J-#3, J-#4 and Forum Administration

[Belschaft]

J-#3 Three Warnings Law is very old, and deals with several matters. However, the majority of these I feel are more properly the duty of forum moderation to deal with under the in built warnings system, rather than offences to be dealt with by the regional government. Similarly, certain offences under J-#4 are more properly matters for forum administration.



The absence of any appeals system in regards to J-#3 is also something that has annoyed me in the past. I am of the opinion that we should therefore alter in such ways as to more effective, and sensible, with a clear delineation between what is a matter for the Justice system - in J-#3 - and for forum administration - in J-#4.



At present J-#3 sets out the following offences;

[*:27dm9m7b]Obscenity (Language): any excessive cursing, sexual content, or otherwise tasteless remarks unsuitable for minors is subject to a warning.





[*:27dm9m7b]Spamming: disturbing regular chatter with excessive spamming, including but not limited to the re-posting of messages, extremely off-topic posting, excessive advertisements for another region, etc.





[*:27dm9m7b]Slander/Libel (Defamation): untrue statements which are intended to tarnish (or have the practical effect of tarnishing) the reputation of another user





[*:27dm9m7b]Abuse: language or statements intended to demean another player that are NOT RP.





[*:27dm9m7b]Harassment: The repeated, aggressive abuse of another nation. The abuse is sustained over a period of time, e.g. telling a nation that they suck, or calling them an otherwise inane name several times a day over several days.





[*:27dm9m7b]Trolling/Flamebaiting: As per the NationStates rules.

Whilst J-#4 sets out the following;

[*:27dm9m7b]The following shall be considered Minor Felonies.

[*:27dm9m7b]Assault in the Third Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Defamation in the Second Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Fraud in the Second Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Posting Obscene Content



[*:27dm9m7b]Spamming



[*:27dm9m7b]The following shall be considered Major Felonies:

[*:27dm9m7b]Assault in the First Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Assault in the Second Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Defamation in the First Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Fraud in the First Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Espionage



[*:27dm9m7b]Puppeting



[*:27dm9m7b]Obscene Spamming



[*:27dm9m7b]Perverting the Course of Justice



[*:27dm9m7b]Treason[/list]

I believe these should be re-split into the following two categories;



<strong class='bbc'>Criminal Offences - Judicial Matters (J-#4)</strong>

[*:27dm9m7b]Assault in the First Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Assault in the Second Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Assault in the Third Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Defamation in the First Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Defamation in the Second Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Fraud in the First Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Fraud in the Second Degree



[*:27dm9m7b]Espionage



[*:27dm9m7b]Puppeting



[*:27dm9m7b]Perverting the Course of Justice



[*:27dm9m7b]Treason

<strong class='bbc'>Forum Offences - Administration Matters (J-#3)</strong>

[*:27dm9m7b]Obscenity



[*:27dm9m7b]Spamming



[*:27dm9m7b]Abuse



[*:27dm9m7b]Harrasment



[*:27dm9m7b]Trolling/Flaming



[*:27dm9m7b]DDOS, etc



I haven't drafted anything as I want to get input first, but I think this is a rather simple and sensible reform. For obvious reasons, forum moderation has to be able to respond promptly to certain types of behaviour - such as, for example, porn spamming or DDOS attacks - and these are not judicial matters. They are not in game, criminal matters, but rather out of game actions that are more appropriately dealt with as such.



I will be aiming to rewrite 3WL to make use of the reports system, and empower the administration team to take such action as necessary in such cases.