Call for Candidates for the 37th Term of CDS Government

 

It's election time in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. Unlike most places in Second Life, the CDS chooses it's leadership. And twice a year, they have an election for their Representative Assembly and their Chancellor. 

The schedule for this spring's election go as follows:

April 8 - Census of citizens for eligibility to run for office

April 15 - Citizen qualification deadline for right to vote

April 18 - Call for Candidates for Chancellor and for RA

May 1 - Deadline for Declaration of Candidacy

May 4 - Dean posts list of candidates

May 7 - Campaigning starts

May 14 - Polls open

May 21 - Polls close

May 22 - 31, incoming RA take their affirmations of office and members meet to elect their officers

June 1 - The RA and Chancellor of the 37th Government of the CDS take office.

It was on April 17, a day early, that the Call for Candidates went out.

Today (April 17) is the first day to declare your candidacy for the offices of Representative Assembly (RA) and Chancellor. These are very important offices for our CDS Community. When we elect these representatives we are electing friends and neighbors to work on our behalf to set the direction of our community, enact our laws and regulations, and manage all the tasks that keep the CDS a wonderful place to live. Now is your time to participate and declare candidacy.

So far, one person, Almut Brunswick, has declared his intention to run. More will certainly follow in the next ten days. 

In contrast to many real-life elections, the CDS elections have remained largely drama-free for some years.  

Stay tuned for more information.
 

CDS Election Results

Last week, the elections in the Confederation of Democratic Simulators took place. With the Chancellor Samara Barzane (Kyoko) running unopposed, the only contest was for the six people running for five open seats in the Representative Assembly. On Saturday May 18, Callipygian Christensen announced the results in a group announcement, and on the forums.

As  a member of the SC, and manager of these election polls, I would like to thank all the candidates who placed their names on the ballot and offered to serve.

The successful candidates,  forming the next RA, will be:

Em Warden
Lyubov
Laura Azalee
Rosie Gray and
MadmaxSoulLover.

Twenty four (24) ballots were cast representing only 37.5% of eligible voters.

Congratulations to the winners.

CDS Election Campaign Begins Tomorrow

With the US Presidential Election in real-life news, one noted Second Life community is gearing up for it's own, the Confederation of Democratic Simulators or CDS. Tomorrow, Saturday May 4,  marks the start of campaigning for the candidates of it's Representative Assembly.

For five positions in the Representative Assembly, six candidates have stepped forward.

Emwarden Resident ( Em Warden)
20180414 Resident (Lyubov)
Laura Azalee
Rosie Gray
Emilia Avindar (Emilia Dagostino)
MadmaxSoulLover Resident

Of the position of Chancellor, Samara Barzane (Kyoko) is unopposed, and will continue for another term.

Of campaign signs, they can be placed in the following public CDS locations: Colonia Nova (67/193/43), Neufreistadt (159/182/173), Locus Amoenus (46/205/24). There is also the following guidelines.

No scripted signage is permitted in any location, other than a simple notegiver that hands out your info when touched. Please limit signage to a land impact of 3. It may be practical to make your signs fullbright, to be seen in all light conditions but please avoid glow, as it can be quite erratic and make signs unreadable in some viewers.

Please limit the size of your sign to 2m x 2m x .5m. on public land - on private land you can use any size you want of course, keeping in mind the encouragement to 'use good taste and common sense'

Campaign events are encouraged, and can be announced in group notices and group IMs. But campaign material cannot be distributed this way. The candidates are also expected to conduct their campaigns in a civil and respectful manner.

Check the CDS blog for more information.

CDS Calling For Candidates For Election

Yesterday, the CDS announced it was calling for residents among it's citizenry to run as candidates in it's upcoming elections for their Representative Assembly and office of Chancellor. Those eligible to run were listed in the CDS census a few days ago.

You qualify to stand for office if you are listed on both censuses( April 6th and 13th) and no challenge is received and upheld to bar you from doing so.

If you wish to declare as a candidate, send a notecard, inworld, to the inventory of the Dean, Roguegeek Cooperstone AND to Soro Dagostino, stating  your name and whether you are running for Chancellor or RA . The Dean or Soro will post the names of candidates as they are received.

CDS citizens have until April 30 to declare they're running for office. On May 1, the Dean will announce a list of candidates for both the Assembly and office of Chancellor. The campaign season officially starts May 4. On May 11, the polls open and stay open until May 17.

CSD Announcement: Han Held Declares For Reelection

Just giving everyone a head's up that when Oct 31st rolls around, I will be sending the Dean of the SC my declaration of Candidacy to be the Chancellor for the 30th Term of the Representative Assembly.

We are unique in SL; unlike Zoha or Caledon or any other estate **WE** shape the decisions of our estate. But we can ONLY do that through participation.

I encourage everyone to vote, and to run for office as well.

Thank you for giving me the chance to serve.

Hannah Marie Tempestwolf's (Han Held)

Announcement: Dates For Upcoming Election Campaign For CDS

Official Dates, Election of 30th RA and Chancellor

This is official notice of the relevant dates for the 30th Representative Assembly Election and Election of the Chancellor.

Dean of SC notifies citizens of key dates: Sept 30 (Forum posting and inworld group notice)

Qualification deadline to run for office : 12 noon SLT Oct 1 (census generated on this date by Sudane)
Qualification deadline for right to vote: 12 noon SLT Oct 11 (census generated on this date by Sudane)
Deadline for declaration to run for an office: 12 noon SLT Oct 31 (via notecard to the SC dean)

Dean posts official list of candidates: Nov 2 (Forum posting and inworld group notice)
Campaign officially starts: Nov 3
Polls open : 12 noon SLT Nov 10
Polls close: 12 noon SLT Nov 17

Dean of SC announces names of the new RA and chancellor when received (Forum posting and inworld group notice)
Inaugural RA Meeting (LRA selection) 24 Nov 2018

Qualification means that:
You own a parcel of land in the CDS and that land is held in your own name (not deeded to a group) and that your tier is not in arrears at the time a census is taken.

If you wish to stand for office and/or vote it is your responsibility to ensure that you meet the qualification requirements.

The CDS Election Process, Part One

In recent years, elections in the United States have become increasingly unpopular, partisans of both major parties painting the opposition as the most despicable villains, and moderates increasingly turned off by both the drama and what many see as a process that brings to power people not particularly interested in their well-being. With this in mind, it may come as a surprise to some that a place in Second Life has made politics work. The Confederation of Democratic Simulators is unique from other communities in that it has a functioning government with representatives and a Chancellor, as well as elections to determine who stays and who gets to step in. I had a few words with one of the people there, Hannah Marie Bloodtempestwolf (Han Held), about how the elections are done in this first of two articles about them.

Read the story in People.

CDS Gearing Up For Election

It will soon be election time for the Confederation of Democratic Simulators. Although officially the campaign doesn't start until May 5, those eligible to vote and run for office are determined by census this month. This will be the CDS's 29th Representative Assembly Election and Election of the Chancellor.

The deadline for local residents to run for office is 12 Noon SL time on May 2. On May 4, the CDS Dean of the Scientific Council  will post the official list of candidates, both in an inworld notice and the CDS forum) The campaign officially begins May 5. The polls open to vote on May 12, and close on May 19. On May 26, the Dean announces the names of the new Representative Assembly and Chancellor. The current Chancellor is Rosie Gray.

Residents qualify to vote in CDS elections if they hold land in their name in one or more of the CDS sims, and their tier is paid on time when the census is taken.

Check the CDS blog for more information.

Linden Lab Updates Terms of Service, DMCA Process Stricter

Linden Lab recently announced that there will be an update to the Second Life Terms of Service, which will take effect on July 31. One noteworthy change is that concerning DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notices, in Section Twelve, Part Two, at the bottom of the ToS page, or their "Intellectual Property Infringement Notification Policy."

To begin with, the Lab will not respond to any DMCA requests made inworld. Anyone interested has to either fax them, at, (415) 520-9660, or send a "snail mail" letter.

Linden Research, Inc.
945 Battery Street
San Francisco, California 94111
Attention: Intellectual Property Team

Then there was the following:

Please be aware that under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), you may be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys' fees incurred by us or our users, if you knowingly materially misrepresent that material or activity is infringing.

Looking up this law, it basically states, "anyone filing a claim they either know is false or unsure whether it's true or not may be taken to court." Or as Hamlet Au not so delicately put it, "If you waste our time with frivolous claims, we may just sue your a**."

Hamlet Au got several responses to his article, all positive. One responded, "This is a good thing. I know two recently who have had DCMA filed against them out of jealousy of (a) better product. " Another commented, "This change has been a long time in coming - many genuine SL merchants do NOT have the finances required to mount a defence on every claim no matter how frivolous, which has been one of the weaknesses of the DMCA with regards to SL. The threat of actual blowback in the event of malicious claims should also cut out some of the adventurism in this regard. It's one thing to write a policy and another to enforce it, though. Let's see how it affects things when it finally goes into effect."

So it seems Linden Lab made a move that, for a change, is getting approval from the residents. As one stated, it remains to be seen how it changes things.

Hat tip: Hamlet Au

Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: Second Life Could Use A Historical Preservation Process

It's been spoken that change is the only constant. In real-life people make the news and either die or fade away into obscurity, land gets built-on and the buildings are either bulldozed and replaced or rust away. Well, it's not always the case with the latter. Occasionally a battlefield or a building deemed of historic value may be preserved by law as a public resource.

In Second Life, most places quietly go up, exist for a short time, and fade away without much attention. But some become well-known and popular. While popularity can sometimes help a location stay afloat, such as donations or sales if the place has some means of making money, it does not always help. Sim owners finances can sour, or their real lives can otherwise get in the way. And so people are saddened as a favorite spot of theirs closes down, sometimes after having been up for years.

Over time, a number of well-designed places have faded away. Many of these are memorials, such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial,  the dAlliez Land Headquarters September 11 Memorial, and the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Others are reproductions of real life historic areas such as the picturesque Mont Saint Michel, the cleverly-built "Crooked House" (which was up as late as July 2012 but does not appear in recent searches), Shakespeare's Globe Theater, and others. Sometimes a favorite location is saved, such as the International Space Museum. There has been one case of a vanished place being brought back: The Lost Gardens of Apollo. But so many times an owner looking for help to maintain his/her location cannot find it.

Only twice has Linden Lab stepped forward to save a location. The first time was with Svarga, an artificial working ecosystem that was considered one of the virtual world's seven wonders. The more recent time was with the SS Galaxy, which announced it's closing following a blunder by Linden Lab, but the Lab would soon step in to preserve it.

But will this be it? Will these be the only two places that Linden Lab will intervene to save?

One thing Linden Lab could do is start a process of preserving the most noted sims. Perhaps every year or every six months, it could ask the residents on it's blog "Which area should be preserved?" There could also be an option for residents to write-in a location to be brought back (or perhaps rebuilt by volunteers) should no noteable location popular with the residents. Depending on how Linden Lab stores sim data, this could take some time.

Could there be another kind of process? Possibly, though without listening to the public it would be a tricky business. One complication for any process is for places like Insilico and Steelhead, part of what made them great was the people. Having them around as preserved museum pieces would be of mixed news to their fans as they would no longer be "alive" as active roleplay and community areas.

But in any event, Second Life could use a way that allows some sims that help make Second Life great from fading away when their owners are no longer able to keep them up.

Bixyl Shuftan