Sudane has done some work to update the parcel scanning system that is used to determine parcel ownership for Citizenship. Her work may soon make it technically possible to allow land deeded to a group to be eligible for Citizenship.
Aside from the technical capability, there are significant policy decisions to be made. Changes to Citizenship criteria will also require changes to current laws, procedures, and the Constitution.
CDSL 16-03 Citizenship Establishment Act, https://cdsdemocracy.org/faqs/cdsl-16-0 ... hment-act/
CDSL 16-04 Citizenship membership publication for election purposes, https://cdsdemocracy.org/faqs/cdsl-16-0 ... -purposes/
Constitution Article VI – Citizenship, https://cdsdemocracy.org/cds-constitution/
Procedures concerning the notification by the Chancellor of those past-due in tier, and the eviction process
After considerable thought concerning a process to allow for deeded land to confer citizenship, I propose two options that would allow an individual to qualify for CDS Citizenship. I am not proposing exact legal language at this time, but only the intent behind the qualification paths.
Option 1: The same process that we have in place today for individually-owned land, with a small update to the current language for clarity. "An individual owns land in their name, via About Land, at least one parcel in CDS and is current in tier on this parcel."
Option 2: A citizen in good standing may apply to for group citizenship. The application is to be directed to the Chancellor with a copy to the Dean via notecard. It must contain: citizen applicant’s name, login names of any proposed “group citizens” and their group administrator status, group name and group key, parcel tierbox name and ID to be deeded to the group, and the login name of the individual tierbox tenant to be set for each parcel. Each individual group citizen must be the tenant for at least one tierbox, no more than one individual may be a tierbox tenant, and a maximum number of five (5) group citizens are allowed per group. Group administrators will be authorized to request CDS Estate Managers to take action on any group-owned parcel, not only those with a tierbox in their individual name. The Chancellor will make a public post of the application to the Forum for a 7-day period to allow for public comment. Challenges to any application must be directed to the Dean via notecard who will adjudicate any such challenge. If no valid challenges are received after the seven day period, the Chancellor will approve the application without delay. Successful challenges will be reported by the Dean and result in application denial. Any change to the group citizens, including adding or removing members, will require a new application. A group citizen must be current in tier for at least one group tierbox in their name to maintain their good standing and CDS citizenship. CDS Estate Banned avatars and their alts have no right to citizenship under any circumstances.
This second option will collect all of the required information as part of the application process. The Chancellor who is charged with land management will handle the application. The Dean, who oversees elections and the census, will manage challenges to any application. The public will be given notice and have an opportunity to challenge any group citizen application, similar to the ability to challenge the Citizen List. Applications for citizenship are expected to be approved, except in cases such as where the individual is CDS estate-banned, the application is inaccurate or incomplete, or the number of group citizens exceeds the maximum (5) or the number of group-owned parcels.
Option 2 also requires each group citizen to be the tierbox tenant on at least one group-owned parcel, maintaining the standard that each citizen must “own” at least one parcel. At least one group tierbox in an individual’s name must be current in tier to maintain citizenship, similar to the individual owner standard in Option 1, our current system. A maximum of five group members may receive citizenship in this way; a group that owns ten parcels is limited to five group citizens. While all group members may have access to the group-owned parcels and have group land capabilities, only group citizens, as named in the formal application, are CDS citizens.
An individual, owning only one parcel in CDS, may apply for group citizenship, to allow them to deed their single parcel to their group and designate themselves as the tierbox owner and thereby maintain CDS citizenship. Additionally, a citizen that applies for group citizenship for their land group is not required to rely upon group citizenship for themselves, if they individually own at least one parcel in their own name within CDS; they may continue to rely upon the traditional process to gain citizenship, in Option 1.
Group administrators, as named in the application, may request EM action on any group-owned parcel; non-admin group citizens may only request EM action on the parcel(s) in which the tierbox is in their own name. In the event that any notice must be sent or any action taken against the group, the Chancellor will notify all group citizens named in the application.
The intention is to keep our current standard for citizenship unchanged, but to enable the convenience of land deeded to a group to still allow an individual to be a citizen, without additionally owning land in their individual name. The information required in the application includes the data necessary for the parcel scanning system to function, for the Estate Managers to properly configure the parcel, and a manual validation check on the individuals who will gain citizenship though the group-owned land.