[DRAFT] International Radio Act

[Linux and the X]

Hrm, looks like no one got around to replacing this.

RECOGNISING that radio signals cannot be made to respect national boundaries;

BELIEVING that international legislation is needed to ensure that radio systems will not cause international interference; and

REALISING that standardisation of radio devices will promote international trade of the same;

THE WORLD ASSEMBLY

DEFINES radio, for purposes of this resolution, as radiated electromagnetic energy with a frequency of 3 kHz – 300 GHz;

ALLOWS unrestricted use of any radio power and frequency necessary for communications to immediately protect life or property in situations in which normal forms of communication are unavailable or ineffective;

ALLOWS unlicensed use of low-power radio devices, so long as such use does not interfere with other uses, but allows such devices to be subject to inspection at the point of manufacture by or on behalf of the jurisdiction's regulatory agency;

REQUIRES that radio services include amateur, broadcast, experimental, personal communications, business communications, life and safety communications, radiolocation, governmental and military communications, and aerocraft, spacecraft, and watercraft communications;

CLARIFIES that member States without a military, aerocraft, or spacecraft need not create radio services for those purposes;

ESTABLISHES the International Radiocommunications Commission to set more detailed standards, including specific services, frequency allocations (including specific frequencies for emergency calls), and requirements for for licensure or certification;

FORBIDS the International Radiocommunications Commission from setting content standards, or station ownership standards beyond those clearly implied by the intended purpose of a service;

CLARIFIES that the standards set by the International Radiocommunications Commission must be followed by all member nations; but

PERMITS nations to create additional radio services in spectrum not used under International Radiocommunications Commission standards.

[Wallenburg]

RECOGNISING that radio signals cannot be made to respect national boundaries;

"Why not?"

BELIEVING that international legislation is needed to ensure that radio systems will not cause international interference;

"Not really."

REALISING that standardisation of radio devices will promote international trade of the same;

"How does 'standardized radio' promote free trade?"

DEFINES radio, for purposes of this resolution, as radiated electromagnetic energy with a frequency of 3 kHz – 300 GHz;

Ogenbond squint at the draft. "Ambassador, do you need medical attention? It appears you are typing gibberish. I haven't the foggiest idea what '3 kHz - 300 GHz' means."

ALLOWS unrestricted use of any radio power and frequency necessary for communications that immediately life or property in situations in which normal forms of communication are unavailable or ineffective;

"This clause makes no sense either. 'Life' and 'property' are not nounsverbs."

REQUIRES that radio services include amateur, broadcast, experimental, personal communications, business communications, life and safety communications, radiolocation, governmental and military communications, and aerocraft, spacecraft, and watercraft communications;

"As this is written, it requires all radio transmissions to include all of these kinds of broadcasts. This is a ludicrous and impossible requirement."

ESTABLISHES the International Radiocommunications Commission to set more detailed standards, including specific services and frequency allocations (including specific frequencies for emergency calls);

"Absolutely not. We will not have committees legislating without oversight or control."

[Sciongrad]

RECOGNISING that radio signals cannot be made to respect national boundaries;

"Why not?"

"No opinion on the rest of the proposal just yet, but I imagine radio signals cannot be made to respect national boundaries because that defies science. How would a nation be able to stop radio signals at their national borders?"

"'Life' and 'property' are not nouns."

"Actually, they are. The clause is missing a verb."

[The Imperium Empires]

I'm sorry like the ANs thoughts it doesn't work.

[Wallenburg]

"Why not?"

"No opinion on the rest of the proposal just yet, but I imagine radio signals cannot be made to respect national boundaries because that defies science. How would a nation be able to stop radio signals at their national borders?"

"Transmit signals from areas within one's own borders, with a radius of effective transmission that does not cross into foreign or international territory. I am in no way suggesting that an effort to artificially obstruct such signals from their natural transmission is feasible."

"'Life' and 'property' are not nouns."

"Actually, they are. The clause is missing a verb."

OOC: I must be more tired than I thought. Well, good night then.

[Tinfect]

Hrm, looks like no one got around to replacing this.

"For good reason."

RECOGNISING that radio signals cannot be made to respect national boundaries;

"The Imperium finds it doubtful that any primitive radio signals broadcast in the Imperium would be comprehensible, or perhaps even detectable, between many Imperial colonies, much less past the Subspace Barrier, and the Exterior Territories."

BELIEVING that international legislation is needed to ensure that radio systems will not cause international interference;

"Hardly. If nations are near enough together that such primitive broadcasts cause interference with one another, they can easily work something out between themselves. The Imperium does not believe that such 'one-size-fits-all' legislation is appropriate."

REALISING that standardisation of radio devices will promote international trade of the same;

"Is this an attempt to fit this into the 'Free Trade' category? It is quite weak, you would be best served attempting to find a more... realistic, category to place this in."

ALLOWS unrestricted use of any radio power and frequency necessary for communications that immediately life or property in situations in which normal forms of communication are unavailable or ineffective;

"This clause is incomprehensible."

REQUIRES that radio services include amateur, broadcast, experimental, personal communications, business communications, life and safety communications, radiolocation, governmental and military communications, and aerocraft, spacecraft, and watercraft communications;

"The Imperium sees no reason to return to such basic technology for communication when superior alternatives exist. Surely you do not intend for us to replace Hyperpulse Arrays with radio transmitters? Such a thing would be the death of the Imperium, and the total collapse of our Government and Military as communication would be completely impossible. Further, such primitive techniques are easily intercepted, allowing critical Government and Military information to fall to hostile forces."

CLARIFIES that the standards set by the International Radiocommunications Commission must be followed by all member nations; but

"The Imperium sees no reason that we, countless light-years away from other Member States, should be forced abide by communication laws intended to ease the burden of those states within throwing distance eachother.

Needless to say, the Imperium is opposed to this incredibly asinine draft, and any further iterations upon it. We recommend that it be left in an incinerator at the earliest available opportunity."

[Separatist Peoples]

"Transmit signals from areas within one's own borders, with a radius of effective transmission that does not cross into foreign or international territory. I am in no way suggesting that an effort to artificially obstruct such signals from their natural transmission is feasible."

"A radius of effective transmission would still exceed boundaries on smaller or narrow and long states. Your plan would either leave our segments of a population not is a perfect circle, or would cripple states that are not as wide as they are deep."

[Wallenburg]

"Transmit signals from areas within one's own borders, with a radius of effective transmission that does not cross into foreign or international territory. I am in no way suggesting that an effort to artificially obstruct such signals from their natural transmission is feasible."

"A radius of effective transmission would still exceed boundaries on smaller or narrow and long states. Your plan would either leave our segments of a population not is a perfect circle, or would cripple states that are not as wide as they are deep."

"Hmm. Very good point, Ambassador, although Wallenburg is certainly 'wider' than she is 'deep'. I can see how very small states could experience issues regarding border overflow even with a single substantial radio transmitter."

[Westercourt]

BELIEVING that international legislation is needed to ensure that radio systems will not cause international interference;

If radio spillover is a problem between two nations that are that close to each other, they can work it out locally. We firmly disbelieve and refute the claim that most or even many of the nations in the WA have such a problem. We further note that there have been no major problems regarding radio spillover in the international community and express our disbelief that such a trivial issue would lead to any major problems. This proposal appears to be trying to solve a problem that does not exist, or at the least, does not exist to nearly one-quarter the extent that would require international legislation.

REALISING that standardisation of radio devices will promote international trade of the same;

We don't see how this helps international trade at all.

REQUIRES that radio services include amateur, broadcast, experimental, personal communications, business communications, life and safety communications, radiolocation, governmental and military communications, and aerocraft, spacecraft, and watercraft communications;

Wait, Ambassador, are you actually suggesting that the World Assembly require governments to host radio communication services? Westercourt hasn't used radio for decades. Westercourt's trying to run a planet, Ambassador. Radio communication is far past us. And, as the ambassador to the Imperium has noted, radio communication is easily interceptable and analogue methods of encryption are weak. And would you also have our hospitals run on radio? There is no need, Ambassador, for Westercourtial hospitals to have radio. The speed at which hospitals around Xeon can communicate and transport has saved countless lives. The clause also points out radio communication for spacecraft. That, quite frankly, is ridiculous.

ESTABLISHES the International Radiocommunications Commission to set more detailed standards, including specific services and frequency allocations (including specific frequencies for emergency calls);

CLARIFIES that the standards set by the International Radiocommunications Commission must be followed by all member nations;

This is an unnecessary burden on many nations in the WA, including Westercourt. Westercourt is located on a different planet in a different system than other WA nations. Why does Westercourtial radio need to not only be reestablished, but also conform to standards intended for nations far, far from the Celerian system?

Westercourt firmly opposes this proposal and any proposal in the same vein as it. The proposal attempts to solve a problem that isn't actually a problem and places an unnecessary burden on WA nations that have their own well-established radio systems and those that have abandoned it entirely in the favour of superior solutions.

[Elke and Elba]

I did got around trying to replace this, and it got voted down.

I do believe the common sentiment then, and now, is that International Radio Act or its derivatives are not needed on the books of the General Assembly.

EEDIT: here it is.

[Gim]

REQUIRES that radio services include amateur, broadcast, experimental, personal communications, business communications, life and safety communications, radiolocation, governmental and military communications, and aerocraft, spacecraft, and watercraft communications;

This clause may be frowned upon by socialist or totalitarian states. They would probably focus on mostly military and propaganda uses of the radio.

[Imperium Anglorum]

DEFINES radio, for purposes of this resolution, as radiated electromagnetic energy with a frequency of 3 kHz – 300 GHz;

Ogenbond squint at the draft. "Ambassador, do you need medical attention? It appears you are typing gibberish. I haven't the foggiest idea what '3 kHz - 300 GHz' means."

Electromagnetic radiation which cycles between 3000 times a second and 300 billion times a second.

[Wallenburg]

Ogenbond squint at the draft. "Ambassador, do you need medical attention? It appears you are typing gibberish. I haven't the foggiest idea what '3 kHz - 300 GHz' means."

Electromagnetic radiation which cycles between 3000 times a second and 300 billion times a second.

"Then why didn't the Ambassador say that in the first place? Besides, those are some very arbitrary numbers."

[Imperium Anglorum]

Electromagnetic radiation which cycles between 3000 times a second and 300 billion times a second.

"Then why didn't the Ambassador say that in the first place? Besides, those are some very arbitrary numbers."

He did say that. Those numbers aren't really that arbitrary. They are well at the level where it would avoid reabsorption into a molecular matrix or an atomic nucleus so we can avoid photodisintegration.

[Wallenburg]

"Then why didn't the Ambassador say that in the first place? Besides, those are some very arbitrary numbers."

He did say that.

"Ambassador, even Gerald couldn't translate that mess. If Gerald can't do it, it does not work."

OOC: You do realize that many member nations won't use Hertz as a unit, right?

Those numbers aren't really that arbitrary. They are well at the level where it would avoid reabsorption into a molecular matrix or an atomic nucleus so we can avoid photodisintegration.

"I must admit, Ambassador, I have no idea what that means."

[Imperium Anglorum]

He did say that.

"Ambassador, even Gerald couldn't translate that mess. If Gerald can't do it, it does not work."

OOC: You do realize that many member nations won't use Hertz as a unit, right?

Yes and I don't think we should promote that norm anymore. It's annoying and counterproductive. Next, oh noes! What is a second?!

Those numbers aren't really that arbitrary. They are well at the level where it would avoid reabsorption into a molecular matrix or an atomic nucleus so we can avoid photodisintegration.

"I must admit, Ambassador, I have no idea what that means."

Microwaves heat water by having the same frequency as the vibrations in a water molecule. They are absorbed, increasing the kinetic energy of the water molecule, creating heat. You can also do this to an atomic nucleus when your photon has the same frequency as the vibrations of the nucleus's components. This is way more awesome, since it can destroy stars, and is known as photodisintegration — nuclear fission by light alone.

[Wallenburg]

"Ambassador, even Gerald couldn't translate that mess. If Gerald can't do it, it does not work."

OOC: You do realize that many member nations won't use Hertz as a unit, right?

Yes and I don't think we should promote that norm anymore. It's annoying and counterproductive. Next, oh noes! What is a second?!

OOC: I see. Clearly then, we should not accommodate for players RPing as nations on other worlds. Or alternate histories. Or those not set in the present day.

"I must admit, Ambassador, I have no idea what that means."

Microwaves heat water by having the same frequency as the vibrations in a water molecule. They are absorbed, increasing the kinetic energy of the water molecule, creating heat. You can also do this to an atomic nucleus when your photon has the same frequency as the vibrations of the nucleus's components. This is way more awesome, since it can destroy stars, and is known as photodisintegration — nuclear fission by light alone.

Ogenbond stares at Parsons, then begins to speak rapidly with Gerald. They speak for several minutes before Ogenbond returns to Parsons. "Sir, I cannot understand you at all. I don't see how light can cause the stars to destroy themselves, or how an--umm--a peh-RO-tin, PRO-teen--oh, damn it. You just enjoy making me look stupid, don't you, Parsons?"

OOC: Exactly how does an interwar nation like yours know about nuclear fusion and fission?

[Tinfect]

OOC: I see. Clearly then, we should not accommodate for players RPing as nations on other worlds. Or alternate histories. Or those not set in the present day.

OOC:
As an FT Nation not set on Earth, that doesn't internally use the Metric System, measurements really are not important.
If it becomes an issue, convert as necessary, ICly, Imperial Translators already do it, so you'll never have to figure out how long 13 Vlet is, because it doesn't really matter, and it just causes problems.

[Wallenburg]

OOC: I see. Clearly then, we should not accommodate for players RPing as nations on other worlds. Or alternate histories. Or those not set in the present day.

OOC:
As an FT Nation not set on Earth, that doesn't internally use the Metric System, measurements really are not important.
If it becomes an issue, convert as necessary, ICly, Imperial Translators already do it, so you'll never have to figure out how long 13 Vlet is, because it doesn't really matter, and it just causes problems.

First, wouldn't that count as forced RP, as my nation would have to recognize Tinfect's existence in order to comply with a resolution using its units? Second, if you are going to use units, at least spell them out. "gHz" is just lazy.

[Tinfect]

First, wouldn't that count as forced RP, as my nation would have to recognize Tinfect's existence in order to comply with a resolution using its units? Second, if you are going to use units, at least spell them out. "gHz" is just lazy.

OOC:
Well, for one, it'd be asinine to use a fictional unit of measurement in a WA Resolution, and it would almost certainly be branding, so there is that. Though I'll give you your second point, but that's more a matter of my being horrible at remembering what the shortened forms mean.

[Imperium Anglorum]

OOC: Exactly how does an interwar nation like yours know about nuclear fusion and fission?

Well, IA isn't an interwar nation. It just appears to be an Edwardian-era nation.

[Liagolas]

Well, IA isn't an interwar nation. It just appears to be an Edwardian-era nation.

OOC: If I may ask out of curiosity, does "appears to be an Edwardian-era nation" mean it's a nation where in the early 1900s they've figured out nuclear fusion and fission, or did you mean it just has the style of that era and while it appears Edwardian is actually set in a more advanced time period?

[Bears Armed]

OOC; re units... There was a past Modly ruling that any measurements cited in a proposal's text would actually be converted into appropriate units for each nation by the gnomes, just as they translate all proposals into everybody's languages.
However 'Hz', because it refers to a RL individual's name, might fall foul of the rule against RL references.

[Wrapper]

OOC; re units... There was a past Modly ruling that any measurements cited in a proposal's text would actually be converted into appropriate units for each nation by the gnomes, just as they translate all proposals into everybody's languages.
However 'Hz', because it refers to a RL individual's name, might fall foul of the rule against RL references.

Relevant precedent (Hz is fine):

viewtopic.php?p=6995489#p6995489

You're forgiven for misremembering something from five years ago.

[Araraukar]

I think everyone's forgetting GA #88, WA Numeration and Units Act, which should help in situations like this...