On Mon, 18 May 2009, comex wrote:
> WHEREAS Rule 101 i., as far as I can tell, has no effect whatsoever;
Broad and general rights are interesting in that they provide a
framework for a changing overarching game custom... a constitution
only means what its current practitioners say it means. I'd say, in
a way and at the very least, the "spirit" of rights at least makes it
clear up front that this is a non-Imperial nomic, even if those
rights are chipped away and need a refresh now and again. This is a
good summary of the current state of rights, I haven't been following
them all it will be worth taking a look. I do need to comment on my
most recent judgement, though:
> v., the right of participation in the fora, can only
> be violated by preventing a player from sending
> all messages whatsoever (CFJ 2488);
Two points:
1. While I gave examples on extremes ("all messages whatsoever") just
to illustrate some things that would absolutely and clearly violate the
right, there are many less powerful clauses that would; e.g. "as
punishment, this player SHALL NOT post to the fora for 3 weeks" would
violate the right by imposing unreasonable time burdens (you can't
"participate" in a conversation when you're posting so much slower than
anyone else).
2. Don't let the stable and well-run technical regime of Distributor
Taral (2003-present) lull you into a false sense of security. Stating
up front "no monkeying with the distribution mechanisms" is important;
this monkeying went as far back as Nomic World. As a Right, this
language was in R478 for a long, long time (back beyond my historical
records, others might have a longer perspective). So even if this
right is restricted to preventing gross technical monkeying, it's still
important to keep up front.
-Goethe
