EDIT: Voting will remain open until more member nations have cast their vote. Currently only 33 votes have been cast out of 81 member nations.

According to the provisions of the proposed rules, voting shall remain open for a period of no less than 3 days and require 3/4 of votes from all members of The Back Yard and approval by The Empress to be The Rules of The Back Yard.

I will perform the Roll Call for this initial vote. I realize several people have already voted in the discussion JE, sorry for the confusion. I felt obligated to allow for debate, seperate from voting, in case there were objections to any of the previsions in the proposal.

Since no objects were raised, regarding the amended version of The Rules...

Voting will proceed according to Section 2 Articles 1, 9 & 13 which can be generalized as the following:

• One vote per person using logged in slashdot user accounts. Please only one post per person in this journal.
• Vote with "yes" or "no" or any variation that adhears to your local customs.
• Insert a link to your nation on nationstates.net to aid in verifying membership in The Back Yard
• 3/4 of all members of the region must vote in favor of the proposal for The Rules to be ratified.
• Voting will end when a) all votes are cast, b) voting time expires c) 3/4 of the members in The Back Yard have voted for the proposal d) Jan 27th ~ 17:15 Pacific / 1:15 (Jan28) GMT

• El Jefe de Caffeinastan

This JE has been, for the moment, annulled. No voting will take place, and no more proposals should be posted until voting procedures have been set. This is only out of fairness; we can't ask people to vote if we haven't set the procedures yet? (except for the vote on voting, i guess...) - solemndragon

i think we need to have more discussion between refs before things get posted?

Description: UCPL- Universal Copyright/Patent Law

In it's current state, copyright law varies from country to country. It makes free trade more difficult, as the laws differ from nation to nation. As a representative of the Dominion of Anward, I realize my nation needs foreign trade to boost our economy. If we made a copyright/patent law that would apply to all countries there would be no 'gray area' and this would hopefully stimulate interest for countries to be more willing to trade between the nations of the United Nations. My proposal asks the following to be implemented:

1. Copyright/Patent Law be the same between all UN members.

2. Copyright/Patent organizations be modified to accommodate the number of requests for copyright. This should be done by establishing a new International Copyright Organization, with chapters in every capital. This agency would receive other chapters' copyrights, and send copyrights established in that country to all other chapters. With the Internet Age, this is a simple process.

3. With many different languages, a sub-agency should be established to correctly translate the copyright/patents, into each chapters native language.

4. An additional sub-agency be created to be informed of, and monitor all copyright/patent infringements. Reducing the need for the government to take the time to investigate the actions. A recommended course of action will then be reported, and a court of the nation of the offender make the ruling.

Voting Ends: Mon Jan 26 2004

The following Proposal shall be open for debate for 2 days from the time posted to TheSandBox (till ~11:10 Pacific / 19:10 GMT on Jan24, 2004). Voting shall remain open for a period of no less than 3 days and require 3/4 of votes from all members of The Back Yard and approval by The Empress to be The Rules of The Back Yard.

EDIT: Text in bold is not part of the proposal and is to aid debate.

PROPOSAL #00: THE RULES OF THE BACK YARD

The Back Yard is "Solemndragons backyard" region (1). "The Holy Empire of Solemndragons chosen" (2) is the founder and Empress of The Back Yard.

SECTION 1 - Membership

                Article 1 - Members of SolemDragon's Back Yard region do not need to be voting members of The Sand Box.

                Article 2 - Membership in The Back Yard is open to Nations asking for the password. Ask the Empress or a Referee.

                Article 3 - Members of The Back Yard can only be removed by other members using a Proposal to Remove a Nation.

                Article 4 - The Empress may remove any nation for any reason at any time with just reasoning but with no recourse. [AMENDED]

                Article 5 - Proposals to Remove a Nation must pass by 3/4 of the votes and must be approved by the Empress. [DELETED] Previous Article 5 replaced by current.

                Article 6 - Nations may take a vacation from The Back Yard or cease involvement and still remain members (3).

SECTION 2 - Voting & Proposals

                Article 1 - Voting is to be performed by non-anonymous posting to journal entries in TheSandBox (4) with one vote per person, not one vote per nation with an obvious link to the slashdot members NationState.net page. [AMENDED] Includes reference to ns.net link

                Article 2 - Multiple accounts on SlashDot may not be used to hold multiple Nations and submit multiple votes. Abuse is sufficient reason for removal from The Back Yard. [AMENDED] Reworded

                Article 3 - Any member of The Back Yard may propose a bill.

                Article 4 - Proposals must be seconded by another member of The Back Yard.

                Article 5 - The Empress or her Sand Box Referees will post proposals to TheSandBox journal.

                Article 6 - Proposals will generally start debate on Monday with debate lasting till Wednesday night or 3 days time from the time posted to TheSandBox, or as indicated in the proposal. [AMENDED] Added variable debate time reference

                Article 7 - The Referee in charge of a proposal, or The Empress, may extend the debate on a proposal only if amendments change the fundamental nature of the proposal. [INSERTED]

                Article 8 - Voting will proceed at the discretion of the Empress or a Referee and last for at least 2 days, or as otherwise indicated in the proposal.

                Article 9 - Votes on proposals may include either "Yes" or "No" while nations that do not vote do not count except where a quorum is necessary. Abstaining from voting does not count against a proposal. [AMENDED]

                Article 10 - The Empress must approve any proposal ratified by The Sand Box.

                Article 11 - The Empress may veto any proposal for any reason. If this happens, a new proposal must be submitted. [AMENDED]

                Article 12 - Proposals become law in The Back Yard immediately after approval by the Empress, or if defined otherwise in the proposal. [AMENDED]

                Article 13 - Proposals to modify The Rules must pass with > 3/4 of votes from all members of The Back Yard and must be approved by the Empress. [AMENDED]

                Article 14 - Proposals that do not fall under Section 2 Article 13 must pass with 2/3 of votes of a minimum number of members, to be specified in the proposal. [AMENDED]

                Article 15 - Proposals that require unanimous consent must be voted on by all members of The Back Yard with roll called by The Teacher. See Section 3 Article 7.

                Article 16 - Unanimous consent proposals must be open for debate for at least one week.

                Article 17 - If all nations have not voted on a unanimous consent proposal after one week, or the time limit set in the proposal, then voting is closed and only votes cast for or against are counted. [AMENDED]

SECTION 3 - Referees, Offices, Ministers, and The Teacher

                Article 1 - Referees are appointed by the Empress.

                Article 2 - All members of The Back Yard may be Referees or officers, except The Back Yard Delegate to the UN.

                Article 3 - Referees serve at the discretion of the Empress and may be removed at her discretion.

                Article 4 - Referees have access to the SlashDot account "TheSandBox" for official Sand Box business only.

                Article 5 - The Referees or Empress must maintain at least one active Journal Entry in TheSandBox for discussion by members. [AMENDED]

                Article 6 - Officers and Ministers may be appointed for any reason by the Empress.

                Article 7 - The Teacher is appointed by The Empress for the purpose of calling roll in unanimous consent proposals.

                Article 8 - The Roll includes any member of The Back Yard and will be updated by the Teacher any time a proposal requires unanimous consent. [AMENDED]

SECTION 4 - The UN

                Article 1 - The Back Yard Delegate to the UN is chosen by a plurality of UN members of The Back Yard using the endorsement system in NationStates.net and may not be a Referee.

                Article 2 - The Back Yard Delegate to the UN only represents UN members of The Back Yard and does not represent the totality of The Back Yard.

                Article 3 - UN resolutions may not conflict with The Rules, laws passed and ratified by The Sand Pit, or with Decrees of The Empress. When a conflict occurs, the UN resolution is void in The Back Yard.

                Article 4 - The Back Yard Delegate to the UN must register a complaint to the UN regarding any conflicting resolutions and reasons for the conflict.

                Article 5 - No UN resolution may negatively affect the standing of any member of The Back Yard. If a resolution does so, the nation(s) affected are free to disregard the resolution and are encouraged to submit a proposal to TheSandBox for official recognition and resolution of the conflict.

NOTES:
(1) Solemndragons backyard Region in NationStates.net is: http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/targ et=display_region/region=solemndragons_backyard

(2) The Nation "The Holy Empire of Solemndragons chosen" in NationStates.net is: http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/targ et=display_nation/nation=solemndragons_chosen

(3) This means you can take off, slack off, or otherwise limit involvement and we won't invade your nation or impose sanctions as result.

(4) TheSandBox is an account on SlashDot.org: www.SlashDot.org/~TheSandBox

The following Proposal shall be open for debate for 5 days from the time posted to TheSandBox (till ~00:40 Pacific / 08:40 GMT on Jan25, 2004). Voting shall remain open for a period of no less than 3 days and require >= 75% of votes and approval by The Empress to be The Rules of The Back Yard.

PROPOSAL #00: THE RULES OF THE BACK YARD

The Back Yard is "Solemndragons backyard" region (1). "The Holy Empire of Solemndragons chosen" (2) is the founder and Empress of The Back Yard. The Sand Box refers to voting members of The Back Yard.

SECTION 1 - Membership

        Article 1 - Members of SolemDragon's Back Yard region do not need to be voting members of The Sand Box.

        Article 2 - Membership in The Back Yard is open to Nations asking for the password. Ask the Empress or a Referee.

        Article 3 - Members of The Back Yard can only be removed by a Proposal to Remove a Nation.

        Article 4 - Proposals to Remove a Nation must pass by a majority vote and must be approved by the Empress.

        Article 5 - Throwing sand at other nations in The Sand Box is prohibited.

        Article 6 - Nations may take a vaction from The Back Yard or cease involvement and still remain members (3).

SECTION 2 - Voting & Proposals

        Article 1 - Voting is to be performed by non-anonymous posting to journal entries in TheSandBox (4) with one vote per person, not one vote per nation.

        Article 2 - Multiple accounts on SlashDot may not be used to hold multiple Nations and submit multiple votes. Abuse may be sufficient reason for removal from The Back Yard.

        Article 3 - Any member of The Back Yard may propose a bill.

        Article 4 - Proposals must be seconded by another member of The Back Yard.

        Article 5 - The Empress or her Sand Box Referees will post proposals to TheSandBox journal.

        Article 6 - Proposals will generally start debate on Monday with debate lasting till Wednesday night or 3 days time from the time posted to TheSandBox.

        Article 7 - Voting will proceed at the discression of the Empress or a Referee and last for at least 2 days, or as otherwise designated in the proposal.

        Article 8 - Votes on proposals may be either "Yes," "No," or "Abstain." Nations that do not vote are not counted as any of the above.

        Article 8 - The Empress must approve any proposal ratified by The Sand Box.

        Article 9 - The Empress may veto any proposal for any reason with no recourse.

        Article 10 - Proposals become law in The Back Yard immediately after approval by the Empress, or as defined in the proposal.

        Article 11 - Proposals to modify The Rules must pass with >= 75% of votes and must be approved by the Empress.

        Article 12 - Proposals that do not fall under Section 2 Article 11 must pass with a majority of votes, unless a greater percent is specified in the proposal.

        Article 13 - Proposals that require unanimous concent must be voted on by all members of The Back Yard with roll called by The Teacher. See Section 3 Article 7.

        Article 14 - Unanimous concent proposals must be open for debate for at least one week.

        Article 15 - If all nations have not voted on a unanimous concent proposal after one week from the start of voting, then voting is closed and final.

SECTION 3 - Referees, Offices, Ministers, and The Teacher

        Article 1 - Referees are appointed by the Empress.

        Article 2 - All members of The Back Yard may be Referees or officers, except The Back Yard Delegate to the UN.

        Article 3 - Referees serve at the discretion of the Empress and may be removed at her discression.

        Article 4 - Referees have access to the SlashDot account "TheSandBox" for official Sand Box business only.

        Article 5 - The Referees must maintain at least one active Journal Entry in TheSandBox for discussion by members.

        Article 6 - Officers and Ministers may be appointed for any reason by the Empress.

        Article 7 - The Teacher is appointed by The Empress for the purpose of calling roll in unanimous consent proposals.

        Article 8 - The Roll will be updated by the Teacher any time a proposal requires unanimous consent and includes any member of The Back Yard.

SECTION 4 - The UN

        Article 1 - The Back Yard Deletage to the UN is choosen by a plurality of UN members of The Back Yard using the endorsement system in NationStates.net and may not be a Referee.

        Article 2 - The Back Yard Delegate to the UN only represents UN members of The Back Yard and does not represent the totality of The Back Yard.

        Article 3 - UN resolutions may not conflict with The Rules, laws passed and ratified by The Sand Pit, or with Decrees of The Empress. When a conflict occurs, the UN resolution is void in The Back Yard.

        Article 4 - The Back Yard Delegate to the UN must register a complaint to the UN regarding any conflicting resolutions and reasons for the conflict.

        Article 5 - No UN resolution may negatively affect the standing of any member of The Back Yard. If a resolution does so, the nation(s) affected are free to disregard the resolution and are encouraged to submit a proposal to The Sand Box for official recognition and resolution of the conflict.

NOTES:
(1) Solemndragons backyard Region in NationStates.net is: http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_region/region=solemndragons_backyard

(2) The Nation "The Holy Empire of Solemndragons chosen" in NationStates.net is: http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/index.cgi/target=display_nation/nation=solemndragons_chosen

(3) This means you can take off, slack off, or otherwise limit involvement and we won't invade your nation or impose sanctions as as result.

(4) TheSandBox is an account on SlashDot.org: www.SlashDot.org/~TheSandBox

This is an initial forum for discussions regarding our little Sand Box, in Sol's region called Solemndragons_Backyard.

The first issue we should probably discuss is how to conduct business here in The Sand Box of Sol's BackYard. I suggested a few rules for these discussions. These are below. Tell us what you like, or don't like about them and what needs to change. Items that are bold need to be determined.

1) The Referees, appointed by our Reclusive Empress, will preside over The Sand Box and have access to this slashdot account.

2) The Reclusive Empress will approve The Rules for her Back Yard, once enough people agree on what they should be.

3) Any business proposed by a member of The Sand Box must be seconded by another member.

5) Debate on a proposition will be held for 3 days.

4) A proposition under debate passes when [number] percent of members of The Back Yard approve it.

5) Throwing sand at other Nations in The Sand Box is not allowed.

6) The Empress must approve any propositions for them to be valid.

7) Any nation may join The Sand Box, if they are given the password.

8) The Empress retains the right to eject any nation from The Sand Box if they don't play fair, share their toys, or if they annoy everyone else. Suitable discussion will take place before this happens.

9) Nations that need a nap, vacation, or other trips away from The Sand Box, may do so any time they wish with out fear of invasions or harsh trade sanctions.

10) UN membership is optional for all members in The Sand Box. Each region gets a UN Delegate by endorsing a nation. The nation with the most endorsements is the representative. Currently, our Delegate is Turgkey. It might be a good idea to make sure that the Delegate is not also a Referee, just to spread around the fun involved.

So those are just some suggestions. There has already been a proposal for a unified currency for The Sand Box. Some debate regarding this invasion of sovereignty has occured. This could be our first proposition to debate, after the Rules are determined.

Sebi, FortKnox, and myself, robi2106 (jason), have been appointed by Sol as Referees for The Sand Box. I have also suggested Bethanie. Sebi has lots of experience in the game, and great ideas, as described in this post.

El Jefe de Caffeinastan
aka jason

Note from solemndragon:

The password nations will need is the regional one. But... i think that there should be nations outside our backyard allowed to join. Are all members in the backyard automatically members? Members, you tell me, because you're the ones who will be subject to the proposals we consider. I know there's resistance to the currency idea, for example, and i don't want this to end up as meaningless for some people as the Nationstates UN.

I think that submitting a proposal should be as easy as posting a comment with the subject: "PROPOSAL," and that one of us should make sure there's a JE on a regular basis so that there's room to do this.

I think that each slashdotter should be restricted to one vote, however, no matter how many nations they have. That one's up for debate. Debate it NOW, before we vote. The proposals may be rewritten before the vote, with extra debate time, if salient arguments for or against come up.

That said, i think that we have an excellent setup described here. Sebi may not have the same free time that we do, so we must allow discretion to not take on this responsibility when called. Bethanie's in it for the fun, and i respect that. Which leaves us with some empty space; Sebi, spot's yours if you want it, but no push and no hard feelings.

we need: Someone to chair, along with me- i think there should be two co-chairs, so that it's not just one person approving proposals in my absence should i not be around. There will need to be someone counting votes to make sure that everyone's been represented in a 'need-unanimity' vote. So, i agree- you and FK should be PenUltimate Sandbox Referees ('sandblasters?' *grin*) and we must find a vote-counter who can't/won't be bribed.

I think that the first proposal should be this one: to vote on this entire slate as one proposal, including said ad hoc committee of three, and by taking part in the debate or the vote, (which should take place three days from now? With a 24-hour period for collecting votes, to account for differing time zones) nations start taking part.