(This was written in a hurry due to the recent scam, so probably is full
of bugs and mistakes atm. I just want to see what people think of the
idea. Also this doesn't include the amend/enact/repeal stuff, just gives
a flavour. This attempts to keep the current semantics of contract law
whilst fixing all the bugs I've noticed; it ends up with more than just
a few types of contract as a result.
Quick feature guide:
Contracts are now documents with switches in certain positions; the
switches flip under certain conditions. All agreement and disagreement
to documents has to be explicit, and what happens as a result, and how
it is achieved, depends on the states of the switches in question.
Contracts can be Equitable, Legal, or both, which affects how they are
enforced, and have varying levels of secrecy according to the state of
their switches; loose and public equitable contracts can also be General
(anyone can equate against them) or Special (only parties can equate
against them).
Quick transition guide:
Anything > Unbinding (insufficient parties)
Unbinding > Secret (private agreement)
Secret > Hidden (informing the Notary)
Hidden > Loose (publishing text and membership)
Unbinding > Loose (agreeing to a contract that's been published)
Loose > Public (all parties publically agree, it specifies it's public)
Unbinding > Public (public agreement, and it specifies it's public)
Unbinding > Pledge (public announcement, it specifies it's a pledge)
Maybe there should be a Public > Loose too, but I'm not sure.
Things not included here, because they still work the same way:
Equity cases still work much the same way, with only minor amendments
needed. Contests still work the same way.)
Enforceability (Power 2)
{{{
Enforceability is a document switch, tracked by the Notary, which has a
default value of Unbinding, and a set of possible values consisting of
Unbinding plus any values for it defined by other rules with power at
least 1.5. Notwithstanding other rules, the Notary's report need not
include the value of instances of Enforceability if the Enforceability
is set to Unbinding, Secret, Hidden or Loose, although it SHOULD include
the values of instances of Enforceability set to Loose. Enforceability
is generally automatically flipped by other rules in response to actions
by persons; it is secured at power threshold 1.5.
A contract is a document whose Enforceability is not Unbinding.
Contracts CANNOT be amended except as specified in the contract or by
the rules, and generally CAN be amended as specified in the contract,
except that other rules may place further constraints on the amendment
of contracts.
}}}
[In some cases the Notary won't know of a contract's existence; in
others e will but shouldn't report on it for various reasons. The last
paragraph is worded carefully in case a couple of people decide to agree
to the rules (which would make them a Loose Equitable contract), so that
it doesn't prevent the rules themselves being amended. Having the rules
as a contract being harmless is a better option than making it
impossible, as it improves the chances that other things can be made
into Loose contracts easily.]
Spirit (Power 2)
{{{
Spirit is an attribute of contracts, which is instantaneously
calculated. A contract's Spirit can be Legal, Equitable, or both (but
must be at least one of Legal or Equitable); other rules specify what
values of Spirit are possible for particular contracts. A contract's
Spirit can be specified by a clear, unconditional and unambiguous
statement in the contract itself that specifies a possible value for
Spirit for that contract; if it isn't, it defaults to a value specified
by other rules.
The only appropriate sentence in a question on sentencing with respect
to a non-Legal contract is DISCHARGE. Equity cases can only be initiated
with respect to Equitable contracts, or with respect to Hidden
contracts; the only appropriate judgement for an Equity case with
respect to a non-Equitable Secret contract is the null judgement.
The Notary's weekly report contains the Spirit of all Public contracts
and Pledges, and the Notary SHOULD also include the Spirit of all Loose
contracts in that report.
}}}
[Let people agree to obey the letter or spirit as they will.]
Tightness (Power 2)
{{{
Tightness is a contract switch, tracked by the Notary, with a default
value of General and possible values of General and Specific.
The Tightness of a Loose or Public contract CAN be flipped by any person
without objection, unless it clearly, unambiguously and unconditionally
specifies that it is Specific. In additionally, if a document clearly,
unambiguously and unconditionally specifies that it is Specific, then
its tightness is set to Specific whenever its Enforceability flips from
Unbinding directly to either Loose or Public.
Whenever a contract's Enforceability flips to a value other than Loose
or Public, its Tightness flips to General.
/* The equity rule should also be amended to allow everyone to initiate
equity cases against General contracts and only parties to initiate
equity cases against Specific contracts. */
}}}
[Lots of TITE scams rely on the fact that equity cases can't be
initiated against non-pledges by non-parties. This is a useful feature
sometimes, but the need to mark contracts as Specific should be a red
flag to other players that the scam in question could occur.
Partnerships have to be marked Legal or both Equitable and Legal, so a
Specific partnership can still be punished via the crim courts.]
Agreement (Power 2)
{{{
At any given time, for each document, each person is either not agreeing
to that document (the default), privately agreeing to that document, or
publically agreeing to that document; this is a persistent status that
can change only as described by rules with power at least 1.5. A person
who is publically agreeing to a Public contract or Pledge contract, or
agreeing (publically or privately) to a non-Public non-Pledge contract,
is a defined to be a party to that contract; otherwise, that person is
not a party to that contract. "Member of" is synonymous with "Party to"
for the purposes of contracts.
If a person announces that they agree to something without specifying
publically or privately, it is considered to be an announcement that
they publically agree. If a person states that they agree to something
without specifying publically or privately, and the message that states
that is not an announcement, it is considered to be a statement that
they privately agree.
Notwithstanding other rules, a person is never publically agreeing to a
document unless they have announced that they agree to it (but might not
be even if they have done), and a person is never privately agreeing to
a document unless they have explicitly specified to at least one other
person that they do so, in a context that makes it clear that agreement
is meant in the sense defined by this ruleset in particular; the only
exceptions to this paragraph are that if a person was party to a
document before this rule was created, their agreement status with
respect to that document can alternatively have been set by the proposal
that created this rule, and that if a document is amended persons who
were agreeing to the document before it was amendment can sometimes be
agreeing to it afterwards, as described in the next paragraph.
Additionally, it is impossible to publically agree to a document that
has never been published. This paragraph takes precedence over all other
rules.
If a document is amended, each person agreeing to that document
immediately ceases to agree to it, unless at least one of the following
conditions hold (in which case the person agrees to the amended document
the same way they agreed to the original document):
* The person explicitly consented to the amendment, or supported
an attempt or intent to make the amendment, or attempted or
intended to make that amendment
* There was a period lasting at least 4 days during which the
person could have opposed an attempt or intent to make the
amendment, was aware or could have easily found out that such
opposition to that particular amendment was possible, was aware
of or could easily have been able to found out that there was an
attempt or intent to make that particular amendment, such
opposition required no effort beyond sending a message with no
side-effects other than the opposition itself, and such
opposition would have prevented the amendment taking place if it
had been made
* There was a period lasting at least 4 days during which the
person was aware of or could easily have found out that an
attempt or intent to make that amendment was being made, and
could have ceased to agree to the document in question during
that time, with such ceasing to agree requiring no effort beyond
sending a message with no side-effects other than the ceasing to
agree itself.
Not agreeing to a document in the first place, and taking steps to avoid
agreeing to an amended document, are always considered reasonable ways
to avoid breaking rules which require persons to act in accordance with
a document.
}}}
[This is referenced by the other rules allowing for contract creation;
agreement is the general method by which contracts are created, although
this rule itself does not define how agreement is achieved. This also
builds in most of the R101 contract protections (and probably goes a bit
further) itself, although obviously R101 also continues to protect
contracts. In particular, this defeats both the recent mousetrapping
attempts and all other such attempts I know of, including the original
Mousetrap. This bit probably needs some cleaning up.]
Unbinding documents (Power 1.5)
{{{
Any person can publically agree to an Unbinding document by
announcement, unless that document clearly and unambiguously specifies
that that person cannot agree to it.
Any person can cease to agree to an Unbinding document that they are
publically agreeing to by announcement, even if that document attempts
to disallow that.
Any person can privately agree to an Unbinding document by specifying to
at least one other person who knows the content of that document that
they agree to it, so long as it is clear from the context (or explicitly
stated) that the sense of agreement meant is the one defined by this
ruleset in particular, unless that document clearly and unambiguously
specifies that that person cannot agree to it.
Any person can cease to agree to an Unbinding document that they are
privately agreeing to by making a reasonable effort to inform all
persons that they previously informed about the existence of eir private
agreement.
}}}
[How contracts are created in the first place: people agree to Unbinding
documents, and other rules then flip the switches appropriately in
response.]
Secret contracts (Power 2)
{{{
Secret is a possible value for Enforceability.
Whenever at least two persons are privately agreeing to an Unbinding
document which has never been published in its entirety, that document's
Enforceability is flipped to Secret. Whenever fewer than two persons are
agreeing to a Secret contract, its Enforceability is flipped to
Unbinding.
Persons CAN generally privately agree to or cease to agree to Secret
contracts as described by the contract, unless such agreement is
prevented by other rules.
Unless a Secret contract specifically disallows it, it CAN generally be
amended by private agreement between all parties to it.
If at any time a Secret contract's text and membership are published,
its Enforceability is flipped to Loose. A person can cause a Secret
contract's Enforceability to flip to Hidden by informing the Notary of
its text and set of parties, and simultaneously informing all parties to
it that the Notary has been so informed.
Parties to a Secret contract SHALL act as specified by it; however,
notwithstanding other rules, SLIPPERY is always an appropriate judgement
in a criminal CFJ pertaining to a breach of this rule if the contract
was Secret at the time the CFJ was called (as opposed to the time the
breach of the contract happened).
}}}
[For secret contracts, basically. The equity-or-crim-against-UNDEAD bug
is fixed here by requiring nobody to be told about hidden contracts (not
even the Notary), and preventing breaches of them being illegal unless
the document in question becomes some other type of contract afterwards
without being amended (i.e. no breaches are illegal unless there could
be some evidence that such a breach occured). The only way to enforce a
Secret contract is to flip its Enforceability to something else, then
crim or equitise. Power 2 to override the crim CFJ rules.]
Hidden contracts (Power 1.5)
{{{
Hidden is a possible value for Enforceability.
Persons CAN generally privately agree to or cease to agree to Hidden
contracts as described by the contract, unless such agreement is
prevented by other rules, as long as such agreement is simultaneously
communicated to the Notary. Likewise, a Hidden contract CANNOT be
amended unless the amendment is simultaneously communicated to the
Notary.
Unless a Hidden contract specifically disallows it, it CAN generally be
amended by private agreement between all parties to it, as long as the
amendment is simultaneously communicated to the Notary.
Whenever fewer than two people are agreeing to a Hidden contract, its
Enforceability automatically flips to Unbinding.
A Hidden contract's Enforceability automatically flips to Loose if its
text and membership are published.
The Notary SHALL and MAY reveal the text, membership and existence of a
Hidden contract (and is responsible for keeping track of such
information) under the following circumstances, and SHALL NOT otherwise
reveal such information to persons who do not already know unless the
Notary is emself a party to the contract:
* To the judge of an equity CFJ that identifies the Hidden
contract in question, within 4 days after the assignment of the
judge in that CFJ, unless the contract was not Equitable at the
time (in which case the Notary MAY reveal the fact that it was
not Equitable to the judge);
* To the judge of a criminal CFJ alleging a breach of this rule
with respect to the contract;
* To a new Notary elected to replace em
Parties to a Hidden contract SHALL act as specified by that contract.
}}}
[Private contracts tracked by the Notary. These can be enforced.]
Loose contracts (Power 2, to avoid an escalation hole in partnerships)
{{{
Loose is a possible value for Enforceability.
Whenever at least two persons are agreeing to an Unbinding document
which has been published in its entirety, that document's Enforceability
is flipped to Loose, unless another rule would cause it to flip to
Public (in which case it flips to Public instead). Whenever fewer than
two persons are agreeing to a Loose contract, its Enforceability is
flipped to Unbinding. If all the parties to a Loose contract are
publically agreeing to it, it is amended such that it clearly,
unambiguously and unconditionally states that it is a public contract,
and its text and membership are then published, its Enforceability flips
to Public.
Whenever a document's Enforceability flips to Loose, or from Loose to
Unbinding, its parties SHALL collectively ensure that this fact is
published as soon as possible.
Persons generally CAN agree to or cease to agree to Loose contracts as
described in the contract, unless such agreement is prevented by other
rules.
Unless a Loose contract specifically disallows it, or is a partnership,
it CAN generally be amended by public agreement between all parties to
it.
Parties to a Loose contract SHALL publish its text and membership as
soon as possible upon public request; such obligation is suspended if
another party to that contract publishes the requested information
first. If the request specifies a point in time, the party requested
SHALL instead publish the text and membership as of that point in time.
The Notary SHOULD attempt to track the text and membership of a Loose
contract, and SHOULD report the existence of each Loose contract in eir
weekly report and the text and membership of each Loose contract in eir
monthly report.
Parties to a Loose contract SHALL act as specified by that contract.
}}}
[For things like Nomic Wars, and other such private publically-known
contracts; Loose contracts are sort-of like Public contracts but without
all the requirement to publish changes before they take effect. Probably
this would work well for foreign nomic projections too; the PNP would
work best as a Loose contract, although probably it has to be amended to
make agreement to it as an Agoran contract more explicit. The basic
mechanics wrt Loose contracts is that the parties track it, and the
Notary SHOULD track it as best e can.]
Pledges (Power 1.5)
{{{
Pledge is a possible value for Enforceability. A Pledge contract can
also be known as merely a pledge, unless this is unclear from context.
If an Unbinding document explicitly, unconditionally and clearly
identifies itself as a pledge, or else is an announcement that a person
pledges something, and at least one person is publically agreeing to it,
its Enforceability flips to Pledge and all persons privately agreeing to
it cease to agree to it. Whenever no persons are agreeing to a pledge,
its Enforceability flips to Unbinding.
If a person announces that they pledge something, this is considered an
abbreviation for announcing that they agree to that part of the
announcement (and therefore causes that part of the announcement to
become a pledge).
Persons generally CAN publically agree to or cease to agree to pledges
as described in the pledge, unless such agreement is prevented by other
rules. Persons CANNOT privately agree to a pledge.
Pledges CANNOT be amended unless the amendment is published at the time
it happens.
Parties to a pledge can amend it or terminate it without objection.
The Notary's weekly report contains the existence of each pledge, and
eir monthly report contains the text and membership of each pledge.
Parties to a pledge SHALL act as specified by that pledge.
}}}
[Pledges must act like public contracts used to act, although they
aren't Public and so can't be partnerships. Public agreement is only
possible by announcement, so contracts can't describe other ways to do
it.]
Public contracts (Power 2, to avoid an escalation hole in partnerships)
{{{
Public is a possible value for Enforceability.
If an Unbinding document has been published, at least two persons are
publically agreeing to it, and it specifically, clearly and
unconditionally states that it is a public contract, its Enforceability
flips to Public and all persons privately agreeing to it cease to agree
to it. If fewer than two persons are agreeing to a Public contract, its
Enforceability flips to Unbinding.
Persons generally CAN publically agree to or cease to agree to Public
contracts as described in the contract, unless such agreement is
prevented by other rules. Persons CANNOT privately agree to a Public
contract.
Unless a public contract specifically disallows it, or is a partnership,
it generally CAN be amended by public agreement between all its parties.
Public contracts CANNOT be amended unless the amendment is published at
the time it happens.
The Notary's weekly report contains the existence of each public
contract, and eir monthly report contains the text and membership of
each public contract.
Parties to a public contract SHALL act as specified by that contract.
}}}
[Works just as before, except that public announcement is needed at the
instant a change is made, rather than delaying the effect of changes
until the announcement.]
Partnerships (Power 2)
{{{
A partnership is a contract which fulfils all the following conditions:
* It clearly, unambiguously and unconditionally specifies it is a
partnership;
* It is either Loose or Public;
* It is Legal, or both Equitable and Legal;
* It has at least two parties;
* It has a basis consisting of at least two first-class persons.
Additionally, any contract which is a player is a partnership, even if
it does not meet the above conditions; but if a contract is a player but
is only a partnership by virtue of this sentence, any player CAN
deregister it by announcement.
Partnerships are persons. The parties to a partnership SHALL ensure that
it fulfils all its obligations and that it obeys the rules.
A partnership SHALL act as specified by itself.
The Notary's weekly and monthly report each indicate which contracts are
partnerships.
If a contract is a person or a player, entities can act on behalf of it
as described in the contract itself.
}}}
[Fix the devolution of obligations things once and for all, by putting
it into the ruleset itself. Also fix most of the other partnership bugs
we've had recently. Pragmatise when partnerships cease to be players.]
The Notary (Power 1.5)
{{{
The Notary is an office, which keeps track of contracts and related
properties.
The Notary has a weekly and a monthly report, described elsewhere.
The Notary can, without objection, cause all players to cease to agree
to a specified Loose contract, Public contract, or pledge.
The Notary can cause all players to cease to agree to a specified Hidden
contract, so long as e privately informed all parties to that contract
that e intended to terminate it this way between 4 and 14 days earlier,
and none of them privately replied that they objected to that intent.
}}}
[The same powers as before, but slightly different information in the
report.]
Acting on Behalf (Power 2)
{{{
Entities can act on behalf of parties to a contract as specifically,
clearly and unambiguously specified in a Public contract, pledge, or
Loose contract whose text is publically available; a contract's
specification of acting on behalf may be conditional, in which case it
is only possible to act on behalf under the conditions specified in the
contract.
}}}
[Let's have this in the rules rather than just as judicial precedent and
game custom! To act on behalf with respect to secret or hidden
contracts, they have to be published first to make them Loose; this
avoids or at least reduces problems with act-on-behalf based on unknown
contracts.]
--
ais523
Ex-Notary, who had to resign due to not being able to keep up
