Norms Module

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Purpose

The Norms Module handles rules, terms, rights, duties, exceptions, and amendment procedures for cooperation infrastructure.

It is not an illegal replacement for state law. It designs voluntary shared rules while respecting existing legal systems.

Problem

Cooperation needs participation conditions, rights, duties, exceptions, and change procedures.

If these stay scattered across governance, arbitration, safety, and non-goals, it becomes unclear which rules apply and how they can change.

Scope

• Shared rules
• Terms
• Rights and duties
• Exceptions
• Amendment procedures
• Scope of rule application
• Interface with state law
• Connection to governance and arbitration
• Consistency with Non-goals and Safety

Out of Scope

• Illegal replacement of state law
• Complete replacement of state courts
• Private punishment
• Ideological control
• Rules that block exit
• Opaque sanctions
• Actions that ignore participant rights

Relationship to Other Modules

• Governance: creates and changes rules
• Arbitration: handles disputes and rule violations
• Audit: verifies rule changes and application history
• Identity: defines who a rule applies to
• Federation: handles shared rules across organizations

Initial Notes

Early work should define safety-critical rules rather than adding many regulations.

Rules related to Non-goals, Safety, Code of Conduct, and Threat Model should not be weakened lightly.

Open Questions

• How should principles, rules, terms, and Decisions differ?
• How should legal review happen when state law may be involved?
• Who decides exceptions?
• When should correction be preferred over sanctions?
• How should different organization rules interoperate?