ftp.cse.unsw.edu.au/2014.06.ftp.cse.unsw.edu.au.tar/ftp.cse.unsw.edu.au/tmp_amd/malcolmr/nomic/rulesets/unomic.txt

Internet Message Format | 1995-03-05 | 16KB

From: [e-mail] (Kelly Martin)
To: [e-mail]
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 94 03:16:03 EST5
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Subject: revised initial ruleset
Status: OR

based on something i read from Peter Suber, i've introduced the
concept of Privileged Rules (which are simply Rules with 2/3 majority
protection and preferential precedence).  also, some stuff about
filling Offices has been fiddled with to ensure that we are never
without Officers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Rules marked as "Priv" are Privileged (see Rule 1-5).

TITLE 1.  GENERAL PROVISIONS.

1-1.  The Rules shall be gathered into a collection of numbered
      Titles, each of which shall consist of zero or more numbered
      Sections.  No Title or Section may be numbered less than 1; no
      two Titles or two Sections within the same Title may have the
      same Number.  Title and Section Numbers may be fractional, if
      necessary.

1-2.  An individual Rule may be cited within another Rule by
      specifying its Title and Section numbers (e.g. Rule 1-1).

1-3.  These Rules shall govern all activities of those Entities
Priv  described within these Rules.  No Entity described within these
      Rules may act in a manner prohibited by the Rules while that
      Entity is under the jurisdiction of the Rules.

1-4.  Any action which is not explicitly prohibited by the Rules is
Priv  permitted without regulation.

1-5.  Certain Rules may, in accordance with other Rules, be designated
Priv  as Privileged.  Privileged Rules always take precedence over
      Unprivileged Rules, even if another Rule states otherwise.

1-6.  If two or more Rules are found to be in conflict with one
      another, the Rule least recently enacted or amended takes
      precedence, unless one of the Rules involved explicitly claims
      or yields precedence to the others, in which case that provision
      shall govern precedence.  If, however, two or more of the Rules
      in conflict claim precedence over one another, or yield
      precedence to one another, the chronological method shall again
      govern precedence.

1-7.  For the purpose of Rule 1-6, the Initial Rules shall be
      considered to have been sequentially enacted in the order they
      appear, by Title and by Section within each Title.

1-8.  No Rule shall have retroactive effect or application.  No Rule
Priv  shall have any legal force prior to the moment it is enacted,
      any Rule to the contrary notwithstanding.

1-9.  There shall be an Officer, called the Rulekeeper, who shall
      maintain a record of all the Rules.

      a) Whenever a Rule is enacted, this record shall be annotated
         with a notation indicating the date and time the Rule was
         enacted and the means of its enactment.

      b) Whenever a Rule is repealed, this record shall be annotated
         with a notation indicating that that Rule has been repealed,
         the date and time of the repeal, and the means of repeal.
         The text of the repealed Rule need not be included in the
         record.

      c) Whenever a Rule is amended, the record shall be annotated
         with a notation that the Rule has been amended, the date and
         time of amendment, and the means of amendment.  The text of
         the original form of the Rule need not be included in the
         record.

      d) Whenever a Rule's Privileged Status is changed, the record
         shall be annotated with a nitation that the Rule's Privilege
         Status has been changed, its former Privilege Status, the
         date and time of the change, and the means of the change.

TITLE 2.  RULE CHANGES.

2-1.  A Rule Change shall be exactly one of the following:
Priv    a) the enactment of a new Rule,
        b) the repeal of an existing Rule,
        c) the amendment of an existing Rule, or
        d) the change of an existing Rule's Privilege (from
           Unprivileged to Privileged, or Privileged to Unprivileged).
      No other type of Rule Change is legal.

2-2.  A Rule Change which enacts a new Rule shall state the Title and
Priv  Section Numbers of the new Rule; if the Title does not already
      exist, the Rule Change shall also state the name of the new
      Title.  No new Rule may be enacted with the same Title and
      Section number of any previously enacted Rule, whether or not
      the previous Rule still exists.  A Rule Change which does not
      comply with this Rule shall have no effect.

2-3.  A Rule Change may affect any portion of the Rules, including
Priv  those Rules pertaining to Rule Changes.

2-4.  It shall never be completely impossible to change the Rules.
Priv  Any Rule Change which would result in this state of affairs
      shall have no effect.

2-5.  No Rule may be changed except as the direct result of the
Priv  application of another Rule, or the adoption of a Proposal.

2-6.  A Privileged Rule may not be changed, or an Unprivileged Rule
Priv  made Privileged, except as the direct result of the application
      of another Privileged Rule, or the adoption of a Proposal which
      required at least twice as many votes in favor as opposed to be
      adopted.

TITLE 3.  PLAYERS.

3-1.  A Player is a person who has been registered to play Nomic.  A
      Player may not be registered or deregistered except as provided
      by the Rules.

3-2.  A person may, at any time, announce eir intent to play Nomic,
Priv  and thus become registered as a Player.  Such announcement must be
      made such that all current Players may receive it.

3-3.  A Player may, at any time, announce that e no longer intends to
Priv  play Nomic, and thus cease to be registered as a Player.

3-4.  While a person is registered as a Player, e is bound by the
Priv  Rules of Nomic, and must abide by them at all times.

3-5.  Play shall occur only when there are at least five registered
      Players.  If, at any time, there are less than five registered
      Players, the Game is suspended, and the only actions which may
      take place within the Game are the registration and
      deregistration of Players, and all matters pertaining to
      Petitions and Judgements.

3-6.  There shall be an Officer, called the Registrar, who shall
      maintain a list of all registered Players.

TITLE 4.  PROPOSALS.

4-1.  There shall exist an Officer, known as the Speaker, who shall be
Priv  responsible for administering the process of making and voting
      upon Proposals.

4-2.  Any Player may make a formal Proposal to change the Rules.  Such
      a Proposal shall contain one or more Rule Changes, and shall be
      submitted to the Speaker.  Only Players may make Proposals.

4-3.  The Speaker shall assign each Proposal e receives a Proposal
      Number.  E shall then distribute the Proposal to all Players,
      after which the Players shall then Vote upon it.

4-4.  The first Proposals shall be numbered 1, and each subsequent
      Proposal shall receive the next higher integer.

4-5.  Any Proposal which is adopted shall take effect in the exact
      form it was Voted upon.

4-6.  No Proposal may be adopted without a properly-conducted Vote in
      which it has received the required number of Votes and in which
      Quorum has been acheived.

4-7.  Unless otherwise specified, a Proposal shall be adopted if and
      only if it receives more FOR Votes than AGAINST Votes.

4-8.  A Proposal containing a Rule Change which in any way changes a
Priv  Privilged Rule, or which makes an Unprivileged Rule Privileged,
      shall be adopted if and only if it receives more than twice as
      many FOR Votes as AGAINST Votes.

4-9.  When a Proposal is adopted, the Rule Changes it contains shall
      be applied to the Rules in the order they appear in the
      Proposal.

4-10. There shall be an Officer, called the Scribe, who shall maintain
      a complete historical record of all Proposals made, by whom, and
      their final outcome.

TITLE 5.  VOTING.

5-1.  A Vote shall commence at the moment the Proposal to be Voted
      upon is distributed to the Players, and shall last for a Voting
      Period of seven days.

5-2.  Quorum is defined as 20% of the registered Voters at the
      beginning of the prescribed Voting Period.  For a Vote to meet
      Quorum, at least this many Voters must vote.

5-3.  Each Voter registered at the beginning of the Voting Period
      shall have one Vote.

5-4.  All Players, other than the Speaker, are Voters.  The Speaker is
      not a Voter and may not Vote.

5-5.  An individial Vote may be either FOR or AGAINST a Proposal, but
      not both.  Votes must be clear and unconditional.

5-6.  Only those votes cast between the beginning and the end of the
      Voting Period on a given Proposal are valid; all others are not.

TITLE 6.  JUDGEMENTS.

6-1.  There shall exist an Officer, known as the Clerk, who shall be
      responsible for administering the operation of the Courts.

6-2.  If a Player believes an Action to have been in violation of the
      Rules, or disagrees with the interpretation or application of
      the Rules, e may submit a Petition for Judgement to the Clerk.

6-3.  The Clerk, upon receiving a Petition in accordance with 6-2,
      shall assign it a number and select a Judge to rule on it.  E
      shall then distribute the Petition to all Players and announce
      the identity of the Judge.

6-4.  The first Petition shall be numbered 1, and each subsequent
      Petition shall receive the next higher integer.

6-5.  The Judge of a Petition shall be selected at random from all
      Players not barred or recused on that Petition.

6-6.  The submitter of a Petition is barred from being assigned to
      Judge it.

6-7.  If there are no Players not barred or recused from a given
      Petition, all Players recused on that Petition shall again be
      considered eligible for selection.  If there are still no
      eligible Players, all Players barred, excluding the Player
      submitting the Petition, shall be considered eligible for
      selection.

6-8.  Once a Judge has been assigned, e has seven days from the date
      of distribution of the Petition to render eir decision.  If the
      Judge fails to render a decision in that time, or upon eir
      request, e shall be recused, and a new Judge shall be selected.

6-9.  The Judge of a Petition shall deliver eir Judgement by
      submitting it to the Player designated by the Rules to receive
      Petitions, who shall then distribute it to all Players.

6-10. A Judgement is one of TRUE, FALSE, or UNDECIDED.  The Judge may
      choose to include reasons or arguments along with eir Judgement,
      but such reasons and arguments are not part of the Judgement.
      If the Judge chooses to include reasons and arguments along with
      eir Judgement, these shall be distributed along with the
      Judgement itself.

6-11. All Judgements shall be made in accordance to the Rules.  If the
      Rules are silent, inconsistent, or unclear, the Judge shall
      consider game custom and the spirit of the Game before applying
      other standards.

6-12. The Clerk shall, in addition to eir other duties, maintain a
      complete historical record of all Petitions for Judgement, the
      Judgements rendered upon them and by whom.

TITLE 7.  SCORES.

7-1.  Each Player shall, upon registering, have a score of zero Points.

7-2.  A Player's Score may not be changed except as specified in the
      Rules.

7-3.  A Player shall receive 1 Point for each Vote cast.  This award
      is received at the end of the Voting Period in which the Vote
      was cast.

7-4.  The Player who proposes a Proposal shall receive 10 Points if
      the Proposal is adopted, and shall lose 10 Points if the
      Proposal is rejected.  This award or penalty is assessed at the
      end of the Voting Period for that Proposal.

7-5.  Any Player who votes against a Proposal which is then adopted
      receives 5 Points at the end of the Voting Period for that
      Proposal.

7-6.  Any Player who requests to be recused from Judgement loses 2
      Points.

7-7.  Any Player who is recused from Judgement for reasons other than
      eir request loses 5 Points.

7-8.  Any Player who delivers a valid Judgement within the the time
      limit in Rule 6-6 receives 5 Points.

7-9.  There shall exist an Officer, called the Scorekeeper, who shall
      maintain a record of the scores of every Player.

TITLE 8.  WINNING.

8-1.  The first Player, other than the Speaker, to attain or exceed a
      score of 100 Points in any given Round wins that Round.  If more
      than one Player reaches or exceeds this total simultaneously,
      all Players to do so win that Round.

8-2.  Whenever a Round ends, the following events shall immediately
      take place:
        a) If there is a single winner, e shall become the Speaker for
           the next Round.  If there is more than one winner, the
           current Speaker shall select one of them at random to
           become the Speaker for the next Round.  If there are no
           Winners, the current Speaker shall be the Speaker for the
           next Round.
        b) The Scores of all Players are reset to zero.
        c) The next Round of the Game is then begun.

8-3.  Except for those changes specified in the Rules, no changes are
      made at the end of a Round.

TITLE 9.  THE SPEAKER; OTHER OFFICERS.

9-1.  For every Office required by the Rules, there must be exactly
      one Player filling that Office at any given time.

9-2.  In the event that an Office would not otherwise be filled by a
      Player (by resignation, deregistration, or other reason), the
      Speaker shall fill that Office.

9-3.  If the Office of Speaker would otherwise not be filled, the
      Player with the highest Score shall be Speaker.  If there are
      two or more Players with the same highest score, the Player
      whose name lexicographically precedes that of the others shall
      become Speaker.

9-4.  The Speaker shall have the power to appoint another Player to
      fill any Office the Speaker is currently is filling, provided
      that that Player consents.  However, the Speaker may never
      appoint another Player to become Speaker.  This Rule yields to
      any Rule which designates another means to fill an Office.

9-5.  An Officer may resign eir Office at any time by informing the
      Speaker of eir resignation.  However, the Player currently
      holding the Office of Speaker may never resign any Office e
      holds in this fashion.

9-6.  If the Rules require an Officer to maintain any sort of records,
      then those Records must be made available for the perusal of
      every Player, unless the Rules specify otherwise.

9-7.  Upon any change of the holder of an Office, the former
      Officeholder shall transfer all records pertaining to that
      Office to the new Officeholder.

9-8.  If the Rules require that a random designation be made, but do
      not specify a Player who is to make that determination, the
      Speaker shall do so.

9-9.  The Registrar shall, in addition to eir other duties, maintain a
      record of which Players hold which Offices.
--
kelly martin                                 <[e-mail]>

         "The Great Depression has been funded by..."
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