[draft] A sparse web

[Rejistania]

This is based on a real event https://www.piie.com/blogs/north-korea- ... plete-list

it also refers to how other communist countries use the internet: From Cuban Esperanto content, to an absolute deluge of Vietnamese content on YouTube, to Pol Pot's presumed stance, to the Chinese paralell internet. Yeah, I know policies are not required, I add them to express intent

A sparse web

[validity] socialism, internet, low IT sector, red bloc membership
Just before a convention of the red bloc, an embarrassing leak happened: Due to a misconfigured DNS server, the extent of the @@adjective@@ internet has been revealed, all 5 domains of it. As various, capitalists international outlets reacted with various forms of mirth, the other representatives offer suggestions

[option] "Comrade @@Leader@@," greets comrade @@randomfirstname@@ Castro, chairman of the San Vincenzo communist party, "This is a sign to cooperate. Just say the word and we will host some of our news and education sites also in translation under your domains. Could you, in response, do us a favour and translate your local content in Esperanto to weaken the influence of the United Federation?"
[effect] Most of the @@demonym_adjective@@ websites are only visited by constructed language nerds

[option] "Comrade @@Leader@@," enthusiastically greets Joseph Rustev, chairman of the East Lebatuck communist party, "We can offer the hardware and expertise for every cooperative, collective and syndicate to create their own website. This will show your technological expertise to the capitalist pigdogs!" he mumbles, "Ignore the rumours of a hardware level vulnerability, allowing us to gain access."
[effect] East Lebatuck seems to know the @@demonym_adjective@@ production data before @@leader@@ does.

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets Pol Cauldron, chairman of the Champukean Communist Party, "All that web and pseudo-intellectualism does nothing at all for the common worker. It would be better if we ignore the pointless chattering from abroad and disconnect from the internet so this doesn't happen again!"
[effect] former webdesigners labour in the fields
[policy] no internet

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets Nguyen Minh, chairman of the Núi Và Sông communist Party, "No need to reinvent the wheel, we can flood the existing capitalist sites like WhoTube and ShortTok with communist content to allow us to win the hearts and minds of the capitalists. There might be the risk of getting banned or sanctioned, but we always can work via different accounts and countries."
[effect] spies in Kawandaland buy SIM cards in bulk

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets the Dàguó Celestial Emperor who also chairs the Dàguó communist party, "Have you considered just copying western sites? It might be difficult to hack into the servers or sneak operatives into the companies to copy the source code, but you have these sites under your own control. And if traitors want to use the capitalist alternative, we build a Great Firewall to stop it. May I suggest you use Dàguó hardware for hosting? While our cooperatives are not as cheap as East Lebatuck's, they are state of the art."
[effect] The government pays billions of @@currency@@ to a foreign government to host its own nation simulator

[option] "Hey, boss," greets Bax Merry, an office worker and amateur writer, "how about, you let every comrade create their own web site. Sure, there might be objectionable sites, both in design and in content, but this will allow healthy discussion. And maybe I can use it to publish my web novel Machine Man."
[effect] Thousands of @@demonymplural@@ repeat the mistakes from the early days of the internet with revolutionary fervour
[policy] end no dissent, establish public protest

A sparse net

[validity] socialism, internet, low IT sector,
Just before a convention of communist nations, an embarrassing leak happened: Due to a misconfigured DNS server, the extent of the @@demonymadjective@@ internet has been revealed, all 5 domains and associated websites of it. As many, capitalistic-aligned international outlets reacted with various forms of mirth and amusement, the other representatives offer suggestions

[option] "Comrade @@Leader@@," greets comrade Castor, chairman of the San Vitenzo Workers' Solidarity party, "This is a sign to cooperate as such ridicule weakens our common cause of world socialism and makes your country seem backwards and medieval. Just say the word and we will host some of our news and education sites also in translation under your domains. Could you, in response, do us a favour and translate your local content in the constructed language of Lelejanto to weaken the influence of the United Federation, which is spreading its language and influence like its pollution?"
[effect] most of the @@demonym_adjective@@ websites are only visited by constructed language nerds

[option] "Comrade @@Leader@@," enthusiastically greets Joseph Rustev, chairman of the East Lebatuck People's Party, "We can offer the hardware and expertise for every cooperative, collective and syndicate to create their own website. This will show your technological expertise to the capitalist pigdogs and improve your own technological state industries," he mumbles, "Ignore the rumours of a hidden backdoor, allowing us access to all the information on them."
[effect] East Lebatuck seems to know the @@demonym_adjective@@ production data before @@leader@@ does

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets Pol Cauldron, chairman of the Revolutionary Liberation front of Champukea, a nation famous for its emphasis on agriculture, "All that web this and domain that does nothing at all for the common worker and is just a way for counter-revolutionary ideas to spread under the guise of progress. It would be better if you followed our lead and ignore the pointless chattering from abroad and disconnect from the internet so this doesn't happen again!"
[effect] former webdesigners labour in the fields
[policy] no internet

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets Nguyen Minh, chairman of the Núi Và Sông Socialist Unitary Party, "No need to reinvent the wheel or re-weave the web. We can show our presence on the internet even without our own infrastructure if we flood the existing capitalist sites like WhoTube and ShortTok with revolutionary content to allow us to win the hearts and minds of the capitalists. There might be the risk of getting banned or sanctioned, but we always can work via different accounts and countries."
[effect] spies in Kawandaland buy SIM cards in bulk

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets the Dàguó Celestial Emperor who also chairs the Dàguó communist party,"I am sure that it didn't come to your mind but you could also just copy capitalist sites? It might be difficult to hack into the servers or sneak operatives into the companies to copy the source code, but you have these sites under your own control. And if traitors want to use the capitalist alternative, we build a Great Firewall to stop it. May I suggest you use hardware from our glorious communist empire Dàguó for hosting? While our cooperatives are not as cheap as East Lebatuck's, they are state-of-the-art."
[effect] The government pays billions of @@currency@@ to a foreign government to host its own nation simulator

[option] "Hey, boss," greets Bax Merry, an office worker and amateur writer, "how about, you let every comrade create their own web site. Sure, there might be objectionable sites, both in design and in content, but this will allow healthy discussion, free exchange of ideas and be a boon to the arts and the technology syndicates. And maybe I can use it to publish my episodical novel Machine Man."
[effect] thousands of @@demonymplural@@ repeat all of the mistakes from the early days of the internet with revolutionary fervour
[policy] end no dissent, establish public protest

[The Ankhalic Vaspriot]

Hello and welcome to Got Issues! Here's your feedback as promised.

[validity] socialism, internet, low IT sector, red bloc membership

I don't see why Red Bloc membership would be necessary here, as the issue could be suitably reworded to "an international conference" or perhaps something more specific lore-wise without compromising the premise.

Just before a convention of the red bloc, an embarrassing leak happened: Due to a misconfigured DNS server, the extent of the @@adjective@@ internet has been revealed, all 5 domains of it. As various, capitalists international outlets reacted with various forms of mirth, the other representatives offer suggestions

@@adjective@@ should be @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@. I suggest giving some indication as to why this is a bad thing. "[T]he extent of the @@[DEMONYMADJECTIVE]@@ internet has been revealed@@ doesn't sound very concerning or important right off the bat, especially since many people don't have the knowledge--background or practical--to deduce it. You don't have to explain everything of course (having your first speaker or two do a chunk of the explaining is a good strategy if your description is running a bit long), but some elaboration would be helpful here. The final clause of the last sentence is redundant, as it's clear that's what's happening.

In all places where "communist party" is mentioned, I recommend thinking about the exact ideology being represented. Many existing socialism-only issues on NS suffer from heavy ideological assumptions that don't logically follow from the very simple premise of socialism, which you have a great opportunity to help fix here by providing a greater diversity of labels than just calling everyone communist. Not all the names even have to be ismatic; you could just as well go with names like "East Lebatuckese People's Party" or "Red Liberation Front of Champukea."

For all your effect lines, ensure there are no capital letters at the start (except proper nouns) nor punctuation at the end.

[option] "Comrade @@Leader@@," greets comrade @@randomfirstname@@ Castro, chairman of the San Vincenzo communist party, "This is a sign to cooperate. Just say the word and we will host some of our news and education sites also in translation under your domains. Could you, in response, do us a favour and translate your local content in Esperanto to weaken the influence of the United Federation?"

Why should you take them up on this offer? Is San Vicenzo (I think you meant San Vi[i]t[/t]enzo) known for their IT industry? Are they trying to extend a helpful hand out of solidarity? What makes this solution compelling? You could totally keep the quid pro quo here, but I would personally do away with it in favor of that elaboration. That's ultimately a personal stylistic choice though. Also, Esperanto is a real-world reference and as such cannot be mentioned.

[option] "Comrade @@Leader@@," enthusiastically greets Joseph Rustev, chairman of the East Lebatuck communist party, "We can offer the hardware and expertise for every cooperative, collective and syndicate to create their own website. This will show your technological expertise to the capitalist pigdogs!" he mumbles, "Ignore the rumours of a hardware level vulnerability, allowing us to gain access."

What exactly is their offer here? Most of your options run a bit short and have a lot of room for fun with lore and character. I suggest finding another way to balance the perspective than the "ignore this overtly problematic thing" angle. Even if you go with something like that, it'd be more compelling for the next speaker to mention it as a reason to dismiss the previous.

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets Pol Cauldron, chairman of the Champukean Communist Party, "All that web and pseudo-intellectualism does nothing at all for the common worker. It would be better if we ignore the pointless chattering from abroad and disconnect from the internet so this doesn't happen again!"

What's the reason for doing this? Has Champukea implemented this policy? If so, how has it fared? Why is the former discussion "pseudo-intellectualism"?

[policy] no internet

You don't have to add this. Editors take care of all relevant policies. You may have meant that the option wouldn't be valid for nations that haven't already banned the internet though, in which case you're looking for "[validity] does not have 'no internet.'"

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets Nguyen Minh, chairman of the Núi Và Sông communist Party, "No need to reinvent the wheel, we can flood the existing capitalist sites like WhoTube and ShortTok with communist content to allow us to win the hearts and minds of the capitalists. There might be the risk of getting banned or sanctioned, but we always can work via different accounts and countries."
[effect] spies in Kawandaland buy SIM cards in bulk

How does this solve the problem at hand? Even if the solution is "do little and retaliate," addressing how it pertains to the exposure of @@NAME@@'s internet is important to tie this into the primary concern. This speaker would be more compelling if they didn't hedge their statement with the "might be a risk" thing, but instead used that to show the effectiveness of their approach (e.g. "the bots will get banned, of course, but we have more than enough computational power to overwhelm them").

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets the Dàguó Celestial Emperor who also chairs the Dàguó communist party, "Have you considered just copying western sites? It might be difficult to hack into the servers or sneak operatives into the companies to copy the source code, but you have these sites under your own control. And if traitors want to use the capitalist alternative, we build a Great Firewall to stop it. May I suggest you use Dàguó hardware for hosting? While our cooperatives are not as cheap as East Lebatuck's, they are state of the art."

"Western" is a real world reference; you'll want to nix that." I'd lean into the Great Firewall idea more, as that's the most unique part of this option. I'd avoid the hedge here too in favor of a more confident, perhaps even haughty speaker. State-of-the-art is hyphenated.

[option] "Hey, boss," greets Bax Merry, an office worker and amateur writer, "how about, you let every comrade create their own web site. Sure, there might be objectionable sites, both in design and in content, but this will allow healthy discussion. And maybe I can use it to publish my web novel Machine Man."

I think a more compelling argument, perhaps one from a socialist perspective, could be made for increased freedom of internet usage. Given the low IT industry validity on the issue, you could also make an argument for this being a good way to get @@NAME@@'s tech up off the ground.

[policy] end no dissent, establish public protest

As a bit above, this isn't necessary.

[Australian rePublic]

But wouldn't this instead be an issue of free speech instead of economics? Unless we have specific issues like algorithms and advertising

[Rejistania]

But wouldn't this instead be an issue of free speech instead of economics? Unless we have specific issues like algorithms and advertising

I considered it an issue that the nation's reputation was tarnished and the country humiliated on an international scale.

Hello and welcome to Got Issues! Here's your feedback as promised.

[validity] socialism, internet, low IT sector, red bloc membership

I don't see why Red Bloc membership would be necessary here, as the issue could be suitably reworded to "an international conference" or perhaps something more specific lore-wise without compromising the premise.

I tried to add a bit lore to the red bloc, but you are right, a yugoslavia-esque country might still be interested in this issue.

Just before a convention of the red bloc, an embarrassing leak happened: Due to a misconfigured DNS server, the extent of the @@adjective@@ internet has been revealed, all 5 domains of it. As various, capitalists international outlets reacted with various forms of mirth, the other representatives offer suggestions

@@adjective@@ should be @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@. I suggest giving some indication as to why this is a bad thing. "[T]he extent of the @@[DEMONYMADJECTIVE]@@ internet has been revealed@@ doesn't sound very concerning or important right off the bat, especially since many people don't have the knowledge--background or practical--to deduce it. You don't have to explain everything of course (having your first speaker or two do a chunk of the explaining is a good strategy if your description is running a bit long), but some elaboration would be helpful here. The final clause of the last sentence is redundant, as it's clear that's what's happening.

I hope that I made it clear in my revision.

In all places where "communist party" is mentioned, I recommend thinking about the exact ideology being represented. Many existing socialism-only issues on NS suffer from heavy ideological assumptions that don't logically follow from the very simple premise of socialism, which you have a great opportunity to help fix here by providing a greater diversity of labels than just calling everyone communist. Not all the names even have to be ismatic; you could just as well go with names like "East Lebatuckese People's Party" or "Red Liberation Front of Champukea."

fixed.

For all your effect lines, ensure there are no capital letters at the start (except proper nouns) nor punctuation at the end.

fixed

[option] "Comrade @@Leader@@," greets comrade @@randomfirstname@@ Castro, chairman of the San Vincenzo communist party, "This is a sign to cooperate. Just say the word and we will host some of our news and education sites also in translation under your domains. Could you, in response, do us a favour and translate your local content in Esperanto to weaken the influence of the United Federation?"

Why should you take them up on this offer? Is San Vicenzo (I think you meant San Vi[i]t[/t]enzo) known for their IT industry? Are they trying to extend a helpful hand out of solidarity? What makes this solution compelling? You could totally keep the quid pro quo here, but I would personally do away with it in favor of that elaboration. That's ultimately a personal stylistic choice though. Also, Esperanto is a real-world reference and as such cannot be mentioned.

I use an invented version, 'lelej means to hope in Rejistanian.

[option] "Comrade @@Leader@@," enthusiastically greets Joseph Rustev, chairman of the East Lebatuck communist party, "We can offer the hardware and expertise for every cooperative, collective and syndicate to create their own website. This will show your technological expertise to the capitalist pigdogs!" he mumbles, "Ignore the rumours of a hardware level vulnerability, allowing us to gain access."

What exactly is their offer here? Most of your options run a bit short and have a lot of room for fun with lore and character. I suggest finding another way to balance the perspective than the "ignore this overtly problematic thing" angle. Even if you go with something like that, it'd be more compelling for the next speaker to mention it as a reason to dismiss the previous.

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets Pol Cauldron, chairman of the Champukean Communist Party, "All that web and pseudo-intellectualism does nothing at all for the common worker. It would be better if we ignore the pointless chattering from abroad and disconnect from the internet so this doesn't happen again!"

What's the reason for doing this? Has Champukea implemented this policy? If so, how has it fared? Why is the former discussion "pseudo-intellectualism"?

I tried to use a Khmer Rouge language, but emphasized that it is Champukean policy.

[policy] no internet

You don't have to add this. Editors take care of all relevant policies. You may have meant that the option wouldn't be valid for nations that haven't already banned the internet though, in which case you're looking for "[validity] does not have 'no internet.'"

I use them to show what I am going for, in case it was not clear.

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets Nguyen Minh, chairman of the Núi Và Sông communist Party, "No need to reinvent the wheel, we can flood the existing capitalist sites like WhoTube and ShortTok with communist content to allow us to win the hearts and minds of the capitalists. There might be the risk of getting banned or sanctioned, but we always can work via different accounts and countries."
[effect] spies in Kawandaland buy SIM cards in bulk

How does this solve the problem at hand? Even if the solution is "do little and retaliate," addressing how it pertains to the exposure of @@NAME@@'s internet is important to tie this into the primary concern. This speaker would be more compelling if they didn't hedge their statement with the "might be a risk" thing, but instead used that to show the effectiveness of their approach (e.g. "the bots will get banned, of course, but we have more than enough computational power to overwhelm them").

Given the low IT sector, they don' t have the computational power in the country. But I was referring not to bots but to cultural memes, like ghe con vy(sp?), which became a meme in 2020, but I made it more clear what the goal is.

[option] "Comrade @@leader@@," greets the Dàguó Celestial Emperor who also chairs the Dàguó communist party, "Have you considered just copying western sites? It might be difficult to hack into the servers or sneak operatives into the companies to copy the source code, but you have these sites under your own control. And if traitors want to use the capitalist alternative, we build a Great Firewall to stop it. May I suggest you use Dàguó hardware for hosting? While our cooperatives are not as cheap as East Lebatuck's, they are state of the art."

"Western" is a real world reference; you'll want to nix that." I'd lean into the Great Firewall idea more, as that's the most unique part of this option. I'd avoid the hedge here too in favor of a more confident, perhaps even haughty speaker. State-of-the-art is hyphenated.

I tried to make the tone better.

[option] "Hey, boss," greets Bax Merry, an office worker and amateur writer, "how about, you let every comrade create their own web site. Sure, there might be objectionable sites, both in design and in content, but this will allow healthy discussion. And maybe I can use it to publish my web novel Machine Man."

I think a more compelling argument, perhaps one from a socialist perspective, could be made for increased freedom of internet usage. Given the low IT industry validity on the issue, you could also make an argument for this being a good way to get @@NAME@@'s tech up off the ground.

[policy] end no dissent, establish public protest

As a bit above, this isn't necessary.

fixed it. new version is up.

[The Ankhalic Vaspriot]

Just before a convention of communist nations, an embarrassing leak happened: Due to a misconfigured DNS server, the extent of the @@demonymadjective@@ internet has been revealed, all 5 domains and associated websites of it. As many, capitalistic-aligned international outlets reacted with various forms of mirth and amusement, the other representatives offer suggestions

I'd switch it to a convention of socialist nations, as socialism and communism are very different things, and it's the former which is implied by the policy. In general, it's best if socialist issues stay away from assuming @@NAME@@ is just the USSR. The introduction still leaves me wondering why exactly this is an issue. You have the event and the reactions, but not the problem. The last sentence could probably be nixed in favor of expansion on this point, as it doesn't add much that isn't found elsewhere in the issue. You'll also want some end punctuation.

In option 1, the offer the host the sites is the only piece of text discussing the presented solution. The Esperanto reference is a bit forced, so I suggest cutting down on it to provide more space for the hosting talk and tying that quid pro quo in a bit more.

In option 2, I'm still skeptical of the quote at the end. The option makes a compelling argument as is, so I don't see a reason to tack on a cliché ignore-the-rumors bit. I advise that you focus a bit more on the solution being offered.

In option 3, I'd reckon a stronger case could be made for why abandoning the internet is most in line with the ideals of socialism. The speaker makes claims like it doing "nothing at all for the common worker," but doesn't meaningfully substantiate them. Also, you can remove [policy] here and in the final option. Editors decide policies. In the effect, web designers is two words.

In option 4, how does this solve the issue at hand, that being the extent of the internet being revealed? "Ignore that and focus on propaganda" is a completely valid solution, but the speaker ought to at least make a case for why this is preferable to addressing the problem more directly.

In option 5, more explanation of what exactly is being suggested would be apt. The speaker discusses at least three different ideas: copying sites from capitalist nations, building a firewall, and purchasing hardware from Dàguó. These can certainly all go together, but I suggest weighing which is the most important and ensuring that all three suggestions tie into a coherent plan.

In option 6, I'm not really sure that "let[ting]" people make their own sites is the issue. The validity has nothing to do with internet freedoms. It might be more apt to, for example, subsidize the IT industry in some way to increase the nation's capacity to do its own hosting. Also, website is one word. See the previous note about [policy].