Title 1 of the AIN Code

Title 1 of the AIN Code (abbreviated 1 A.I.N.C.) is the first official title of the Code of Laws of the Alliance of Independent Nations. It contains all current laws that cover membership in the AIN.

Section 1: Membership Levels
1. All members of the Alliance of Independent Nations shall be of an equal membership level, known as member statehood.
 * a. Applicants shall be eligible for member statehood on their application only if they pass every item in the application checklist, as well as an evaluation of their behavior and attitude during the application process by the Executive Council.
 * b. All applications shall require a simple majority in favor out of at least 12 votes by existing members in order to be accepted as member states of the AIN.
 * c. Following the passage of this Title, the Application Requirements topic shall be edited to include all the changes to membership requirements described in this paragraph, as well as a summary of the rights of member states presented in the following paragraph.

2. Member states shall have the right to do any and all of the following:
 * a. To run for elected office (however, only member states who have been members of the AIN continuously for at least six (6) months prior to taking office may run or apply for executive office, i.e. President, Vice President, Administrator, Moderator, or Speaker of the Union).
 * b. To host and participate in union events;
 * c. To vote in union elections, on membership applications, on Security Council resolutions, and on parliamentary bills;
 * d. To participate in roleplay events, without first seeking advice from other member states; and
 * e. To maintain any number of City Journal topics in their national subforums, as well as any number of media topics in the media subforum appropriate to their country's geographical region.
 * f. All rights are dependent on members being active and not affected by section 5 of this Title or other legislation that relates to membership conditions.

Section 2: Leave and Required Activity Levels
1. Members may request to go on leave if they expect to be inactive for longer than two (2) weeks by posting a request in the Leave Announcements topic. Members who are on leave are exempt from all of the following activity requirements.

2. Membership in the AIN shall be revoked by the Executive Council in a public statement if the member in question has entered a period of inactivity without requesting to go on leave.
 * a. For the purposes of this section, inactivity is defined as a period of at least 42 days in which the member has failed to either (i) post, or (ii) log into the AIN forums.
 * b. This definition shall not be construed as to excuse members who have logged into the union forums within the past 42 days, but who have not posted during that time.

3. The forum administrators shall conduct daily reviews of each member who is not on leave to determine whether to revoke any member's membership.

4. If any member needs to go on leave to avoid losing his membership, but is unable to access the AIN forums for any reason, he shall use whatever means necessary to inform a union administrator or moderator of his need for "on leave" status. Such members shall be exempted from the daily activity reviews prescribed in the preceding clause.

5. Members shall not remain on leave for more than twelve (12) consecutive months.
 * a. For the purposes of this Act, the start of leave is defined as either (i) the date on which a member requests to go on leave, or (ii) the date on which he last posted on the AIN forums, whichever comes last.
 * b. Members whose leave lasts more than twelve (12) months shall have their leave terminated and be given no more than 42 days to return to normal activity.
 * c. Any member whose leave is so terminated, and requests to go back on leave in the 42 days allotted, shall not remain on leave for more than six (6) consecutive months thereafter. If, after those six (6) new months of leave end, said member requests a third period of leave within 42 days of last going off leave, a majority of the Executive Coucil must approve before said member shall be allowed to begin his third period of leave.
 * d. The above restrictions shall not apply when a member is required to go on leave due to special circumstances, including (but not limited to) military or civil service. No upper limit shall be imposed on the duration of leave in such cases.

Section 3: Number of Nations Allowed for Each Member
1. Members of the Alliance of Independent Nations are each allowed one (1) member state within the Alliance.

2. Proxy member states are strictly prohibited.

3. Overseas territories and autonomous regions are considered part of their parent member states, and are therefore permitted.

Section 4: Membership in Other Unions
1. Definitions
 * a. SimCity 4 union - A community of SimCity 4 players in a political and City Journal union setting. This includes CINL, USNW, AOWN, etc.
 * b. Loyal - The member does not turn against his union, AIN.
 * c. Not interfere - The member’s membership in a second union does not prevent him from remaining active, in good standing, and productive in the Alliance.

2. Members shall have the ability to join a second union if:
 * a. Said member has been a full member of the Alliance for a minimum of 3 months;
 * b. Said member is not an administrator or the Speaker of the Union;
 * c. Said member is active in the Alliance community;
 * d. Said member is in good standing in the union, having no offenses or warnings on his record;
 * e. Said member is trustworthy; and
 * f. Said member agrees to all of the terms in paragraph 3.

3. Members who decide to become dual members must:
 * a. Post an application for dual membership, specifying the union in which the member wishes to apply for membership;
 * b. Remain loyal to the Alliance of Independent Nations;
 * c. Promise not to reveal sensitive AIN information to non-members;
 * d. Remain active and in good standing in the Alliance;
 * e. Not allow the second union to interfere with their membership in the Alliance; and
 * f. Not commit any offense under the Alliance Act.

4. Consequences for violations of the above requirements
 * a. Dual members' activity levels at both the AIN and their second union shall be monitored on a weekly basis by AIN administrators, and shall be measured by the number and length of posts made on each union's forum over the previous seven (7) days.
 * b. Any dual member whose activity at the AIN is measured to be less than his activity at his second union shall receive a warning after the first and second such violations within a span of five (5) weeks, and shall be required to resign from the second union after the third such violation.
 * c. Any dual member who violates any of the other requirements in the above section (i.e. those requirements not dealing with activity) shall be required to resign from his second union after the first offense.

5. Members from other unions will also be allowed to apply to become AIN member states, with the requirement of primary allegiance to the AIN waived.

Section 5: Permanent Denial of Membership
1. The staff of the Alliance reserves the right to blacklist specific former members of the union for any of the reasons given in paragraph 2.
 * a. Any member who has been so blacklisted may never resume his/her membership in the Alliance under any circumstances, at any level of membership whatsoever, except under the circumstances given in paragraph 4.
 * b. If a blacklisted former member posts an application for membership, a staff member shall decline said application without posting a checklist, stating that said former member is blacklisted under the terms of this section, and shall lock said application immediately afterwards.

2. A former member may only be added to the blacklist for one or more of the following reasons:
 * a. Criminal damage to any of the union's property, as defined in the Forum Rules
 * b. Betrayal of the union's trust, e.g. by disclosing union secrets or defamation of the union or any of its members
 * c. Abuse of a position of trust or authority while in office
 * d. Exhibiting a pattern of poor behavior/judgment during membership, including (but not limited to): repeated acts of serious rudeness toward one or more members, repeatedly violating common sense notions regarding various aspects of roleplay, and ignorant violations of the union's rules and/or laws

3. The union staff reserve the right to decide whether a former member's behavior meets any of the conditions listed above.

4. A blacklisted former member may be removed from the blacklist with the Executive Council's permission under the following conditions:
 * a. Said former member has promised to abide by all the rules and laws of the union without failure, with any future violation considered grounds for immediate and permanent expulsion and/or banning from the union; and
 * b. Said former member has promised not to seek any elected office or other position of responsibility within the union during his/her new period of membership.

Section 6: Honorary Membership
1. Members who resign from the AIN may be granted honorary membership by the President of the Alliance on the advice of the Executive Council.
 * a. Members shall be eligible for honorary membership if they made at least one (1) significant contribution to the union, or if they acted above and beyond their normal responsibilities and roles at the time.
 * b. The Executive Council shall decide whether a member’s contributions to the union are significant enough to merit honorary membership.

2. Honorary members shall have the right to return to member statehood at any time they choose, without first submitting a new application.
 * a. Honorary members’ nations shall become non-player countries upon bestowal of honorary membership, and shall remain on the union map to facilitate their return. Neither their territory, nor any part thereof, shall be available for use by current or future member states.

Source
Title 1 of the AIN Code (Ninth Membership Reform Act)

Special Membership Levels Act (§2.5, §6)