Analysis
After looking at this case from a number of ways, trying to find the best method for analyzing the case and avoid confusing ourselves, we've decided to approach it one issue at a time.
Having received all the evidence, and reviewed the arguments from all parties involved, it is now time to reveal the identity of the accused. That individual is JokerDF.
The initial charges made by CFC include:
1. A member of C3B did conspire to and initiate activities intending to affect the results of the IDG2 to the detriment of CFC and to the benefit of C3B.
All members of all teams are constantly seeking to affect the results of the IDG2 to the detriment of other teams and to the benefit of their own respective teams. It's called competition.
However, if the actions undertaken are illegal in nature or in violation of the spirit of the game, then there may be need for an administrator to step in and intervene. Whether or not this is the situation is what the rest of this case deals with.
2. This same member of C3B did directly affect the results of CFC internal elections and other polls to the detriment of CFC and to the benefit of C3B.
The evidence clearly suggests that the CFC member named UKGuy did indeed participate in a number of polls within the CFC private forum. The issue at hand is whether or not this UKGuy individual is indeed the same person as JokerDF.
CFC has provided screenshots of each user's profile as viewed from the moderator control panel. The images show that both JokerDF and UKGuy registered at CFC from the same IP address. However, C3B has argued and provided screenshots of their own that clearly show that this information is editable. So, did JokerDF and UKGuy register from the same IP address or did a CFC mod edit/create the UKGuy account so that it showed the same IP as JokerDF's?
To resolve this issue, we approached Thunderfall, the administrator of CFC's site. He was extremely helpful in our investigation and explained that only he himself has the ability to edit that data in the user profile. Moderators at CFC do not even have a 'Submit' button on the User Profile page so all they can do is view that information. So, it seems that either UKGuy and JokerDF did register from the same IP or there is a conspiracy at CFC that reaches all the way to the top level.
3. This same person was successfully elected President of C3B due in part of gaining sensitive knowledge of CFC's affairs.
We find no evidence to substantiate this claim.
4. This same person has negatively impacted the CFC team's ability to win the current IDG without extraordinary means.
Again, by itself, this is hardly a crime. If it were, then the person responsible for devising the victorious military campaign against an enemy civ would be equally guilty of this crime. The whole purpose in this game is to make it difficult for the other team to win without extraordinary means.
The issue is whether or not the invididual used illegal means to achieve this and the rest of this case deals with that.
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In addition to these charges, the admin staff added the following charges resulting from our investigation of the issue:
5. The accused individual made a post in the C3B private thread that included 2 quotations which were taken from the CFC private forum.
In our investigation of this matter, the admin staff stumbled upon a thread titled "Espionage in the CFC: Bomb" (translation courtesy of Alta Vista's Babel Fish utility). The opening post of that thread was made by JokerDF and he states
"I was wandering through topics at CFC and I used the time to check some of their PUBLIC FORUMS about the IDSG, and look what I found!!! They might be bluffing, but the topic was moved right away and since I wasn't logged, they didn't know I was there." (translation courtesy of Pggar).
Within that post, JokerDF included a quotation. Our investigation revealed that this quotation was actually quoted from two different posts within the CFC private forum. The first part of the quote was from the opening post in a poll, and the second part of the quote was from the 10th post in an official turn discussion thread.
JokerDF claims that the quote was taken from the public thread. However, the admin staff has some serious problems with this claim.
First, the quote comes from two rather sensitive posts, which were originated on two different days. The likelihood of this happening is slim.
Second, neither thread from which the quotes were taken show any sign that the threads were accidentally posted in the public forum. One would expect to see increasingly alarming posts alerting everyone that the thread was in an insecure forum, especially in the turn discussion thread which includes screenshots and the like. Additionally, the second part of the quote comes from the 10th post in the thread, which was posted 3 hours after the thread was started, and not one single post indicated that the screenshots and sensitive turn information was accidentally posted in the public forum.
Third, in our discussion with Thunderfall, he explained that there is a thread history log that records any and all movement, splitting etc. for all threads. There is no record in that log of any movement of either thread. According to Thunderfall, this log also cannot be modified by the moderators.
6. The accused individual may have conducted at least one act of out-of-game espionage (including visiting the CFC private forum, reading sensitive threads, and participating in polls) while serving in an official capacity for the C3B government. In doing so, this individual may have put an official sanction on his/her illegal actions, effectively condoning them on behalf of the rest of the team.
There does not seem to be any evidence in the C3B forum that would implicate the rest of the C3B team in these actions. Even in the "espionage" thread mentioned above, the other members of the team seem to be surprised by the information it contained.
However, if illegal action is conducted by a member of the team's governing body, then those actions carry with them an implied approval. In this case, JokerDF did in fact become president of C3B and if there is evidence of him conducting espionage or other illegal activities while in that office, then there is certainly an implied sanction from the C3B team, even if the rest of the members were kept unaware.
According to C3B, JokerDF lost his internet connection for a period of time and was forced to resign from office, so we have a relatively detailed picture of when JokerDF was in office at C3B, but we cannot accurately identify the exact dates that UKGuy participated in votes in the CFC forum. However, there is evidence of him participating in two polls that were posted shortly before and shortly after his term in office. There's just no way to know for sure when exactly those votes were cast or whether or not UKGuy was browsing the forum while JokerDF was in office.
Conclusion
After reviewing the evidence and deliberating on this case for the past few days, the administrators are convinced of the following:
- JokerDF did create a second account at CFC and use that account to obtain privileged information about the CFC team.
- Most of the C3B team was unaware of JokerDF's actions.
- Although most of C3B was unaware of these heinous acts, JokerDF's actions have reflected poorly on the C3B team and have resulted in that team breaking the Fairness pledge.
These acts are extremely serious in nature and as such are deserving of equally serious punishments.
Therefore, JokerDF is hereby suspended from participation in the IDG2 for the duration of the tournament, including the championship game, regardless of whether or not C3B reaches that level. No team shall be permitted to enlist JokerDF for any role in the IDG2.
Additionally, C3B shall undergo a period of mandatory anarchy which is to begin immediately (at the beginning of their next turn) and to run for a period of no less than 3 turns. If this period of anarchy expires prior to the completion of the 3 turns required under this punishment, C3B must immediately undergo another period of anarchy and repeat this procedure until the 3 turns are met.
Finally, due to the severity of these punishments, we will continue to hold the save for a period of 24 hours to allow all parties the opportunity to appeal the decision.
