* Schematic FIDONET ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION
by Tom Jennings, 1:125/111

Yes, in some ways this is "yet anothre policy proposal", but I'm not
really pushing to make them official. It is only meant to show what I
think is possible, and a far more viable direction than some goddamn
piece of legalese boilerplate that would-be bureaucrats want to foist
upon us.

This thing's main feature is that it is SHORT and UNDERSTANDABLE. It
purposely does NOT cover operational details. It covers only things
that seemed to me (me, not "Everyone") to be the things of
international interest outside of operational details.

Think of it as a schematic. I also apologize for it's length. I
really tried to make it less than 66 lines, one American A-size page.

You will note that it does not even mention ZCs. I can think of no
useful function a ZC does, as far as sysops rights and such goes.
I've been working on this thing for about a year. There are some
notes-to-myself before the actual text begins.


-------------------------------------

NOTES:

The vote process requiring 2/3rds "yes" kinda forces sysop
participation, or if no one cares (low voter turnout), expediency.


IMCOMPLETE AREAS: 

--- Commercialism: how to word. "Prohibited" is too strong and
impossible. "Purely commercial"? "Strongly discouraged"? 

--- I'd really like to define "overthrow". It would mean putting
nodelist generation details in here. Yuck. How's this:

OVERTHROW:

Since a net or region determines who it's /0 is, it gets to say "Joe
Schmoe is now our host, signed, <n> sysops" everyone would be required
to honor the change. 

Stability is the norm because of the coordinated effort required to
get <n> sysops in a net or region to agree to anything; the more
overwhelmingly painful the problem, the more easily concensus will be
reached.


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FIDONET ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

PURPOSE:

The purpose of FidoNet is unimpeded communication between individuals.
No person or group has any more or less right to communicate than any
other. No one moral or ethical code has precedence over any other.
When conflicts arise, weight shall be given to solutions that favor
freer, broader or expanded communications. Justice takes precedence
over expediency.


INFORMAL GUIDELINES:

 o   No person shall impede the flow of traffic.
 o   Reading other peoples' mail is extremely rude.
 o   Tampering with mail for any reason is the most serious breach 
       possible.
 o   Meddling that affects the operation of another members system is 
       only slightly less awful.
 o  Thou shalt not annoy.
 o  Thou shalt not be easily annoyed.


DEFINITIONS: 

FidoNet addressing is logically heirarchical: zone, net, node, and
point. (Points are treated as human callers and therefore are not
otherwise part of FidoNet.) Zone:net/node.point addressing heirarchy
in no way implies a social or organizational heirarchy, beyond
net/region host responsibilities, defined below.

A NODE is the atomic component of FidoNet. It is capable of receiving
FidoNet mail as defined in applicable protocol documents, within the
requirements in this document.

A NET is an autonomous cluster of nodes within a limited geographical
area. Criteria for forming nets include: host-routing of mail for
inter-node effeciency and better sysop relations. It is generally
desirable for nodes to be part of nets. 

A REGION is an arbitrary physical area for the sole purpose of
providing a logical "net/node" address for nodes not within a net. A
region host performs for netless nodes the same function as a net
host, except they are not required to forward mail to nodes within
their region. Region hosts have traditionally taken on other FidoNet
responsibilities, such as compiling the nodelist, though this is not
part of the definition of Region Host.

REGION and NET hosts are otherwise equivelant, and are called HOSTS in
this document.

A ZONE is a generally-large physical area designed to handle the
realities of global, inter-national FidoNet networking, including:
alien telcos and protocols, disparate time schedules; and to increase
network autonomy.


Zone, net, region and node numbers are positive integers, starting
with 1. 0 is a "magic value", and designates the "host" for that
level; net/0 is NET HOST (aka Net Coordinator, NC), region/0 is REGION
HOST (aka Region Coordinator, RC), and zone/0 (zone/0:0) is ZONE HOST
(aka Zone Coordinator, ZC).

Each zone shall designate one hour per day as "Zone Mail Hour", or
ZMH, during which all members' systems shall be technically able to
receive incoming FidoNet mail and files. Though it is not required to
be "FidoNet only" during ZMH, the intent is to allow the receipt of
otherwise-unscheduled mail from any other FidoNet node. Please refer
to SYSOP RESPONSIBILITIES.


SYSOPS RIGHTS

Sysops have the right to choose their host via popular vote. 

A candidate is considered "elected" when s/he receives 2/3rds of the
votes counted. If no candidate receives 2/3rds of the votes, elections
must be repeated until a candidate receives 2/3rds of the counted
votes. This explicitly allows for "none of the above", forcing new
candidates to be found, as opposed to merely choosing "the lesser of N
evils". Fairness and justice should prevail over efficiency or
convenience; lives will not be lost in the meantime.

Each net/region shall determine the length of an elected persons term. 
Under no circumstances shall it be more than one year. 

The voting method chosen must be auditable and verifyable, such that
each net member can verify that their vote was recorded as intended.
Voting parameters (term duration, voting method, etc) shall not be
changed by an elected person.

Net "membership" shall be determined by an having an entry in the
nodelist for at two least previous and sequential revisions of the
list. Each individual human sysop, one per physical node maximum, is
granted one vote each.

A vote can be called at any time 1/2 of the members declare it.

This enumeration of rights in no way denies or limits any other rights
sysops have.


RESPONSIBILITIES AND LIMITATIONS

Each net/region has three main tasks:

1. Maintain their nodelist fragment.

2. For nets only, route incoming mail for nodes within the net.

3. Help new sysops get "online".

Each net/region has a 0th node, the "host". By definition, net hosts
are required to accept mail for all nodes within that net, and arrange
for that mail to be received by the addressed node, with emphasis put
upon lowest cost. Net and region hosts act as an informal "clearing
house" for information regarding that net or region. It is up to the
net or region how it handles all other tasks.

No node shall interfere with the flow of mail traffic in their net,
regardless of content. (Carrier status.) Illegalities are to be
handled by the legal system(s) applicable in your area. Morality and
ethics are exclusively the realm of the communicating part(y)(ies).
Each member is responsible for paying any expenses involved in their
own mail delivery.

If a net host would incur expense in delivering mail to other members
of their net, then arrangement may be made for member(s) to receive
their mail at their own expense (note that expense-incurring
distribution of mail within a net is sometimes at odds with the
intended definition of a "net", though sysops may in general organize
in any fashion that pleases them but meets the other mimimum
requirements.)

Each member is responsible for maintaining an "operable" system, the
parameters of which are to be determined by each net, with the
exception of TECHNICAL ISSUES mentioned earlier. If a member cannot be
contacted via FidoNet for an extended period of time, s/he may be
dropped from the net.

"Bombing runs" are highly discouraged -- generating large number of
messages that clog the net. If you must "bomb" all nodes within a net,
you are required to deliver each message individually, and not use
host routing. (And take responsibility for the result.)


EXCOMMUNICATION (ie. the Death Penalty)

A member shall be removed from the net/region without that member
sysops' consent only by the following process, which emphasizes
fairness, process and justice over expediency:

Three attempts are made to reach consensus within the group. Consensus
means: no member (except the person in question) of the net/region
blocks (objects) to the removal of the person. Any single member
objecting prevents the removal. It is acceptable to stand aside (ie.
no opinion). 

If consensus fails three times, at least 48 hours apart, a popular
vote may taken. If 7/8ths of the voting members agree, the member may
be removed from the net.

Excommunication shall be for no longer than one month the first time; 
three months the second time; six months for each additional
excommunication.

The member in question is to be informed that an excommunication is
under way. Once the member in question is informed, all
excommunication processes and communications are to be made public. 

--- END
