International Broadband Network (IBN)

[James Bluntus]

OOC: First of all, I'd like to give credit to the Australian Labor Government for the idea of this proposal (national broadband network), also the idea for another proposal 2 proposals that I am yet to write. (the 2 may role into one and one of them may role into this one if the nations say it should.) Post links in this thread once I have posted them.

Now to the proposal.

The Great Ambassadors to the World Assembly,

NOTICING the vast number of WA nations that are behind the rest of the world.

BELIEVING that every nation should have access to some form of technology.

FURTHER BELIEVING that a International Broadband Network (IBN) is a start to achieve this.

DEFINES Broadband as a way to access the internet.
DEFINES Internet as the means of connecting and sharing information with other citizens of the world.
DEFINES National Broadband Network(NBN) as the national branch of the IBN.
Hereby enacts the following:

1. Makes the installation of a National Broadband Network mandatory in all nations.
2. Allows this NBN to be accessed by all citizens of all nations.
3. Allow education institutions first access to the NBN.
4. Install a content filter with the NBN to prevent crime and other material being accessed.
5. This content filter is to be used to the nations discretion.
6. This content filter is to be used with profiles that will go on an International database with the users name. This will assist in blocking inappropriate content for the user.
7. Establish the International Broadband Network Board (IBNB)
8. Charges the IBNB with the implementation of this resolution.
9. Orders the IBNB to control the International database upon orders of each nation.
10. Assist poorer and less developed nations with the set up and installation of the IBN.
11. Provide money to nations based on the national economy but no more than 30% of the total price.
12. Monitor each national branch of the IBN.

Needs improvement I know. Thoughts?

[Bears Armed]

"While we are not exactly clear as to how this 'broadband' that you mention would actually work, this is evidently one of the many topics for which any one nation's policies would have no direct effects on any other nations and that we therefore -- bearing in mind that this also would seem not to be a situation involving the most fundamental rights possible for all sapient beings -- do not regard as appropriate subjects for international legislation.
Or, in simpler language, 'No'."


Artorrios o SouthWoods,
Chairbear, Bears Armed Mission at the World Assembly
for
The High Council of Clans,
The Confederated Clans of the Free Bears of Bears Armed.


_____________________________________________________________________

OOC
Bears Armed doesn't even have many computers -- or much demand for them, either -- let alone an existing broadband network, and although we probably could create such a network if we absolutely had to do so (although extending it to cover some of the Northlands' more distant islands would be tricky) that would be an unnecessary expense... and we have a pretty good economy: There are many nations within the WA that simply couldn't spare any money for this, because poverty means that they necessarily have higher priorities.
Anyway, how would this work for 'Past Tech' nations?
And, for matter, how would this proposal work for the various nations of sapient Cetaceans whose representatives have spoken in this Assembly (or within its predeccessor) on previous occasions?

[Embolalia]

Category & Strength?

Also, how do past-tech nations fit into this?

[Brickilini]

I also would require that #6 be removed before I can offer support.

[Linux and the X]

4. Install a content filter with the NBN to prevent crime and other material being accessed.
6. This content filter is to be used with profiles that will go on an International database with the users name. This will assist in blocking inappropriate content for the user.

When our elected manager heard these, she asked me to post the following:
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK NO!

-fps

[Quadrimmina]

The Republic of Quadrimmina notes that the salutation line does not match the verbs used. We have received letters from multiple English teachers asking us to dissent upon this resolution until such a thing is fixed.

[Panzersharkcat]

OOC:
In·ter·net
   /ˈɪntərˌnɛt/ Show Spelled[in-ter-net] Show IPA
–noun
a vast computer network linking smaller computer networks worldwide (usually prec. by the ). The Internet includes commercial, educational, governmental, and other networks, all of which use the same set of communications protocols.

Also, not everybody in on the same planet, as your bit on everybody in the world seems to imply.

[The Emmerian Unions]

9. Orders the IBNB to control the International database upon orders of each nation.

OK. With this line, nations at war with each other could ORDER The Useless committe to get rid of all information of the other nation. This is a stupid p.o.s and shouldn't even be used in the bathroom as toilet paper.

-Random Irradiated Citizen #562-

<<EDIT: killed useless end qutoe tag.>>

[Burninati0n]

<Deleted.>

[Wadalbapossums]

Sorry about this post. I don't know how to delete it. The cross isn't coming up

[James Bluntus]

So you would like me to remove the content filter and the PT nations would be assisted by the WA General Fund to assist the nation with the materials and currency required to make this proposal workable.

[Embolalia]

So you would like me to remove the content filter and the PT nations would be assisted by the WA General Fund to assist the nation with the materials and currency required to make this proposal workable.

Well, I don't see any reason why anyone should be paying to put Internet systems in places where they wouldn't - can't, in fact - be used. (OOC: I don't know if you know, but PT means past-tech. There are nations in the assembly that don't have electricity, nor want it. They are nations of the past. So putting Internet systems in those countries would be anachronistic and worthless.)
I really don't see any way that this proposal can be made workable, let alone necessary. I would suggest scrapping it.

[Glen-Rhodes]

OOC: I don't know if you know, but PT means past-tech. There are nations in the assembly that don't have electricity, nor want it. They are nations of the past. So putting Internet systems in those countries would be anachronistic and worthless.

OOC: Nations change for the World Assembly, not the other way around.

[Embolalia]

OOC: I don't know if you know, but PT means past-tech. There are nations in the assembly that don't have electricity, nor want it. They are nations of the past. So putting Internet systems in those countries would be anachronistic and worthless.

OOC: Nations change for the World Assembly, not the other way around.

So it wouldn't be anachronistic and worthless? Whether you put it there or not, they won't use it. So I don't really see a reason to pay for it.

On an unrelated note, I must ask again:
Category & Strength?

[Glen-Rhodes]

So it wouldn't be anachronistic and worthless? Whether you put it there or not, they won't use it. So I don't really see a reason to pay for it.

My point being it doesn't matter if they don't use it. Authors are not required to conform their proposals to the guidelines of purposefully unique nations. I wasn't commenting on the value of this proposal, however.

[Linux and the X]

So it wouldn't be anachronistic and worthless? Whether you put it there or not, they won't use it. So I don't really see a reason to pay for it.

My point being it doesn't matter if they don't use it. Authors are not required to conform their proposals to the guidelines of purposefully unique nations. I wasn't commenting on the value of this proposal, however.

There is no regulation requiring them to, but we do generally try to accommodate such nations.

[Glen-Rhodes]

There is no regulation requiring them to, but we do generally try to accommodate such nations.

You might, but I never have.

[Ille-Povrois]

The Government of the Great Nation of Ille-Povrois understands that this is an entire national matter and should not be regulated by the WA. Every nation knows about its priorities and economical capacities to serve its citizens with services like that.

We are affraid we could not offer our support in this proposal.

Best regards.

[Enn]

OOC: I don't know if you know, but PT means past-tech. There are nations in the assembly that don't have electricity, nor want it. They are nations of the past. So putting Internet systems in those countries would be anachronistic and worthless.

OOC: Nations change for the World Assembly, not the other way around.

... since when? I call bullshit on this. The WA has to write in a way to take account of varying technology levels, just as it has to take account of varying species.

Where's Cobdenia when you need him?

[edit] I hope you realise you'd also be likely pushing back the tech levels of Future and PMT nations, and who knows how Magitek ones would deal with this?

[Sanctaria]

I really can't be bothered to check if there's previous legislation regarding this, but in light of the various technology levels of the many, many nations in the World Assembly, perhaps the author may draft a proposal on the Standards of Communication or the like? It would then be easier, hopefully, to encompass the technology level of all of the WA nations rather than a select few.

Yours.,

[Flibbleites]

OOC: I don't know if you know, but PT means past-tech. There are nations in the assembly that don't have electricity, nor want it. They are nations of the past. So putting Internet systems in those countries would be anachronistic and worthless.

OOC: Nations change for the World Assembly, not the other way around.

... since when? I call bullshit on this. The WA has to write in a way to take account of varying technology levels, just as it has to take account of varying species.

Where's Cobdenia when you need him?

Or for that matter Glog, unless the author is claiming that using the internet is so easy that even a caveman can do it.

[Glen-Rhodes]

... since when? I call bullshit on this. The WA has to write in a way to take account of varying technology levels, just as it has to take account of varying species.

Yes, we always take into account 'varying technology levels', especially when we mandate international water purification standards, lighthouses, early-warning systems, international road safety standards, not to mention international food and drug standards. And that's just a partial list of all the times the World Assembly has taken into account 'varying technology levels'. Give me a break.

[Enn]

... since when? I call bullshit on this. The WA has to write in a way to take account of varying technology levels, just as it has to take account of varying species.

Yes, we always take into account 'varying technology levels', especially when we mandate international water purification standards, lighthouses, early-warning systems, international road safety standards, not to mention international food and drug standards. And that's just a partial list of all the times the World Assembly has taken into account 'varying technology levels'. Give me a break.

Maybe next time check what you're citing as evidence. None of those specifies exact technologies for use in them. They all allow leeway between different levels of technologies.

The draft under discussion here does not. That is the crux of the argument.

[Glen-Rhodes]

Maybe next time check what you're citing as evidence. None of those specifies exact technologies for use in them. They all allow leeway between different levels of technologies.

No, all of them mandate a single international standard by which all nations, no matter their tech level, must abide. The lighthouse resolution actually mandates specific World Assembly-designed lighthouses, buoys, etc. And if you're seriously arguing that the authors of those resolutions had any thoughts about making them compatible with nations who voluntarily place themselves in the 1600s, I'm willing to bet the contents of my entire bank account that you are wrong. Anybody who reads the collection of resolutions we've passed will easily get the idea that the World Assembly exists in the modern-day. You don't see many references, if any, to the existence in the same timeline of both super-advanced civilizations and Dark Age Europe. This isn't II or NS. I'm not saying we don't have people roleplaying time-traveling, inter-galactic nations, but our body of work, as a whole, is distinctly modern era.

[Enn]

Let's pull out the active clauses of those resolutions and see what they say about standards, shall we?

2) The International Bureau of Water Safety (IBWS) shall be established, and shall:
i) Instate minimum standards for water potability and safety,
ii) Research and collect information from member states on methods for water production, purification, and conservation,
iii) Provide access to this information to all member states,
iv) Assist member states in finding and obtaining sources of water, and
v) Assist in the creation of international water sharing schemes, where such is mutually agreeable to the nations involved.
...
4) Each nation may determine the following for itself, provided all other provisions of this act are met:
i) Methods for production and distribution of water,
ii) Processes and chemicals used for purification of water,
iii) Usage of chemical additives for public health, and
iv) Water usage, conservation, and rationing regulations.

Northing there about specific technologies. Lots of leeway for nations of all different technology levels to be able to meet. In particular, that wonderful 'Each nation may determine for itself' clause.

1. Declares that a subsection of the International Transport Safety Committee (ITSC), the Universal Nautical Institute of Buoyage Oversight and Transportation shall design a set of buoyage and mark systems that shall be used in the pilotage of vessels at sea to warn travelers of hazards;

2. Stipulates that,
(a) These aforementioned buoys, lighthouses or mark systems shall be for the purposes of indicating...

• The edges of a channel;
• Hazardous coastlines, shoals and reefs,
• The direction of safe water at a dangerous spot;
• The deep water and open end of a channel;
• Administrative areas;
• Locations of military conflict;
• Other Hazards;

(b) Each type of mark shall be as effective, neutral and intuitive to understand as possible with recognizable colours, shape and light;
(c) Resources and documentation explaining these systems shall be made available to member nations, navigators and the general public;

Again, lots of leeway. The 'buoys, lighthouses or mark systems' could easily go from anything from basic signal fires to GPS beacons.

For the next one, I had extreme difficulty working out where you're claiming to have evidence. This is the best I could do.

II. Demands member states to regularly inspect structures such as dams, levees, nuclear facilities, and any other structures or vehicles which hold materials which, if the structure were to malfunction, could precipitate a disaster in the immediate area,
(a) Member states shall share the findings of these inspections with the WADB,
(b) The WADB shall provide all the help that a nation requests in this process such as training national investigators or performing the investigations for the nation,
(c) The WADB is to keep all information about each nation's infrastructure strictly confidential to prevent this information from being used in a manner not intended by the resolution,

Nothing about specific technologies. Or are you seriously claiming that only MT nations can suffer from disasters?

DEFINES "international commercial road vehicle" as a conveyance including and not limited to a truck, a trailer, or a motor coach, that
(a) is driven over public highways across one or more internationally recognized borders between member states, has a point of origin and a destination in two different member states, or both, and
(b) is used to transport freight or is used to transport ten or more passengers or both;

(There's a few other things incumbent upon nations, but nations of whatever time period still have borders.)
That 'including but not limited to' sinks your argument.

ASSERTS that in nations where there is no system of quality control the WAFDRA shall work with the national government to eventually establish such agencies

EMPOWERS the WAFDRA order the closure of any food and drug regulatory facilities that are found to repeatedly fail to succeed in ensuring the quality of the products being inspected; the closure shall be carried out by national law-enforcement

(Again, I couldn't find anything specific that could potentially back you up here. So what point was it you're making?)

~~~
Now, let's turn to what you just told me.

No, all of them mandate a single international standard by which all nations, no matter their tech level, must abide.

Well, for starters, a standard is not a technology. Plus as demonstrated above, there's plenty of leeway, and a committee will always consider what's appropriate for the nation in question - otherwise it ceases being a committee, and turns into a dictatorial world government. Unless you're claiming that the WA really is a world government, you've got no argument there.

The lighthouse resolution actually mandates specific World Assembly-designed lighthouses, buoys, etc.

No, it doesn't. It allows for different types of technology.

And if you're seriously arguing that the authors of those resolutions had any thoughts about making them compatible with nations who voluntarily place themselves in the 1600s, I'm willing to bet the contents of my entire bank account that you are wrong. Anybody who reads the collection of resolutions we've passed will easily get the idea that the World Assembly exists in the modern-day. You don't see many references, if any, to the existence in the same timeline of both super-advanced civilizations and Dark Age Europe. This isn't II or NS. I'm not saying we don't have people roleplaying time-traveling, inter-galactic nations, but our body of work, as a whole, is distinctly modern era.

How have you been around here this long and not come across the simple rule? 'The law means what the law says'. Intention is meaningless when it comes to Resolutions; only what is directly written down is enforceable.
As written, each of the resolutions you cited could well be intended for a modern-tech nation, but as written, they do not demand that nations must be of the modern era.

And of course resolutions wouldn't contain references to any particular time period. Anything that specific would clearly fall foul of the branding rules. To even raise that as an argument strikes me as idiotic.

(You've also gone a fair bit contradictory, claiming that lighthouses are MT. They aren't really anymore; the vast majority of RW nations have changed to GPS or equivalent.)