Public Discussion Board Act

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Public Discussion Boards Act

United Radical Communities

Notes
Preamble

Part I - URC Public Discussion Boards
Part II - Pallas Athene Public Discussion Board
Part III - Proletarian Council Discussion Board
Part IV - Astraea Discussion Boards
Part V - Deletion for Recovery of Server Space
Part VI - Election of the Moderator
Part VII - Relocation Clause
Part VIII - Non-Disclosure Regulation
Part IX - Banning Users and IP Addresses
Part X - Moderator's Salary

(begins)

Note:The pronouns "ze", "hir" and "hirs" shall for the purposes of this document describe any person or thing henceforth mentioned or implied; and shall be understood according to the context in which used.

Note: The United Radical Communities shall be referred to with the abbreviation "URC" for the remainder of this document.

Note: The term "URC Public Discussion Board" shall for the purposes of this document describe all community-owned discussion boards defined within this document.

Preamble: In order for a free community to function, there must exist a means for all individuals (both members and non-members of the URC) to excercise free speech and to excercise expression without unreasonable restriction.

The electronic discussion groups of the URC, accessible via the internet, have become the central method of communication for individuals addressing the community.

In addition, the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and organization, and freedom to protest, as outlined in the Declaration of Human Rights, should be more clearly defined with relation to the URC's public message boards. It is one of the goals of this regulation to clearly state what constitutes legitimate free expression on the various community-owned discussion boards within the URC.

Part I - URC Public Discussion Boards

Section 1:
Notice of Collectivization and Bequeathment

1-1:

The URC Discussion Group, located at the internet address http://pub10.ezboard.com/beudaimonia38580, shall be jointly-owned, with part of the responsibilities of maintaining and governing the URC Discussion Group being assigned to the URC collectively, and the remainder of those responsibilities being assigned to whichever independent individual(s) or cooperative(s) have acquired, through normal independent means, that share of the URC Discussion Group.

1-2:

The ability to ban users and/or IP Addresses from the URC Discussion Group as well as full control of all individual community-owned discussion boards (as defined in this document) residing within the URC Discussion Group, shall be governed solely by the rules and regulations outlined in this document and shall be considered community-responsibility. All other abilities, discussion boards and responsibilities residing within and regarding the URC Discussion Group, shall be considered assigned to whichever independent individual(s) or cooperative(s) have acquired, through normal independent means, that share of the URC Discussion Group.

1-3:

Should this document, at any time, be repealed or become moot and should no new document be established by the Proletarian Council thereafter to replace it, all ownership and responsibility assigned by it to the community as a whole shall immediately before then be inherited by the individual(s) or cooperative(s) who originally established it, or, if they or ze is not available, by whichever individual(s) or cooperative(s) hold a plurality of discussion boards residing within the URC Discussion Group. In the event that a determination of plurality is precluded because individuals and/or cooperatives hold equal shares, all of those individuals and/or cooperatives shall become joint-owners.

Part II - Pallas Athene Public Discussion Board

Section 1
Notice of Collectivization

1-1:

The Pallas Athene Public Discussion Board, located at the internet address http://pub10.ezboard.com/feudaimonia38580eudaimonicdiscussionboard, is collectively owned by the URC as a whole.

1-1-1:

The Pallas Athene Public Discussion Board shall also be referred to as "PADB" for the remainder of this document.

Section 2
Free Expression on the PADB

2-1:

The PADB, being the central means of communication between individuals and URC as a whole (but not the only means), may not be censored arbitrarily by any one person or group.

2-2:

No legitimate expression on the PADB may ever be purposefully or systematically deleted by any URC member with the capability and opportunity to do so, except as noted in Section 2-3 of this Part.

2-2-1:

"Legitimate expression" is defined as any expression which does not infringe on the rights of others.

2-2-2:

For the purposes of this Part, "legitimate expression" is any form of expression on the PADB which does not constitute the following, as described in sub-sections i-iii;

i) Multiple-Disruptive-Messages; defined as messages posted to the PADB an extraordinary number of times -- with either the intention to, or the effect of, disrupting the ability of other users of the PADB to discuss topics raised or utilise the PADB to express themselves.

i-a) Procedure in the case of Multiple-Disruptive-Messages:

In the case that, in the judgement of a petition of users (as defined in Section 2-3 of this Part), messages posted to the PADB constitute Multiple-Disruptive-Messages, the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards (as defined in Part VI of this document) may delete those Multiple-Disruptive-Messages from the PADB on the sole condition that ze copies and archives the messages before deleting them and makes the archived messages available privately to any person who requests them.

ii) Pornography; defined as messages that contain the graphic, sexually explicit subordination of persons and/or other animals through pictures and/or words, in which one of the following criteria also applies:

(a) Persons are presented dehumanized as sexual objects, things, or commodities. (b) Persons and/or other animals are presented as sexual objects who enjoy humiliation or pain; or as sexual objects experiencing sexual pleasure in rape, incest, or in other sexual assault; or as sexual objects tied up, cut up, mutilated, bruised, or physically hurt. (c) Persons and/or other animals are presented in postures or positions of sexual submission, servility, or display. (d) The body parts of persons and/or other animals --including but not limited to vaginas, breasts, penises, scrotums or buttocks-- are exhibited in such a way that said persons and/or other animals are reduced to those body parts. (e) Persons and/or other animals are presented being penetrated by objects or animals. (f) Persons and/or other animals are presented in scenarios of degradation, humiliation, injury, or torture, shown as filthy or inferior, bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual.

ii-a) Procedure in the case of Pornography:

In the case that, in the judgement of a petition of users (as defined in Section 2-3 of this Part), messages posted to the PADB constitute Pornography, the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards (as defined in Part VI of this document) must delete said Pornographic messages from the PADB without archival.

iii) Multiple-Repeat-Messages; defined as a group messages posted to the PADB, all of which consist of the same content.

iii-a) Procedure in the case of Multiple-Repeat-Messages:

The moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards (as defined in Part VI of this document) may delete from the PADB all but one copy of any particular group of Multiple-Repeat-Messages.

2-3:

The moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards may only delete messages from the PADB which fall into one of the categories of illegitimate expression described in Section 2-2-2: Sub-Sections i-iii of this Part if ze is given a mandate to do so by means of a petition signed by at least 33.33% of all active members of the URC.

Section 3:
Free Speech on the PADB

3-1:

The PADB may be used by at any time by any person to state any opinion.

3-2:

No opinion may be deleted from the PADB by any URC member with the capability and opportunity to carry out such deletion, unless that opinion is presented in the form of any of the illegitimate expressions defined in Section 2-2-2: Sub-Sections i-iii, of this Part.

Part III - Proletarian Council Discussion Board

Section 1:
Notice of Collectivization

1-1:

The Proletarian Council Discussion Board, located at the internet address http://pub10.ezboard.com/feudaimonia38580proletariancouncildiscussionboard, is collectively owned by the URC as a whole.

1-1-1:

The Proletarian Council Discussion Board shall also be referred to as "PCDB" for the remainder of this document.

Section 2
Free Expression on the PCDB

2-1:

The PCDB, being the central means of drafting and debating proposals within the Proletarian Council (but not the only means), may not be censored arbitrarily by any one person or group.

2-2:

No legitimate expression on the PCDB may ever be purposefully or systematically deleted by any URC member with the capability and opportunity to do so, except as noted in Section 2-3 of this Part.

2-2-1:

"Legitimate expression" is defined as any expression which does not infringe on the rights of others.

2-2-2:

For the purposes of this Part, "legitimate expression" is any form of expression on the PCDB which does not constitute the following, as described in sub-sections i-iv;

i) Multiple-Disruptive-Messages; defined as messages posted to the PCDB an extraordinary number of times -- with either the intention to, or the effect of, disrupting the ability of other users of the PCDB to discuss topics raised or utilise the PCDB to express themselves.

i-a) Procedure in the case of Multiple-Disruptive-Messages:

In the case that, in the judgement of a petition of users (as defined in Section 2-3 of this Part), messages posted to the PCDB constitute Multiple-Disruptive-Messages, the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards (as defined in Part VI of this document) may delete those Multiple-Disruptive-Messages from the PCDB on the sole condition that ze copies and archives the messages before deleting them and makes the archived messages available privately to any person who requests them.

(a) Persons are presented dehumanized as sexual objects, things, or commodities. (b) Persons and/or other animals are presented as sexual objects who enjoy humiliation or pain; or as sexual objects experiencing sexual pleasure in rape, incestuous sexual activities that are nonconsensual and/or present one party as dominating another party, or in other sexual assault; or as sexual objects tied up, cut up, mutilated, bruised, or physically hurt. (c) Persons and/or other animals are presented in postures or positions of sexual submission, servility, or display. (d) The body parts of persons and/or other animals --including but not limited to vaginas, breasts, penises, scrotums or buttocks-- are exhibited in such a way that said persons and/or other animals are reduced to those body parts. (e) Persons and/or other animals are presented being penetrated by objects or animals. (f) Persons and/or other animals are presented in scenarios of degradation, humiliation, injury, or torture, shown as filthy or inferior, bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual.

ii-a) Procedure in the case of Pornography:

In the case that, in the judgement of a petition of users (as defined in Section 2-3 of this Part), messages posted to the PCDB constitute Pornography, the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards (as defined in Part VI of this document) must delete said Pornographic messages from the PCDB without archival.

iii) Multiple-Repeat-Messages; defined as a group messages posted to the PCDB, all of which consist of the same content.

iii-a) Procedure in the case of Multiple-Repeat-Messages:

The moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards (as defined in Part VI of this document) may delete from the PCDB all but one copy of any particular group of Multiple-Repeat-Messages.

iv) Irrelevant-Messages; defined as any massage posted to the PCDB which is ultimately non-legislative in nature, or bares no relevancy to the Proletarian Council in particular.

iv-a) Procedure in the case of Irrelevant-Messages:

In the case that, in the judgement of a petition of users (as defined in Section 2-3 of this Part), messages posted to the PCDB constitute Irrelevant-Messages, the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards (as defined in Part VI of this document) may delete said irrelevant-messages on the condition that they are first relocated in full to the PADB, or any other community-owned discussion board defined in this document if so requested by the author of those messages.

2-3:

The moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards may only delete messages from the PCDB which fall into one of the categories of illegitimate expression described in Section 2-2-2: Sub-Sections i-iv of this Part if ze is given a mandate to do so by means of a petition signed by at least 33.33% of all active members of the Proletarian Council.

Section 3:
Free Speech on the PCDB

3-1:

The PCDB may be used by at any time by any person to state any opinion.

3-2:

No opinion may be deleted from the PCDB by any URC member with the capability and opportunity to carry out such deletion, unless that opinion is presented in the form of any of the illegitimate expressions defined in Section 2-2-2: Sub-Sections i-iv, of this Part.

Part IV - Astraea Discussion Boards

Section 1:
Notice of Collectivization

1-1:

The Astraea Discussion Board, located at the internet address http://pub10.ezboard.com/feudaimonia38580frm13, is collectively owned by the URC as a whole.

1-1-1:

The Astraea Discussion Board shall also be referred to as "ATDB" for the remainder of this document.

Section 2
Free Expression on the ATDB

2-1:

The ATDB, being the central means for juries to resolve adjudicative disputes (but not the only means), may not be censored arbitrarily by any one person or group.

2-2:

No legitimate expression on the ATDB may ever be purposefully or systematically deleted by any URC member with the capability and opportunity to do so, except as noted in Section 2-3 of this Part.

2-2-1:

"Legitimate expression" is defined as any expression which does not infringe on the rights of others.

2-2-2:

For the purposes of this Part, "legitimate expression" is any form of expression on the ATDB which does not constitute the following, as described in sub-sections i-v;

i-a) Procedure in the case of Multiple-Disruptive-Messages:

In the case that, in the judgement of a consensus of the jury which is utilising the ATDB to resolve a dispute at any particular time or a consensus of both complainant(s) and defendant(s) who are parties to that dispute, messages posted to the ATDB constitute Multiple-Disruptive-Messages, the moderator of the ATDB (as defined in Section 4 of this Part) may delete those Multiple-Disruptive-Messages from the ATDB without archival.

(a) Persons are presented dehumanized as sexual objects, things, or commodities. (b) Persons and/or other animals are presented as sexual objects who enjoy humiliation or pain; or as sexual objects experiencing sexual pleasure in rape, incestuous sexual activities that are nonconsensual and/or present one party as dominating another party, or in other sexual assault; or as sexual objects tied up, cut up, mutilated, bruised, or physically hurt. (c) Persons and/or other animals are presented in postures or positions of sexual submission, servility, or display. (d) The body parts of persons and/or other animals --including but not limited to vaginas, breasts, penises, scrotums or buttocks-- are exhibited in such a way that said persons and/or other animals are reduced to those body parts. (e) Persons and/or other animals are presented being penetrated by objects or animals. (f) Persons and/or other animals are presented in scenarios of degradation, humiliation, injury, or torture, shown as filthy or inferior, bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual.

ii-a) Procedure in the case of Pornography:

In the case that, in the judgement of a consensus of the jury which is utilising the ATDB to resolve a dispute at any particular time or a consensus of both complainant(s) and defendant(s) who are parties to that dispute, messages posted to the ATDB constitute Pornography, the moderator of the ATDB (as defined in Section 4 of this Part) must delete said Pornographic messages from the ATDB without archival.

iii) Multiple-Repeat-Messages; defined as a group messages posted to the ATDB, all of which consist of the same content.

iii-a) Procedure in the case of Multiple-Repeat-Messages:

The moderator of the ATDB (as defined in Section 4 of this Part) may delete from the ATDB all but one copy of any particular group of Multiple-Repeat-Messages.

iv) Irrelevant-Messages; defined as any message posted to the ATDB which is irrelevant to the dispute being resolved on the ATDB at the time of posting, or any message which is posted to the ATDB when no People's Tribunals are active in the URC.

iv-a) Procedure in the case of Irrelevant-Messages:

In the case that, in the judgement of a consensus of the jury which is utilising the ATDB to resolve a dispute at any particular time, messages posted to the ATDB constitute Irrelevant-Messages, the moderator of the ATDB (as defined in Section 4 of this Part) must delete said Irrelevant-Messages without archival.

In the case that any message is posted to the ATDB when no People's Tribunals are active in the URC, the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards must delete said message without archival.

v) Extrajudicial-Messages; defined as any message posted to the ATDB during a dispute which is in violation of the conduct rules established for People's Tribunals or dispute-resolution by the Constitution, the Declaration of Human Rights and/or any related regulation.

v-a) Procedure in the case of Extrajudicial-Messages:

In the case that, in the judgement of a consensus of the jury which is utilising the ATDB to resolve a dispute at any particular time or a consensus of both complainant(s) and defendant(s) who are parties to that dispute, messages posted to the ATDB constitute Extrajudicial-Messages, the moderator of the ATDB (as defined in Section 4 of this Part) must delete said Extrajudicial-Messages without archival.

Section 3:
Disputes on the ATDB

3-1:

Should more than one dispute be ongoing within the URC simultaneously, the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards may establish as many ATDB 'mirror boards', at different locations than the original ATDB, as necessary for the facilitation of all ongoing disputes. All mirror boards must be dismantled by said moderator after the final conclusion of the disputes being resolved on them.

3-1-1:

All of the same provisions described in this Part as applicable to the ATDB shall also be considered applicable to all ATDB mirror boards as defined in Section 3-1 of this Part.

3-2:

No opinion may be deleted from the ATDB by any URC member with the capability and opportunity to carry out such deletion, unless that opinion is presented in the form of any of the illegitimate expressions defined in Section 2-2-2: Sub-Sections i-v, of this Part.

Section 4:
Special Rules for ATDB Moderatorship

4-1:

During a dispute, the moderator of the ATDB (and any ATDB mirror boards, as defined in Section 3-1 of this Part) shall be the People's Tribunal which has been appointed to examine the dispute being resolved on the ATDB (or ATDB mirror board).

4-1-1:

A People's Tribunal may elect from its own membership, an individual or more than one individual, to execute the duties of ATDB moderator during a dispute as outlined in this Part, or it may assign these duties to an elected Judge.

4-1-2:

Should any one complainant or defendant request that the dispute to which ze is a party be conducted privately, the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards, or the assigned moderator of the ATDB being utilised to resolve that dispute, must establish a private ATDB which can only be accessed, read and posted to by the defendant(s), complainant(s) and jury members involved in the dispute in question.

4-1-3:

After the conclusion of a dispute, all of the records of the dispute shall be publicized by the moderator of the ATDB on which the dispute was resolved, and thereby made public record, unless any one complainant or defendant requests that the records be suppressed, in which case the moderator shall keep all records of the dispute privately archived for seven days (unless excepted by Section 4-1-3-4 of this Part) during which time only a complainant or defendant who was involved in that dispute may receive private copies of those records from said moderator upon request, and after which time those records shall be deleted permanently by said moderator, without archival.

4-1-3-4:

After the conclusion of a dispute, the results of the dispute, including acquittals, convictions, penalties or injunctions levied, and any final summary opinion written by the People's Tribunal which resolved that dispute, must be publicized by the moderator of the ATDB on which the dispute was resolved within seven days of having been issued and may not be suppressed by anyone.

4-2:

When no dispute is ongoing on the ATDB, the responsibility of moderatorship of the ATDB shall default to the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards.

Part V - Deletion for Recovery of Server Space

Section 1:

The moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards (as defined in Part VI of this document) may delete archaic messages from those discussion boards only so as to recover server memory so that new messages may be posted to them.

1-1:

The moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards may only delete archaic messages in chronological order (where the phrase 'chronological order' shall, for the purposes of this document, be taken to mean: in order from oldest to newest).

1-1-1:

The use of a computer program to automatically delete archaic messages in chronological order is also acceptable.

Part VI - Election of the Moderator

Section 1:

The moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards shall serve for one-hundred-eighty (180) days, and elections for this position shall be consummated at least once every one-hundred-eighty (180) days, or otherwise more frequently if needed, according to the general procedures for elections described in the Constitution of the URC at the time of the election.

Part VII - Relocation Clause

Section 1:

Any of the community-owned discussion boards defined in this document may be relocated from one internet address to another at any time by the elected moderator (described in Part VI of this document) on the condition that all members of the URC are notified of the new location(s) in a clearly written or spoken manner.

1-1

Upon relocation of one of the community-owned discussion boards defined in this document to a new internet address, Section 1 of its corresponding Part within this document shall be automatically updated to reflect its new internet address.

Part VIII - Non-Disclosure Regulation

Section 1:

Any person who is granted access to a URC Public Discussion Board defined in this document which is passworded or to which membership is otherwise exclusive, shall be expected to refrain from granting any person who does not possess such membership any of the privileges associated with that membership except as noted otherwise in this section.

1-1:

A person who has access to an exclusive URC Public Discussion Board on which message archives are not viewable except by those people with such access, may not relay, discuss or disclose any information posted to that board to any person without access to that information already, except in non-adjudicative contexts where the author of the information in question has given express permission for such disclosure.

1-2:

Any person who violates the regulation defined in this Part shall be considered to have committed an injury to the users of the exclusive community-owned boards aforementioned, and any person who holds access to an exclusive community-owned board where a violator of this regulation also has access, may convene a People's Tribunal against said violator for said violation as allowed by the URC Constitution. Should the appointed People's Tribunal then find the defendant in such a case guilty, it may demand that the convicted defendant publicly apologize on pain of further penalties, and/or order the moderator(s) of the exclusive community-owned board where the convicted defendant committed the offence in question revoke hir access to that board for any continuous period of time or permanently, and/or order the moderator(s) of all exclusive community-owned boards to revoke or prohibit hir access to those boards for any continuous period of time or permanently.

1-2-1:

Any convicted defendant whose access to any or all exclusive community-owned boards in the URC was revoked or prohibited temporarily by a People's Tribunal via this Part of this document, shall have the right to appeal hir sentence to the combined usership of all exclusive community-owned boards in the URC on which ze was banned by the sentence in question, only after at least one quarter of it has been served. Should that combined usership then agree by consensus to pardon that convicted defendant, the remainder of hir sentence shall thereby be commuted; otherwise, that convicted defendant shall be required to serve another quarter of hir sentence before gaining a second chance to appeal in the same manner, and if hir appeal is then denied again, shall be required to serve a third quarter of hir sentence before gaining a third chance to appeal in the same manner, and if hir appeal is then denied again shall be required to serve the full remainder of hir sentence.

1-2-1-1:

These appeals shall not be construed to be cumulative with one another: that is, should a convicted defendant not utilise hir one chance to appeal during any quarter of hir sentence, ze shall continue to have only one chance to appeal during the following quarter of it.

1-2-2:

Any convicted defendant whose access to any or all exclusive community-owned boards in the URC was revoked or prohibited permanently by a People's Tribunal via this Part of this document, shall have the right to appeal hir sentence to the combined usership of all exclusive community-owned boards in the URC on which ze was banned by the sentence in question, no more frequently than once every two years. Should that combined usership during any one of these appeals then agree by consensus to pardon that convicted defendant, the remainder of hir sentence shall thereby be commuted; should hir appeal be denied, ze shall be required to continue serving hir sentence.

1-2-2-1:

These appeals shall not be construed to be cumulative with one another: that is, should a convicted defendant not utilise hir one chance to appeal during any two-year period of hir sentence, ze shall continue to have only one chance to appeal during the following two-year period of it.

Part XI - Banning Users and IP Addresses

Section 1:

Should the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards at any time feel it is necessary and in the best interests of the continued health of any of the URC Public Discussion Boards and/or any independent boards residing within the URC Discussion Group, to ban a particularly disruptive user via any technical means available, ze may ban that user immediately, on the condition that all members of the URC are notified of that act of banishment and of who was banned, in a clearly written or spoken manner.

1-1:

Should a petition, signed by at least 25.1% of URC active members, at any time request that a ban levied directly by the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards, on any person or persons, be retracted, that ban shall be considered overturned, and the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards must remove all traces of the ban within seven days of the petition. Should ze fail to do so, ze may be removed from office by a People's Tribunal, which may be called against hir by any member of the URC.

1-2:

Should there be an Electoral Officer or Electorical Officers, ze or they shall be required to hold a poll to determine the amount of public support for the retainment of each new ban on a person for whom such a poll has not already been conducted, at the next scheduled public poll; these polls shall be held according to methods established by the URC Constitution and shall be treated as resolutions. Should any ban fail to be ratified in such a poll, it shall be automatically overturned, and the moderator of the URC Public Discussion Boards must remove all traces of that ban within seven days after that poll. Should ze fail to do so, ze may be removed from office by a People's Tribunal, which may be called against hir by any member of the URC.

1-2:

No member of the URC may ever be banned from the URC Discussion Group or prohibited from utilising any of the URC Public Discussion Boards, except by a People's Tribunal in adherence with a URC regulation.

Part X
Moderator's Salary

Section 1:

The salary due to the moderator's personal account with the People's Bank shall be X1.00 for every month of hir term and shall be credited to hir from the URC Public Treasury. Should the moderator resign hir position as moderator, declare a leave of absence, or become too sick, injured or otherwise unable to perform hir moderating duties for a period exceeding ten (10) consecutive days or twenty (20) total days, before the end of the second week of any month of hir service, then hir salary shall be withheld for that month; otherwise, should any of the aforementioned events occur after the end of the second week of any month of hir service, ze shall be due only half of hir salary for that month.

1-1:

Should a new moderator be elected before the end of the second week of any particular month and complete that month of service as defined in Section 1 of this Part, that moderator shall receive a full month's salary for that month; should a new moderator be elected after the end of the second week of any particular month and complete the remainder of that month of service as defined in Section 1 of this Part, that moderator shall receive half a full month's salary for that month.

(ends)

Enacted on Sunday, April the 1st, 2001, in the Common Era, by the mandate of 100% of those voting with 0.0% of the active membership not voting.
Assented to under procedures set forth by the Elemental Act.

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