From - Wed May 17 14:55:24 2000 Return-Path: Received: from gecko.serc.rmit.edu.au ([131.170.42.16]) by collamer.mail.mindspring.net (Mindspring Mail Service) with ESMTP id shuqqf.50p.37kbi54 for ; Sun, 14 May 2000 23:13:18 -0400 (EDT) Received: (from majordomo@localhost) by gecko.serc.rmit.edu.au (8.8.5/8.8.5) id DAA26934 for agora-discussion-list; Mon, 15 May 2000 03:01:06 GMT Received: from fw.serc.rmit.edu.au (fw-in.serc.rmit.edu.au [131.170.42.1]) by gecko.serc.rmit.edu.au (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id DAA26929 for ; Mon, 15 May 2000 03:01:03 GMT Received: (from mail@localhost) by fw.serc.rmit.edu.au (8.9.3/8.9.1) id NAA50024 for ; Mon, 15 May 2000 13:22:57 +1000 (EST) Received: from silas-2.cc.monash.edu.au(130.194.1.7) by fw.serc.rmit.edu.au via smap (V2.1) id xma050020; Mon, 15 May 00 13:22:52 +1000 Received: (from gardner@localhost) by silas-2.cc.monash.edu.au (8.9.1a/8.9.1) id NAA28796 for agora-discussion@gecko.serc.rmit.edu.au; Mon, 15 May 2000 13:06:28 +1000 (EST) From: Steve Gardner Message-Id: <200005150306.NAA28796@silas-2.cc.monash.edu.au> Subject: DIS: Repost of CFJ 1109 To: agora-discussion@gecko.serc.rmit.edu.au (Agora Nomic Discussion List) Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 13:06:28 +1000 (EST) X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL3] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-agora-discussion@gecko.serc.rmit.edu.au Precedence: bulk Reply-To: agora-discussion@gecko.serc.rmit.edu.au X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 X-UIDL: shuqqf.50p.37kbi54 ========================================================================== CFJ 1109 The Payment Order for VTs known as 'avt031' and executed by Malcolm in his capacity of Assessor is invalid. ========================================================================== Judge: Morendil Judgement: FALSE Judgement Appealed Appeals Board: Murphy (S), Michael (J), Steve (C) Justices' Decisions: Murphy: OVERTURN/REASSIGN Michael: OVERTURN/REASSIGN Steve: OVERTURN/REASSIGN Board's Decision: OVERTURN/REASSIGN Second Judge: Harlequin (defaulted) Third Judge: Crito Judgement: FALSE First Judge selection: Eligible: Antimatter, Blob, Crito, Chuck, elJefe, Harlequin, Kolja A., lee, Macross, Michael, Morendil, Murphy, Oerjan, Proglet, Steve Not eligible: Caller: General Chaos Barred: - Already served: - Defaulted: - By request: - On Hold: - Second Judge selection: Eligible: Antimatter, Blob, Crito, Chuck, elJefe, Harlequin, Kolja A., lee, Macross, Oerjan, Steve Not eligible: Caller: General Chaos Barred: - Already served: Morendil Defaulted: - By request: Michael, Murphy On Hold: - Third Judge selection: Eligible: Blob, Crito, Chuck, elJefe, Kolja A., lee, Macross, Oerjan, Proglet, Steve Not eligible: Caller: General Chaos Barred: - Already served: Morendil Defaulted: Harlequin By request: Michael, Murphy On Hold: - ========================================================================== History: Called by G. Chaos: Sun, 25 Oct 1998 16:44:51 -0500 Assigned to Morendil: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 14:45:58 +1100 Morendil Judges FALSE: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 20:33:00 +0200 Judgement published: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 12:06:44 +1100 Appealed by G. Chaos: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 20:52:26 -0500 Appealed by Steve: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 20:29:17 +1100 Appealed by elJefe: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 23:31:16 -0500 Assigned to Appeals Board: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 11:31:57 +1100 Steve Judges to OVERTURN/REASSIGN: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 11:44:50 +1100 Michael Judges to OVERTURN/REASSIGN: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 10:29:40 +0000 Murphy Judges to OVERTURN/REASSIGN: Sun, 01 Nov 1998 12:10:31 -0800 Decision of the Board published: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 11:39:24 +1100 Re-assigned to Harlequin: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 11:39:24 +1100 Harlequin defaults: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 13:17:18 +1100 Re-assigned to Crito: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 13:29:57 +1100 Crito judges FALSE: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 09:28:49 -0500 Judgement published: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 14:30:45 +1100 ========================================================================== Caller's Arguments: None. ========================================================================== Judge Morendil's Arguments: I hereby enter a summary Judgement of FALSE, based on Rule 1768. Blob's report of the Commissions of the Infraction pursuant to which the abovementioned PO was issued falls under the purview of that Rule, and as such creates a presumption of truth which may only be set aside "by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary". Furthermore, the Statement makes no allegations that could be construed to relate to the commission of a Crime or the violation of a Rule, and as such does not call for "beyond reasonable doubt" inquiry under Rule 1575. Surveying the official record (supplied Caller's arguments, of which there are none) as well as the unofficial record (Caller's statement mentioning the number of VTs controlled as of the date of the Infraction Report, which is besides the point - as the number of VTs controlled at the time the relevant Proposals were published is the determining criterion; Caller's statement of ignorance of the number e actually controls) does not in my opinion constitute "clear and convincing evidence" of error on the part of the Assessor. I share to some extent the Caller's reservations about the propriety of the Assessor's action, but I am afraid that in this instance the burden of proof is on them. ========================================================================== Decisions and Arguments of the Justices: Justice Steve: OVERTURN/REASSIGN In the matter of the Appeal of CFJ 1089, I hereby overturn Morendil's Judgement and move to reassign the CFJ. The argument Judge Morendil gives for his Judgement of FALSE is clearly inadequate. Morendil invokes R1768, which states that: The published Report of an Officer constitutes prima facie evidence of the truth of those matters reported therein which that Officer is required by law to report. This presumption may be set aside only by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. He concludes from this that Assessor Blob's determination that General Chaos had effective control of 3 VTs at the time when Proposals 3794-3795 were distributed constitutes evidence of the truth of that claim. But Blob's determination was not part of a "published Report by an Officer", which in my view refers to Offical Reports, as defined in R1686. According to that Rule, "[t]he only information that is part of an Official Report is that which the Rules specifically state is part of that Official Report." Since the Rules do not associate an Official Report with the Office of Assessor, no information published by the Assessor falls under the purview of R1768. However, even if this were not the case, and Blob's determination did fall under the purview of R1768, Morendil's appeal to that Rule to justify his Judgement would still have been mistaken. R1768 states that the presumption of truth may be set aside by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. The current case is one where the Judge is being asked to investigate whether the presumption of truth is supported by any evidence (R1863: "[The Assessor's] determinations are defeasible and may be overturned by the Courts.") In such a case, it is my view that a Judge has a responsibility to discover what evidence there may be which either supports or undermines the presumption. In particular, I believe that Judge Morendil had a responsibility to make enquiries of the Accountor in an attempt to determine what General Chaos' VT holdings were at the time Proposals 3794-3795 were distributed. By not doing so, he deprived himself of any basis on which to make a sound Judgement. This is enough to justify overturning Morendil's Judgement. The justification for the move to reassign the CFJ is separate. In my view, the role of the Board of Appeals ought to be one of reviewing the law, not discovering the facts. Although it would be possible for the Board to seek the evidence which would allow it to make a determination of the truth of the Statement, I think that is better left for a new Judge. ========================================================================== Justice Michael: I agree with my fellow Justice Steve that Morendil's judgement should be overturned. Morendil claims that he has no grounds for doubting Assessor Blob's decision to bill General Chaos, using R1768 to support this conclusion. However, R1768 does not pertain as Blob's issuing of a Payment Order does not constitute an Officer's Report. I also agree that it is not the role of the Board of Appeals to investigate matters of fact (upon which this case undoubtedly rests), so further recommend that this CFJ be reassigned to a new Judge. ========================================================================== Justice Murphy: I overturn and move to reassign the CFJ. ========================================================================== Arguments of Judge Crito: I hereby judge CFJ 1109 to be FALSE. Well, there is no interesting interpretive work to be done with this CFJ. It "merely" requires a determination of the game state as of the date proposals 3794 and 3795 were distributed. Unfortunately, there is currently no good record of the game state on that date, and I have been unable to access the archives in order to perform calculations that would determine this state beyond a reasonable doubt. However, since this is not a CFJ alleging a Crime or Rule violation, R1575 allows me to apply a lesser standard - preponderance of evidence. So: I have an Accountor's report dated August 1, which shows General Chaos had 4.9 VTs as of that date along with a debt of 0.8 VTs. I have Registrar reports that indicate General Chaos has not held any offices since Aug 1, and has therefore been the recipient of Unemployment Benefits, which were .2 VTs per week during the time in question. Unfortunately, I do not have the exact date of distribution of proposals 3974-5, but it must have occurred sometime between October 1 and October 20 (when the PO was issued) which means there were a minimum of 8 weeks of unemployement benefits paid out prior to the distribution. I also have evidence from the Assessor at that time (thank you, Steve) that General Chaos cast only 2 votes during this time period. Assuming all debts were paid up before the distribution, General Chaos had a minimum of 4.9 + 1.6 - 2.8 VTs at that time. Thus, the preponderance of evidence indicates that G. Chaos had at least 3.7 VTs in eir possession and was subject to a Duty to Vote. Therefore the judgement of FALSE is supported. -- Crito ========================================================================== Evidence attached by the CotC: Rule 1863/0 (Power=1) A Duty to Vote An Active Player with effective control of more than three Voting Tokens at the time a batch of Proposals is distributed, who is not denied Voting Privileges at that time, who is Active at the end of the Voting Period of the Proposal in the batch whose Voting Period finishes latest, and who fails to cast a vote on any Proposal in the batch, commits the Infraction of Failing to Vote, to be detected and reported by the Assessor. The penalty for commission of this Infraction is 1 VT. Effective control of an asset (eg. a unit of Currency) is the ability to dispose of that asset as one wishes. The Assessor is empowered to make determinations as to whether a Player has effective control over a particular asset at a particular time. Such determinations are defeasible and may be overturned by the Courts. Three months after this Rule is created, this Rule shall repeal itself. Rule 1768/0 (Power=1) Evidentiary Status of Officer Reports The published Report of an Officer constitutes prima facie evidence of the truth of those matters reported therein which that Officer is required by law to report. This presumption may be set aside only by clear and convincing evidence to the contrary. ====================================================================== -- Steve Gardner | Appearances to the contrary, Dept. of Philosophy, Monash Uni. | things are just what they seem. gardner@silas.cc.monash.edu.au |