by announcement, but SHALL NOT do so unless, of the judicial cases requiring assignment: a) no entity is well-qualified to be assigned to any of them; b) e immediately afterwards (in the same announcement) assigns a judge to at least one of them. When the CotC recuses a non-supine player with cause, e CAN flip that player's posture to supine by announcement in a timely fashion. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2203/1 (Power=1.5) Hawkishness Hawkishness is a player switch, tracked by the Clerk of the Courts, with the following values: * Hanging. Hanging players are unqualified to be assigned as judge of any inquiry case. * Hugging. Hugging players are unqualified to be assigned as judge of any criminal case, and poorly qualified to be assigned as judge of any equity case. * Hemming-and-Hawing (default). * Hovering. Hovering players are poorly qualified to be assigned as judge of any inquiry case, unless there is no non-inquiry case requiring assignment, at least one inquiry case requiring assignment, and no such inquiry case with any non-Hovering player well-qualified to be assigned to it. Changes to hawkishness are secured. A player CAN flip eir hawkishness by announcement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2226/1 (Power=1.5) Judicial Rank Judicial rank is a player switch, tracked by the Clerk of the Courts, with the same range and default as interest indices. A player is poorly qualified to judge judicial cases whose interest index exceeds eir judicial rank. A player CAN flip eir judicial rank to any value by announcement. When a judgement is overruled on appeal, if the prior judge's rank is higher than 0, then it is decreased by 1, and e CANNOT increase it for 30 days afterward (the rest of this rule notwithstanding), unless eir new rank is 0, in which case e CAN increase it to 1 at any time by spending 3 Notes. "District", "Circuit", and "Supreme" are synonymous with judicial ranks 1, 2, and 3, respectively. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2248/0 (Power=2) Second-Class Judges If any first-class member of a second-class person's basis would be unqualified to judge a given judicial case, even if e were registered, active, standing, hemming-and-hawing, and Supreme, then that second-class person is unqualified to judge that case. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2204/0 (Power=1.5) Linked Assignments When the Clerk of the Courts assigns a player as judge of two or more judicial cases consecutively in the same announcement, that player only becomes sitting upon the last such assignment, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. The CotC SHOULD NOT do this unless those cases are closely related in their subject matter. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2164/3 (Power=1) Judicial Self-Recusal and Case Transfer The judge of a judicial case CAN recuse emself from it at any time by announcement. Such a recusal is with cause if and only if e has been assigned to the case for at least four days. An entity (the transferee) CAN, with consent from the current judge of a judicial case (the transferor), assign emself as the new judge of that case, provided that e is qualified to be assigned as judge of that case, and e immediately (in the same announcement) assigns a judgement to a judicial question in that case. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2212/0 (Power=1.7) Judicial Declarations A judicial declaration published by a judge as required by the rules in conjunction with a judgement is self-ratifying, provided that that judgement remains in effect. Such a judgement may be inappropriate due to the content of this declaration, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Cards ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2253/0 (Power=2) Cards Cards are any class of assets defined by the Rules to be cards. For the rules to define a class of assets to be a card, the Rules must define its Title, its Deck, and either its Exploit or its Position, but not both. Card instances of the same class are fungible. Ownership of cards is restricted to players and contests. A Deck is a collection of card types associated in the Rules with a particular recordkeepor, who is known as the dealer for that deck and for the cards in that deck. Any office whose duties include being a dealer is a high-priority office (rules to the contrary notwithstanding), and holdings of cards from that deck are part of that officer's weekly report; a dealer's report of card holdings is self-ratifying. The dealer for a deck CAN, by announcement: * create a card that is part of that deck in the possession of any entity; * destroy any card that is part of that deck; * transfer a card that is part of that deck between any two entities; however the e SHALL only perform these actions as explicitly permitted by the Rules. E MAY transfer, play, or destroy cards in eir own possession as any other player generally MAY. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2254/0 (Power=1) Position Cards If a card class has a position, it CANNOT be destroyed except as described in this Rule, nor CAN more than a single instance come into existence, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. If a CFJ determines that the possessor of the instance can't be determined by reasonable effort, then that card's dealer SHALL, as soon as possible, destroy any instance of that card that might exist and create that card in the possession of an active player who holds the Patent Title Champion, chosen at random. If a card has a Position, and the holder of the card is a Player, the holder of that card is considered to be the holder of that position, and have the powers and duties described by the Rules for that position. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2255/0 (Power=2) Major Arcana The Major Arcana is a deck of Position cards whose dealer is the Herald. The following Major Arcana cards are defined: Title: Minister without Portfolio. Position: The Minister without Portfolio CAN become holder of a specified vacant elected office by announcement, unless e is prevented from holding that office on an ongoing basis. Title: Majority Leader. Position: The Majority Leader CAN veto a specified ordinary decision in its voting period by announcement; this increases its Adoption Index by 1 and makes it Democratic. Title: Cabinet Secretary. Position: the Cabinet Secretary CAN rubberstamp an ordinary, non-filibustered decision in its voting period by indicating the decision; this decreases its quorum to 3, rules to the contrary notwithstanding. Title: Chief Whip. Position: The Chief Whips's voting limit on an Ordinary proposal is 1.5 times what it would otherwise be. Title: Justiciar. Position: The Justiciar may be granted particular abilities or privileges associated with the judicial process as described elsewhere in the Rules. Title: Admiral of the Navy. Position: The Admiral of the Navy CAN begin a coup by announcing the ceremonial shelling of the palace. The effects of the coup (if any) are as described elsewhere in the rules. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2256/0 (Power=1) Exploit Cards If a card has an Exploit, a player CAN play a card in eir possession, by announcing that e plays the card, while also announcing any further information required by the exploit. The card is destroyed, and if possible, the effects of the exploit take place. In an exploit, the term "you" refers to the entity who plays the card. If the information is incorrect, or the exploit is IMPOSSIBLE or otherwise fails, or the card has no exploit, an attempt made by the player to play a card in eir possession has no effect and the card remains in the player's possession. A card is not an instrument; the instrument that causes the change described by a card's exploit is the Rule that describes that exploit, regardless of whether the exploit describes the agent performing the change as "you", the card, or another entity. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2257/0 (Power=2) Dealing Cards Each defined Exploit card type in a deck shall have a Frequency, which is a non-negative integer defaulting to 0. The frequency of each card type is part of the weekly report of the deck's dealer. The frequency of each card type is Secured, and CAN be changed: * by the Deck's dealer without 2 objections; * if the deck's dealer is part of an Officer's duty, then, during an election for that office but before the last four days of the election's voting period, a candidate for that office CAN make and publish a pledge explicitly, clearly, and obviously describing changes e intends to make to the frequencies of cards in eir deck. If e wins the election, e CAN and SHALL make the described changes by announcement asap after the election ends. Whenever the rules indicate that a dealer SHALL deal a card to an entity, or that the entity "earns a draw" from a particular deck, that deck's dealer SHALL, as soon as possible, create a card in the possession of that entity, with the card chosen at random from among cards in that deck, with the probability of a particular card being chosen being the frequency of that card divided by the sum of the frequencies of all the cards in that deck (if this sum is zero, the requirement to deal asap is waived, and the dealer SHALL NOT deal a card from that deck until the sum is greater than zero). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2258/0 (Power=1) Decks, Draws, and Salaries Any deck of cards defined by this rule is known as a Basic Deck. Salary is a first-class player switch tracked by the Accountor, with possible values N,M,O,P where each letter is replaced with a defined basic deck. The default value for this switch is Change,Change,Justice,Government. Ordering of N,M,O,P is not a significant differentiating aspect of the switch value, only the number of times each deck type is listed within the switch. A player CAN change the value of eir own Salary switch by announcement. At the beginning of each month, each first-class player earns a number of draws from each Basic Deck equal to the number of times that deck appeared in eir salary switch at the beginning of the month. As soon as possible after the beginning of each month, the Accounter SHALL publish the state of each player's Salary switch as it was at the beginning of the month. Office Salary is a switch for each office tracked by the Accountor, with possible values being the names of each basic deck (default Government). The holder of each OFFICE CAN change that office's salary by announcement. At the beginning of each week, each holder of a high-priority office who completed a non- empty set of duties in the prior week earns a number of draws from the deck indicated by the switch equal to the interest index for the office. At the beginning of each month, each holder of a low-priority office who held the office for 16 or more days in the prior month earns a number of draws from the deck indicated by the switch equal to the interest index of the office. When a first-class player registers, e earns two draws from each basic deck. The Deck of Government is a deck of cards tracked by the Grand Poobah. The Deck of Justice is a deck of cards tracked by the Insulator. The Deck of Change is a deck of cards tracked by the Anarchist. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2259/0 (Power=1) Basic Hand Limits Each first-class player has a Basic Deck Limit (BDL) of 3. Every other entity has a BDL of 0. Each entity's Actual Deck Limit (ADL) for a particular basic deck is equal to eir BDL times the number of times that deck appears as part of eir Salary switch. As soon as possible after the beginning of each month, the dealer of each basic deck SHALL, by announcement, destroy a number of cards at random in each entity's hand equal to the difference between the number of cards of that deck the entity has and that entity's ADL for that deck. The dealer SHALL NOT deal any cards to any entity between the beginning of the month and performing this duty for all entities. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2260/0 (Power=1) The Deck of Government When a player wins an election, e earns two draws from the Government Deck. The Deck of Government consists of the following cards, listed by title followed by Exploit. * Roll Call - Increase an indicated player's voting limit on one indicated Ordinary Proposal except in last 24 hours of voting period. * Debate-o-Matic - Make a Proposal you name Democratic. * Arm-twist - Decrease an indicated player's Vote Power on one indicated Ordinary Proposal. * On the Nod - Rubberstamp an indicated Ordinary, non- filibustered Proposal. * Kill Bill - Veto an indicated Ordinary Proposal. * Lobbyist - Increase the caste of a player you name in your party, other than yourself, by one. * Local Election - Decrease the caste of a player you name by one. * No Confidence - Initiate an election for an office; if an election for the office is in progress it is canceled and re-started. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2261/0 (Power=1) The Deck of Change When a proposal authored by a player is adopted and takes effect, that player earns a number of draws from the Change Deck equal to the Interest Index of the proposal. The Deck of Change consists of the following cards, listed by title followed by Exploit. * Distrib-u-Matic - A proposal that you indicate becomes Distributable. * Committee - Make a Proposal you name Undistributable. * Your Turn - Indicate a player. That player must play or destroy a card in the next 72 hours; if e does not, you MAY act on eir behalf to discard one. * Presto! - Indicate an entity and a card held by that entity. That card is transferred to your hand. * Not Your Turn - cancel a card play that occured in the last 24 hours; HOWEVER; if this would lead at any time in the 24 hours after playing to a paradox which would prevent its play, its play is unsuccessful. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2262/0 (Power=1) The Deck of Justice When a judge judges a case within its time limit, e earns a draw from the Deck of Justice. If a judge's judgement is OVERTURNED on appeal, one justice on the appeals panel CAN destroy one Justice card e indicates in the judge's possession by announcement. The Deck of Justice consists of the following cards, listed by title followed by Exploit. * Absolv-o-Matic - A Rest possessed by a Player you name is destroyed. * Stool Pigeon - A rest is created in the possession of a first-class player that you name, provided no one has named the same player in playing this card in the last 72 hours. * Drop your Weapon - Indicate an entity and a card held by that entity. If that entity possesses that card, it is destroyed. * Discard Picking - Indicate a card that was played or destroyed in the past 72 hours. It is transferred to your hand. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Patent Titles and Degrees ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 649/30 (Power=1.5) Patent Titles A Patent Title is a legal item given in recognition of a person's distinction. The Herald is an office; its holder is responsible for tracking Patent Titles. A Patent Title CAN only be awarded by a proposal, or by the announcement of a person specifically authorized by the Rules to make that award. A person so authorized SHALL make the award as soon as possible as the conditions authorizing em to make the award are posted publicly, unless there is an open judicial question contesting the validity of the conditions. Awarding or revoking a Patent Title by Proposal is a secured change. While a Patent Title has been awarded to (and not revoked from) an entity, that entity is said to Bear that Patent Title. The status of Bearing a Patent Title can only be changed as explicitly set out in the Rules. The Herald's monthly report includes a list of each Patent Title that at least one entity Bears, with a list of which entities Bear it. As soon as possible after a patent title is awarded or revoked, the herald SHALL announce the award or revocation. When a patent title is used as a noun to refer to bearers of the patent title, it is assumed to refer only to persons who Bear that patent title unless context clearly indicates otherwise. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1922/35 (Power=1) Defined Regular Patent Titles The following are Patent Titles: (a) Scamster, which may be awarded to any Player who has shown great enthusiasm, persistence, or skill in the perpetrating of scams. This title may not be declined, retracted, or revoked. (b) A Patent Title (non-unique) now will Be known as "Bard", and granted those with wit. In order for the Title to be filled, A level of Support must call for it. Three players to a fourth may grant this name If these three write as one, with two Support. A current Bard may also grant the same, Provided that a second Bard's a sport. And so we don't the name of Bard debase, A Player with three Supporters can conspire To (from a Bard), this Title to erase: Or Bard (plus two Bards) make a Bard retire. But lest we ruin some poor minstrel's fun No bard will be dis-bard for eir bad pun. (c) Three Months Long Service, Six Months Long Service, Nine Months Long Service, Twelve Months Long Service, to be awarded by the IADoP to any player who has held a particular Office continuously for the specified duration. Each of these titles shall be awarded only once per player. (d) Champion, to be awarded by the Herald to any person who wins the game, along with a specification (possibly implicit) of the method of victory. The Herald's monthly report includes how the player won. A message awarding Champion to a player constitutes a self-ratifying claim that the player in question won the game through that method. (e) Left in a Huff, to be awarded by the Registrar to any player who deregistered in a Writ of FAGE. (f) Elder Lurker, to be awarded to Persons who are true legends that were involved in Agora in its early days and now continue to grace us with their presence by lurking on the lists to occasionally add tid-bits of wisdom or insight to discussions. (g) Cassandra, to be awarded to any player who noticed a scam, thought up a way to stop it, warned everyone clearly, and yet the scam happened anyway due to apathy on the part of other players. (h) Missed Congeniality, to be awarded to persons who gain the ability to make arbitrary changes to Rules with a power less than 2 by announcement, but lose the ability before gaining the ability to make such changes to higher-powered rules. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1367/13 (Power=1) Degrees Certain patent titles are known as degrees. The degrees are - Associate of Nomic (A.N.) - Bachelor of Nomic (B.N.) - Master of Nomic (M.N.) - Doctor of Nomic History (D.N.Hist.) - Doctor of Nomic Science (D.N.Sci.) - Doctor of Nomic Philosophy (D.N.Phil.) Degrees are ranked in the order they appear in this rule, with degrees listed later being ranked higher. A degree CANNOT be awarded to any person more than once, and CANNOT be revoked once awarded. After a player publishes a suitable thesis with explicit intent to qualify for a degree (the specific degree need not be mentioned), the Herald SHALL, as soon as possible, initiate an Agoran Decision to award that player (the author) a degree as follows: - The available options are FAILING GRADE and each degree that the author does not have. The available options can change during the voting period. - The eligible voters are each active player at the time the decision is initiated. - Each player's voting limit on the decision is thrice what their voting limit would have been on an ordinary decision initiated at the same time as this one, plus five for each degree e held at that time (the high limit is so as to allow a player to cast votes for different titles and ensure that an inappropriate title is not awarded). - The specific thesis for which the degree is to be awarded is an essential parameter of the decision (but not the text of that thesis). When the Herald resolves the decision, e CAN and SHALL award the author the degree selected by Agora, or no degree if FAILING GRADE was the outcome. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2231/0 (Power=2) Order of the Hero of Agora Nomic The set of patent titles defined in this rule constitute the Order of the Hero of Agora Nomic; the titles may be collectively referred to as "Heroic titles" and a Bearer of a Heroic title as a Hero. Heroic titles are Agora's premier titles of distinction, and may be awarded to persons for meritorious service only by a proposal of power 3 or greater. Heroic titles SHOULD NOT be revoked. Heroes are entitled to use the abbreviation of eir title as postnomial letters in Agora communications and reports. The Heroic titles in decreasing precedence are: Grand Hero of Agora Nomic (GHAN) -- This title may be awarded to any person for the most exemplary meritorious service to Agora or to the game of Nomic at large. As this title is the highest honour that Agora may bestow, a Bearer of this title OUGHT to be treated right good forever. Hero of Agora Nomic (HAN) -- This title may be awarded to any person for outstanding meritorious service to Agora above and beyond the call of duty. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Contract Law ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1742/18 (Power=2) Contracts Contracts are binding agreements governed by the rules. Each contract requires a certain number of parties (two if not otherwise specified by the rules). Any agreement made by one or more persons, with the intention that it be binding on them and governed by the rules, becomes a contract when it comes to have at least the required number of parties, and terminates when it comes to have less than the required number of parties. Parties to a contract SHALL act in accordance with that contract. This obligation is not impaired by contradiction between the contract and any other contract, or between the contract and the rules. However, if a player is found GUILTY of violating this rule by failing to act in accordance with an Equitable contract, then the only appropriate sentence is DISCHARGE, unless the failure pertains to a previously-imposed equity judgement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2197/2 (Power=2) Defining Contract Changes The following are Contract Changes: a) Becoming party to a contract. b) Ceasing to be a party to a contract. c) Amending a contract. d) Terminating a contract. e) Flipping a contract switch. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2198/6 (Power=2) Making Contract Changes Contract Changes CAN be performed as follows: a) By agreement between all parties, if the contract's minimum number of parties is at least two. b) By a party without objection (any other party CAN object), if the contract's minimum number of parties is less than two. c) Using a mechanism specified by the contract. d) By the contract by announcement, if it is a person. If a contract does not purport to regulate becoming a party to it, then any person CAN become a party to it by announcement. Upon creation or contract change, if a contract comes to state that one or more of its switches have certain values, then they are flipped to those values unless such flips would be illegal or impossible. The rest of this rule notwithstanding, if the nature and/or permissibility of a Contract Changes is ambiguous, then it has no effect. Contract changes are secured. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2178/7 (Power=2) Contract Switches Disclosure is a contract switch, tracked by the Notary, with values Private (default) and Public. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding: a) A contract's Disclosure CANNOT be flipped to Public unless its text and list of parties are simultaneously published. b) A contract's Disclosure CANNOT be flipped away from Public. c) Changes to a public contract's text and/or list of parties do not become effective until published. Sentiment is a contract switch, tracked by the Notary, with values Equitable (default) and Legalistic. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, a contract's Sentiment CANNOT be flipped away from Legalistic. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2173/4 (Power=2) The Notary The Notary is an office; its holder is responsible for keeping track of contracts. The parties to a public contract SHALL keep the Notary informed of its text and set of parties. The Notary's weekly report includes a list of all public contracts; the Notary's monthly report includes each public contract's text and set of parties. The parties to a private contract SHOULD keep the Notary informed of its text and set of parties. The Notary SHALL disclose this information (to the extent that e has been informed of it) to the judge of an equity case pertaining to that contract. The Notary SHALL NOT disclose it otherwise, except as explicitly allowed by the contract, or with the explicit consent of all parties. The Notary CAN terminate any contract without objection. The Notary tracks all contract switches not assigned to another officer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2191/4 (Power=2) Pledges A pledge is a public contract identifying itself as such. A pledge requires at least one party. An equity case regarding a pledge CAN be initiated by a non-party, provided that all other requirements for initiating an equity case are met. The initiator of such a case is considered to be a party to the pledge for the purpose of that case. If a pledge does not impose any ongoing or unsatisfied obligations on its current parties, and will not do so in the future in its current form, then any person CAN terminate it by announcing that it is obsolete. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2179/7 (Power=1) Points For each point axis: a) Points is a currency. b) A player's coordinate (syn. score) is the number of points e owns. There are two point axes, X and Y. A player's score is x + yi, where x is eir X coordinate and y is eir Y coordinate. Ownership of points is restricted to players. If winning is secured, then changes to point holdings are secured with the same power threshold. The Scorekeepor is a office, and the recordkeepor of points. Players generally CAN transfer points they own to other players, subject to the restrictions that no more than 5 points can be transferred this way to any one player, nor from any one player, per week. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2136/31 (Power=2) Contests Contestmaster is a public contract switch, tracked by the Scorekeepor, with values 'none' (default) and all first-class parties to that contract. A contest is a public contract whose contestmaster is not 'none'. A contract's contestmaster CAN be flipped by any player without 3 objections, or, if it is a contest, as specified by the contract. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, it CANNOT be flipped (or initialized to a non-'none' value) in any other way, and CANNOT be flipped to a given player if any of the following are true: a) The player has not explicitly consented to be contestmaster of that contest. (Intent to flip a contract's contestmaster to oneself constitutes explicit consent to be contestmaster of that contest.) b) A member of that player's basis has already become a contestmaster within the past seven days. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2232/1 (Power=1) Contest Axes Each contest has one or more axes, defaulting to {X}. An axis can be added to or removed from a contest as follows: a) by any player without 3 objections, or b) by any mechanism specified by that contest for changing its axes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2233/2 (Power=1) Awarding and Revoking Points Each contest has a threshold index (default: 5). Any player CAN set a contest's threshold index to any non-negative integer value without three objections. The contestmaster of a contest CAN and SHALL award and revoke points as directed by that contract up so long as the total number of points awarded or revoked on any axis do not exceed that contest's threshold index. Awards and revocations that counteract a previous award or revocation for that contest that was not in accordance with it's contract or that exceeded the contest's threshold index do not count against this limit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2242/1 (Power=1) Champion's Contests Medals are a type of asset, tracked by the Scorekeepor; ownership of Medals is limited to contests and to non-contest players. Medals can only be transferred, created, and destroyed as defined in this rule. A contest's contestmaster CAN create a Medal in that contest's possession without 2 objections. While a contest owns a Medal, it is known as a Champion's Contest. A contest's contestmaster CAN transfer ownership of or destroy a Medal in that contest's possession, but only as explicitly described by the contest's text. A Medal CANNOT be transferred from a contest to a player who is not a party to that contest, nor to its contestmaster. A Medal is automatically destroyed if the text of a contest owning it changes. Upon a win announcement that a specified non-contest player owns a Medal, that player satisfies the Winning Condition of Championship. Cleanup procedure: One Medal owned by that player is destroyed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2234/3 (Power=1) Rewarding Contestmasters As soon as possible after the end of a month, for each contest, the player (if any) who was its contestmaster for at least 16 days during that month MAY once announce that e performed duties related to that contest in a timely manner during that month, subject to other rules regarding truthfulness. Upon making such an announcement that player is awarded 5+5i points. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2187/6 (Power=1) Win by High Score Upon a win announcement that one or more players have a score x + yi such that xy >= 5000 (specifying all such players), all those players satisfy the Winning Condition of High Score. Cleanup procedure: All those players have their scores set to 0 + 0i. Within one week afterward, any player CAN declare a skunk with Agoran Consent. If no player does so within the allowed week, then all players have each of eir coordinates set to floor(P*S/10), where P is eir previous coordinate along that axis and S is the Score Index. The Score Index is an integer from 0 to 5, and part of the Scorekeepor's report. The Scorekeepor CAN change the Score Index with Agoran consent. If no players have won by High Score in the past four months, then any Player may place Agora into Overtime with 3 Support. When Agora is in overtime, any announcement awarding or revoking points that is authorized by another Rule awards or revokes double the amount of the announcement. Agora ceases being in overtime when someone wins by High Score. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2264/0 (Power=3) Permission to Act on Behalf A person CAN act on behalf of a partnership (if it is a person) as unambiguously permitted by that partnership's text. A person CAN act on behalf of another person when unambiguously permitted by a public contract to which the grantor is a party. If permitted by rules with power at least 1.7, a judge in an equity or criminal case CAN act on behalf of a party or defendant without not more than 5 objections. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Foreign Relations ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2200/3 (Power=1) Nomic Definitions A nomic ruleset is a set of explicit rules that provides means for itself to be altered arbitrarily, including changes to those rules that govern rule changes. Not all rule changes need be possible in one step; an arbitrarily complex combination of actions (possibly including intermediate rule changes) can be required, so long as any rule change is theoretically achievable in finite time. A nomic is the single entity defined by a nomic ruleset as a whole. Each nomic ruleset defines exactly one nomic, and each nomic is defined by exactly one nomic ruleset. A foreign nomic is a nomic other than this one, even if it has the same name as this one. A province is a protectorate that is a player. An embassy is a registered partnership designated as representing a specific foreign nomic by both its contract and the rules of that nomic. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2135/2 (Power=1) Advertising Every month the ambassador shall update the page about Agora on the NomicWiki at nomic.net, provided that that wiki is operational. This page, when updated, is to include a list of the current players. In updating the page the ambassador shall ensure that information that is currently incorrect is either corrected or removed, and that all links on the page point to extant pages that are correctly described. The ambassador may add new correct information to the page at eir discretion. The ambassador is encouraged to also advertise Agora in other suitable locations. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 402/29 (Power=1) Identity of the Speaker The List of Succession is a list of the five active players who were most recently awarded the patent title Champion. This list, and the date on which each player on the list last became part of the list, is part of the Herald's monthly report. The Speaker is the active player on the List of Succession who became part of the list the longest time ago. The Herald SHALL announce the ascension of a new Speaker asap after it occurs. Once per quarter, and once after gaining the office, the Speaker CAN Form a Government by publishing a list of every defined Major Arcana card, and listing (for each card) a different active player who holds the Patent Title Champion. Such a formation of government, when triggered, has the self-ratifying effect of transferring the indicated cards to the indicated players. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 103/5 (Power=1) Role of the Speaker The Speaker is an imposed office, and the figurehead of Agora, embodying its spirit. Diplomatic missions from Agora to foreign nomics operate on the Speaker's behalf. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2148/5 (Power=1) The Ambassador The ambassador is an office; its holder is responsible for relations with foreign nomics. A foreign nomic may grant certain powers (in the ordinary-language sense) and privileges to Agora's ambassador. If so, the ambassador shall generally exercise such powers in such manner as e sees fit, subject to other rules and orders. If a foreign nomic allows for Agora to take actions in it, the ambassador MAY, with Agoran consent, take any action in it on behalf of Agora, provided that the nomic is Protected, Friendly or Neutral. All players are prohibited from falsely claiming, to any nomic, to be the ambassador. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2185/0 (Power=1) Foreign Relations Recognition is a foreign nomic switch, tracked by the Ambassador, with values Unknown (default), Protected, Friendly, Neutral, Sanctioned, Hostile, and Abandoned. When a foreign nomic becomes a Protectorate, its Recognition becomes Protected. When a foreign nomic ceases to be a Protectorate, its Recognition becomes Unknown. A foreign nomic's Recognition CANNOT change to or from Protected in any other way. The Ambassador CAN, without objection, flip a foreign nomic's Recognition to any value (subject to the above restriction). E SHALL inform that nomic of the change as soon as possible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2251/0 (Power=1) InterNomic Attitude The official attitude of Agora torward a foreign nomic depends on its Recognition as follows: Recognition Attitude Protected, Friendly Ally Unknown, Neutral, Abandoned Neutral Sanctioned, Hostile Enemy If Agora's InterNomic attitude toward a foreign nomic does not exist or differs from the official attitude, the Ambassador CAN act on behalf of Agora to declare its official attitude. As soon as possible after Agora's official attitude toward a foreign nomic changes, e SHALL make such a declaration for that nomic. The Ambassador SHALL, as soon as possible after the enactment of this rule, act on behalf of Agora to declare its official attitude toward all nomics for which the attitude is not Neutral. Once this occurs, any person CAN, by announcement, cause this rule to amend itself by removing this paragraph. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2147/7 (Power=2) Protectorates Whereas Agora, being the superpower of nomics, has an inherent responsibility to lead the nomic world; and whereas Agora desires to encourage growth and promotion of the nomic community, be it hereby known that Agora shall serve as benevolent protector to any nomic which requests such status (hereafter referred to as the protectorate). In order to become a protectorate, a nomic must specify in its ruleset that it submits to Agora as its benevolent protector. It must also have rules or other gamestate arranged such that any protective decree proclaimed by the ambassador will take full effect upon proclamation. Any restriction whatsoever on the content of a protective decree disqualifies the nomic from being a protectorate. If the criteria specified in the preceding paragraph are met, the ambassador may make the nomic a protectorate without three objections. If a protectorate ever does not meet these criteria, it ceases to be a protectorate. The ambassador shall check every month whether each protectorate continues to meet the criteria, and shall announce whenever a protectorate has ceased to be a protectorate. The ambassador's monthly report includes a list of all protectorates, with contact details for each, and for each the forum in which it is most appropriate to proclaim protective decrees that target that protectorate. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2159/3 (Power=2) Protective Decrees A protective decree is an act of Agora whose intended effect is to make explicit changes to the state of a protectorate nomic. The changes may include enacting, repealing, or amending rules of the protectorate, changing the set of players of the protectorate, or any other instantaneous changes to the protectorate's gamestate. Initiating a protective decree is secured, and is INVALID unless the initiating instrument unambiguously specifies the target protectorate and the changes to be made to it. As soon as possible after a protective decree has been initiated, the ambassador SHALL proclaim it to the target nomic. The decree takes effect upon this proclamation. Protective decrees should be initiated only for the purpose of assisting the protectorate in its growth and enabling its longevity. Protective decrees should always be benevolent. All players are prohibited from falsely claiming, to any nomic, that a document is a protective decree. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== Trophies ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 1727/17 (Power=1) Happy Birthday WHEREAS, in June 1993, the world's only MUD-based nomic, Nomic World, had recently collapsed; yet, many of its players enjoyed nomic and did not wish to forego such a noble pursuit; And WHEREAS, Originator Chuck Carroll therefore composed an Initial Ruleset for an email nomic, based on the Initial Rulesets of Peter Suber, inventor of Nomic, and on the Rulesets of Nomic World and other nomics, And WHEREAS, a nomic thus rose like a phoenix from the ashes of Nomic World, played on the mailing list originally set up for discussion of Nomic World, and coming into existence at June 30, 1993, 00:04:30 GMT +1200, with a message sent by FIRST SPEAKER Michael Norrish, which read, in part, "I see no reason to let this get bogged down; there are no precedents or rules that cover this situation, so I think we may as well begin directly.... Proposals for new rules are invited. In accordance with the rules, these will be published, numbered and distributed by me at my earliest convenience." And WHEREAS, this nomic began as a humble and nameless nomic, known unofficially as yoyo, after the mailing list it was played on, until its Players, much later, gave it its OFFICIAL NAME of Agora, And WHEREAS, Agora has now become the wisest, noblest, eldest, and most interesting of all active email nomics, due to the hard work and diligence of Agorans as well as the frequent advice of Agoraphobes, And WHEREAS, Agorans desire to joyously commemorate Agora's founding, BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that Agora's Birthday is defined to be the entire day of June 30, GMT +1200, of each year. BE IT FURTHERMORE RESOLVED that Agora's Unbirthday is defined to be the entire day of December 30, GMT +1200, of each year; but, since that falls within a Holiday, is observed during the entire days of January 12 through 14, GMT +1200, of each year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rule 2029/0 (Power=4) Town Fountain /\ /\ / \ / \ T his Power-4 Rule (the first ever) was placed to honor The Agoran Spirit Of The Game by Goethe, Steve, Murphy, root and OscarMeyr, Scamsters. Look on our works, ye Marvy, but do always Dance a Powerful Dance. Hail Eris! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- END OF THE SHORT LOGICAL RULESET