Jamie Chamberlain's ban from LOTW lifted

After a review by President Giesbrecht, the Board of Founders and the Vice Presidents, Resolution #37 has been overturned.

The issue appears to be a dispute over whether emails between members count as TOS violations. The senior leadership is trying to resolve the issue and Administrator Hunter has proposed a resolution in RTE to clarify it in that club.

Ash's announcement
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Resolution #38

Over-ruling of Resolution #37 by AJJE Review Panel struck by President Jeannette Giesbrecht and consisting of the VPs and Board of Founders plus one former member and founder of the site.

I've been ordered to rescind Resolution #37, so I am therefore hereby annulling it in its entirety.

At present, 12 members of LOTW are participating in a 29 day LOA in protest against the over-ruling, and while I can't in good conscience post this Resolution without noting that detail, this Resolution nevertheless is binding.

Jamie Chamberlain is therefore re-admitted to the Club.

Ashley Leighton Plom
Parliament Leader
July 5th, 2010
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New VP Appointments

New Vice-Presidents Appointed

AJJE Games President Jeannette Giesbrecht is pleased to announce the following appointments:

Euan Reid has been appointed to VP of Development.

Euan has been with AJJE Games since 2008 and is involved in all four clubs. He's served in several positions with different clubs, and brings this experience and perspective to the role of VP of Development.

Kevin Diamond has been appointed to VP of Support.

Kevin has been with AJJE Games since 2009 and currently plays in three of the clubs. During his tenure as Support Services Director, he showed great enthusiasm and dedication, and his promotion to VP of Support is well-deserved.

Please join me in congratulating these members on their new positions.

Welcome to the team, Euan and Kevin!

Jeannette Giesbrecht
President
AJJE Games

Vacancy for CO of USS Thunderhawk

I've recently received the resignation of Richard Thompson, CO of the USS Thunderhawk.

In the interests of avoiding another closure I am opening this position up to public applications or recommendations.

If you are interested in a command send me an e-mail(kdedul@gmail.com) or if you happen to know of someone who would be fantastic in the role, you may also e-mail me their names.

I'm giving everyone until the 4th of July to respond, that's two weeks, I think that's quite appropriate.

Kat
C in C
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Please put your name forward if you're interested.

Ty Shanahan becomes new SFHQ CCP

It was recently agreed that Ty will be the new CCP, ending the crisis there.

Amanda Bond replaces Edgar Cramer as SL of Diagon Alley

Appointment #59

Due to Real Life constraints Edgar Cramer has decided to step down as SL of Diagon Alley.

After a week long discussion the Council of Elders had two candidates that they felt were worthy of taking on the position of SL in Edgar's absence.

So without further delay it is our pleasure to introduce the newest SL of RTE Amanda Bond.

Along with this promotion to SL Amanda is also hereby promoted to the rank of Apprentice.

Congratulations Amanda, make us proud!
Eddie

The end of Mirror Universe

Appointment 91:

Haru Haseo is relieved of command of the Mirror Universe, as previously announced.

The Mirror Universe is hereby regrettably closed as well.

Kat
C in C
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This is the second sim to close in SFHQ this year.

Interview with Daniel Taylor

Silent Hunter UK says:
Right.
I'm here with Daniel Taylor, Team Leader of SGU-3 for the first of our interviews.
So, Daniel, how did you find AJJE?

Daniel Taylor says:
I found it through Google
i was searching for a star trek text based game and AJJe was ontop of the list

Silent Hunter UK says:
So, where did you start in SFHQ?

Daniel Taylor says:
i believe i started off on the USS Thunderhawk

Silent Hunter UK says:
Any particular memories from there?

Daniel Taylor says:
My terrible posting style ...
oh god it was terrible

Silent Hunter UK says:
Well, we all have to begin somewhere.

Daniel Taylor says:
Aye true

Silent Hunter UK says:
You remember your character at all?

Daniel Taylor says:
Aye, he was a Security officer named Tuvok ...

Silent Hunter UK says:
Vulcan?

Daniel Taylor says:
I think so
Then I became XO and had another Vulcan called Frostmourne

Silent Hunter UK says:
Ah, right.
How many clubs do you play in here?

Daniel Taylor says:
Atlantis, SGU2, SGU3, SGA1, IPS Dakota and Order 66 ... so 6

Silent Hunter UK says:
So, that's all four of the AJJE sites.

Daniel Taylor says:
Sorry misread

Silent Hunter UK says:
Not a problem.

Daniel Taylor says:
Whoopsi doodle

Silent Hunter UK says:
So, tell me about some of your characters.

Daniel Taylor says:
What would you like to know about them?

Silent Hunter UK says:
Anything you like.

Daniel Taylor says:
well, Justin Coleman is a hard ass brit
He likes to get his team members up extra early for PT
(He is on SGU3)

Silent Hunter UK says:
(As am I)

Daniel Taylor says:
Vincent Valentine on the IPS Dakota is great with surveillance and hacking.
Captain Daniel Taylor on SGU2 is an evil British royal marine who is good at sniping.
How many do you want?

Silent Hunter UK says:
That's fine.

Daniel Taylor says:
I like to play the Evil Brit ... It's fun ^_^

Silent Hunter UK says:
As you're British...

Daniel Taylor says:
Aye, I'm from England ...

Silent Hunter UK says:
What do you feel is the greatest British science fiction series?

Daniel Taylor says:
Doctor Who ofcourse

Silent Hunter UK says:
Who is your favourite Doctor?

Daniel Taylor says:
Tom Baker

Silent Hunter UK says:
Companion?

Daniel Taylor says:
Amy Pond ...

Silent Hunter UK says:
How do you feel that the Steven Moffat era is working out?

Daniel Taylor says:
It seems alright so far, Only time will tell.

Silent Hunter UK says:
So, Trek.
Who's your favourite Captain?

Daniel Taylor says:
Archer

Silent Hunter UK says:
Interesting choice.
Why?

Daniel Taylor says:
He took part in the most believable series of Trek

Silent Hunter UK says:
Who's your favourite SG-1 member and why?

Daniel Taylor says:
O'Neill of course, He is a very funny guy.

Silent Hunter UK says:
Concur.
He lights every scene he's in.

Daniel Taylor says:
Indeed

Silent Hunter UK says:
Glad to see that he's got his third star now.
Favourite Firefly character?

Daniel Taylor says:
So many good ones ... so hard to choose

Silent Hunter UK says:
Whedon's a great writer.

Daniel Taylor says:
Oh aye

Silent Hunter UK says:
So, for those considering being a CO, what's it like?

Daniel Taylor says:
It's fun, you get to boss people around xD
But in all seriousness, there is a fair bit of work involved
You have to make the right decisions, so your team/ crew won't become KIA

Silent Hunter UK says:
Especially with some of our GMs...

Daniel Taylor says:
Those GM's are lethal
Very good at giving you some nice difficult missions, they get you thinking ... which is nice.

Silent Hunter UK says:
Indeed.
What's been your best RPing experience here?

Daniel Taylor says:
Serving under the command of Chris Wilkinson, it was fun.

Silent Hunter UK says:
Yes, he's good.
So, any tips for new players?

Daniel Taylor says:
Pre-write your posts before posting. Helps for spelling mistakes and grammar issues ...

Silent Hunter UK says:
A good tip.

Daniel Taylor says:
And don't be afraid to ask for help
AJJE community is a friendly place, they don't bite

Silent Hunter UK says:
OK, thank you very much for your time.

Michael Parks becomes SGA-2 TL

Appointment #66

I was informed by Chris Wilkinson of his resignation as CO of SGA-2:

"I hereby tender my resignation as Team Leader of SGA-2 as of this moment in time. I would like to suggest Michael Parks as the next Team Leader".

So without further ado, I hereby reinstate Michael Parks to command position and therefore award him command of SGA-2 with all the rights and previliges.

Congratulations, Michael.

Anna-Lyn Signey
8 June 2010

Daniel Taylor replaces Michael Parks as SGU-3 Team Leader

Appointment #65

I believe that this is one of the hardest appointments I had to write without sounding harsh. We at Military Command had come to decision regarding the fate of SGU-3: Michael Parks has been removed from command and demoted to Second-in-Command of SGU-3.

We have not taken this decision lightly and it has taken us some time to agree on it. But Ash, Chris, Will, and I came to this conclusion as we believe that Michael required more time as a 2IC in order to gain command experience. We also found that his posting to be insufficiently committed to that of a CO level. We have agreed that after some time, if we note an improvement then we will be happy to look at placing him as a CO once more.

In light of this, SGU-3 will not only have lost a CO but also gained a new CO. Daniel Taylor has agreed to once again take over command of SGU-3 team will all the rights and privileges forthwith.

Apologies, Michael, and congratulations, Daniel.

Anna-Lyn Signey
6 June 2010

SFHQ is looking for GMs

Do you have a creative mind?
Would you like to entertain your fellow roleplayers?

If you answered yes to the above questions, then SFHQ needs you. We are looking for a creative person to GM some of our sims and entertain the ships crew you will GM on.

We also offer training to those who want to further their skills as a Game master.

If you are interested, email the Game master support officer at kingorgg@gmail.com

--
Daniel Taylor
Public Relations, AJJE
GM Commander, SFHQ

John Winter becomes CO of Raug'Moss

The Leaders of the Wave are pleased to announce that John Winter has accepted the offer of promotion to CO of the Raug'Moss, and he is hereby appointed to fill that open position. Please join us in extending John our best wishes for his success in this new position.

Congratulations John!

Mike Palmer
Chief Area Leader

Adam Korenman becomes OTOP Area Leader

It is with great pleasure that I announce, on behalf of the Leaders of the Wave, the promotion and appointment of Adam Korenman to the position of Area Leader of Other Times, Other Places (OTOP). Adam is a long-time veteran of LOTW and a capable leader who will bring much to OTOP. He replaces Jamie Chamberlain, who was banned from LOTW by Resolution 39 on May 31, 2010.

Congratulations Adam!

Mike Palmer
Chief Area Leader

Jamie Chamberlain banned from LOTW

Resolution #39

AJJE's Roles and Responsibilities declares club Administration Directors are "held accountable to the membership" and clause 5 of LOTW's GPs say "The Parliament Leader is responsible for enforcing the TOS guidelines."

The TOS (Terms of Service) are chiefly the rules governing member conduct towards the site and towards other members.

"Ajjegames.com may only be used for lawful purposes. Any use of these services which violates any local, state, federal, or international laws which may apply to Ajjegames.com, your local jurisdiction, or any jurisdiction that you or your site may be subject to is strictly prohibited." (TOS preamble)

Term 1A of the TOS states: "[you may not] Restrict or inhibit any other member from using and enjoying the Internet" and 1B states: "[you may not] Post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, offensive, indecent, pornographic, profane, or otherwise objectionable information of any kind, including without limitation any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any local, state, federal or international law."

It has been disclosed to me that multiple members of LOTW are considering taking legal advice regarding the abusive and offensive nature of Jamie Chamberlain's conduct (primarily transmitted via email) and the extent to which this violates any local, state, federal, or international laws which may apply to Ajjegames.com, Jamie's local jurisdiction, or any jurisdiction that he or the site may be subject to. The TOS clearly assumes members may take legal action where they feel it is necessary, but fortunately (and after having already attempted mediation, discrete restorative justice, and other approaches) several alternative options are available to us.

One is a Site Level Blacklisting of the offending member.

The AJJE General Policies pertaining to Site Level Blacklisting say this:

"An Administrative Director must make requests for site wide Black Listing to the VP of Anchor Clubs. Site wide shall be defined as the whole of AJJE Games, preventing a member from posting from all current and subsequent new clubs that may join AJJE. Black Listing shall be defined as the complete locking of a user account due to TOS violations. This action should be reserved for only the most serious of offenses such as hacking into the PARS system, actions that could result in legal difficulties for AJJE Games, and the extreme misuse of user email addresses."

However, it is still my hope that Jamie will learn from a more moderate punitive measure: a Club Level Ban. I further hope that the players seeking retribution against Jamie will be satisfied by such a resolution.

In the AJJE General Policies section on Club Level Bans we read, "In the event a Terms of Service (TOS) violation by club member is severe but isn't classified by an Administrative Director to be severe enough to warrant a Black Listing, the option of a Club Level Ban is available. Club member shall be defined as an AJJE Game user that has a rostered character in the club passing the ban. If a club has a clause in their Guiding Principles requiring AJJE level approval for Club Level Bans, AJJE Games hereby waives the right to approve and review."

LOTW's GPs reflect this, for instance clause 5, "If the Parliament Leader feels a TOS violation warrants removal from the site, Ajje Game approval must be obtained. All other methods of handling a TOS violation lay within the power of the Parliament Leader" and clause 6, "The Parliament Leader may pass Resolutions without a vote for the following issues: Take punitive action towards a player for TOS violation..."

The AJJE General Policies continue:

"The Administrative Director is required to enter a Club Level Ban into the record as a Resolution. This Resolution does not require a membership vote per the Guiding Principles and can be enacted/repealed at the current Administrative Director's discretion. A second approval is required by the Member Support Director prior to the posting of a Resolution by the Administrative Director. Once the Resolution for a Club Level ban is entered into the record, the Operations Director of the club is required to remove all characters and instances that the banned club member is involved in from that club alone within a reasonable amount of time. The Administrative Director is required to notify the club member via email of the ban and CC the VP of Anchor Clubs or the VP of Development (if it is a member of Ride the Edge) and the President. The VP will then instruct the Webmaster Director to lock the club member's account so that the user is unable to login to the club for which they are banned. Access to other clubs where the club member is not banned shall remain available."

Having obtained the approval of the Member Support Director and having liaised with the LOTW Administration elected heads, several senior site members, and my Deputy Parliament Leader, I am therefore posting a Resolution banning Jamie Chamberlain from this club. I have advised the Operations Director and asked him to remove all of Jamie's characters etc from the club.

The AJJE General Policies also state, "There is no AJJE level appeal process for Club Level Bans. The club member must file any disputes with the Administrative Director passing the ban, or with future Administrative Directors."

As such, Jamie Chamberlain is banned from LOTW for persistent impenitent breaches of the Terms of Use. He is welcome to appeal this decision through me directly. I will inform him of all this via email forthwith.

Ashley Leighton Plom
Parliament Leader
May 31st, 2010

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In response to this, President Giesbrecht posted the following:

AJJE Games General Policies States:

Note, AJJE Games reserves the right to investigate and determine the validity of any club level ban they feel is unwarranted. AJJE Games has 14 days to inform the Administrative Director of the banning club that AJJE Games intends to investigate the validity of a club level ban.

Please consider this notice that AJJE Games will be investigating and determining the validity of this ban. A copy of this notice will be e-mailed to the Administrative Director.

Jeannette Giesbrecht
President
AJJE Games