=============================== CFJ 3793 ===============================
Rance’s master switch is set to Gaelan.
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Caller: Gaelan
Judge: twg
Judgement: FALSE
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History:
Called by Gaelan: 16 Jan 2020 06:16 UTC
Assigned to twg: 22 Jan 2020 15:51 UTC
Judged FALSE by twg: (as of this message)
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Caller's Arguments:
1885/9: For the purpose
of such a auction, to transfer a zombie to a player is to set that
zombie's master switch to that player.
2551/3: When [the bid is paid to the auctioneer],
if the auctioneer CAN transfer the items in that lot to that
winner at will, e immediately does so; otherwise, e SHALL do so in
a timely fashion.1
So, the question is: CAN Agora, as an autonomous entity, set a switch? I don’t
see any language that implies it can, but perhaps there’s an argument to be
made that Agora obviously is able to change its own state?
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Gratuitous Arguments by G.:
The standing precedents are CFJs 3693-3694.
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Gratuitous Arguments by Falsifian:
Jason Cobb pointed out Gaelan's 22-coin bid was NttPF [0], so e did
not win any lots in the auction, so this should be FALSE.
[0]
https://mailman.agoranomic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/private/agora-business/2020-January/041890.html
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Judge twg's Arguments:
Falsifian and Jason Cobb are perfectly correct; Gaelan's final bid on the
zombie auction in question was not among the three highest, so e did not
win any lot. (Because of eir phrasing, though, e did still transfer the
amount of eir "bid" to Agora. Sucks to be em.)
I judge this CFJ trivially FALSE.
However, it's worth considering the matter that the caller _intended_ to
inquire into. Is it generally POSSIBLE for players to flip master switches
as the result of a zombie auction?
As G. correctly points out, this exact question was the subject of CFJ
3694. Despite the complexity of the discussion surrounding that case, e
has kindly supplied us with the reasoning adopted by CFJ 3694's judge:
> The CFJ is FALSE, because a necessary implication of the Rules is that
> Agora CAN transfer a zombie pursuant to a properly initiated Rule 1885
> zombie auction.
>
> Under Rule 2545 (power=2), “An Auction is a way for entities to give
> away items in exchange for a currency.” By necessarily implication,
> if a Rule with high enough power authorizes some player to initiate an
> auction with a particular item as a lot, then that Rule also
> necessarily authorizes that player to initiate a process that would
> “give away [that] item[] in exchange for a currency.” That’s what an
> auction _is_ under the Rules.
>
> Under Rule 1885 (power=2), at the start of the month, “the Registrar
> CAN put [a] zombie [that meets certain conditions] (along with any
> other zombies that fulfill the same conditions) up for auction.” By
> necessary implication, read in conjunction with Rule 2545, that means
> that a zombie can be transferred pursuant to that auction. Otherwise
> it wouldn’t be an auction at all—a way of transferring an item for
> currency. It would be something else entirely.
>
> This interpretation is consistent with the best interests of the game
> and ordinary language. There’s no reason to adopt a contrary
> interpretation, which would break auctions and zombies.
Although unconventional, I do not find flaw with the judge's logic. By
defining an "Auction" as "a way for entities to give away items" (text
that is still present in the rule today), Rule 2545 ("Auctions")
effectively makes a blanket statement that entities CAN give away items
through auctions. Thus, the condition in Rule 2551 ("Auction End") that
"the auctioneer CAN transfer the items in that lot to that winner at will"
is always true (provided that the items are possessed by the auctioneer,
which is always the case with official zombie auctions).
However, it should be noted that the result of this wording is clearly
unintentional, as it might for example permit a player to auction even
_fixed_ assets, including eir own zombie(s), by means of Rule 2584 ("Free
Auctions"). This court therefore recommends that language be introduced to
Rule 2551 explicitly enabling Agora to transfer zombies, and that Rule
2545 be rephrased to remove its unfortunate permissiveness.
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