Akillian Talleyrand
TNPer
The Land of Kings and Emperors Government has seen a statement released by the NationStates Moderators announcing that the player Bob Moran has been operating an illegal recruitment script for two regions: The Black Riders and the LKE. The Moderators announced that the Administrators had imposed a sanction of a 3 month ban on all recruiting from the LKE as a punishment for Bob Moran’s illegal script.
The only form of automated recruitment sanctioned by the LKE has been a legal API recruitment script on Onderkelkia’s nation. This has been in continuous operation since 2013. Bob Moran had no involvement with this script and he had no access to our API key. No one else in the LKE had any knowledge of Bob Moran’s actions. Bob Moran was appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff at the end of January 2015 and Interior Minister in 8th March, but neither of these positions entitled him to act in the way he did on behalf of the LKE. We had no knowledge of association with Anur-Sanur/Frak at the time when he was appointed to these positions.
We condemn Bob Moran’s actions. Indeed we are in a state of total shock and outrage over them. Of the many treasons to befall the LKE over its near decade long history, this is the worst. Now the Moderators have confirmed his wrongdoing, he has been banished for life from The LKE by the Emperor under Lettre de Cachet 0007. This is only the second time this extremely grave extrajudicial procedure has been used to ban a citizen since 2007.
The Moderator announcement added that Bob Moran’s script was developed in concert with the DOS player Anur-Sanur/Frak. It is known Anur-Sanur/Frak despised the LKE, as well as the Emperor as an individual. It is extremely unlikely that he would have carried out any actions with the intention of helping us. If Bob Moran was working with Anur-Sanur/Frak, then it is quite possible that their actions were intended to ultimately damage the LKE.
We stand ready to assist with any investigation into Bob Moran’s actions.
We note the Administrators’ punishment of a three month ban on recruitment imposed against the LKE. We have concerns about the fact that this ban was announced before any investigation into whether anyone else in the LKE was aware of Bob Moran’s actions, especially as Sedgistan’s announcement referred to the LKE as a whole using the script: in fact the LKE merely (for the time before it was discovered) unknowingly benefited from the script, rather than having used it. We will be submitting an appeal against this ban on three grounds:
1. It offends all principles of fairness and natural justice for collective punishment to be imposed on the entire LKE, in the absence of any intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence for operating the script on our part. Apart from the fact we knew nothing about it, there is no way the LKE could have detected what Bob Moran was doing any-more than the Moderators did prior to Bob Moran’s involvement with Anur-Sanur/Frak being publicly aired. Any level of sanction is therefore unfair to the LKE. The LKE as a region has been committed to this site for 10 years; our players don’t deserve to be treated unfairly simply to set an example when we have done nothing wrong.
2. The 3 month ban on recruitment was surely intended to go beyond the question of correcting the number of additional nations gained from Bob Moran’s illegal script, to also include elements of retribution and deterrence. Therefore it cannot be said that the LKE is merely being deprived of what Bob Moran gave it. It is additionally very hard to calculate the precise number of nations that the LKE would be deprived of with any period of recruitment restriction. The Moderators have yet to disclose to us, despite a request, precisely how long Bob Moran’s LKE script was in operation.
3. If regions can be sanctioned for actions over which they had no control, the actions of one player (who was potentially undertaking an act of sabotage against them), then this provides an incentive for individuals to carry out illegal recruitment on behalf of regions they dislike in order to cause them damage. This action could therefore be said to encourage rather than deter rule-breaking.
We hope that that the Administrators will review and reverse their decision on the matter.
Onder Kelkia, Emperor
HEM Tiberius, Crown Prince
Cephal Talleyrand, Prince Imperial
Wilhelm Somerset, Lord Protector
Josh Sebastian, Prime Minister
The only form of automated recruitment sanctioned by the LKE has been a legal API recruitment script on Onderkelkia’s nation. This has been in continuous operation since 2013. Bob Moran had no involvement with this script and he had no access to our API key. No one else in the LKE had any knowledge of Bob Moran’s actions. Bob Moran was appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff at the end of January 2015 and Interior Minister in 8th March, but neither of these positions entitled him to act in the way he did on behalf of the LKE. We had no knowledge of association with Anur-Sanur/Frak at the time when he was appointed to these positions.
We condemn Bob Moran’s actions. Indeed we are in a state of total shock and outrage over them. Of the many treasons to befall the LKE over its near decade long history, this is the worst. Now the Moderators have confirmed his wrongdoing, he has been banished for life from The LKE by the Emperor under Lettre de Cachet 0007. This is only the second time this extremely grave extrajudicial procedure has been used to ban a citizen since 2007.
The Moderator announcement added that Bob Moran’s script was developed in concert with the DOS player Anur-Sanur/Frak. It is known Anur-Sanur/Frak despised the LKE, as well as the Emperor as an individual. It is extremely unlikely that he would have carried out any actions with the intention of helping us. If Bob Moran was working with Anur-Sanur/Frak, then it is quite possible that their actions were intended to ultimately damage the LKE.
We stand ready to assist with any investigation into Bob Moran’s actions.
We note the Administrators’ punishment of a three month ban on recruitment imposed against the LKE. We have concerns about the fact that this ban was announced before any investigation into whether anyone else in the LKE was aware of Bob Moran’s actions, especially as Sedgistan’s announcement referred to the LKE as a whole using the script: in fact the LKE merely (for the time before it was discovered) unknowingly benefited from the script, rather than having used it. We will be submitting an appeal against this ban on three grounds:
1. It offends all principles of fairness and natural justice for collective punishment to be imposed on the entire LKE, in the absence of any intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence for operating the script on our part. Apart from the fact we knew nothing about it, there is no way the LKE could have detected what Bob Moran was doing any-more than the Moderators did prior to Bob Moran’s involvement with Anur-Sanur/Frak being publicly aired. Any level of sanction is therefore unfair to the LKE. The LKE as a region has been committed to this site for 10 years; our players don’t deserve to be treated unfairly simply to set an example when we have done nothing wrong.
2. The 3 month ban on recruitment was surely intended to go beyond the question of correcting the number of additional nations gained from Bob Moran’s illegal script, to also include elements of retribution and deterrence. Therefore it cannot be said that the LKE is merely being deprived of what Bob Moran gave it. It is additionally very hard to calculate the precise number of nations that the LKE would be deprived of with any period of recruitment restriction. The Moderators have yet to disclose to us, despite a request, precisely how long Bob Moran’s LKE script was in operation.
3. If regions can be sanctioned for actions over which they had no control, the actions of one player (who was potentially undertaking an act of sabotage against them), then this provides an incentive for individuals to carry out illegal recruitment on behalf of regions they dislike in order to cause them damage. This action could therefore be said to encourage rather than deter rule-breaking.
We hope that that the Administrators will review and reverse their decision on the matter.
Onder Kelkia, Emperor
HEM Tiberius, Crown Prince
Cephal Talleyrand, Prince Imperial
Wilhelm Somerset, Lord Protector
Josh Sebastian, Prime Minister
