I like this. Slight spelling fix, though: in the paragraph after the list
of protected actions, "ILLEGAL" is wrongly spelled "ILEGAL"
--
Trigon
On Oct 14, 2017 1:30 AM, "Aris Merchant" <thoughtsoflifeandligh...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Hello everyone! Here is the latest draft of my contracts proposal. I
> plan to submit it this weekend, so I would appreciate it if people
> would try to stick to small fixes. If anyone wants to help look it
> over, prevent exploitable bugs, list problems, or tell me that they're
> planing to vote AGAINST and why, I'd appreciate it.
>
> For those who weren't around or want to see it again, here is my
> statement from the first draft:
>
> {{
>
> I'm going to preface this by saying that my contracts proposal is kind
> of long. It may take a few days for everyone to read through it and
> stuff. It's long for several reasons. For one thing, it repeals about
> as many rules as it creates. As I suggested, this is a consolidation
> of the existing Agency and Organization mechanics, which means it
> should be a net simplification, even though it doesn't feel like it.
> It also adds in the whole new element that the thing is binding. At
> some point we may be able to repeal pledges too, once everyone's used
> to the new mechanics. Another reason is that I've littered the thing
> with safety features. They're probably unnecessary, but better safe
> than sorry.
>
> A few design principles:
>
> 1. Contracts should be easy to use. The primary cause for the failure
> of organizations was their complexity. You had to come up with a name.
> You had to deal with member's budgets. You had to specify whether
> things were "appropriate", without the ease of CANs and CANNOTs. You
> couldn't specify SHALLs and SHALL NOTs.
>
> 2. Contracts should be powerful, but not too powerful. The primary
> cause for the limited adoption of agencies was that you couldn't do
> much with them. Yeah, sure, you can do CANs and CANNOTs now. That's
> great, but the agency can't own assets, or create obligations, or even
> have more than one "Director". There was only one agency (the PDA,
> which I created to let someone else run Promotor temporarily) before
> Free Agency passed, greatly expanding what you could do with agencies.
> Now there are many of them, but they're still not as versatile as they
> could be. It goes without saying that we would like to avoid
> mousetraps or other scams too, so some limitations are necessary.
>
> 3. Reuse what worked. A lot of my new contract rules is drawn from the
> successful parts of the existing organization system.
>
> My proposal has three parts. Part 1 cleans up (tweaks and repeals)
> existing rules. A lot of it is drawn from o's organization repeal
> proposal, which I borrowed and then edited. Thank you, o. The second
> part consists of new rules to create contracts. The third part
> modifies the assets rule, both to conform with contracts and for some
> general minor fixes of ambiguities that have been pointed out. Each
> part has subheadings, which should hopefully make it easier to
> read/not get lost in.
>
> Without further ado, here is my draft proposal. Comments and concerns
> appreciated, though please try not to complain about the length :).
> }}
>
> Here's a change-log, which may be somewhat incomplete:
>
> - Extricability is defined in this proposal, but is only a definition with
> no
> intrinsic effect.
> - Various contract operations are constrained by sanity checks.
> - Regulations are made binding on their promulgators so that they work
> with the assets "bound by" restriction for recordkeeping, and because it
> seems
> like a good idea.
> - The Notary is given various throttling powers, to stop players from
> making
> eir life hell. These have been chosen such that they shouldn't interfere
> with the activities of the average player.
> - Clearer guidelines are laid down for contract interpretation.
> - Creating a contract is made restricted to stop the "agencies that
> create
> agencies" thing. I'm getting bored of that pseudo-scam.
> - The Notary is required to post eir full report weekly, as e probably
> produces it from same source and differential reports aren't very useful.
> - Changes are made to the spending definition, see the a-d thread
>
> Affixed is the actual proposal text.
>
> -Aris
>
> ---
> Title: Contracts v3
> Adoption index: 3.0
> Author: Aris
> Co-author(s): o, G., ais523, Gaelan, 天火狐, CuddleBeam
>
>
> Lines beginning with hashmarks ("#") and comments in square brackets ("[]")
> have no effect on the behavior of this proposal. They are not part of any
> rules
> created or amended herein, and may be considered for all game purposes to
> have been removed before its resolution.
>
> # 1 Cleanup & Miscellaneous
> # 1.1 Gamestate Cleanup
>
> Destroy each organization.
>
> Destroy each agency.
>
> Destroy each contract. [Just in case.]
>
> # 1.2 Organization, Secretary, and Economic Cleanup
> # 1.2.1 Repeal Organizations
>
> Repeal rule 2459 ("Organizations").
>
> Repeal rule 2461 ("Death and Birth of Organizations").
>
> Repeal rule 2460 ("Organizational Restructuring").
>
> Repeal rule 2457 ("Lockout").
>
> Repeal rule 2458 ("Invoking Lockout").
>
> Repeal rule 2462 ("Bankruptcy").
>
> # 1.2.2 Change Secretary to Treasuror
>
> Amend rule 2456 ("The Secretary") by
>
> * Changing its title to "The Treasuror", then by
> * Replacing its text, entirely, with:
>
> {{{
> The Treasuror is an office, and the recordkeepor of Shinies.
>
> The Treasuror's weekly report also includes:
>
> 1. the current Floating Value, and all derived values
> defined by the Rules.
> 2. the list of all public classes of assets.
>
> }}}
>
> Make o the Treasuror.
>
> Amend the following rules, in order, by replacing the word
> "Secretary" with the word "Treasuror" wherever it appears:
>
> * Rule 2487 ("Shiny Supply Level")
> * Rule 2498 ("Economic Wins")
> * Rule 2497 ("Floating Value")
>
> # 1.2.3 General Economy Fixes/Cleanup
>
> Amend rule 2489 ("Estates") by replacing the first sentence with:
>
> {{{
> An Estate is a type of indestructible liquid asset.
> }}}
>
> Amend rule 2491 ("Estate Auctions") by replacing its text,
> entirely, with:
>
> {{{
> At the start of each month, if Agora owns at least one
> Estate, the Surveyor CAN and SHALL put one Estate which is owned by
> Agora up for auction by announcement. Each auction ends
> seven days after it begins.
>
> During an auction, any player or contract may bid a number of Shinies
> by announcement, provided that the bid is higher than all
> previously-placed bids in the same auction.
>
> If, at the end of the auction, there is a single highest bid,
> then the player or contract who placed that bid wins the auction.
> The winner CAN cause Agora to transfer the auctioned Estate to emself
> by announcement, if e pays Agora the amount of the bid. The person
> who
> placed the bid SHALL see to it that this is done in a timely fashion.
> }}}
>
> Amend rule 2483 ("Economics") by replacing its text, entirely, with:
>
> {{{
> Shinies (singular "shiny", abbreviated "sh.") are an
> indestructible liquid currency, and the official currency
> of Agora. The Treasuror is the recordkeepor for shinies.
>
> The Treasuror CAN cause Agora to pay any player or
> contract by announcement if doing so is specified by a
> another rule.
> }}}
>
> Repeal Rule 2485 ("You can't take it with you").
>
>
> # 1.3 Agency Cleanup
>
> Repeal Rule 2467 ("Agencies")
>
> Repeal Rule 2468 ("Superintendent")
>
> # 1.4 Define Extricability
>
> [Note that I do not believe this section makes any substantive changes on
> its
> own. Because of the volume of concerns raised about restricting by
> announcement
> conditionals, this section only contains definitions.]
>
> Create a new power 3.0 rule entitled "Conditionals and Extricability",
> with the
> following text:
>
> A conditional is any textual structure that attempts to make a statement
> affecting any part or aspect of the gamestate (the substrate), or the
> permissibility or possibility of any action affecting such a part or
> aspect,
> dependent on the truth value or other state of a textual structure
> (the condition). The condition is said to be "affixed" to the substrate
> (inverse "to be conditional upon").
>
> A condition is inextricable if it is unclear, ambiguous, circular,
> inconsistent, paradoxical, depends on information that is impossible or
> unreasonably difficult to determine, or otherwise requires an
> unreasonable
> effort resolve; otherwise it is extricable. A conditional is
> inextricable if
> its condition is inextricable; otherwise it is extricable. A player
> SHOULD NOT
> use an inextricable conditional for any purpose.
>
> An action said to be "subject to" a conditional if the possibility,
> permissibility, or effect (depending on context) is determined by the
> conditional. A value is said to be subject to a conditional of the the
> state
> of the value is determined by the conditional.
>
> Create a new power 3.0 rule entitled "Determinacy", with the following
> text:
>
> If a value CANNOT be reasonably determined (without circularity or
> paradox)
> from information reasonably available, or if it alternates indefinitely
> between values, then the value is considered to be indeterminate,
> otherwise
> it is determinate.
>
> Amend Rule 1023, "Common Definitions", by (please note that these actions
> are severable):
>
> * removing the third item of the top level list; and
> * renumbering appropriately.
>
> # 1.5 Random Amendments
>
> Amend Rule 869, "How to Join and Leave Agora", by changing its last
> paragraph to
> read:
>
> The Rules CANNOT compel non-players to act without their express or
> reasonably
> implied consent. The rules CANNOT compel players to unduly harass
> non-players.
> A non-person CANNOT be a player, rules to the contrary notwithstanding.
>
>
> Amend Rule 2139, "The Registrar", by changing the sentence "The Registrar
> is
> also responsible for tracking any switches that would otherwise lack an
> officer
> to track them, unless the switch is defined as untracked." to read "The
> Registrar is also responsible for tracking any switches, defined in a rule,
> that would otherwise lack an officer to track them, unless the switch is
> defined
> as untracked."
>
> Amend Rule 2466, "Acting on Behalf", by changing it to read in full:
>
> When a rule allows one person (the agent) to act on behalf of another
> (the principal) to perform an action, that agent CAN perform the action
> if it
> is POSSIBLE for the principal to do so, taking into account any
> prerequisites
> for the action. If the enabling rule does not specify the mechanism by
> which
> the agent may do so, then the agent CAN perform the action in the same
> manner
> in which the principal CAN do so, with the additional requirement that
> the
> agent must, in the message in which the action is performed, uniquely
> identify
> the principal and that the action is being taken on behalf of that
> person.
>
> A person SHALL not act on behalf of another person if doing so causes the
> second person to violate the rules. A person CANNOT act on behalf of
> another
> person to do anything except perform a game action; in particular, a
> person
> CANNOT act on behalf of another person to send a message, only to perform
> specific actions that might be taken within a message.
>
> When an action is performed on behalf of a principal, then the
> action is considered for all game purposes to have been performed by the
> principal, unless a rule specifically states that it is treated
> differently
> for some purpose, in which case it is treated as described by that rule.
>
> Allowing a person to act on behalf of another person is secured at power
> 2.0.
> This rule takes precedence over any rule which would prohibit a person
> from
> taking an action, except that it defers to any rule that imposes
> limitations
> specifically on actions taken on behalf of another person.
>
>
> Amend Rule 2350, "Proposals", by appending the sentence "However, if a
> proposal
> is submitted as an action on the behalf of a player, then the agent is the
> author." to the paragraph beginning "Creating a proposal..."
>
> [The below is needed to make regulations play well with the recordkeeping
> restrictions of assets.]
>
> Amend Rule 2493, "Regulations", by appending the following as a new
> paragraph
> to the end of the rule:
>
> A regulation's promulgator SHALL generally obey eir own regulations as
> long
> as they are acting reasonably within their rule defined scope. E NEED NOT
> follow any regulation constraining em to take or not to take some action
> with
> to eir regulations, or any regulation constraining em to violate a rule.
>
>
> # 2 Contracts
> # 2.1 Core Contract Features
>
> Create a new power 2.5 rule, entitled "Contracts", with the following text:
>
> A contract is a textual entity, and the ruleset described entity embodied
> therein. A document can only become a contract through the appropriate
> ruleset
> defined procedures. Changes to the contracts text by rule defined
> mechanisms
> (including those delegated to the contract itself) do not change the
> identity
> of the contract.
>
> If any change to a contract's text, internal state, or other properties
> would
> cause them to be indeterminate, it is canceled and does not occur.
>
> The following changes are secured at power 2.1: creating or modifying a
> contract or causing an entity to become a contract. [Note that,
> as a precaution, causing an entity to cease being a contract is not
> secured.]
>
> The properties of contracts, as defined by other rules, include the
> following:
>
> - Parties, persons who agree to be bound by and assume powers under
> the contract.
> - The ability to be amended or destroyed.
> - The ability to compel actions by their parties.
> - The ability to allow persons to take actions on the part of their
> parties.
> - The ability to define arbitrary classes of asset.
> - The ability to possess and control assets.
>
> Create a new power 2.5 rule, entitled "Parties to Contracts", with the
> following
> text:
>
> Contracts have parties, who are persons. The person(s) who create(s) a
> contract is/are automatically a party/parties. Other persons CAN become
> parties by announcement if the contract permits them do so. Parties can
> leave
> a contract by announcement, ceasing being parties, if the contract
> permits
> the to do so. A contract CAN expel a party or group of parties by
> announcement, causing them to cease being parties.
>
> It is IMPOSSIBLE, by any means, for a person to become a party to a
> contract,
> for an contract to be created with a person as a party, or for an entity
> to
> become a contract with a person as a party, without that person's clear,
> willful consent. This rule takes precedence over any rule that might make
> such a change possible. A person CANNOT act on behalf of a person to give
> consent for the purposes of this rule.
>
> Create a power 2.5 rule entitled "Birth and Death of Contracts", with the
> following text:
>
> A person CAN create a contract by announcement by spending 1 shiny,
> specifying
> the contract's text. A person SHALL NOT create more than 3 contracts per
> week by this method, and the Notary CAN destroy any excess (i.e. beyond
> the
> 3 permitted) contracts by announcement within 7 days of the contracts'
> formation. The Notary CAN by regulation increase this limit up to a
> maximum
> of 7; e CANNOT decrease it.
>
> The person or persons who create a contract CAN and SHOULD also specify a
> name for the contract; if e/they do/does not do so, the Notary CAN and
> SHALL assign a name in a timely fashion.
>
> A contract CAN amend, destroy, or retitle itself by announcement. A
> player
> CAN amend, destroy, or retitle a contract without objection, even if its
> text denies em the ability to do so. Players SHOULD only use this
> mechanism
> to recover from situations where the contract is underspecified or has
> unintended effects. The Notary CAN by regulation stop the same contract
> from
> amending or retitling itself more than 5 combined times per Agoran day
> (or any
> number higher than that); e CANNOT stop a contract from being destroyed,
> or
> from being retitled or amended by any other means.
>
> If a contract has fulfilled its purpose, does not specify any gamestate
> affecting statements, or otherwise seems unlikely to be used, the Notary
> CAN and SHOULD destroy it Without 2 Objections or with Agoran Consent.
> Any
> player may destroy a contract with 2 Agoran Consent. Players SHOULD NOT
> use
> the methods in this paragraph to further their private interests.
>
> If the possibility of any action defined by this rule is indeterminate,
> or
> is subject to a inextricable conditional, it is presumptively impossible.
>
>
> # 2.2 Powers of Contracts
>
> Create a new power 2.4 rule, entitled "Contracts as Agreements", with the
> following text:
>
> The text of a contract CAN specify obligations upon its parties. Parties
> to
> a contract SHALL abide by its terms and SHALL NOT deliberately or
> negligently
> breach them. The fact that the action described by the contract is in
> violation of the rules is not a defense if the violative nature is
> reasonably clear from its text. If whether an action is permitted or
> forbidden
> by a contract is indeterminate or subject to an inextricable conditional,
> it is presumptively permitted.
>
> As an exception to the provisions of the previous paragraph and the
> circumstances in which cards would ordinarily be appropriate, a person
> awarding a card under this rule MAY and CAN validly consider the
> equitable
> interests of justice and interests of the game, including the importance
> of
> the observation of contracts, as a mitigating or aggravating
> circumstances
> when awarding a card. Such a person MAY, CAN validly, and SHOULD also
> consider
> the instructions of the contract or contracts in question when issuing a
> card.
>
>
> Create a new power 2.4 rule, entitled "Acting on Behalf via Contract", with
> the following text:
>
> If a rule says that a contract CAN do something by announcement, it is
> equivalent to saying that that any person CAN take that action by
> announcement
> if the contract permits em to do so. A person SHALL NOT cause a contract
> to violate a rule using this method.
>
> If a rule specifies that a contract SHALL or SHALL NOT do something, each
> party to the contract SHALL ensure that the contract respectively does
> or does not do that thing.
>
> The text of a contract CAN permit persons to act on behalf of a party or
> group of parties. To do so, it must specify:
>
> a. Which of its parties can be acted on behalf of;
> b. What actions can be taken;
> c. Who can take the actions; and
> d. Any conditions or limitations upon the actions. Such limitations
> and conditions CANNOT be inextricable, and if they are,
> the actions CANNOT be used.
>
> # 2.3 Contract Interpretation and Maintenance
>
> Create a new power 2.6 rule, entitled "Interpreting Contracts",
> with the following text:
>
> A contract should generally be interpreted according to its text,
> including
> any clauses giving directions for its interpretation or construction.
> Additionally, justice, the intent of the contract's parties, and the
> factors
> laid down in the first paragraph of Rule 217 should be reasonably
> applied when
> interpreting a contract.
>
> A contract is subservient to the rules. Although a contract may specify
> obligations or powers beyond those created by the rules, a contract may
> not
> override the rules: in particular, any provision of a contract that would
> unreasonably violate an inalienable right of players and/or persons or
> cause any rule defined statement about the gamestate or the possibility
> of
> an action to become false is void and without effect insofar as it does
> so.
>
>
> The following are protected actions:
>
> 1. Registering and deregistering;
> 2. Submitting, pending, or voting freely on a proposal, but only if the
> sole
> effect the proposal would have if adopted is to create, modify, or
> destroy
> a contract or group of contracts, or to cause an entity or group of
> entities to become or cease to be a contract or group of contracts;
> 3. Destroying or amending a contract, intending to do so, and
> supporting, objecting to, or resolving such an intent, except where
> the
> mechanism for such destruction or amendment is created by the contract
> itself, and creating a contract;
> 4. Making true statements about a contract;
> 5. Calling, judging, assigning, or freely discussing a CFJ;
> 6. Lawfully performing an official duty;
> 7. Objecting to or supporting an intent to perform an action while
> speaker;
> 8. Using an executive order; and
> 9. Making, amending, revoking or calling in a pledge.
>
>
> Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, a contract CANNOT compel, forbid,
> or in any significant way alter, tamper with, or modify the performance
> of
> a protected action. A contract CANNOT punish a player for performing or
> failing protected action, or for doing so in a particular manner, except
> where it would otherwise be ILEGAL. A contract also CANNOT enable a
> person to
> do any of the things prohibited to the contract by this paragraph.
> Insofar as
> a contract or a provision or clause of a contract contravenes the letter
> or
> spirit of this rule, it is void and without effect.
>
> Create a new power 2.4 rule, entitled "Sustenance Payments", with following
> text:
>
> The Notary CAN, once a month, cause each contract that owns at least
> one shiny to transfer one shiny to Agora. E SHALL do so in the first week
> of every month. If a contract does not own at least one shiny, and is
> thus unable to make said payment, the Notary CAN and SHALL destroy
> it With Notice. If a contract becomes and remains able to pay before its
> destruction, the Notary CANNOT destroy it, and CAN and SHALL instead
> collect the shiny.
>
> The Notary CAN, by regulation, exempt a contract from the preceding
> paragraph.
> E SHALL NOT do so unless the contract seems to be in the public interest
> of
> Agora.
>
>
> Create a new power 1.0 rule, entitled "The Notary", with the following
> text:
>
> The Notary is an office, and the recordkeepor of contracts. The Notary
> tracks
> contracts, including their name, text, and parties. The Notary also
> tracks
> the list of private classes of asset.
>
> The Notary's weekly report includes all information which e tracks as a
> part
> of eir official duties. The Notary is ENCOURAGED to list changes to the
> information e tracks in eir report.
>
> Make o the Notary.
>
> # 3.0 Asset Changes
>
> Amend Rule 2166, "Assets", by changing it to read in full:
>
> An asset is an entity defined as such by a (a) rule, (b) authorized
> regulation, (c) group of rules/authorized regulations, or (d) contract
> (hereafter its backing document), and existing solely because its backing
> document defines its existence.
>
> Each asset has exactly one owner. If an asset would otherwise
> lack an owner, it is owned by Agora. If an asset's backing document
> restricts
> its ownership to a class of entities, then that asset CANNOT be gained
> by or
> transferred to an entity outside that class, and is destroyed if it is
> owned
> by an entity outside that class (except if it is owned by Agora, in
> which case
> any player CAN transfer or destroy it without objection). The
> restrictions in
> the previous sentence are subject to modification by its backing
> document.
>
> Unless modified by an asset's backing document, ownership of an asset is
> restricted to Agora, players, and contracts. As an exception to the last
> sentence, non-player persons are generally able to own assets defined by
> a contract they are a party to, subject to modification by the contract
> in
> question.
>
> A contract's text can specify whether or not that contract is
> willing receive assets or a class of assets. Generally, a contract CANNOT
> be given assets it is unwilling to receive. If the contract is silent on
> the
> matter, or if its willingness is indeterminate or the subject of a
> inextricable conditional, the procedure to determine its willingness is
> as
> follows:
>
> 1. If the contract appears to anticipate being given assets (e.g. by
> authorizing parties to spend the contract's assets), then the
> contract
> is willing to receive all assets.
> 2. Otherwise, it is unwilling to receive all assets.
>
> The previous paragraph (including the list) notwithstanding, a contract
> CAN be given 1 shiny a month for its sustenance payment, so long as
> it never has more than 1 shiny at a time.
>
> The recordkeepor of a class of assets is the entity (if any)
> defined as such by, and bound by, its backing document. That
> entity's report includes a list of all instances of that class
> and their owners. This portion of that entity's report is
> self-ratifying. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, a contract CANNOT
> oblige a person who isn't a member to record its internal state.
>
> An asset generally CAN be destroyed by its owner by
> announcement, subject to modification by its backing document. An
> indestructible asset is one defined as such by it backing document, and
> CANNOT
> be destroyed except by a rule, other than this one, specifically
> addressing
> the destruction of indestructible assets or that asset in particular; any
> other asset is destructible. In circumstances where another asset would
> be
> destroyed, an indestructible asset is generally transferred to Agora,
> subject
> to modification by its backing document and the intervention of other
> rules.
>
> To "lose" an asset is to have it destroyed from one's
> possession; to "revoke" an asset from an entity is to destroy it
> from that entity's possession.
>
> An asset generally CAN be transferred (syn. payed, given) by
> announcement by
> its owner to another entity, subject to modification by its
> backing document. A fixed asset is one defined as such by its backing
> document, and CANNOT be transferred; any other asset is liquid.
>
> To spend an asset is to pay or destroy it for the purpose of doing some
> other
> action or fulfilling an obligation by announcement; if the action would
> not
> be completed, the obligation would not be at least partially fulfilled,
> or
> more of the asset would be spent than is needed to perform the
> action/fulfill
> the obligation, then the attempt to spend fails. Whether the asset must
> be
> spent or payed is determined by what is needed to perform the action. If
> the entity defining or enabling the action does not specify which is
> necessary, but merely that the asset must be spent, then it is
> transferred
> (to Agora unless otherwise specified).
>
> When a rule indicates transferring an amount that is not a natural
> number,
> the specified amount is rounded up to the nearest natural number.
>
> A currency is a class of asset defined as such by its backing document.
> Instances of a currency with the same owner are fungible.
>
> The "x balance of an entity", where x is a currency, is the number of x
> that
> entity possesses. If a rule, proposal, or other competent authority
> attempts
> to increase or decrease the balance of an entity without specifying a
> source
> or destination, then the currency is created or destroyed.
>
> When a player causes one or more balances to change, e is ENCOURAGED
> to specify the resulting balance(s). Players SHOULD NOT specify
> inaccurate balances.
>
> Where it resolves ambiguity, the asset or currency being referred to is
> the
> currency designated as "Agora's official currency", if there is one.
>
> Amendments to a backing document shall not be construed to alter,
> transfer,
> destroy, or otherwise effect any assets defined by that document, unless
> that is their clear intent.
>
> An asset or class of assets is private, rather than public, if it's
> backing document is a contract.
>
