---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Aris Merchant <[email protected]> Date: Sun, Jun 4, 2017 at 12:27 AM Subject: CFJ 3517 judged FALSE To: [email protected]
Judgment of CFJ 3517: I agree with the "against" section of the caller's arguments. Sending a message is not "in itself" regulated, whether to a public forum or otherwise. The rules do not permit or enable sending a message to a public forum, because it would be perfectly possible (and permissible) even if the game stopped existing. It is not sending the message that is regulated, it is performing the illegal action. Performing this action is done by sending the message, but that doesn't make them the same thing. Additionally, accepting that sending a message is "in itself" regulated leads to troubling consequences. A message is not public until it is "sent via a public forum, or sent to all players and containing a clear designation of intent to be public" (Rule 478). By the precedent of CFJ 1905, a message is not public unless it received by a majority of the people who have arranged to receive messages via that forum. This means that a player can take a regulated action without being able to know with certainty in advance whether it is regulated. This interpretation in worrying and should be avoided. Accordingly, I find that sending a public message is unregulated, and is distinct from performing an action in that message which may be regulated. I also note that this ruling probably doesn't apply to rules which regulate unsuccessful attempts or lies (eg. Rule 2471, which prohibits attempting to perform actions you know to be impossible). FALSE.
