Imperial Decree 975

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(preamble)

Liv Dravot, Steward of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth, gives praise to the gods of the many Shirerithian Peoples in the name of:

AYREON IV, by the Kharenah of Zurvan, Qaisar Sathratiye, who, by this Imperial Decree, gives unto his subjects and retainers, greetings, and unto the gods of Shireroth, undying and unthinking obsequience.

Know that We, Mibaradardam be Khorshid va Mah Minamaz dadanam Zurvan, have in the first place dedicated to Zurvan this Decree which by his Kharenah is confirmed for Us and our heirs forever.

IMPERIAL DECREE 975: Benacian Data Network

Whereas the right of our citizens to affordable, verifiable, and lawful information is a sacred obligation upon the Imperial Government, and the profusion of rival, unregulated systems, has led to corruption, inefficiency and the critical data errors, we do hereby, exercising our right to issue Imperial Decrees in regards to national security and interstate infrastructure, ordain and decree the following:

Benacian Data Network
  1. The Benacian Data Network, or BDN, is the integrated totality of all viable communications technologies operated within the Imperial Republic.
  2. The regulation and operation of the BDN shall be in accordance with the manner determined appropriate by the lawfully constituted bodies established through this Decree.
  3. Communications technologies shall include all forms of broadcast media operated within the Imperial Republic.
  4. The physical infrastructure of the BDN and the principle of its operation is, by incontestable right under the Charter, the exclusive property of the Imperial Government.
  5. With the promulgation of this Decree the Elwnet service is to be discontinued with immediate effect and all other services are to be suppressed by the appropriate arms of the Imperial Constabulary.
Governance
  1. Our Lord the Radiant Sun, on the advice of the Minister of the Interior, shall appoint a person of suitable bearing to serve as Provost of the Posts, constituting the Corporate Persona of the Imperial Postal Service.
  2. It shall be the right of Provost of the Posts to exclusively maintain all forms and channels of communication including telecommunications and broadcasting.
  3. The Ministry of the Interior shall appoint Commissioners of Information, constituting the Office of Information within the Ministry of the Interior, to the exercise of the powers of the Imperial Government with regards to the regulation of the BDN and the direction of the Provost of the Posts within matters pertinent to his remit.
  4. The Provosts of the Posts may licence the creation of public communication services carried on the BDN by the Imperial Dominions with a remit for a particular jurisdiction and also carrying of broadcast and communication services by chartered and private companies.
  5. Imperial States may licence the creation of public communication services carried on the BDN as well as the carrying of broadcast and communication services by chartered and private companies in accordance with their domestic enabling arrangements.
  6. It shall be lawful for the Provost of the Posts and he is hereby authorised, with the Consent of the Commissioners of Information, from time to time, out of any Monies which may be from time to time appropriated by the Office of Bounties and Factorage and put at his disposal for that purpose, to purchase for the purposes of this Decree, the whole, or such parts as he shall think fit, of the Undertaking of any Company, and any Undertaking, and all other Property purchased under the Powers of this Decree, shall be vested in and held by the Provost of the Posts, in his corporate Capacity, and his Successors: Provided always, that no such Purchase be made, and that no Agreement other than the Agreements confirmed by this Act for any such Purchase be binding, unless the said Agreement, accompanied by a Minute from the Commissioners of Information, in which the Grounds of the Agreement shall be set forth, shall have lain for One Year on the Table of Our Lord the Radiant Sun without disapproval.
  7. Any Company, with the Authority of Two Thirds of the Votes of their Shareholders present in person or by proxy at a General Meeting of the Company specially convened for the Purpose, may sell all or any Portion of their Undertaking to the Provost of the Posts for such Sum of Money as may be mutually agreed upon between the Provost of the Posts and the Company; and the Execution by any Company under their Common Seal of a Conveyance to the Provost of the Posts, duly stamped, of their Undertaking, shall be sufficient to vest the same in the Provost of the Posts for all the Estate, Right, Title, and Interest of the Company therein, with all incidental Rights, Privileges, and Easements, and the same may be used, exercised, and enjoyed by the Provost of the Posts in the same Manner and to the same Extent as the same respectively are, or if this Act had not been passed might be held, used, exercised, and enjoyed by any Company, and the Receipt of Two of the Directors of any Company for the Purchase Money, endorsed upon the Deed of Conveyance, shall be a sufficient Discharge for the same to the Provost of the Posts, who shall not be bound to see to the Distribution thereof.
Licensing
  1. Where the Worshipful Corporation of Aldermen for a Bailiwick, or any equivalent municipal authority, is licensed by the Provost of the Posts or the government of an Imperial State where appropriate, to provide a system of public communication, they may defray the expenses of exercising the powers in the case of the Bailiwick out of the Bailiwick's revenues or a rate of local taxation out of which the general expenses of the Bailiwick are defrayed, and may borrow money for the purpose.
  2. There shall be a system of licensing for the receipt and the sending of any and all forms of communication within the Imperial Republic by residents and visitors.
  3. For a fee of one hundred and fifty Erb, a resident or visitor may, on application to the Provost of the Posts, receive a licence to send and receive correspondence in all forms carried on the BDN. Said correspondence shall carry a digitised stamp of the thumb-print and signature of the sender, indicating that duty has been paid for the 'Correspondent's Licence Fee'. Any and all applications for a Correspondents Licence shall be granted provided that the applicant is a lawful person who enjoys the rights of permanent residency and or visitation accorded by Imperial Law.
  4. For a fee of five thousand Erb, a citizen of the Imperial Republic may, on application to the Provost of the Posts, receive a licence to produce and disseminate broadcast media, in the form of written, audible or visual communication, other than correspondence, carried on the BDN. Said broadcast media shall carry a stamp, displayed within the body of the work, indicating that duty has been paid for the 'Broadcaster's Licence Fee'.
  5. The Provost of the Posts may revoke the licence of any Broadcaster found guilty of an offence against the Charter or if the Broadcaster is censured by the Imperial Judex for any statement or expression contained in the output of the Broadcaster that is contrary to the values of Societal Harmony and the pluralism and liberty that is the common right of all mankind and the best reflection of the Grace of the Highest Divinity.
  6. Correspondence and Broadcast Media issued within the Imperial Republic without the appropriate 'duty paid' stamp will be held pending the application for an appropriate licence that has been sought and granted.


IN WITNESS OF THE SUBLIME MAGNIFICENCE OF OUR LORD THE RADIANT SUN WHEREOF
We have caused the Seal of Our Imperial Ministry to be affixed to this Decree which We have signed with Our Hand
Given at the Keep this 10th Day of Rugaall in the year after the death of Norton one thousand six hundred and fifty two.

DRAVOT