[ABANDONED] Information Independence Act Draft

[Hels Mones]

Information Independence Act

Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Free Press

To strengthen the independence of global library systems, establish an international association for the regulation and promotion of the library and information science professions, and create an open access information-sharing system undeterred by political, geographic, cultural, or linguistic borders. Open access to diverse information is essential to an informed and educated global society.

Article I - Political Independence of Library Systems
Section 1 - Government actors may not influence library collection development.
Section 2 - Governments can not withhold funding or other resources from libraries due to the following:
a. Development of collections that do not align with traditional government positions.
b. Collection of materials that are critical of government agencies, past or present.
c. Creation of programs that do not adhere to government policies, but which are protected under previous World Assembly resolutions that protect civil liberties.
d. Hiring of previous or current political dissidents, political prisoners, opposition party members, or journalists.
Section 4 - Library workers may not accept additional government money, resources, or favors given with the intention of gaining influence.
Section 5 - Administration of government-funded library systems are encouraged, but not required, to create an independent Library Commission which will request funds or resources from the government.

[Hels Mones]

Please feel free to post any suggestions for revisions. I am also open to co-writers or sponsors that I can add into the resolution.

[Separatist Peoples]

Ooc: without doing any other research, having the attorney general of any organization elected is a foolish idea. Attorneys for organizations should be selected on ability and kept as agents, not subject to elections as full partners.

[Tinfect]

OOC:
Category? Strength/AoE? Also the 'A Resolution to' bit is a boilerplate, you don't have control over it. I'd recommend Education and Creativity for the Category and Free Press for the Area of Effect.
IC:

Article I - Political Independence of Library Systems
Section 1 - Public, academic, and legal libraries are to be made independent of the political leanings of their native state.

"Which means, what, exactly? How might a legal library be... 'depoliticized'? Moreover, the Imperium has no interest in purging the Imperial Archive of content bearing 'political leanings'; such would, certainly, amount to censorship of the citizenry. And, surely, you do not intend to support such a thing?"

Section 2 - Collections will be developed independently and free from outside pressures.

"Again, what does this mean? Collections of what, Information? What shall be considered an outside pressure? Certainly, the Imperium would find this to constitute an outside pressure upon the Imperium to censor its Archive information that foreigners find distasteful."

Section 3 - Governments can not withhold funding or other resources from libraries due to the following:
a. Development of collections that do not align with traditional government positions.
b. Collection of materials that are critical of government agencies, past or present.
c. Creation of programs that do not adhere to government policies, but which are protected under previous World Assembly resolutions that protect civil liberties.
d. Hiring of previous or current political dissidents, political prisoners, opposition party members, or journalists.

"In other words, The Imperium cannot prevent counterfactual, conspiracy-theoristic, or outright terroristic and illegal information from being spread?"

Section 4 - Any member of government who is hired into a library more than 20 hours per week must resign their government post before they may begin employment.

"Why? Besides perhaps concerns that they would become unable to properly carry out their prior duties, why?"

Section 5 - Library workers may not accept additional government money, resources, or favors given with the intention of gaining influence.

"This clause is of little concern, aside its poor quality, but the Imperium wishes to note that this legislation fails to define what it considers a library, and thus the Imperium is forced to question, why, exactly, the Imperium, a national Government, might desire to 'garner influence' with the managers of collections of books?"

Section 6 - Administration of government-funded library systems are encouraged to create an independent Library Commission which will request funds or resources from the government.

"The World Assembly Central Library serves a similar purpose."

Article II - Establishment of the International Information Science Association (IISA)
Section 1 - An independent international association will be established with the intention of promoting information access, worldwide literacy, and regulating the library and information science professions.

"Foreign interference in Imperial Archival and Research and Development fields is neither wanted nor needed."

Section 2 - The association will be democratic in nature, with annual elections for the following positions:
[...]

"This is illegal before the secretariat."

Article III - Creation of the International Freedom of Information System (IFIS)
Section 1 - A single, open-access system for sharing information, resources, and ideas will be created for all libraries under the umbrella of the IISA.

"Absolutely not. The Imperium will not provide foreigners unrestricted access to the Archive."

Section 2 - The system will be developed and administered by the IISA, and will be provided for all IISA member organizations and library patrons free of charge.

"The Imperium has no desire to risk breaches of Information Security due to the incompetence of foreign personnel in developing secure systems."

Section 3 - Access to the system can not be obstructed or outlawed by any World Assembly member state in any fashion.

"Such would mandate the utter abolition of any system of information security; this is plainly unacceptable.

In any case, Ambassador, this legislation is unnecessary in the face of standing legislation, and damaging where it is not duplicative. The Imperium is entirely opposed, to this draft, and any future variation upon it."

[Araraukar]

This Resolution expands upon the previously enacted General Assembly Resolution #78 Universal Library Coalition Act proposed by The Married Moderator Mouse of
Mousebumples of Europeia (who was Commended by Security Council Resolution # 120), which gained 88% approval.

OOC: If this is part of the proposal, it possibly counts for House of Cards violation and definitely counts as Branding (mentioning Mouse) and Metagaming (mentioning Security Council and a Commendation) violations. If it's not part of the proposal, remove it entirely, as there's no reason whatsoever to have it in there. Also, Article II has things that look questionable, and in general the whole thing appears to be completely useless.

Now, what's the international problem that you're tackling? There are also tons of problems with Article I, but I'm not really seeing it as an necessary in any way.

Information Independence Act

A Resolution to strengthen the independence of global library systems, establish an international association for the regulation and promotion of the library and information science professions, and create an open access information-sharing system undeterred by political, geographic, cultural, or linguistic borders.

Article I - Political Independence of Library Systems
Section 1 - Public, academic, and legal libraries are to be made independent of the political leanings of their native state.
Section 2 - Collections will be developed independently and free from outside pressures.
Section 3 - Governments can not withhold funding or other resources from libraries due to the following:
a. Development of collections that do not align with traditional government positions.
b. Collection of materials that are critical of government agencies, past or present.
c. Creation of programs that do not adhere to government policies, but which are protected under previous World Assembly resolutions that protect civil liberties.
d. Hiring of previous or current political dissidents, political prisoners, opposition party members, or journalists.
Section 4 - Any member of government who is hired into a library more than 20 hours per week must resign their government post before they may begin employment.
Section 5 - Library workers may not accept additional government money, resources, or favors given with the intention of gaining influence.
Section 6 - Administration of government-funded library systems are encouraged to create an independent Library Commission which will request funds or resources from the government.


Article II - Establishment of the International Information Science Association (IISA)
Section 1 - An independent international association will be established with the intention of promoting information access, worldwide literacy, and regulating the library and information science professions.
Section 2 - The association will be democratic in nature, with annual elections for the following positions:
a. President
b. Treasurer
c. Communications Officer
d. Attorney General
e. Council Members (9)
Section 3 - The IISA Council will consist of 9 annually elected Council Members, who will be charged with developing professional standards and handling international issues concerning the organization. Approval of proposed measures will be decided by a simple majority vote.
Section 4 - The IISA President will appoint a World Assembly Delegate that must be approved by the Council.
Section 5 - Committees may be created by either the President or Council. Creation does not need approval. However, the dissolution of a Council committee by the President requires 7 out of 9 Council Members to approve. The dissolution of a Presidential committee by the Council requires 7 out of 9 Council Members to approve.
Section 6 - The acceptance of regional professional organizations into the IISA requires Presidential and Council approval, by a simple majority.
Section 7 - Funding for the group will provided by a nominal membership fee and voluntary monetary contributions by World Assembly member states.


Article III - Creation of the International Freedom of Information System (IFIS)
Section 1 - A single, open-access system for sharing information, resources, and ideas will be created for all libraries under the umbrella of the IISA.
Section 2 - The system will be developed and administered by the IISA, and will be provided for all IISA member organizations and library patrons free of charge.
Section 3 - Access to the system can not be obstructed or outlawed by any World Assembly member state in any fashion.
Section 4 - Information on the IFIS may not be deleted, edited, blocked, or in any way tampered with by any individual or organization not authorized by the IISA.


This Resolution expands upon the previously enacted General Assembly Resolution #78 Universal Library Coalition Act proposed by The Married Moderator Mouse of
Mousebumples of Europeia (who was Commended by Security Council Resolution # 120), which gained 88% approval.

[Bears Armed]

Article I - Political Independence of Library Systems
Section 1 - Public, academic, and legal libraries are to be made independent of the political leanings of their native state.
Section 2 - Collections will be developed independently and free from outside pressures such as local, state, or federal government. Government actors may not influence collection development.
Section 3 - Governments can not withhold funding or other resources from libraries due to the following:
a. Development of collections that do not align with traditional government positions.
b. Collection of materials that are critical of government agencies, past or present.
c. Creation of programs that do not adhere to government policies, but which are protected under previous World Assembly resolutions that protect civil liberties.
d. Hiring of previous or current political dissidents, political prisoners, opposition party members, or journalists.

OOC
If governments are obliged to accept that library collections will be developed independently then they are also free to insist that those collections be funded independently, and Section 3 does not bar them from simply refusing to fund such libraries altogether.
I remain unconvinced that this is a sufficiently "international" matter to be appropriate for GA legislation.