International Association of Players

Benson Auditorium in Searcy, the headquarters of the IAP

The **International Association of Players** (**IAP**) is a supranational organization of whitelisted players on the server which aims to "democratically determine matters of serverwide importance without the interference of any any individual government". The authority of the IAP is intentionally limited; the organization can modify serverwide settings and ban players, but may not otherwise enact binding legislation over any government or individual. The IAP also acts as a "world court", settling disputes between players, governments, and other entities which are not otherwise subject to an established judicial system.

The IAP was established on January 4, 2021 (Day 4, Year 35 AK) with the ratification of the Charter of the International Association of Players. The current Secretary-General of the IAP is ratatoing8990.

## History

### Background

Prior to the formation of the International Association of Players, serverwide settings and whitelist matters would be unilaterally decided by server owner ratatoing8990, with varying degrees of informal input from other players. The first instance of ratatoing8990 formally delegating these powers occurred on November 4-6, 2020 (23:3-5), when all players were encouraged to vote in the CaptnLuuj Referendum to decide the fate of banned terrorist CaptnLuuj. His ban was upheld by an overwhelming margin of voters. The referendum was the first in history to allow all players to vote, regardless of nationality, and is considered an early precursor to the IAP.

A more permanent attempt to delegate the powers of server owner was seen in the creation of the Server Federation on November 23, 2020 (27:2), originally intended to be a permanent union of all governments with authority over server law. The Federation has since fallen short of its aspirations toward a world government, and has been widely criticized as exclusive by non-citizens and Federate voters alike. "The president of one area shouldn’t have power that affects the entirety of the server," said Senator crustyceans in an address to the Federation World Congress on December 10 (30:4). "The Server Federation doesn’t represent the entire server, and claims much exclusivity to who is even allowed to vote." ratatoing8990 later defended his decision to create the Federation: "Earlier it was just me controlling server law. As server owner, I am simply delegating this responsibility to an established government."

### Formation

While the Server Federation still claims the right to determine server law, its authority in that regard has never been tested and could likely not be enforced. In practice, ratatoing8990 still had unilateral control over server settings and the whitelist. On January 2, 2021 (35:2), ratatoing8990 exercised this power to ban Rage6838 for murder and threats of griefing. *The Newport Report* cites this incident as the primary catalyst behind the International Association of Players: "The [IAP] was established to determine the true nature of Rage6838's punishment".

On January 4 (35:4), Server Federation President MalachiBrown523 expressed support for a legislative body to make "decisions that effect the whole server" in a speech to fellow world leaders. "This serverwide [legislature] shall not act as a tangible government as seen before," he said, "but instead will take the place of the singular server administrator." That same day, ratatoing8990 invited all players to the first meeting of what was to become the International Association of Players– a name proposed by xkidnextdoorx. After extensive debate on who was to be eligible to vote on resolutions, the Charter of the International Association of Players was adopted without objection, allowing any whitelisted player to vote on "matters of the whitelist" and only active players to vote on "in-game matters". The Charter also codified ratatoing8990's position as server owner with the title of secretary-general. The Benson Auditorium in Searcy was chosen as the official headquarters of the IAP, since Searcy is international territory and cannot be subject to any one government.

On January 10 (36:5), after rejecting a motion to allow Rage6838 to return after his one-week ban, the IAP passed Resolution 2 without objection, extending Rage6838's ban until at least May 8, 2021 (60:3).

### Later developments

Immediately after the passage of Resolution 2, Rage6838 contested the IAP's decision. "It is both cruel and unusual to make a person make an apology video to end a punishment," he argued. Rage6838's appeal prompted the IAP to pass Resolution 3, expanding the IAP's reach to act as a court in international disputes. *Rage6838 v. IAP* ended with the IAP unanimously acquitting themselves, a move which was criticized even by supporters of the organization. Soon after the case had concluded, an opinion piece in *The Newport Report* read, "In Rage6838's case, the [IAP] was not only the defendant, but also the judge and jury. Any sane lawyer will tell you that is a serious conflict of interest. I dare say that the entire situation almost begs the question of whether court cases should be determined democratically at all."

In preparation for the first anniversary of Newport, the IAP passed Resolution 5 on March 8, 2021 (48:2). The resolution calls for an international Hunger Games to commemorate the anniversary. Resolution 5 also commissioned the IAP's first committee: the Gamemakers.

## Resolutions

*Main article: List of International Association of Players resolutions*