We the users of the free and open source community, in order to form a more perfect network, establish justice, ensure chat tranquility, provide for our network defence, promote open source software, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and future users, establish this constitution for IRCNow.
Article I
Rules will be created by a congress, which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives. No religious test will be required.
Each year, subnets will choose representatives for the house in proportion to the number of verified, active users in each subnet. No person may represent a subnet unless he has been an active, verified user on that subnet for at least 3 years. The house has the sole power to impeach the president.
In the senate, each subnet will choose two senators. Each senator gets one vote. Each senator serves for three years. Each year, one-third of the senators will be elected. No person can be a senator who has not been an active, verified user on that subnet for a minimum of 5 years. The vice president shall lead the senate. The senate has the sole power to try impeachments. A two-thirds majority in the senate is needed.
All officers must report any gifts or income received from competing businesses. After the network begins paying salaries, no officer is allowed to receive any gifts or income from competing businesses without the approval of congress.
All rules for raising money must begin in the house and later passed in the senate. The president has 10 days to veto it, but this can be overturned if there is a two-thirds majority in the house and a two-third majority in the senate.
A majority in either the house or the senate forms a quorum.
The congress has the power to:
Charge fees for network-wide transactions
Tax active users
Spend network funds
Regulate cryptocurrencies
Set terms of service and privacy policies
Write copyright licenses
Decide upon services, software, and protocols used across the network
Make deals with competitors and other networks
Train and admit new subnets
Punish abusers and criminals
The congress is not allowed to ban users, and rules cannot be used to punish crimes committed before the rules are passed
Each house has the power to ban its own members for misconduct or for not faithfully performing duties with a two-thirds majority vote.
Users who are banned or frozen have the right to appeal to a higher court except during times of emergencies as approved by vote in the network council
A financial report of all revenues and expenses from the network must be published each year.
Users who are banned or frozen have the right to appeal to a higher court except during times of emergencies as approved by vote in the network council
No subnet may make a deal with another network.
Amendments to this constitution can be passed if 3/4ths of all subnets approve.
Any other powers not mentioned here which are not forbidden are reserved to the subnets.
Article II
A president will be elected once every 2 years. He must have been an active, registered user for at least 8 years. No religious test will be required. The president must agree to uphold the constitution.
The president will be elected by the subnets. Each subnet gets votes equal to the number of its senators plus representatives.
The president must report any gifts or income received from competing businesses. After the network begins paying salaries, the president cannot receive any gifts or income from competing businesses.
The president's duty is to enforce the rules of the network. He has the power to make deals with competitors and other networks provided he has 2/3rds support of the senate.
If the president is unable to fulfill his duty, the vice president will take his place. If the vice president is unable, then the house will vote for the president.
The president has the right to pardon banned abusers. He also can appoint officers to help him with enforcing the rules.
Article III
Judges shall be appointed by the Christian church.
The judges, who must be Christians of good standing, decide on content moderation policy in accordance with the Bible.
The judges will also decide cases involving disputes between subnets, and disputes between a subnet and foreign network.
Article IV
New subnets may be admitted by the congress into the network, but not as a result of a split without the subnet's permission.
Each subnet is guaranteed a republican form of government, and the network shall protect each of them against foreign attacks
Article V
Amendments to this constitution can be made if 3/4ths of all subnets agree.
User Bill of Rights
Congress and the subnets shall make no rule to prohibit the free exercise of the Christian religion as taught by the Bible.
Free and open source software, being necessary to the liberty of a free network, the right of the users to software used by the network shall not be infringed. Users have the right to use, modify, copy, and distribute any and all of the software used on the network, for any purpose and at any price without needing to ask for permission.
The right of the people to privacy against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated. Search warrants can be given only upon probable cause where the items to be searched and seized are described.
No user can be banned without a fair trial, except during times of great danger; no user can be punished for the same reason twice; nor will he be required to be a witness against himself; nor can he be deprived of any money without a fair trial.
Accused users shall get a fast trial by a fair jury.
Punishment must fit the crime and must not be excessive or cruel
Any other powers not mentioned here which are not forbidden are reserved to the subnets and users.