spoon-business: Proposal: Binding Contracts

[Dan Waldron <wald7330@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The following is a new proposal entitled "Binding Contracts":

[[Generic binding-contract rules that effectively handle trades, subgames,
and any other kind of short- or long-term agreement between agents.  For a
game, all it would take is a contract with a few rules in-contract for who
can be a player and how the game is to be conducted. For a trade, even
less.  If you want a really elaborate game to run in many instances or
over a very long time, you could even make it in rule form that the bank
would offer a contract for the game when whatever conditions you like were
to be met.  I know it doesn't look like much but this took me almost three
hours to write. I had to completely rewrite it several times to get
all the loopholes and conceptual problems out.  The only thing missing is
some way of holding property in an account for a game--this can easily be
done in another proposal by someone else.]]


1. Enact a new rule entitled "Contracts", with text as follows:

A Contract is an object.  Each contract must consist of a list of
signatory agents and a set of requirements placed upon those agents.

Contracts are revisable objects.  Their base serial number is 1000.
Contracts may be created, destroyed, or otherwise altered only as
specified by the rules.

Signatories to a contract are required to follow all requirements and
restrictions placed upon them by the text of that contract.

Any contract with no signatories is automatically destroyed.


2. Enact a new rule entitled "Optional Contract Parts", with text as
follows:

A contract may optionally specify conditions under which agents may become
signatories, although it may not require anything of non-signatories.

A contract may optionally specify conditions under which an agent is
removed from its list of signatories.

A contract may specify conditions under which it is destroyed.  This is
equivalent to removing all signatories from its list of signatories.


3. Enact a new rule entitled "Contract Offers", with text as follows:

An agent may create a contract offer at any time, by posting the offer to
the public forum.  A contract offer is an object with a title and text
that describes a contract object to be created, and the activation
condition for that contract.  The agent creating the contract offer may
destroy it at any time before the activation condition has been met.

An contract offer may optionally specify which agents are eligible for the
contract, either by name, serial number, or eligibility conditions.  If
unspecified every agent is eligible.

When the activation condition is met, the described contract is created.
Eligible agents who have posted eir agreement to the terms in the Public
Forum are signatories to the new contract.


4. Create a new rule titled "Contract Restrictions", text as follows:

No contract may exempt any agent from any rule of this game.  Contracts
have only the power to require action from their signatories: they are not
part of the rules of this game and never take precedence over the rules of
this game.

No contract may require any action from, or put limits on the action of a
nonsignatory.

No contract may require any transfer of property to a nonsignatory.


5. Create a new rule titled "Contract records", text as follows:

It is the responsibility of the Official Bean Counter to recognize the
creation and destruction of, and changes to contracts and contract offers.
A list of all contracts and their signatories; and all contract offers and
their potential signatories shall be part of the Official Bean Counter's
nweekly report.


6. Create a new rule titled "The Motion to Escape a Contract", text as
follows:

The Motion to Escape is a Secondary motion, Approvable by four-day
unanimous consent or by voting.  The Motion to Escape should list one or
more Agents to be released from a specified contract.  The motive order
corresponding to a Motion to Escape directs the Official Bean Counter to
remove the specified agent or agents from the list of signatories of the
specified contract.

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Poulenc