[DRAFT #1] World Assembly Mobile Roaming Zone

[Tinhampton]

Character count: 2,573
Word count: 437

ICly by Lydia Anderson, Assistant to the Delegate-Ambassador.
OOC: In light of recent events. Regarding Article f, the only non-committee clause, see also.

World Assembly Mobile Roaming Zone
A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.

Category: Social Justice

Strength: Mild

Proposed by: Tinhampton

---

Believing that holidaymakers and business travellers alike should not be saddled with unnecessary charges by mobile networks simply for using a mobile phone while going about their business, the General Assembly enacts as follows.

1. All member states of the World Assembly shall be members (hereinafter "members") of the World Assembly Mobile Roaming Zone (hereinafter "the Zone"). Membership of the Zone may not be rescinded except through departure of the World Assembly itself.
2. Each member shall allow all of their inhabitants who own a mobile phone registered with a mobile network operator within that member (hereinafter a "local MNO") to use that mobile phone in any other member of the Zone (hereinafter "roaming"), as well as within that member.
3. No additional charges on roaming within the Zone, beyond those imposed for the domestic use of a mobile phone, may be imposed by members or any local MNO, except that:
   
   1. a flat daily fee may be levied by a local MNO on roaming where a user roams with a mobile phone (that they have registered with that local MNO) in another member for more than half of the calendar year; this fee must not be retrospectively imposed in regards to days where that user would have been allowed to roam without paying that daily fee anyway, and that
   2. a flat per-gigabyte fee may be additionally levied by local MNOs only where the user benefitting from roaming uses more than 25 gigabytes of mobile data per calendar month while roaming. Each member may, at its discretion, forbid the imposition of this per-gigabyte fee by their local MNOs at monthly levels of mobile data usage above 25GB; such higher floors shall apply to all plans offered by all of that member's local MNOs.
4. It is suggested that the fees imposed by local MNOs pursuant to Article c not exceed 0.01% of the median income in the member where that local MNO normally operates per day or per gigabyte respectively.
5. Whether to introduce provisions similar to Articles b and c in relation to the use of a mobile phone registered with any given local MNO in any non-member shall be reserved to that local MNO. However, local MNOs must never impose charges on the use of mobile phones registered with them within the World Assembly Headquarters or any successor building.
6. Member states must not impose or condone blanket internet shutdowns for any reason and for any period of time.
7. Nothing in this resolution shall be read as requiring any member of the Zone to actually introduce or perpetuate a mobile network.

[WayNeacTia]

THE MINUTIAE! It never fucking ends……. The WA is now regulating cell phones for fucks sake? Has sanity taken a vacation someone didn’t tell me about?

[Tsaivao]

So uh... Is there any reason at all that this is of international concern? Is there any reason why this isn't the jurisdiction of, at the highest, the nations themselves who will be creating the infrastructure in the first place?

This resolution would be better as a factbook, not a piece of international law. Opposed.

(also this is "social justice"??)

[Tinhampton]

So uh... Is there any reason at all that this is of international concern?

Go ask anybody who lives in the EU.

(also this is "social justice"??)

I'm restricting the right of businesses to charge whatever they want for mobile roaming in WA countries other than their own.

[Tsaivao]

So uh... Is there any reason at all that this is of international concern?

Go ask anybody who lives in the EU.

You didn't answer my question. Why the hell should I, Tsaivao, care about international regulations of... Mobile phone charges? Why do I need to put this down in my nation's book of law? What is the point of regulating something so specific and asinine? Please give me something to work with here, I cannot fathom why this needs to exist

[Bananaistan]

THE MINUTIAE! It never fucking ends……. The WA is now regulating cell phones for fucks sake? Has sanity taken a vacation someone didn’t tell me about?

So uh... Is there any reason at all that this is of international concern? Is there any reason why this isn't the jurisdiction of, at the highest, the nations themselves who will be creating the infrastructure in the first place?

This resolution would be better as a factbook, not a piece of international law. Opposed.

(also this is "social justice"??)

You didn't answer my question. Why the hell should I, Tsaivao, care about international regulations of... Mobile phone charges? Why do I need to put this down in my nation's book of law? What is the point of regulating something so specific and asinine? Please give me something to work with here, I cannot fathom why this needs to exist

OOC: I mean like I often have a go at Tinhampton's scattergun approach to drafts but there's no denying the international character of mobile roaming charges. Ofc the typical player around here won't see it like that - anything that has an actual benefit to people is out of bounds, sure why would we do something like this when we can have needle sterilisation and other never-ending bureaucracies and General Fund spending that does nothing for ordinary people only present them with a tax bill and other hi-faluting, dense legalisms?

IC: "We support the general concept but not this particular implementation. b is pointless. When a resident of country A is in B's jurisdiction, A allowing them to use B's mobile networks is utterly irrelevant. Then there's random numbers. Why half a year? Why 25GB? Also, it all could do with a readability rewrite."

[Benjamintopia]

Aren't the fees authorized in the regulation equivalent to what already exists in terms of roaming? I don't really see the point, except the introduction of a minimum of data consummed per calendar month.

[Bears Armed]

OOC: I know that there's been at least one previous draft on this subject, but can't remember offhand whether any were submitted or how well they fared.

[Tsaivao]

OOC: I mean like I often have a go at Tinhampton's scattergun approach to drafts but there's no denying the international character of mobile roaming charges. Ofc the typical player around here won't see it like that - anything that has an actual benefit to people is out of bounds, sure why would we do something like this when we can have needle sterilisation and other never-ending bureaucracies and General Fund spending that does nothing for ordinary people only present them with a tax bill and other hi-faluting, dense legalisms?

That's not what I'm saying at all. My point is that this proposal doesn't give me a reason to care about this issue or why it must be put through international law. The preamble to this is quite literally "Travellers and businessmen have to pay extra for a specific thing..." as if people having to pay more money to use their cellphone is just understood to be the world's greatest injustice ever devised, and I'm just an idiot for not seeing the point. Forgive me for thinking that the legislation makes no argument for its existence, and all I've gotten is "go ask someone in the EU" instead of an actual argument or justification. I don't appreciate the condescending tone, I just want the legislation to give me more context or a reason to empathize with the small number of people this would affect.

If I were a fan of empty legalese, I'd wholely support this legislation, because even outside of the intended goal it's poorly written with arbitrary attributes and cutoffs.

[WayNeacTia]

THE MINUTIAE! It never fucking ends……. The WA is now regulating cell phones for fucks sake? Has sanity taken a vacation someone didn’t tell me about?

So uh... Is there any reason at all that this is of international concern? Is there any reason why this isn't the jurisdiction of, at the highest, the nations themselves who will be creating the infrastructure in the first place?

This resolution would be better as a factbook, not a piece of international law. Opposed.

(also this is "social justice"??)

You didn't answer my question. Why the hell should I, Tsaivao, care about international regulations of... Mobile phone charges? Why do I need to put this down in my nation's book of law? What is the point of regulating something so specific and asinine? Please give me something to work with here, I cannot fathom why this needs to exist

OOC: I mean like I often have a go at Tinhampton's scattergun approach to drafts but there's no denying the international character of mobile roaming charges. Ofc the typical player around here won't see it like that - anything that has an actual benefit to people is out of bounds, sure why would we do something like this when we can have needle sterilisation and other never-ending bureaucracies and General Fund spending that does nothing for ordinary people only present them with a tax bill and other hi-faluting, dense legalisms?

IC: "We support the general concept but not this particular implementation. b is pointless. When a resident of country A is in B's jurisdiction, A allowing them to use B's mobile networks is utterly irrelevant. Then there's random numbers. Why half a year? Why 25GB? Also, it all could do with a readability rewrite."

Yeah I don’t fucking think so Tim. If Mahaj couldn’t regulate toothpaste, then we sure as hell don’t need to be regulating cell phones.

[Bears Armed]

OOC:

All member states of the World Assembly shall be members (hereinafter "members") of the World Assembly Mobile Roaming Zone (hereinafter "the Zone"). Membership of the Zone may not be rescinded except through departure of the World Assembly itself.
Each member shall allow all of their inhabitants who own a mobile phone registered with a mobile network operator within that member (hereinafter a "local MNO") to use that mobile phone in any other member of the Zone (hereinafter "roaming"), as well as within that member.

OOC: But this doesn't compel member nations that don't have the infrastructure necessary for such systems (whether satellites or 'cell' towers or whatever) to construct it, right?

[Tinhampton]

OOC:

All member states of the World Assembly shall be members (hereinafter "members") of the World Assembly Mobile Roaming Zone (hereinafter "the Zone"). Membership of the Zone may not be rescinded except through departure of the World Assembly itself.
Each member shall allow all of their inhabitants who own a mobile phone registered with a mobile network operator within that member (hereinafter a "local MNO") to use that mobile phone in any other member of the Zone (hereinafter "roaming"), as well as within that member.

OOC: But this doesn't compel member nations that don't have the infrastructure necessary for such systems (whether satellites or 'cell' towers or whatever) to construct it, right?

Yes, as you'd find out if you read all the way to Article g

Aren't the fees authorized in the regulation equivalent to what already exists in terms of roaming? I don't really see the point, except the introduction of a minimum of data consummed per calendar month.

Mobile roaming is currently unregulated by the WA.

I should hopefully respond to the other feedback later - sorry =P