I CFJ: "A player CAN send a message to agora-business by some method."
Arguments:
{
First, I think it is clear that sending a message is an action - it is
something that can be performed.
Rule 478 says that "no Player shall be prohibited from participating in
the Fora". A plain reading of this seems to indicate that Rule 478
"permits" players to participate in the Fora - preventing someone from
being prohibited from doing something is ensuring that they are
permitted to do it. Participating in the Fora also necessarily entails
sending messages to the fora, so it seems Rule 478 also permits sending
messages to the public fora.
However, if Rule 478 "permits" sending messages to the public fora, then
Rule 2125 states that sending a message to a public forum is an action
that is regulated by the statutes of Agora (under condition (1) for an
action being regulated). This means that the second paragraph of Rule
2125 applies. This paragraph applying would mean that the statues of
Agora limit the action of sending a message to being performed only by
the methods "specified" within the statutes of Agora. Since, AFAICT, no
rule actually specifies a method of performing the action of sending a
message to a public forum, R2125 implies that there is no method to send
a message to a public forum. This would imply a judgment of FALSE.
I also note that, even if "permit" is found not to have applicability,
the Rules may also "allow" or "limit" sending messages to the public fora.
Counterarguments to the above:
R478 takes precedence over R2125 by number. Since R478 uses lowercase,
(i.e.) natural language "prohibit", a finding that it is IMPOSSIBLE
would make participating in the Fora impossible, thus "prohibiting" it.
This would mean that the permission of participation would prevail over
the lack of methods.
Any one of:
{
R478 only permits participation in the Fora, which is not equivalent to
permitting sending message to the Fora.
R478 does not "permit" persons to send messages to the Fora, only
prohibit a prohibition on it.
R478 does not "permit" persons to send messages to the Fora, because
that is an ability that exists outside of the Rules.
}. All of these would mean that sending messages to the public Fora is
not a regulated action, so R2125 does not apply.
Even if the action is regulated, people are able to send messages
outside of the Rules, and the Rules cannot disable them from doing so,
so they have a method anyway.
If R217 can be forced into the discussion, the best interests of the
game clearly align with TRUE, since FALSE would be an extremely
disruptive judgment.
}
Evidence:
{
Rule 2125/12 (Power=3)
Regulated Actions
An action is regulated by a body of law if (1) its performance is
limited, allowed, enabled, or permitted by that body of law; (2)
that body of law describes the circumstances under which it would
succeed or fail; or (3) it would, as part of its effect, modify
information for which some person bound by that body of law is
required, by that body of law, to be a recordkeepor.
If a body of law regulates an action, then to the extent that
doing so is within its scope, that body of law prevents the action
from being performed except as described within it, including by
limiting the methods to perform that action to those specified
within it. A body of law does not proscribe any action which it
does not regulate.
Rule 478/38 (Power=3)
Fora
Freedom of speech being essential for the healthy functioning of
any non-Imperial nomic, it is hereby resolved that no Player shall
be prohibited from participating in the Fora, nor shall any person
create physical or technological obstacles that unduly favor some
players' fora access over others.
Publicity is a secured forum switch with values Public,
Discussion, and Foreign (default), tracked by the Registrar.
The Registrar may change the publicity of a forum without
objection as long as:
1. e sends eir announcement of intent to that forum; and
2. if the forum is to be made public, the announcement by which
the Registrar makes that forum public is sent to all existing
public fora.
Each player should ensure e can receive messages via each public
forum.
A public message is a message sent via a public forum, or sent to
all players and containing a clear designation of intent to be
public. A rule can also designate that a part of one public
message is considered a public message in its own right. To
"publish" or "announce" something is to send a public message
whose body contains that thing. To do something "publicly" is
to do that thing within a public message.
Where the rules define an action that a person CAN perform "by
announcement", that person performs that action by unambiguously
and clearly specifying the action and announcing that e performs
it. Any action performed by sending a message is performed at the
time date-stamped on that message. Actions in messages (including
sub-messages) are performed in the order they appear in the
message, unless otherwise specified.
}
--
Jason Cobb
