Fwurg

[Nehket Aeka]

"Fellow senators,

I has come to my attention that the Union currently allows special goods to be traded with private parties on the Open Market. I think that this poses a serious security risk. The obvious example is Capital Ships. By allowing such private parties to acquire one or two capital ships, we encourage large corporations and wealthy individuals to maintain their own private army. These armies could easily turn mercenary should their patron fail to pay their salaries on time.

The same holds for . Think for a moment, on the methods used to create the so called 'Extreme Crevasses', or other climatological phenomena. Such volatile goods should not be allowed to fall into the hands of private parties, as they can easily be converted into make-shift weapons.

Furthermore, buying such special goods from non-Union Members entails significant risks as well, such as the risk of buying tampered goods... We do not wish one of our fleets to experience a hyperspace drive malfunction just as another superpower moves their fleets near us.

Therefore, I would like to propose that we regulate the Special Goods. To this end, we have drawn up a proposal."

The following document was sent to all representatives.

Special Goods Regulation Act

To protect the Union from external influences, and to maintain peace and order, some dangerous goods are regulated.

1. The following goods are defined as Regulated goods: , , , , , and any future special goods
2. Regulated goods may not be bought or sold on the Open Market.
3. Regulated goods may not be sold to factions that are not Union Members
   1. Exceptions to this clause can be made either by vote, or by unanimous approval of the Cabinet
4. Regulated goods may not be bought from factions that are not Union Members

"On first glance, it might appear as if there is an issue with this proposal: This law may allow certain member worlds to block access to certain goods to a specific group for political reasons. But this is not something that is caused by this act. This can happen even now, if the suppliers of the open market, that is, those Union Members that produce large quantities of these special goods, decided to withhold their goods from the Open Market.

Prices would sky-rocket, and they could leverage their goods for political reasons. Even worse, this might even lead to other superpowers wishing to sell their special goods to groups that are pressured in such a way, and that would have significant consequences for Union security!

So in reality, what seems to be caused by this proposal is already the case. And this proposal actually protects us from such a scenario by preventing such dangerous trades.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Commerce has commissioned a study into the effects of this proposal, and the results predict that the number of smaller economies that will start up their own special goods industry will increase by 21%."

((OOC: It seems we have hit one of those annoying IC/OOC discrepancies. The goods on the Open Market need to come from somewhere -- so there must be a few NPCs that actually produce megatonnes of the stuff, otherwise the OM would never be able to sell for prices as low as 5.2 . I have assumed that no goods on the Open Market magically appears, but that in the IC world, they are produced by one of the NPCs and sold to the OM (for no good reason I can think of, but hey, we need to explain it somehow O_o) If this needs to be discussed, someone make an OOC thread for it!))

[Gloria Perfect]

"The Three Circles Council abhors this idea of regulation! The Three Circles Council is unanimously against. Let the trade flow freely....", says Gloria Perfect.

[Atheos]

"The Astai Republic sees the benefit of union built versus ones possibly built by enemies. This can be extended to other regulated goods. We find regulation in this instance quite agreeable. We do not want to suddenly have these extreme crevasses on Enthor."

[0x71A7E17A]

This proposal would lower Pareto efficiency if made into law.

[Senator Gregory Konev]

"We believe that a regulation on is a very good idea as these can be a direct hazard to the people. We are however unsure what the reason is preventing union members from selling , and to other groups outside the union.

As for buy these form outside the union I think this is the responsibility of the buyer to check the quality of there products. This seems more of a regulation for Union projects than something that should be for every union member."

[Senator Danar Tassar]

"We of the Teprogrenaian Consensus thinks regulating the special goods is an good way to increase the safety of the Union, though we agree with Senator Gregory Konev about point 4 of the proposal. If individual members of the Union likes to take the risk and buy special goods from outside the Union, they should be free to do so. Union projects should not take such risks of course.

Can you provide us with a reason why individual members should be forbidden to buy special goods from outside the Union besides to protect them against themselves?"

[Senator Harek]

The Hiocan Society agrees with Senator Gregory Konev. We do not see the necessary to regulated the trade of special goods and you can do your own quality checks.

Furthermore we think that by regulating special goods the illegal trade will increase and crime rates will go up.

[Senator Odakim V of the Rising Suns of Deominius]

"Senator Harek makes a great point! Why isn't the ministry of defence acting against the black market in capital warships? The fact that it even exists should be of grave concern! I demand a committee be formed to investigate this immediately!"

[Lady Peinaili de Montrève]

While the Sundarian Federation can agree with the idea of the proposal, we are of the opinion that article 4 might be damaging to the Union, as this may result in shortages which can be extremely harmful to the Union economy.

We believe the regulation of special goods is a good incentive, as it promotes more members work towards producing these goods themselves. On the short term this proposal would influence the market and stew the prices of these goods to a higher level, on the long term this will reduce the Union's dependency on outside producers.

While the long term effect are clearly beneficial, the short term effects of both higher prices and shortages in supply could present a serious problem, especially when it comes to .

In order to set up and maintain our hyperspace lanes, a considerable amount of is needed and it would be hard to keep up with the (incremental) demand if these cannot be acquired through non-member suppliers. While setting up such a production line, with sufficient output, within the Union is beneficial in the long run; the set-up costs and time required for preparation are considerable.

[Nehket Aeka]

"Thank you all for taking the time to carefully consider the imlications of this act.

I would like to start off by addressing the concern raised by senator Konev and expanded upon by senator Tassar: the buying of special goods from non-union members.

Let me elaborate on this. You ask why special goods should not be bought from parties outside the Union, as such purchases are the responsibility of the buying world. These special goods are inevitably used for infrastructure that is relevent to the whole Union. Consider and . These goods are used in the construction of survey fleets, which in turn are used as advance warnings of approaching fleets to allow the Union Defence Fleets to respond in a timely manner. By buying these goods from non-union members, we allow ourselves to be attacked from within.

The same holds for the point raised by senator de Montrève. If hyperspace lanes in the Union are constructed with malicious , a single command by an enemy could cause a complete fleet to engage a hyperjump into a sun or planet due to a misaligned calculation!

Senator de Montrève, do not forget that there are economies in the Union that have had years to establish themselves, and to build up the industries necessary for maintaining our infrastructure. In fact, as far as I have been informed the Union does not acquire its from external parties, but in fact buys these from established Union economies that produce trustworthy quality products.

As you see, we do not try to protect Union members from themselves, we try to protect the Union as a whole. This act is not about prohibiting trade and economic development. It is about the safety of the Union and its population.

I can easily explain why the , and should not be bought outside the Union, and while the example for is more involved, I assure you that these too can easily be exploited by malicious parties to destroy your world our poison your population."

"While we trust the judgement of Union worlds, the only way we can guarantee that no malicious special goods enter our economy is through carefull regulation."

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"It seems we all agree on the fact that we should not buy special goods from factions outside the Union due to serious security risks.

Although the current proposal would allow for careful regulation and an increase of 21% in the production of special goods by smaller economies, it also means a possible increase in price for all special goods, since the price is currently regulated by the Open Market.

I think that many factions currently agree on leaving section 2 out of the proposed law. Instead we should identify the current sellers and keep a close eye on the quality of the special goods in general. "

[Senator Danar Tassar]

"The Consensus does not agree on leaving section 2 out of the proposed law. When everybody can unchecked buy or sell their special goods via the open market, we loose complete sight of were the special goods are going to. This would make it a lot easier for pirates to buy a freighter as carrier with some fighter escorts. Or this can easily lead to operatives of hostile parties to buy the special goods and use them against us, by applying the climate feature we called 'ancient ruins' to a planet for example, or by assaulting the hyperspace lanes, or what else they can come up with. You get the picture.

We believe that the increased prices of the special goods will stabilise itself over time. If the goods get too expensive, other parties are likely to jump in and sell the same goods for a lesser price."

[Nehket Aeka]

In an uncommon failure of emotional control, the Veolian chancellor looked very surprised at the Praetorian's proposal.

"I think you might want to review your figures and calculations, before making such a claim, minister Ardios Eldrilith.", was all she said. She hoped that he would recover from his lapse of judgement at her mention that they were in cabinet together.

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

"It seems I might have jumped to conclusions. I mean to rephrase section 2 instead of removing it. Let me elaborate on my proposal.

The current Open market does not trade in Capital Ships for good reasons, I agree we should keep it this way.

Furthermore my opinion is that we could prevent a sudden increase in price for special goods. I have to agree that selling to the open market should be banned to make sure that these specials goods do not fall into the wrong hands. If we could identify the large suppliers of special goods and make sure that they are controlled or regulated by Union Factions there would still be a possibility to incidentally buy special goods for Union factions. For example a large part of the current supply on the open market is regulated by the High Chiefdom of Skuldda. Many of the smaller suppliers will not qualify but this should still leave some suppliers available. I believe this will still mean a slight increase in price and opportunities but would have a less drastic impact on the economy.

My proposal for section 2: "

Regulated goods may not be sold to the Open Market.
Regulated goods may only be bought on the Open Market from corporations that are controlled or regulated by Union Factions.

[Senator Danar Tassar]

"Senator Ardios Eldrilith, I think I don't understand your proposal clearly. As you state it now, then even factions like the High Chiefdom of Skuldda are not allowed to sell their mtcfs on the open market. As 'regulated goods may not be sold to the Open Market'. This lead that the only special products on he open market will come from entrepreneurs and dealers who are working outside the Union laws. Meaning that the special products are likely from the Hutt families, the Mandalorian fleets or the Core Hegemony as they can still sell their special goods to the Open Market. So buying special products from the open market implies buying special products from factions outside the Union, what is in conflict of section 4 of the proposed law. After all, it can be very hard to determine where the products come from at the open market.

Can you please explain your proposal a little further?"

[Senator Ardios Eldrilith]

((OOC: First of all for clarity I defined "Open Market" as independent businesses that sell their goods in the Union to Union Factions or or buy goods from Union Factions.

I defined it as selling TO the Open Market and buying FROM the Open Market. (It is a black box faction)

The use of the phrasing 'on the Open Market' is not clear enough in my proposal. For clarity the second line should be:
Regulated goods may only be bought from Open Market corporations that are controlled or regulated by Union Factions.

Sales between "Open Market" factions could already be banned using section 3 and 4.

In my proposal the Union NPC factions can still provide a limited amount of special goods as Open Market suppliers.))

"Trade between Union Members is always allowed since this is one of the basic principles of the Union.

In my proposal it is not allowed to sell special goods to third parties or independent corporations. This is due to the fact that they can provide them to our enemies.

My proposal does allow for open market corporations to sell their special goods to Union Factions if they are controlled or regulated by a Union Faction. Which means that a supplier within the High Chiefdom of Skuldda is allowed to sell their products to other Union factions as 'Open Market' supplier if they are regulated or controlled by the High Chiefdom of Skuldda."

[Nehket Aeka]

The chancellor remined silent and intead sent a text message to Ardios Eldrilith: I am not sure what you wish to accomplish with this stunt, so I will assume that this is an act instigated by a lapse of judgement instead of malice. I strongly advice you to halt your current course...

She then took the floor.

"Thank you, minister Eldrilith. But I think we should first address the issue that was raised by the senate: the fact that sale to and from non-union factions is prohibited. Unless everyone agrees that the security of the Union is paramount, and that accepting unregulated goods will harm the Union?"

[0x71A7E17A]

455 Method Not Valid in This State

Ardios Eldrilith [2013-03-15 12:42] > "It seems we all agree on the fact that we
should not buy special goods from factions outside the Union due to serious sec-
urity risks."

Non sequitur.

[Nehket Aeka]

"As no one has come forward to request more clarification, or to ask for explanations or changes to the proposal I will open a vote at the end of 95. Unless, of course, someone comes forward with another point of discussion."

[Senator Odakim V of the Rising Suns of Deominius]

"I am not used to being ignored!

I demand that the ministry of defence forms a committee to investigate the black market in capital ships immediately. Why hasn't anything been done yet to prevent further illegal trade in such sensitive goods?"

[Maria Latharion]

"I do not believe such a comity is necessary. The shear price of such vessels is far to high for most organizations to afford, I believe the danger lies with large factions and superpowers outside the Union. Such factions would be easily able to obtain capital ships with or without a black market."

Maria Latharion paused after having stayed quiet for a while to let her words sink in.

"I believe this law is to make it more difficult for such factions to obtain Union built goods and prevent sabotage of goods used by the Union and it's members."

The Astrian Lady-Senator looked at the Chancellor.

"Isn't that correct, Chancellor?"

[Nehket Aeka]

"That is indeed an important aspect of the proposal. As most special goods are used in projects that affect multiple Union members, we should be careful where these goods come from."

[Nehket Aeka]

"As no objections have been made, I have opened the vote on this matter."