Global Village BBS Laws and Policy

Version 1.3 - August 2005

General

Article 1

Global Village BBS features a game called 'CUBES game'. It is provided until further notice and all or parts of it may be terminated by the BBS administration at any time. The participation is free for all members of Global Village BBS.

Article 2

The term 'CUBES' is an abbreviation for 'Currency Unit in BBS and Ex- change of Stocks'. It represents an artificial monetary unit (MU) that is not convertible to any other currency at any time or place.

Article 3

No rights and no status whatsoever may be derived from holding a certain amount of MUs. Changes in game rules may result in a reduction or annulment of any user's number of MUs.

Flags

Article 4

An informational flag is derived from every user's number of MUs at least once per day. The flag is made available to the public in the user's BBS profile. Depending on the MU count, it reads

a) 'Master of CUBES', if the user owns more MUs than any other user,
b) 'CUBES Player GOLD', if the user is among the top three users,
c) 'CUBES Player SILVER', if the user is among the top ten users,
d) 'CUBES Player BRONZE', if the user has more MUs than 90% of the users,
e) 'CUBES Best Of Five', if the user has more MUs than 80% of the users,
f) 'CUBES Player's Upperclass', if the user has more MUs than 50% of the users,
g) or 'Normal CUBES Player' in all other cases.

Earning monetary units

Article 5

MUs may be earned by being an active part of the BBS community. Activity is measured by creation of posts, writing X-messages and online time. Furthermore, MUs may be earned by participation in single- or multiplayer games on the BBS.

Article 6

Every public or private communication forum ('room') on the BBS is assigned a number of MUs in the range from 1 to 10. This assignment is made by the responsible Sysops based on the room topic, but the Roomaide is allowed to make a suggestion for this number. For every post that is added to a room, its author will be awarded the according number of MUs.

Article 7

Article 6 is not valid for the room used for user-to-user communication, the so-called Mail> - room with room-number #1.

Article 8

If a post is deleted by its author for any reason, the original award of MUs is null and void. If a post is deleted by the Roomaide in charge, a Sysop or a Supervisor, twice the original award of MUs will be null and void.

Article 9

It is not allowed to deliberately distribute contents of one subject matter over several posts for the purpose of gaining MUs. Furthermore, it is forbidden to excessively flood ('spam') rooms with a large number of consecutive messages to different topics in order to gain MUs.

Article 10

Up to a maximum of six MUs per minute, every X-message that has been sent is awarded one MU.

Article 11

It is not allowed to deliberately distribute contents of one subject matter over several X-messages for the purpose of gaining MUs. Furthermore, it is forbidden to annoy other users by sending them a large number of X-messages in order to gain MUs. In addition to further prosecution, the fine imposed for such a violation must not be lower than set forth in Article 30(b).

Article 12

Every login to Global Village BBS is awarded two MUs. The user is only eligible for that award if he stays online for more than five minutes.

Article 13

After every 15 minutes of online time, the user is awarded one MU.

Transfer of MUs

Article 14

MUs may be transferred from one user to another only if there is no intention of reclaiming them (i.e. as donation), with a maximum of 500 MUs at the same time. This transfer is subject to a charge of 1% of the transferred sum, payable immediately. Until further notice, this charge is not collected. Abusing the transfer of MUs in order to avoid taxation according to Article 23 is subject to a fine according to Article 30(c).

Bank

Article 15

Every user is assigned exactly one bank account on Global Village. An arbitrary amount of MUs may be transferred to the bank account, afterwards these MUs are frozen for 30 calendar days. If the user does not withdraw the MUs before the end of this period, he is eligible for an interest between 0.2% and 10.0%, derived from:
interest [%] = 10.0 * exp(-0.00007 * MUs).
The period does not extend beyond 30 days and no automatic withdrawal of MUs is performed.

Stocks

Article 16

MUs may be used to buy shares provided within the Global Village Stock Exchange. The stock exchange lists 20 popular real-world companies along with the prices for their shares.

Article 17

A user may hold up to 255 shares of one company. Buying and selling of shares is free of charge at any time. Share prices are updated several times per day.

Article 18

Due to transmission errors in share prices, the BBS system may refuse to allow share transactions at any time. During this period, the prices may be listed as '-1'.

Article 19

In case of uncommon incidents, i.e. merger of companies or stock splits, the members of the administration may define an appropriate procedure.

Games

Article 20

Global Village BBS features several games which are part of the CUBES game:

a) The so-called 'bank robbery' is part of the CUBES game and is no illegal procedure at Global Village BBS. The rules of this game are being made available upon entering the game via the appropriate menu.
b) The 'roulette game' is part of the CUBES game. This game follows the rules of usual casino roulette games.
c) The 'poker game' is part of the CUBES game. The rules for this game are set forth in a separate help file.
d) The 'lottery game' is part of the CUBES game. The rules of this game are being made available upon entering the game. Drawings of winning numbers are performed once a week but may be subject to technical availability.
e) The 'one-armed bandit' is part of the CUBES game. The rules of this game are being made available upon entering the game.

Spending MUs

Article 21

MUs may only be spent within Global Village BBS. Any use of MUs outside of Global Village BBS, i.e. to pay for real-life services performed by other users, is illicit. Fines for such an offence must not be lower than set forth in Article 30(c).

Article 22

MUs may be spent in the 'CUBES shop' for all articles made available there and their respective prices.

Bonus system

Article 23

MUs are subject to a bonus system based on the users' activity within the BBS community during the course of one calendar month, with a bonus being payable at the first day of every subsequent month.

Article 24

The number of posts created during the course of one month in rooms which are dedicated discussion rooms, subject to proper moderation and do not contain babble activity, is used as the sole activity indicator (AI) for the bonus system. The list of rooms eligible to be included in the AI, is to be decided upon by the Supervisors, with the Sysops in charge having the right to make suggestions. This list must be made public upon initial compilation and at all subsequent changes, but the public listing need not include private or invite-only rooms.

Article 25

The bonus system's basis is a user's whole property of MUs at the end of every calendar month, being defined as the sum of all MUs available in liquid assets, the bank account according to Article 15 and all MUs invested in shares on the Global Village Stock Exchange in accordance with Article 16.

Article 26

The bonus rate is defined to be

a) 0.00 per cent of the bonus basis for an AI of 20 or less per month,
b) 0.50 per cent of the bonus basis for an AI of 60 or more per month.

Article 27

The monthly bonus is computed by multiplication of the bonus system's basis with the resulting bonus rate. The bonus must not exceed 20000 MUs.

Article 28

Every user wth a non-zero bonus has the right to a statement listing the bonus system's basis and the AI.

Obligations of users

Article 29

If any person gets knowledge of a flaw in the programming of the CUBES game, he must immediately file a report to the members of the administration. Abusing such a flaw for one's personal gain is subject to a fine according to Article 30(d).

Fines

Article 30

Non-compliance with the rules of the CUBES game is subject to a fine. Based on the number of violations and their severity, the members of the administration may impose

a) a fine of 1% of the total MUs a user owns,
b) a fine of 5% of the total MUs a user owns,
c) a fine of 10% of the total MUs a user owns,
d) the nullification of all MUs in a user's possession.

Article 31

If the members of the administration do not consider a fine according to Article 30(d) appropriate due to its seriousness, they may assign the case to the arbitration panel without delay.

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