Memo from the School of Law
It has come to our attention that the Imperial Secretary of War of the Rottweiler Empire has been duly delegated to determine the outbreak of hostilities in the Blogosphere and the Empire. There seems to be some confusion on the issue, so the School of Law has taken upon itself to offer some advice.
Firstly, the Imperial Secretary of War is not, as some comments at his blog imply, serving in a UN-like capacity to determine if a blog war is permitted or not. Rather, it appears that the Secretary's Imperial mandate is limited to serving in a registrative capacity, to serve as a final public record as to who is at war, who formally opened hostilities, and the final outcome.
In addition, formally declaring war is regarded as an honorable action by the American Hegemon: To posit that the French would declare war before launching an attack as a justification for NOT issuing a formal declaration is vacuous, since this is an argument founded on an experience base of exactly 0 incidents as far as the Fifth Republic is concerned.
While not formally putting forth a Blogospheric version of the Geneva Convention, the School of Law suggests that the following general guidelines be followed by combatants, and used as rules of judgment by bystanders:
1. Opponents shall limit their attacks to the person and blog of their opponent, and not be extended to non-combatant family members or friends. However, if a family member or friend has a blog and jumps into the fray, they then become a legal target.
2. A combatant shall not mailbomb their opponent's e-mail addresses, attack their physical server, or engage in any activity illegal in either party's jurisdiction that is designed to silence their opponent by denying them access to the Internet.
3. The first person who accuses his opponent of being a Nazi (neo or otherwise), shall be indicted, with the evidence brought before the Emperor or a neutral third party for ajudication. If found guilty of making an unfounded accustation, they will automatically lose the war.
4. Troll-like behavior is permissible, but only if limited to their opponent's blogs, and only under their own name.
The School of Law hopes that this will clarify the issues, and invites commentary and suggestions for additional strictures, or criticisms of the above suggestions.
Posted by ptah at August 13, 2003 03:41 PMVery nice foundation you've laid there.
Posted by: aelfheld at August 14, 2003 12:51 PM