Universal Laws
The Galactic Council, acting under the independent authority granted it pursuant to the Sirius Convention, hereby creates an independent law enforcement body, henceforth known as the Universal Police Force, or UPF. The UPF shall uphold and enforce all the Universal laws set forth below by the Council.
Effective immediately, the following laws are hereby in full force:
§ 1. Dybuk Releasers
a. Dybuk releasers are defined as ships that actually release Dybuk, or help a releaser in any way.
b. Dybuk releasers will be attacked on sight and cannot be forgiven unless the Prophets and the President unanimously agree to do so.
§ 2. Terminal Purgers
a. Terminal purgers are ships that purge terminals without the consent of the Wise Prophet.
b. Terminal purgers will be attacked on sight (unless pardoned by the Prophet of the Wise One).
§ 3. Piracy
a. Piracy is often difficult to prove, and the UPF will only intervene in clear cases. Ships of the same approximate size or tech-level (within about 25% mass or tech) will rarely be found to have engaged in piracy.
b. Generally, piracy is defined as a ship taking hostile action (attacking, or demanding modules, or demanding an energy transfer) against another ship under one or more of the following circumstances:
i. The hostile ship did not warn the victim they were going to be attacked;
(Specific exception: the attacker is continuing a previously announced attack)
ii. The victim is less than half the tech-level of the attacker; or
iii. The victim is less than 60 turns old.
(Specific exception: the attacker is no more than 20 turns older than the victim)
iv. General Exceptions that may apply: the attacker is a UPF ship enforcing the law; the attacker has already made the appropriate declaration in the Fierce One's hostile registry; the alliances of the attacker and victim are at war; or the victim failed to hail the attacker on the turn in question.
c. Evidence of piracy will be presented to the UPF, which will conduct a trial to consider the evidence and mete out punishment (if warranted). UPF Directors will act as judges, and will carefully consider the evidence. Where piracy is found to have occurred, the court will listen closely to what the injured party feels is a just punishment. A normal punishment would be to attack on sight.
d. The removal of pirate status occurs when a deal is made and carried out between the pirate and the injured party regarding compensation. In special cases the pirate can be pardoned without a compensation deal being reached, if the court determines that the injured ship has demanded too much, or when the court determines that the punishment imposed is sufficient. However, this is highly unusual -- an injured ship is entitled to demand significantly more than just getting its damaged modules back.
In addition, the Galactic Council hereby declares that the following laws shall be effective on Turn 854:
§ 4. Smuggling.
a. Contraband goods are Euphoria (!), Ray-guns (!), Sharp Sticks (!), Steely Knives (!), and Windows (!).
b. Any carrying of contraband goods is considered smuggling, with the exception of goods that have just been taken in combat from a smuggling ship. If you win contraband in combat, such items must be scrapped immediately.
c. In order to confirm a ship as a smuggler, a UPF ship must be in the same system as the ship in question, and personally observe that ship while it is carrying contraband.
d. First time smugglers will be required to gift the contraband to the UPF member for destruction. Where there are multiple pods containing contraband, the smuggler will 'gift any one module' and scrap or destroy all the remaining contraband immediately. If 'gift any one module' is not possible (due to the smuggler not actually being paired with a UPF ship), scraping or destroying the contraband will be sufficient to comply with the law.
Failure to comply will make the smuggler subject to additional fines and penalties.
e. Second time smugglers will be required to 'gift any one module' and scrap or destroy the contraband immediately. Where 'gift any one module' is not possible (due to the smuggler not actually being paired with a UPF ship), an energy transfer (or transfers) can be required instead.
Failure to comply will cause the smuggler to be declared a galactic criminal and attacked on sight.
f. Ships caught smuggling a third time will be declared galactic criminals and attacked on sight.
g. If a ship wants to be pardoned for the crime of smuggling, the captain must appeal in writing to the UPF. The Directors of the UPF will then consider the pardon, and might decree some alternate punishment or compensatory assignments. Assignments will usually have a time limit, and during this time the ship will not be attacked unless it again carries contraband, or commits some other punishable crime (in which case the assignment automatically fails).
For the record, the Galactic Council has attempted to deal with the worsening problem of contraband trading for more than 800 turns without success. Most ships have ignored the enemy status such trading subjects them to, and the ships of the Galactic Fleet (commonly referred to as "aliens") are no match for these smugglers.
While the Galactic Council can respect honorable combat with non-alien ships, they cannot, and will not, tolerate contraband trading by such ships any longer. The Council has no choice but to implement these stronger measures.
All inquiries about these laws should go through the UPF's Directors, Constitution and Wolverine, at upf@plit.dk.