PASSED: Universal Library Coalition

[Mousebumples]

This is pretty much a repost (with light editing) of my previously passed UN Resolution, for those who think that this sounds very familiar. (It probably does.) Updated rules and a new set of precendents mean some changes to the actual text. And, of course, since it's been a few years since this proposal was originally passed before the UN, I'm absolutely open to further suggestions for how to improve the resolution. (If you'd like to read the original text, it can be found here, as historical resolution #97.)

Thanks in advance for your consideration!

The proposal in queue up for a vote is as follows, for your reference:

Council: General Assembly
Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Cultural Heritage

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY -
CALLS for the formation of a Universal Library Coalition (ULC). The Universal Library provided by the ULC will be internet-based and may archive any published form of the written word including, but not limited to, fiction and nonfiction books, constitutions and laws from around the world, newspapers, magazines, and professional journals. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher.

ACCEPTS submissions from individual nations, in accordance with copyright laws. If the work is not in the public domain, it may not be archived unless permission is obtained from the holder of the rights to the work. This individual or group will receive an annual payment in return for allowing wide access to their work.

ENCOURAGES all nations to join the ULC, to allow for the spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe. Participating nations will have the Universal Library made available to all of their internet portals. Member nations may also choose to provide content filters for their citizenry. Participating nations may build physical libraries within their borders at their own cost. Each participating nation will maintain a backup of their national data archived within the ULC.

CREATES the ULC Executive Committee (ULCEC) that will consult with ULC member nations to manage all issues related to the maintenance and operation of the ULC and its infrastructure that arise.

PROMOTES cultural awareness by permitting the creation of the Universal Literary Exchange Network (ULEN). Any ULC member nation may designate a section of a physical library or museum to house a rotating collection of literary works provided by other ULC nations. In exchange, they will volunteer some works from their own nation to the ULEN for no more than twenty-four (24) months at a time. The ULCEC will arrange for works to be moved from one ULC member nation to another.

DETAILS that non-members are free to form their own libraries within their own borders and are in no way restricted from sharing information with other nations.

Details re: spoiler-tagged versions below - deletions struck out, additions bolded in red, comments italicized in blue

VERSION IV:

Council: General Assembly
Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Cultural Heritage

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY -
CALLS for the formation of a Universal Library Coalition (ULC). The Universal Library provided by the ULC will be internet-based and may archive any published form of the written word including, but not limited to, fiction and nonfiction books, constitutions and laws from around the world, newspapers, magazines, and professional journals. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher. (This line was moved from below for greater clarity.)

ACCEPTS submissions from individual nations, in accordance with copyright laws. If the work is not in the public domain, it may not be archived unless permission is obtained from the holder of the rights to the work. This individual or group will receive an annual payment in return for allowing wide access to their work.

ENCOURAGES all nations to become a member of join the ULC, to allow for the spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe. Those that choose to Participating nations will pay an annual fee to have the Universal Library made available to all of their internet portals within that nation. Member nations may also choose to provide content filters for their citizenry. Participating nations may build physical libraries within their borders at their own cost. Each participating nation will maintain a backup of their national data archived within the ULC.

CREATES a the ULC Executive Committee (ULCEC) that will set annual fees that nations pay to gain access to the global library. The ULCEC will consult with other ULC member nations to manage any all issues related to the maintenance and operation of the ULC and its infrastructure that arise. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher.

PROMOTES cultural awareness by permitting the creation of the Universal Literary Exchange Network (ULEN). Any ULC member nation may designate a section of a physical library or museum to house a rotating collection of literary works provided by other ULC nations. In exchange, they will volunteer some works from their own nation to the ULEN for no more than twenty-four (24) months at a time. The ULCEC will arrange for works to be moved from one ULC member nation to another.

DETAILS that non-members are free to form their own libraries within their own borders and are in no way restricted from sharing information with other nations.

VERSION III:

Council: General Assembly
Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Educational Cultural Heritage (Again, I can absolutely see both sides and both do seem to apply. Educational since information is being shared through the literary works; cultural since information and works from many different nations and cultures are being shared. Further opinions?)

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY -
CALLS for the formation of a Universal Library Coalition (ULC). The Universal Library provided by the ULC will be internet-based and may archive any published form of the written word including, but not limited to, fiction and nonfiction books, constitutions and laws from around the world, newspapers, magazines, and professional journals.

ACCEPTS submissions from individual nations, in accordance with copyright laws. If the work is not in the public domain, it may not be archived unless permission is obtained from the holder of the rights to the work. This individual or group will receive an annual payment in return for allowing wide access to their work.

GIVES each WA member nation and non-WA member nation the opportunity to participate and be a member of the ULC. ENCOURAGES all nations to become a member of the ULC to allow for spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe. Those that choose to participate will pay an annual fee to have the Universal Library made available to all internet portals within that nation. Member nations may also choose to provide content filters for their citizenry. Each Participating nations may build a physical libraries within their borders, at their own cost. Each participating nation will maintain a backup of their national data archived within the ULC. (Changed some minor wording and singular/plural things here.)

URGES each WA member nation to participate for the spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe. (Largely merged with the previous clause and thereby unnecessary. Plus, it was short and looked lonely sitting on one line all by itself.)

CREATES a ULC Executive Committee (ULCEC) that will set annual fees that nations pay to gain access to the global library. The ULCEC will consult with other ULC nations to manage any issues related to the maintenance and operation of the ULC infrastructure that arise. PLACES the ULC under the control of the ULCEC. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher. (merged these two clauses together since they covered the same topic and the struck out sentence seemed redundant.)

PROMOTES cultural awareness by permitting the creation of the Universal Literary Exchange Network (ULEN). Any ULC member nation may designate a section of a physical library or museum to house a rotating collection of literary works provided by other ULC nations. In exchange, they will volunteer some works from their own nation to the ULEN for no more than twenty-four (24) months at a time. The ULCEC will arrange for works to be moved from one ULC member nation to another.

DETAILS that the ULC and ULEN will be incorporated as non-profit organizations. The ULC and ULEN will be entirely funded by participating nations. No taxing authority shall be created by the passage of this resolution. non-members are free to form their own libraries within their own borders and are in no way restricted from sharing information with other nations.

VERSION II:

Council: General Assembly
Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Educational

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY -
CALLS for the formation of a Universal Library Coalition (ULC). The Universal Library provided by the ULC will be internet-based and may archive any published form of the written word including, but not limited to, fiction and nonfiction books, constitutions and laws from around the world, newspapers, magazines, and professional journals.

ACCEPTS submissions from individual nations, in accordance with copyright laws. If the work is not in the public domain, it may not be archived unless permission is obtained from the holder of the rights to the work. This individual or group will receive an annual payment in return for allowing wide access to their work.

GIVES each WA member nation and non-WA member nation the opportunity to participate and be a member of the ULC. Those that choose to participate will pay an annual fee to have the Universal Library made available to all internet portals within that nation. Member nations may also choose to provide content filters for their citizenry. Each participating nation may build a physical library within their borders, at their own cost. Each participating nation will maintain a backup of their national data archived within the ULC.

URGES each WA member nation to participate for the spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe.

CREATES a ULC Executive Committee (ULCEC) that will set annual fees that nations pay to gain access to the global library. The ULCEC will consult with other ULC nations to manage any issues related to the maintenance and operation of the ULC infrastructure that arise.

PLACES the ULC central server for the Universal Library within the World Assembly Headquarters. under the control of the ULCEC. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher. (EDITING NOTE: The above section "PLACES ... " has been relocated, due to the inclusion of language regarding the ULCEC.)

PROMOTES cultural awareness by permitting the creation of the Universal Literary Exchange Network (ULEN). Any ULC member nation may designate a section of a physical library or museum to house a rotating collection of literary works provided by other ULC nations. In exchange, they will volunteer some works from their own nation to the ULEN for no more than twenty-four (24) months at a time. The ULCEC will arrange for works to be moved from one ULC member nation to another.

DETAILS that the ULC and ULEN will be incorporated as non-profit organizations. The ULC and ULEN will be entirely funded by participating nations. No taxing authority shall be created by the passage of this resolution. Non-members are free to form their own libraries within their own borders and are in no way restricted from sharing information with other nations.

Original post (and editing note that was discussed in the first few comments:

Council: General Assembly
Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Educational

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY -
CALLS for the formation of a Universal Library Coalition (ULC). The Universal Library provided by the ULC will be internet-based and may archive any published form of the written word including, but not limited to, fiction and nonfiction books, constitutions and laws from around the world, newspapers, magazines, and professional journals.

ACCEPTS submissions from individual nations, in accordance with copyright laws. If the work is not in the public domain, it may not be archived unless permission is obtained from the holder of the rights to the work. This individual or group will receive an annual payment in return for allowing wide access to their work.

PLACES the central server for the Universal Library within the World Assembly Headquarters. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher.

GIVES each WA member nation and non-WA member nation the opportunity to participate and be a member of the ULC. Those that choose to participate will pay an annual fee to have the Universal Library made available to all internet portals within that nation. Member nations may also choose to provide content filters for their citizenry. Each participating nation may build a physical library within their borders, at their own cost. Each participating nation will maintain a backup of their national data archived within the ULC.

URGES each WA member nation to participate for the spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe.

CREATES a ULC Executive Committee (ULCEC) that will set annual fees that nations pay to gain access to the global library. The ULCEC will consult with other ULC nations to manage any issues related to the maintenance and operation of the ULC infrastructure that arise.

PROMOTES cultural awareness by permitting the creation of the Universal Literary Exchange Network (ULEN). Any ULC member nation may designate a section of a physical library or museum to house a rotating collection of literary works provided by other ULC nations. In exchange, they will volunteer some works from their own nation to the ULEN for no more than twenty-four (24) months at a time. The ULCEC will arrange for works to be moved from one ULC member nation to another.

DETAILS that the ULC and ULEN will be incorporated as non-profit organizations. The ULC and ULEN will be entirely funded by participating nations. No taxing authority shall be created by the passage of this resolution. Non-members are free to form their own libraries within their own borders and are in no way restricted from sharing information with other nations.

EDIT: I did some rereading of the original thread on the JOLT forums, and I found one comment during the vote that may be worth consideration/inclusion.

PLACES the central server for the Universal Library within the World Assembly Headquarters. control of the system in IT staff maintained as part of the WA HQ organization. Its assets will be at locations chosen by this staff to minimize the cost and/or optimize the overall function of said system. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher.

Any thoughts?

[Krioval]

OOC: Awesome, and one of the truly collaborative efforts of the NSUN that I remember.

IC:

The Imperial Chiefdom supports this measure, and we are pleased to see the inclusion of the ULEN, a program for which Krioval had strongly advocated in the past. We have one suggestion, based on the clause below:

PLACES control of the system in IT staff maintained as part of the WA HQ organization. Its assets will be at locations chosen by this staff to minimize the cost and/or optimize the overall function of said system. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher.

We find that it would be easier to simply place control under the ULC Executive Committee, who could then manage the hiring of IT staff and the maintenance of the central system, if there is a central system. We hope that Your Excellency will continue to contribute to the legislative culture of this Assembly.

Ambassador Darvek[-kan] Tyvok
Imperial Chiefdom of Krioval

[Charlotte Ryberg]

PLACES the central server for the Universal Library within the World Assembly Headquarters. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher.

Honoured ambassador, I wish to ask whether you think mentioning the World Assembly Headquarters is a house of cards violation: for the sake of simplicity, I think the central server should just simply exist, without a specific location.

Overall, a good idea.

[Mousebumples]

OOC: Awesome, and one of the truly collaborative efforts of the NSUN that I remember.

Ahhhh, memories!

We find that it would be easier to simply place control under the ULC Executive Committee, who could then manage the hiring of IT staff and the maintenance of the central system, if there is a central system. We hope that Your Excellency will continue to contribute to the legislative culture of this Assembly.

Good suggestion. The change has been implemented above. And I'll certainly try, although I'm not sure how many full-scale authoring efforts I'll take part in. (at least with the ULC most of the work is already done! )

Honoured ambassador, I wish to ask whether you think mentioning the World Assembly Headquarters is a house of cards violation: for the sake of simplicity, I think the central server should just simply exist, without a specific location.

True enough. The main reason that was still in there was because the original resolution referenced the UN HQ. Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thank you, wise ambassadors, for your counsel on this matter.

[Charlotte Ryberg]

GIVES each WA member nation and non-WA member nation the opportunity to participate and be a member of the ULC. Those that choose to participate will pay an annual fee to have the Universal Library made available to all internet portals within that nation. Member nations may also choose to provide content filters for their citizenry. Each participating nation may build a physical library within their borders, at their own cost. Each participating nation will maintain a backup of their national data archived within the ULC.

General Assembly Resolutions do not apply to non-member states, thus the phrase underlined should be deleted. On the other hand, this should be an encouragement clause if this is to really further the advancement of education. Something like:

ENCOURAGES WA member nations to participate and be a member of the ULC. Participants must pay an annual fee to have the Universal Library made available to all internet portals within that nation...

...and so on.

[Mousebumples]

General Assembly Resolutions do not apply to non-member states, thus the phrase underlined should be deleted.

Yes, resolutions do not apply to non-member states. But is there anything in the rules stating that non-member states cannot participate in constructs created through WA resolutions? I like the idea of allowing non-member states to participate and/or contribute their nation's literary works, if they are so inclined.

On the other hand, this should be an encouragement clause if this is to really further the advancement of education.

Please see the following clause in the proposal:

URGES each WA member nation to participate for the spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe.

[Krioval]

Yes, resolutions do not apply to non-member states. But is there anything in the rules stating that non-member states cannot participate in constructs created through WA resolutions? I like the idea of allowing non-member states to participate and/or contribute their nation's literary works, if they are so inclined.

Perhaps Your Excellency could use the phrase "all nations" in order to imply non-WA participation without stating it directly? The Imperial Chiefdom also believes that a WA nation could always sponsor the works of a non-WA state, though we do not feel that language specifically allowing this needs to be placed in the proposal.

URGES each WA member nation to participate for the spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe.

Krioval would be satisfied with this proposal being classified as "cultural heritage" without the above language as well. Considering that the ULEN exists primarily to promote cultural exchange, and the original debate centered around collecting and preserving works for their cultural value, "cultural heritage" might be a better fit than "education".

Ambassador Darvek[-kan] Tyvok
Imperial Chiefdom of Krioval

[Charlotte Ryberg]

DETAILS that the ULC and ULEN will be incorporated as non-profit organizations. The ULC and ULEN will be entirely funded by participating nations. No taxing authority shall be created by the passage of this resolution. Non-members are free to form their own libraries within their own borders and are in no way restricted from sharing information with other nations.

The WA has a General Fund. However, it is not possible to reference that itself due to HoC rules, so therefore it may not be worth the hassle to specify the funding.

Yours etc,

[Glen-Rhodes]

The WA has a General Fund. However, it is not possible to reference that itself due to HoC rules, so therefore it may not be worth the hassle to specify the funding.

OOC: It wouldn't be an HoC violation, since the General Fund is a committee. It's just unnecessary to mention that the programs will be funded through the General Fund, since the Fund automatically assumes that role.

[Mousebumples]

Krioval would be satisfied with this proposal being classified as "cultural heritage" without the above language as well. Considering that the ULEN exists primarily to promote cultural exchange, and the original debate centered around collecting and preserving works for their cultural value, "cultural heritage" might be a better fit than "education".

Again, as I wrote in notes with the edited version in the OP, I'm completely open to negotiation on which one qualifies. (OOC: As, personally, I am more of a fiction reader (versus non-ficiton/textbooks), I feel that I learn more about the originating nation's culture when reading works by a foreign author.) Still, both education and cultural heritage seem to fit here. I clearly can't choose *both*, so if anyone else has a firm opinion, I'm open to suggestions. For the moment, I've merged/moved the line you mentioned, but that's (again) very negotiable and not something I have a firm opinion on.

Also, many thanks to the Ambassadors from Glen-Rhodes and Charlotte Ryberg for their continuing input. Per your most recent comments, I have removed the funding information in the proposal.

VERSION III: specific editing notes can be found in the original post, but here's the simplified version without the comments

Council: General Assembly
Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Educational OR Cultural Heritage

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY -
CALLS for the formation of a Universal Library Coalition (ULC). The Universal Library provided by the ULC will be internet-based and may archive any published form of the written word including, but not limited to, fiction and nonfiction books, constitutions and laws from around the world, newspapers, magazines, and professional journals.

ACCEPTS submissions from individual nations, in accordance with copyright laws. If the work is not in the public domain, it may not be archived unless permission is obtained from the holder of the rights to the work. This individual or group will receive an annual payment in return for allowing wide access to their work.

ENCOURAGES all nations to become a member of the ULC to allow for spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe. Those that choose to participate will pay an annual fee to have the Universal Library made available to all internet portals within that nation. Member nations may also choose to provide content filters for their citizenry. Participating nations may build physical libraries within their borders, at their own cost. Each participating nation will maintain a backup of their national data archived within the ULC.

CREATES a ULC Executive Committee (ULCEC) that will set annual fees that nations pay to gain access to the global library. The ULCEC will consult with other ULC nations to manage any issues related to the maintenance and operation of the ULC infrastructure that arise. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher.

PROMOTES cultural awareness by permitting the creation of the Universal Literary Exchange Network (ULEN). Any ULC member nation may designate a section of a physical library or museum to house a rotating collection of literary works provided by other ULC nations. In exchange, they will volunteer some works from their own nation to the ULEN for no more than twenty-four (24) months at a time. The ULCEC will arrange for works to be moved from one ULC member nation to another.

DETAILS that non-members are free to form their own libraries within their own borders and are in no way restricted from sharing information with other nations.

Optimally, I'd like to submit the proposal tomorrow AM. The main upside to submitting proposals to the WA now versus the UN then is that there are less total WA delegates, so the approval of fewer delegates is required to reach quorum. I will be working on sending out TG's to possibly supportive delegates, and I would more than welcome assistance and/or suggestions if anyone has any to share.

[Mousebumples]

FINAL VERSION (sans editing notes) - as you may notice in the OP, I made a lot of last minute changes without prompting. It was all in the effort to improve the clarity of the language ... and because I didn't realize (initially) that I had discussed funding in more than the one location that I had already excised. (whoops)

Council: General Assembly
Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Cultural Heritage

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY -
CALLS for the formation of a Universal Library Coalition (ULC). The Universal Library provided by the ULC will be internet-based and may archive any published form of the written word including, but not limited to, fiction and nonfiction books, constitutions and laws from around the world, newspapers, magazines, and professional journals. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher.

ACCEPTS submissions from individual nations, in accordance with copyright laws. If the work is not in the public domain, it may not be archived unless permission is obtained from the holder of the rights to the work. This individual or group will receive an annual payment in return for allowing wide access to their work.

ENCOURAGES all nations to join the ULC, to allow for the spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe. Participating nations will have the Universal Library made available to all of their internet portals. Member nations may also choose to provide content filters for their citizenry. Participating nations may build physical libraries within their borders at their own cost. Each participating nation will maintain a backup of their national data archived within the ULC.

CREATES the ULC Executive Committee (ULCEC) that will consult with ULC member nations to manage all issues related to the maintenance and operation of the ULC and its infrastructure that arise.

PROMOTES cultural awareness by permitting the creation of the Universal Literary Exchange Network (ULEN). Any ULC member nation may designate a section of a physical library or museum to house a rotating collection of literary works provided by other ULC nations. In exchange, they will volunteer some works from their own nation to the ULEN for no more than twenty-four (24) months at a time. The ULCEC will arrange for works to be moved from one ULC member nation to another.

DETAILS that non-members are free to form their own libraries within their own borders and are in no way restricted from sharing information with other nations.

As the edited subject line indicates, the proposal has been submitted for your consideration/approval. It's currently on the last page and should be found if you search for "library."

Thanks again for all your assistance, my fellow ambassadors.

[The Palentine]

Not too bad my dear. I'm not all that fond of Cultural Heritage fluff, but this isn't that bad, and doesn't make me want to hold hands with Nigel from Philimbesi and sing Kum-Bah-Yah around a campfire(never a good idea BTW). So I'd be mildly in favor of it.
Excelsior,
Sen. Horatio Sulla
(New and improved with 25% more unwholesomeness than before)

[Grays Harbor]

As a full supporter of Cultural heritage initiatives, we support this for that reason.

[Philimbesi]

"You also have our support!" Nigel said... then turned to the Sulla and said "You never needed a reason before!"

[Charlotte Ryberg]

I am quite happy with this proposal, which really takes me back in time! iApprove.

Yours etc,

[Grays Harbor]

I am quite happy with this proposal, which really takes me back in time! iApprove.

Yours etc,

must

resist

urge

to

request

time machine

be

switched

off.

[Serrland]

The Holy Empire of Serrland lauds the merit of this proposed resolution, and will vote in favour, should it come to vote.

[Maltropia]

Very good Proposal, much better than all 4 "Commend a Mean Old Man" proposals put together.

[Mousebumples]

Not too bad my dear. I'm not all that fond of Cultural Heritage fluff, but this isn't that bad, and doesn't make me want to hold hands with Nigel from Philimbesi and sing Kum-Bah-Yah around a campfire(never a good idea BTW). So I'd be mildly in favor of it.

*makes mental note for next WA proposal* Annual WA meeting held around a campfire, complete with singing of Kum-Bah-Yah and other songs of international origin to increase cultural awareness.

As a full supporter of Cultural heritage initiatives, we support this for that reason.

Awesome! It's both cultural and educational, but since it clearly has a specific cultural impact (and I don't think there are as many cultural resolutions out there) ... we went in that direction. Well, that, and Krioval can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be.

"You also have our support!" Nigel said... then turned to the Sulla and said "You never needed a reason before!"

*snerk* Anyhow, many thanks!

I am quite happy with this proposal, which really takes me back in time! iApprove.

Let's do the time warp again!

And while I can't claim to having this proposal send me back in time, it doesn't bring about a big dose of nostalgia for me since I do enjoy reflecting back on the time spent on the ol' Jolt Forums where I edited and re-edited this proposal until it became what it was back then. And now it's something similar but slightly different ... and, ultimately, better, I think.

The Holy Empire of Serrland lauds the merit of this proposed resolution, and will vote in favour, should it come to vote.

Excellent! Thanks for your support!

Very good Proposal, much better than all 4 "Commend a Mean Old Man" proposals put together.

Yeah ... and that one's almost at quorum too, which makes me wonder if some people are approving it just for the joy of voting it down and being done with it (hopefully forever) ? I'm not going to be adding my name to the approvals there anytime soon, but .... yeah. Anywho - thanks!

Also, as some of you may have noticed from the re-edit of the OP, the proposal has reached quorum and is now in the queue. Thanks again to all of you for your help and assistance in editing the original draft and making it compliant with the WA rules and precedents ... which I'll really have to brush up on, for future proposal writing.

[Charlotte Ryberg]

I am quite happy with this proposal, which really takes me back in time! iApprove.

Let's do the time warp again!

And while I can't claim to having this proposal send me back in time, it doesn't bring about a big dose of nostalgia for me since I do enjoy reflecting back on the time spent on the ol' Jolt Forums where I edited and re-edited this proposal until it became what it was back then. And now it's something similar but slightly different ... and, ultimately, better, I think.

Oh, yes, nostalgia, just the word I was looking for. Many congratulations to the honoured ambassador to Mousebumples on such a quick quorum and the honoured ambassador will try and get the citizens of the country convinced by the mandatory referendum.

[Quintessence of Dust]

OOC: In the interests of full disclosure I am active in Project Gutenberg and have been for almost 6 years. Let's assume a similar venture exists ICly in Quintessence of Dust, explaining Dr Merrywether's enthusiasm.

Some things, seemingly, do not change. On our return to the WA, we were very pleased to discover that one of the better UN resolutions we remember with fading fondness was in queue, ready to be voted on anew. We hoped it had been improved and that one of our first actions on rejoining this body could be enthusiastically supporting a venture such as this - exactly the kind of project that our State Department would like to see enacted at the WA level.

Sadly, we cannot offer such support, though our main instinct is to offer apologies for not having been around to make suggestions during the gratifyingly open drafting phrase. Representing the Democratic States of Quintessence of Dust, and no longer being constrained by the position of Delegate to the Green and Pleasant Region of Wysteria, we offer the following observations - perhaps our misgivings can be allayed, in which case we could lend support to the ULC.

CALLS for the formation of a Universal Library Coalition (ULC). The Universal Library provided by the ULC will be internet-based and may archive any published form of the written word including, but not limited to, fiction and nonfiction books, constitutions and laws from around the world, newspapers, magazines, and professional journals. The library will be indexed at minimum by author, title, nation of origin, keywords, and category, such as biography or periodical, as determined by the publisher.

I think it's a shame you have limited submissions to 'the written word'. Imagine the possibilities if music, film, and images had been allowed too! Equally, your categorisation system excludes the single most obvious criterion - ISBN. I suppose that in this case 'at minimum' might allow ULCEC discretion to include it, however.

More troubling is that these will be 'determined by the publisher'. I do not wish to presuppose that publishers cannot be trusted, or are any more inclined to manipulation than authors. But they are surely less intuitively trustworthy a source than librarians themselves. If the publisher decides the keywords, there risks being no consistency whatsoever. If they wish the book to be read they will include many keywords, possibly unhelpfully so; if they do not wish the book to be read or wish to use it to advertise other books, their suggestions may be even less relevant. Consider: a publisher of medical journals has released a new book about malaria. It includes 'malaria' as a keyword in every back issue of its journals even if only peripherally related in the hope that researchers will see the cross-match.

It is standard practice in most libraries for librarians to compile the keywords. There might be additional constraints - for example, university libraries might consult with course teachers, medical libraries with ethics committees - but the basic principle is one I am disappointed to see abandoned here. It seems odd to see what are, after all, commercial interests dictate the categorisation of non-commercial materials.

If the above seems like pedantry, well, we're just warming up. But first, a quick point. If this is to be 'internet-based' and deal mainly in public domain materials, the implication to me - the proposal does not specify, and I was not privy to the UN ULC's operations - that scanning is going to be required. (Yes, I understand the history of this proposal, coming after the holographic Global Library - my point is not specific to technology.) In which case, how will this actually be arranged? Will the physical materials go to the ULC, or will national administrations undertake the scanning and send the data?

ACCEPTS submissions from individual nations, in accordance with copyright laws. If the work is not in the public domain, it may not be archived unless permission is obtained from the holder of the rights to the work. This individual or group will receive an annual payment in return for allowing wide access to their work.

The first sentence of this paragraph is exceedingly, damningly vague. 'n accordance with' [i]which copyright laws? I do understand that while we were absent this Assembly, a crumblingly terrible 'WA Copyright Charter' was passed by a sadly formidable majority. But that resolution did not create a universal copyright regime: it merely established certain minimum standards. In other words, it is legally possible - and indubitably the case - that two WA nations could have different licensing standards for the same work. In which case, which one is used?

I also think the section about 'permission' is vague, but perhaps ULCEC has the authority to sort this out. If a work has more than one rights holder? How will you arrange this permission? Access, yes - but what about reproduction? (For example, Quodite copyright laws have a 'fair use' provision - other nations do not.) And how will the payment work? If it is quite high, you would seem to be setting up rather unfair, WA-subsidised competition with national subscription services.

ENCOURAGES all nations to join the ULC, to allow for the spreading of information and ideas across the Nation States universe. Participating nations will have the Universal Library made available to all of their internet portals. Member nations may also choose to provide content filters for their citizenry. Participating nations may build physical libraries within their borders at their own cost. Each participating nation will maintain a backup of their national data archived within the ULC.

At the risk of revealing myself the technological simpleton I am, what is an 'internet portal'?

More generally, I'm a little galled at the way this is so limited to nations. Why can't universities subscribe? National libraries? Individuals? It seems very all-or-nothing. Suppose Quintessence of Dust subscribes, and Fjarskanistan does not. Students in Quintessence of Dust have access - and many who do not use it still pay to do so through the taxes that fund our, presumably substantial, national subscription fee - whereas students in Fjarskanistan do not. They have not themselves had any say in the decision, however.

Furthemore, you mentioned earlier that authors might receive fees if they license copyrighted work. Ok. This is presumably going to be quite costly. So why do we have only a 1/0 participation choice? Why can't we choose a participation package - say, signing up only to access the public domain archive.

All of the above may stem from a profound misunderstanding on my part as to how this operation works. In which case, I would at least argue the legislative language is not helpful. That is in itself a problem.

CREATES the ULC Executive Committee (ULCEC) that will consult with ULC member nations to manage all issues related to the maintenance and operation of the ULC and its infrastructure that arise.

I think my biggest problem with the proposal may be here. I do not share the antipathy of some delegates to any committee - I think such bodies have their place. But ULCEC appears to have incredibly broad powers. In which case, why even write the proposal? Legislatively, it veers between two extremes: setting out a hard contract to which we subscribe, and allowing a soft negotiative aspect. But this isn't the best of both worlds: it makes it wildly uncertain which hand will prevail!

Why, in fact, even do this through the WA if the ULCEC manages the entire thing?

PROMOTES cultural awareness by permitting the creation of the Universal Literary Exchange Network (ULEN). Any ULC member nation may designate a section of a physical library or museum to house a rotating collection of literary works provided by other ULC nations. In exchange, they will volunteer some works from their own nation to the ULEN for no more than twenty-four (24) months at a time. The ULCEC will arrange for works to be moved from one ULC member nation to another.

An excellent policy, and one the nation that authored the 'Access to Literacy Initiative' would like to support. But cannot.

Why, when all details of the ULC operation have been passed off to the Exec, is such attention given to these arrangements? Surely the exact details of ULEN exchanges would be best negotiated between individual nations. For example:

1. There seems no obvious reason to limit the exchanges to 'physical librar[ies] or museum[s]'. Why can't we designate wherever we wish to house it? There seem other opportune venues: government buildings, universities, exhibitions. They might be specific to genre: the famed Highmark Opera House could have a display featuring the original manuscripts of foreign composers, for example, or the National Stadium of Sports could feature a selection of foreign newspaper cuttings from when high jumper Dick Frosting first invented the 'Frosting Flop'.

2. Why 24 months? This seems a rather arbitrary limit. What if we don't mind giving the works up for longer? Indeed, in certain cases, 24 months would prove rather limiting. I'll leave it to someone else to conjure up some scenario involving interplanetary travel, but even here on terra firma, nations are not on equal footing. It would be easier to organize the transport of books from Quintessence of Dust to other nations in Wysteria than to those in Monkey Island, for both geographical and diplomatic reasons. Furthermore, it seems probable to me that a large proportion of the books that would be of interest to the project (see here also my coming point 3) would be very historic - old. They might require special care, such as temperature controlled storage, training of staff, even security procedures. This could take months to arrange for some nations, while others would find them easy to organize. At the risk of raising the dreaded M word, the length of donation seems exactly the last thing it is profitable for ULEN to micromanage.

3. My above concerns may arise from not quite understanding what materials would be so shared. I have written a few books, but all in the area of security studies. They are comparatively recent publications - Joyce shouts off-stage to some giggling interns - yes, I said 'comparatively' recent, and would, in all honesty, be of no interest to any but a few researchers, who might well access them through a copyright library. The books it seems would be of interest - correct me if I'm mistaken - would be seminal texts the physical substance of which is significant. The first printed Bible from a particular country, texts using scripts that are now no longer in use, texts that have features uncommon today - such as illumination, gold inlay, special leather coverings. First drafts of famous novels, suicide notes, maps. These are the kinds of materials I would expect - and, if I am completely mistaken - to form part of the exchange. In which case, we would be far more willing to volunteer these works to specific nations - not the ULEN at large. Some might feel the same way about us. It's difficult to say how the Quodite people would react to a display of an especially historic religious work - but possibly with a good deal of anger. It's unclear to me that nations would have any authority to specify which countries can or cannot receive their donations - in which case I suspect participation will be sorely limited.

DETAILS that non-members are free to form their own libraries within their own borders and are in no way restricted from sharing information with other nations.

At the risk of getting into irrelevancies...isn't this one? What, exactly, does this clause do? Of course non-members are free to do this! If this proposal somehow restricted them from doing so, it would be illegal and the GA would not consider it! Furthermore, there is no obvious reason to pander to the concerns of non-members: they have no vote. Even if your proposal said 'DETAILS that I totally tapped non-members' sisters', they would be powerless to oppose it. Unless I am missing something particularly profound, I cannot understand the inclusion of the final clause.

I do not think the author or supporters of this proposal stupid or misguided: the author would appear the model of responsiveness, many of the supporters obviously wishing that this represents exactly the kind of initiative we too would like to see. If my comments seem arrogant or condescending, that is not at all the tone I wished to strike: my basic emotion is of curiosity. There is so much about this proposal that is vague or unclear that it might, perhaps, be best if I condense my summary to a few quick questions:

1. Why do this through the WA, and not privately?
2. Why impose inflexible restrictions while simultaneously setting up an Exec with broad oversight?
3. Why not establish a copyright library?

I also note it is a shame you had no one on hand to advise you not to take the - in both cases entirely fallacious - legal advice of the notoriously wobbly Ambassador Harper: I strongly believe explicitly permitting non-members participation and housing the ULC in the WAHQ would have been entirely legal.

Finally, if all of the above complaints are answered and dealt with, I would like a personal assurance from the author that the ULCEC will endeavour to keep the selection available under 'Keywords: Vampire - Romance - Teenage' extremely modest.

Thank you.

-- Dr Joyce Merrywether
WA Ambassador
Quintessence of Dust

[Mousebumples]

Some things, seemingly, do not change. On our return to the WA, we were very pleased to discover that one of the better UN resolutions we remember with fading fondness was in queue, ready to be voted on anew. We hoped it had been improved and that one of our first actions on rejoining this body could be enthusiastically supporting a venture such as this - exactly the kind of project that our State Department would like to see enacted at the WA level.

I appreciate the enthusiasm for my previous efforts in the UN, esteemed ambassador.

I think it's a shame you have limited submissions to 'the written word'. Imagine the possibilities if music, film, and images had been allowed too! Equally, your categorisation system excludes the single most obvious criterion - ISBN. I suppose that in this case 'at minimum' might allow ULCEC discretion to include it, however.

My intent was to focus solely on the written word in this proposal, as that is the standard definition of a library. Certainly, a further extension of the ULC could be created (presuming the proposals passage, which is by no means assured) in a later proposal. I do not object to the spreading of music, film, and/or images may qualify for the ULEC, depending on the specific content.

More troubling is that these will be 'determined by the publisher'. I do not wish to presuppose that publishers cannot be trusted, or are any more inclined to manipulation than authors. But they are surely less intuitively trustworthy a source than librarians themselves. If the publisher decides the keywords, there risks being no consistency whatsoever. If they wish the book to be read they will include many keywords, possibly unhelpfully so; if they do not wish the book to be read or wish to use it to advertise other books, their suggestions may be even less relevant. Consider: a publisher of medical journals has released a new book about malaria. It includes 'malaria' as a keyword in every back issue of its journals even if only peripherally related in the hope that researchers will see the cross-match.

The keywords provided by the publisher are not ones that are to be provided specifically to the library for indexing purposes - they would be the keywords that were designated upon original publication. Therefore, your example re: back issues does not seem to apply in this circumstance.

If this is to be 'internet-based' and deal mainly in public domain materials, the implication to me - the proposal does not specify, and I was not privy to the UN ULC's operations - that scanning is going to be required. (Yes, I understand the history of this proposal, coming after the holographic Global Library - my point is not specific to technology.) In which case, how will this actually be arranged? Will the physical materials go to the ULC, or will national administrations undertake the scanning and send the data?

There is no physical ULC. I think that is one point that my esteemed colleague fails to grasp int his circumstance. Scanned images of pages are certainly an option, but electronic versions of literature (i.e. the text in internet-ready format, no scanning necessary) would also be happily accepted.

The first sentence of this paragraph is exceedingly, damningly vague. 'n accordance with' [i]which copyright laws? I do understand that while we were absent this Assembly, a crumblingly terrible 'WA Copyright Charter' was passed by a sadly formidable majority. But that resolution did not create a universal copyright regime: it merely established certain minimum standards. In other words, it is legally possible - and indubitably the case - that two WA nations could have different licensing standards for the same work. In which case, which one is used?

What nation is submitting the work as one created by one of their authors/scientists/etc. ? The submitting nation (the nation claiming "ownership," from a nationality perspective) would have to follow their own copyright rules for submission. In the instance of a scientific paper (for example) with authors from multiple nations, the most stringent copyright law would need to be followed.

I also think the section about 'permission' is vague, but perhaps ULCEC has the authority to sort this out. If a work has more than one rights holder? How will you arrange this permission? Access, yes - but what about reproduction? (For example, Quodite copyright laws have a 'fair use' provision - other nations do not.) And how will the payment work? If it is quite high, you would seem to be setting up rather unfair, WA-subsidised competition with national subscription services.

I would appreciate further details on examples of works that may have more than one rights holder. Scientific papers? Such issues would be addressed by seeking permission from the original publisher of the article, which would often be a scientific journal of some nature.

So far as payment goes, the fee is to be determined by the ULCEC based on a few different factors. Off the top of my head, they would be certain to consider frequency of access (to adjust payments up or down, as continued access is provided) and also what sort of remuneration is received from the work(s) in other venues. (i.e. physical libraries, subscription services, etc.) The concept of the ULC is to extend access to these materials to those who may not otherwise be aware that they exist or who would otherwise not be able to afford access. The goal of the ULC is not to bankrupt any creators of such works or any nation's publishing industry. (or, in this case, subscription services - although nationwide subscription services may not be necessary with the ULC)

At the risk of revealing myself the technological simpleton I am, what is an 'internet portal'?

Depends on the nation and what sort of technology you have available to you. It may be a computer terminal, it may be a television set, it may be a cellular phone, or it may be something completely different. As the details vary by nation, this section was specifically left rather vague.

More generally, I'm a little galled at the way this is so limited to nations. Why can't universities subscribe? National libraries? Individuals? It seems very all-or-nothing. Suppose Quintessence of Dust subscribes, and Fjarskanistan does not. Students in Quintessence of Dust have access - and many who do not use it still pay to do so through the taxes that fund our, presumably substantial, national subscription fee - whereas students in Fjarskanistan do not. They have not themselves had any say in the decision, however.

I must admit to being unfamiliar with Fjarskanistan - I presume it is another nation that you are familiar with. If they are a WA nation that elects not to participate, I believe that the leaders of their nation are more than welcome to make that decision on behalf of their people. I may not agree with that, personally, but I feel that they should have that write, even with a resource such as this in place.

If they are not a WA member nation (or if you are wondering about the ability of non-member nations to subscribe), that was taken out earlier in the editing process (if Your Excellency would read some of the debate earlier) as WA law does not apply to non-WA members. However, it was suggested that non-member nations could perhaps be sponsored by a WA nation. And I see no reason why the ULCEC could not set a nominal fee for non WA nations to pay if they wanted access, should such a desire be expressed.

Furthemore, you mentioned earlier that authors might receive fees if they license copyrighted work. Ok. This is presumably going to be quite costly. So why do we have only a 1/0 participation choice? Why can't we choose a participation package - say, signing up only to access the public domain archive.

The General Fund would cover this fee for WA member nations. Of course, your nation's leader is welcome to restrict access as deemed appropriate, per the resolution. (Member nations may also choose to provide content filters for their citizenry.)

But ULCEC appears to have incredibly broad powers. In which case, why even write the proposal? Legislatively, it veers between two extremes: setting out a hard contract to which we subscribe, and allowing a soft negotiative aspect. But this isn't the best of both worlds: it makes it wildly uncertain which hand will prevail!

Why, in fact, even do this through the WA if the ULCEC manages the entire thing?

Some of the limitations in details come from the fact that I feel that the ULC needs to be able to adapt as needed to best suit the needs of the WA members. As WA resolutions cannot be amended, the more words that are "set in stone," so to speak, the more likely we are to run into an issue/loophole down the road. After reading your objections (as above), I don't know that I would make significant content edits to the proposal text as currently submitted.

1. There seems no obvious reason to limit the exchanges to 'physical librar[ies] or museum[s]'. Why can't we designate wherever we wish to house it? There seem other opportune venues: government buildings, universities, exhibitions. They might be specific to genre: the famed Highmark Opera House could have a display featuring the original manuscripts of foreign composers, for example, or the National Stadium of Sports could feature a selection of foreign newspaper cuttings from when high jumper Dick Frosting first invented the 'Frosting Flop'.

In the original discussion of this amendment (on the Jolt UN forums), some nations expressed concerns that their nation's valuables may be damaged/stolen/etc. while traveling outside their nation. While they were willing, on principle, to share some of their nations' historical artifacts, they wanted assurances that they would be safe while abroad. I see no reason why you couldn't make other arrangements to allow the aforementioned displays to take place, should other nations be amenable to the security and safeguards you'd have in place.

2. Why 24 months? This seems a rather arbitrary limit. What if we don't mind giving the works up for longer? Indeed, in certain cases, 24 months would prove rather limiting. I'll leave it to someone else to conjure up some scenario involving interplanetary travel, but even here on terra firma, nations are not on equal footing. It would be easier to organize the transport of books from Quintessence of Dust to other nations in Wysteria than to those in Monkey Island, for both geographical and diplomatic reasons. Furthermore, it seems probable to me that a large proportion of the books that would be of interest to the project (see here also my coming point 3) would be very historic - old. They might require special care, such as temperature controlled storage, training of staff, even security procedures. This could take months to arrange for some nations, while others would find them easy to organize. At the risk of raising the dreaded M word, the length of donation seems exactly the last thing it is profitable for ULEN to micromanage.

Again, as previously discussed on the Jolt boards, some individuals had concerns that their historical artifacts may "travel" abroad and take longer than they'd prefer to return. And, certainly, if you are willing to allow your items to travel for greater than 24 months, you are more than welcome to re-contribute them to the program at that point. Additionally, there is nothing in the text that specifies that your nation cannot have multiple collections circulating simultaneously. You certainly could have multiple pieces from your nation abroad for longer than the aforementioned 24 months. And, again, if you/your nation are personally looking to set up an exchange, the are no restrictions in that regard.

3. My above concerns may arise from not quite understanding what materials would be so shared. ... The books it seems would be of interest - correct me if I'm mistaken - would be seminal texts the physical substance of which is significant. The first printed Bible from a particular country, texts using scripts that are now no longer in use, texts that have features uncommon today - such as illumination, gold inlay, special leather coverings. First drafts of famous novels, suicide notes, maps. These are the kinds of materials I would expect - and, if I am completely mistaken - to form part of the exchange.

The contributed materials are completely at the discretion of the contributing nation. I would agree that such contributions would make the most sense, but they may also be the most dear to each nation. However, since this library is not a physical library, physical copies of popular books (i.e. a first edition) may be contributed. My nation is planning to once again contribute the diary in which my brother Cameron had written some short stories (complete with doodled illustrations!) before he passed away at the age of 7.

It's unclear to me that nations would have any authority to specify which countries can or cannot receive their donations - in which case I suspect participation will be sorely limited.

I must admit to being a bit confused here. On one hand, you say that the proposal micromanages the ULEN ... And then here, you say that it lacks detail. I would presume that the ULCEC would take such requests (both by the donating nation and the receiving nation) into account when dealing with possibly upsetting materials.

At the risk of getting into irrelevancies...isn't this one? What, exactly, does this clause do? Of course non-members are free to do this! If this proposal somehow restricted them from doing so, it would be illegal and the GA would not consider it! Furthermore, there is no obvious reason to pander to the concerns of non-members: they have no vote. Even if your proposal said 'DETAILS that I totally tapped non-members' sisters', they would be powerless to oppose it. Unless I am missing something particularly profound, I cannot understand the inclusion of the final clause.

Non-members of the ULC. The WA creates the ULC (and the ULCEC, etc.). WA members are "encouraged" to join and participate, but are by no means required to join. If your nation elects to *not* join, for whatever reason, you are still more than welcome to create your own physical library. And, of course, even if you *do* join, you are welcome to create your own physical library. (and, again, this is a concern that came up on the Jolt forum, so it's included ... if I hadn't included it, I would expect at least some objections re: trying to force WA nations to close their physical libraries and move solely to internet based ones.)

1. Why do this through the WA, and not privately?
To allow better access to a wider range of works; to allow for a greater spread of information; to create the ULEN (and any other subcommittee that may or may not be borne out of this proposal in the future, in the event that it passes)

And, again, as mentioned before, there is nothing in this text that restricts your nation from setting up such a similar venture privately.

2. Why impose inflexible restrictions while simultaneously setting up an Exec with broad oversight?
See comments above.

3. Why not establish a copyright library?
I am limited by characters, and I admit to having little interest in copyright law. And, again, as stated above, it has been addressed (to a limited extent) by WA law already, and I am satisfied with allowing nations to set their own additional laws, in this regard.

Finally, if all of the above complaints are answered and dealt with, I would like a personal assurance from the author that the ULCEC will endeavour to keep the selection available under 'Keywords: Vampire - Romance - Teenage' extremely modest.

The ULC will not restrict submissions of published work. However, if you do not wish your nation to have access to this sort of material, you are welcome to employ the content filters, as described above.

Thank you for your consideration,

(OOC: Sorry if some of the logic here is lacking. I think it's coherent, but it's pretty late, and I'm tired. Still, I wanted to respond tonight ... hopefully in a logical way. )

[Sionis Prioratus]

I am glad to have cast the very first vote FOR. Success & happiness!

[Anachnu]

you have our votes

[Emancipated Animals]

The Emancipated Animals wholeheartedly support this resolution. We look forward to sharing our works with our comrades!