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[DRAFT] Convention on Cyber Warfare

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Pathonia
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[DRAFT] Convention on Cyber Warfare

Postby Pathonia » Mon Jan 13, 2025 6:14 pm

Co-authored with Dushina

Significant

Draft 4, quite a few stylistic changes / trimming of words.
Of course, working with coauthor to further weigh feedback
The General Assembly,

Recognising that this esteemed body has not yet put restrictions on warfare as it is conducted over the interconnected technological medium, and the disastrous implications this could have on the lives of civilians in nations suffering from cyber warfare; and,

Noting the precedent set by this organ on safeguarding civilian lives in wartime situations;

Thus defines for the purposes of this resolution:

  • "Cyber warfare" as any sort of hostile activity in which one entity aims to destroy or otherwise damage, partly or completely, another entity's infrastructure, with the activity being conducted entirely over either interconnected communication networks or otherwise interconnected technologies; and,
  • "Internet" as the aforementioned interconnected communication networks or interconnected technological networks;

Expressly prohibits the targeting and conduct of cyber warfare against any systems which are utilised for basic needs by civilians, or otherwise leveraged by civilians within member-states to maintain acceptable standards of living.

Clarifies that examples of civilian systems which are disallowed to be targeted through cyber warfare are provided below but not limited to the same;
  • financial systems, stock markets, or otherwise currency-based mechanisms hosted on the internets of member-states, due to the abject harm this would cause to civilians within the member-state afflicted,
  • technological systems utilised by the natural disaster response agencies of any given member-state, due to the catastrophic potential for harm that such attacks could have through the slower response times of such agencies, which may then lead to unjust civilian deaths,
  • technological systems utilised by the civilian healthcare sector of any given member-state, due to the catastrophic potential for harm that such attacks could have on the health of civilians in member-states.


-
-
-
Drafts:

The General Assembly,

Recognising that this esteemed body has not yet put restrictions on warfare as it is conducted over the interconnected technological medium, and the disastrous implications this could have on the lives of civilians in nations suffering from cyber warfare.

Noting the precedent set by this organ on safeguarding civilian lives in wartime situations as set in prior resolutions.

Thus defining for the purposes of this resolution:

  • "Cyber warfare" to refer to any sort of hostile activity conducted between several entities with the aim of crippling an entity's infrastructure, conducted entirely over either interconnected communication networks or otherwise interconnected technologies.
    • Noting that the term "internet" may be utilised throughout this resolution to refer to the aforementioned interconnected communication networks and to interconnected technological networks.
  • "Civilian" as referring to anything or anyone uninvolved in the direct hostilities or in aiding the hostile efforts between several entities.
  • "IMF" to refer to the Impartial Mediation Foundation.

Forbids the conduct of cyber warfare upon the financial systems, stock markets, or otherwise currency-based mechanisms hosted on the internets of member-nations, due to the abject harm this would cause to civilians within the member-nation afflicted.

Prohibits the conduct of cyber warfare upon technological systems utilised by the civilian healthcare sector of any given member-state, due to the catastrophic potential for harm that such attacks could have on the health of civilians in member-states.

Further prohibits the conduct of cyber warfare upon technological systems utilised by the natural disaster response agencies of any given member-state, due to the catastrophic potential for harm that such attacks could have through the slower response times of such agencies, which may then lead to unjust civilian deaths.

Hereby empowers the IMF to:

  1. Issue binding arbitration decisions to settle accusations between member-states engaged in cyber warfare in regards to noncompliance with this resolution.
  2. Issue binding arbitration decisions to ensure that, in the event of a desire to reach a peace mediated by an impartial entity to settle a cessation of cyber warfare activities between several entities, a fair and just peace agreement is reached.

Condemning the use of social media or other civilian communications and networking platforms for the purpose of surveillance and/or reconnaissance by any member-state.

The General Assembly,

Recognising that this esteemed body has not yet put restrictions on warfare as it is conducted over the interconnected technological medium, and the disastrous implications this could have on the lives of civilians in nations suffering from cyber warfare.

Noting the precedent set by this organ on safeguarding civilian lives in wartime situations as set in prior resolutions.

Thus defining for the purposes of this resolution:

  • "Cyber warfare" to refer to any sort of hostile activity conducted between several entities with the aim of crippling an entity's infrastructure, conducted entirely over either interconnected communication networks or otherwise interconnected technologies.
    • Noting that the term "internet" may be utilised throughout this resolution to refer to the aforementioned interconnected communication networks and to interconnected technological networks.
  • "Civilian" as referring to anything or anyone uninvolved in the direct hostilities or in aiding the hostile efforts between several entities.
  • "IMF" to refer to the Impartial Mediation Foundation.

Expressly prohibits the targeting and conduct of cyber warfare against any systems which are utilised for basic needs by civilians, or otherwise leveraged by civilians within member-states to maintain acceptable standards of living. Noting that such systems which may fall into these categories include;
  • Financial systems,
  • Healthcare systems,
  • Natural disaster response agencies.

Hereby empowers the IMF to:

  1. Issue binding arbitration decisions to settle accusations between member-states engaged in cyber warfare in regards to noncompliance with this resolution.
  2. Issue binding arbitration decisions to ensure that, in the event of a desire to reach a peace mediated by an impartial entity to settle a cessation of cyber warfare activities between several entities, a fair and just peace agreement is reached.

Condemning the use of social media or other civilian communications and networking platforms for the purpose of surveillance and/or reconnaissance by any member-state.

Urging member-states to exercise caution in any activities they may conduct through the means of cyber warfare, lest they cause civilian injuries due to recklessness or poor coordination.

The General Assembly,

Recognising that this esteemed body has not yet put restrictions on warfare as it is conducted over the interconnected technological medium, and the disastrous implications this could have on the lives of civilians in nations suffering from cyber warfare.

Noting the precedent set by this organ on safeguarding civilian lives in wartime situations as set in prior resolutions.

Thus defining for the purposes of this resolution:

  • "Cyber warfare" to refer to any sort of hostile activity conducted between two or more entities with the aim of crippling an entity's infrastructure, conducted entirely over either interconnected communication networks or otherwise interconnected technologies.
    • Noting that the term "internet" may be utilised throughout this resolution to refer to the aforementioned interconnected communication networks and to interconnected technological networks.

Expressly prohibits the targeting and conduct of cyber warfare against any systems which are utilised for basic needs by civilians, or otherwise leveraged by civilians within member-states to maintain acceptable standards of living. Noting that such systems which may fall into these categories include;
  • Financial systems,
  • Healthcare systems,
  • Natural disaster response agencies.

The General Assembly,

Recognising that this esteemed body has not yet put restrictions on warfare as it is conducted over the interconnected technological medium, and the disastrous implications this could have on the lives of civilians in nations suffering from cyber warfare.

Noting the precedent set by this organ on safeguarding civilian lives in wartime situations as set in prior resolutions.

Thus defining for the purposes of this resolution:

  • "Cyber warfare" to refer to any sort of hostile activity conducted between two or more entities with the aim of crippling an entity's infrastructure, conducted entirely over either interconnected communication networks or otherwise interconnected technologies.
    • Noting that the term "internet" may be utilised throughout this resolution to refer to the aforementioned interconnected communication networks and to interconnected technological networks.

Expressly prohibits the targeting and conduct of cyber warfare against any systems which are utilised for basic needs by civilians, or otherwise leveraged by civilians within member-states to maintain acceptable standards of living. Noting that such systems which may fall into but are not limited to these categories include;
  • financial systems, stock markets, or otherwise currency-based mechanisms hosted on the internets of member-nations, due to the abject harm this would cause to civilians within the member-nation afflicted,
  • technological systems utilised by the natural disaster response agencies of any given member-state, due to the catastrophic potential for harm that such attacks could have through the slower response times of such agencies, which may then lead to unjust civilian deaths,
  • technological systems utilised by the civilian healthcare sector of any given member-state, due to the catastrophic potential for harm that such attacks could have on the health of civilians in member-states.
Last edited by Pathonia on Sat Jan 18, 2025 12:12 pm, edited 14 times in total.
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Comfed
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Postby Comfed » Mon Jan 13, 2025 6:59 pm

Cyber warfare should not be authorized against civilian infrastructure at all.

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Orcuo
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Postby Orcuo » Mon Jan 13, 2025 7:01 pm

Why must the World Assembly always be drafting legislation to ruin my fun?

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Pathonia
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Postby Pathonia » Mon Jan 13, 2025 7:20 pm

A more general paragraph that we had on-hand has substituted the exhaustive list version, to full-stop forbid targeting of civilian infrastructure at all.
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The Overmind
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Postby The Overmind » Mon Jan 13, 2025 7:29 pm

Some general notes:

"[B]etween several entities" in the definition of cyber warfare should be "between two or more entities". The word "several" in standard parlance is strictly more than two.

Civilian does not need to, and probably should not be, defined, unless you're going to go about it very carefully. If you are only trying to approximate the standard definition of noncombatant, then just let the standard reading do the work.

As has already been noted, all systems not utilized for warfare or warfare infrastructure should not be acceptable targets under the arguments of the preamble.

There is no need for a compliance mechanism. The WA already has compliance mechanisms and a court system.

The condemning part should not be in your operative clauses.
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Pathonia
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Postby Pathonia » Wed Jan 15, 2025 7:12 pm

I have this odd habit of defining what I consider to be the more 'prominent' things in proposals, probably to the detriment of the proposal itself-
I've worked to trim it down a bit, while still keeping the basic premise that it aims to ban the targeting of civilians through cyber warfare.
I'm sure that, despite its reduced length, it should adequately fit that purpose~

-

Thus, a newer draft- quite changed or otherwise shortened down from the original -is displayed.
Last edited by Pathonia on Wed Jan 15, 2025 7:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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The Ice States
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Postby The Ice States » Fri Jan 17, 2025 12:59 pm

Pathonia wrote:[Significant?]

Ooc: I think a Significant strength is indeed fine.

Ic: A sheet of paper, annotated and signed by Ambassador Robert Desak, finds its way onto the desks of the Pathonian and Dushinan missions.

The General Assembly,

Recognising that this esteemed body has not yet put restrictions on warfare as it is conducted over the interconnected technological medium, and the disastrous implications this could have on the lives of civilians in nations suffering from cyber warfare. ; and For this to be formatted as a complete sentence, a comma or semicolon must be used to end clauses rather than a period. As this is the penultimate introductory clause in this format, it should also end with an 'and'.

Noting the precedent set by this organ on safeguarding civilian lives in wartime situations as set in prior resolutions. ;

Thus defining defines for the purposes of this resolution:

  • "Cyber warfare" to refer to any sort of as hostile activity conducted between two or more entities with the aim of crippling in which one entity aims to destroy or render dysfunctional, in whole or in part, another entity's infrastructure, and the activity is conducted entirely over either interconnected communication networks or otherwise interconnected technologies. ; and My edits here are primarily intended to improve specificity on what this definition covers. This will improve enforcement of the resolution should it enter into the corpus juris. Additionally, a case of erroneous usage of periods, as noted earlier, has been corrected.
    [ list]
  • Noting that the term "internet" may be utilised throughout this resolution to refer to "Internet" as the aforementioned interconnected communication networks and to or interconnected technological networks.[/ list] ; A list is unnecessary when there is only one item in it. The construction of this definition is also needlessly verbose in parts.

Expressly prohibits the targeting and conduct of cyber warfare against any systems which are utilised are utilised This corrects an erroneous duplicated space. for basic needs by civilians, or otherwise leveraged by civilians within member-states to maintain acceptable standards of living. ; and

Clarifies Noting that such systems which may fall into but are not limited to these categories include; I am unclear as to what the last half of this clause is intended to prescribe. Is it that listed systems are not necessarily included under "Expressly prohibits", or that this is not an exhaustive list of what it covers? If the latter, I would rewrite the clause in its entirety simply to "Clarifies that systems which fall into the categories above include:" .
  • financial systems, stock markets, or otherwise currency-based mechanisms hosted on the internets of member-nations member-states, due to the abject harm this would cause to civilians within the member-nation member-state afflicted, The Eternal Union of Devonia and the Ice States prefers the use of "member nations", without additional hyphenation, to refer to members of the World Assembly. However, if "member-state" is used in the rest of this draft then usage should be consistent throughout.
  • technological systems utilised by the natural disaster response agencies of any given member-state, due to the catastrophic potential for harm that such attacks could have through the slower response times of such agencies, which may then lead to unjust civilian deaths, and
  • technological systems utilised by the civilian healthcare sector of any given member-state, due to the catastrophic potential for harm that such attacks could have on the health of civilians in member-states.
Last edited by The Ice States on Fri Jan 17, 2025 3:05 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Pathonia
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Postby Pathonia » Sat Jan 18, 2025 8:55 am

Noting that the primarily grammatical / stylistic changes involving punctuation highlighted by Ice have been incorporated, with some effort also being put towards addressing the fuzziness of some other points within the draft.
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Postby Appalachian Townships » Sat Jan 18, 2025 9:25 am

Noting the precedent set by this organ on safeguarding civilian lives in wartime situations as set in prior resolutions;


This is a big clunker. Just omit “as set in prior resolutions.” Made redundant via “by this organ.” Technically you could also remove “the” before “precedent,” but that’s on personal preference.
Last edited by Appalachian Townships on Sat Jan 18, 2025 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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The Ice States
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Postby The Ice States » Sat Jan 18, 2025 11:13 am

"The updated draft is indeed improved in terms of grammatical construction and clarity. We have only two remaining comments:"

"Cyber warfare" as any sort of hostile activity in which one entity aims to destroy or otherwise damage, partly or completely, between two or more entities with the aim of crippling an entity's infrastructure, with the activity being conducted entirely over either interconnected communication networks or otherwise interconnected technologies; and,

"It seems to me as though 'between two or more entities with the aim of crippling' is a remnant from the previous draft which should now be removed. We would also continue to recommend changing 'an' to 'another' to clarify that the targeted entity is different to the entity performing the act."

Clarifying that examples of civilian systems which mustn't be targeted through cyber warfare are provided below, though the list of such systems isn't constrained to the same;

"The previous operative clauses are written in present participle form, while this one is written in simple present form. This clause should therefore continue in simple present, and thus change 'Clarifying' to 'Clarifies'."

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The Eternal Union of Devonia and the Ice States.

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Appalachian Townships
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Postby Appalachian Townships » Sat Jan 18, 2025 11:50 am

The Ice States wrote: "The previous operative clauses are written in present participle form, while this one is written in simple present form. This clause should therefore continue in simple present, and thus change 'Clarifying' to 'Clarifies'."


Yeah. But also, we could strip the whlle thing for conciseness.

Clarifies civilian systems which mustn’t be targeted by cyber warfare, including but not limited to:


And that’s just assuming you can’t integrate the whole clause into the previous one.
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Pathonia
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Postby Pathonia » Sat Jan 18, 2025 11:53 am

Appalachian Townships wrote:
The Ice States wrote: "The previous operative clauses are written in present participle form, while this one is written in simple present form. This clause should therefore continue in simple present, and thus change 'Clarifying' to 'Clarifies'."


Yeah. But also, we could strip the whlle thing for conciseness.


It occurred to us that it may serve well to define several examples which would be protected by the resolution, for the sake of reducing the immense ambiguity which may have followed from their exclusion in leaving it at 'systems providing for acceptable standards of living for civilians.'

Appalachian Townships wrote:
Clarifies civilian systems which mustn’t be targeted by cyber warfare, including but not limited to:


And that’s just assuming you can’t integrate the whole clause into the previous one.

We had, previously, incorporated this into the previous one.

For the sake of ensuring that there wasn't a large text block, and to separate it a bit, it was moved to its own line.
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ΘωΘ Made a Q&A :3

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Postby Appalachian Townships » Sat Jan 18, 2025 11:59 am

Pathonia wrote: It occurred to us that it may serve well to define several examples which would be protected by the resolution, for the sake of reducing the immense ambiguity which may have followed from their exclusion in leaving it at 'systems providing for acceptable standards of living for civilians.'


OOC: no, absolutely. I just meant the clause as-written is a little wordy. I reworded to include “including but not limited to:” instead of “though the list of such systems isn't constrained to the same;”. It’s less headache-inducing and jargony. But also because the colon allows for easier list syntax.

(EDIT: on mobile—edited quote wrong)
Last edited by Appalachian Townships on Sat Jan 18, 2025 12:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
From the office of:

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Prescriptive Grammarian Hired in Lieu of a Proper Ambassador to the WA

526 Main St., Harpers Ferry
Office 35D, Pressed Between the Xerox Machine and the Coffee Maker


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