Moderator

In Club Penguin law, a Moderator is the official police of the island. Whether they are private sector, public/governmental (true police officers), or contracted by the government, is up for debate, but they do enforce the law, and that alone defines them as police.

Moderators, along with the now-disbanded Penguin Secret Agency and the extant Elite Penguin Force, and assorted federal agencies (like the AIA) are the sole institutions permitted to excercise police power in Club Penguin.

Description
The position of Moderator was created along with Club Penguin. Whether written into CP's charter or created by fiat, the founding documents of Club Penguin have long been misplaced. Invented by The Club, Moderators were and are intended to enforce the law with the direct assistance of the residents of Club Penguin, who were vested with the ability to "report" illegal activities to them. The regular Masses do not have the authority to arrest others, but only to report wrongdoings to the Moderators, and wait for them to enforce the law, be it with banning, detention, or some other form of justice. Club Penguin arrests and convictions do not require a court, a trial, or a warrant.

Moderators are perpetually busy and have little time for themselves because of their heavy case load. They are few in number. The result is that the Moderators have become an extremely close-knit group- as close or closer than a family -and always have each other's backs. When a Moderator needs time off, the others will take his load for them, and he will come back and keep pace. Moderators trust each other mutually and expect them to uphold their word. Breaking this trust could damage the law enforcement of Club Penguin beyond repair because of the small number of Moderators. With that few creatures and that many cases, there is never any time for infighting.

Powers
Club Penguin law is rarely written and is maintained orally, memorized by the Moderators and repeated to those who need to hear it. This originally applied to the PSA until their merger with the EPF. Some older penguins have recently taken it upon themselves to collect the statements and facts to compile a rough depiction of CP code. It has been revealed that the position of Moderator has drastically evolved over the years, being significantly weakened since the dawn of Membership in November 2006, and the incorporation of EBUL.

Pre-EBUL
The original powers of the Moderator, from the days of Penguin Chat until October 2006, were colossal. The position has been drastically weakened since.

"In the Beta Era, the position of Moderator was far different from now. The Club would be confused as to the current Moderators in Club Penguin are the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government. They are vested with enforcing the law, creating it, upholding it, and interpreting it. They are judge, jury, and if need be, executioner. Only the purest, most incorruptible beings can ever hold the position of Moderator, because such power can be easily and readily abused.

Moderators may not pursue crime unless they have abundant reason to believe it's been done, but shall rather depend on the people of the island to submit tip-offs and alerts to them (reporting), and only then shall they wield their power. A Moderator may ignore no report submitted to them, and may issue punishments on case-by-case, varying by penguin and by crime. Moderators may make arrests by proxy using penguins vested with police power, such as the PSA. Moderators have the right to arrest and exile the banned."

- Club Penguin historian


 * Or, to break it down, Moderators were designated to:


 * Process and respond to all reports.
 * Arrest and detain those found to break the rules.
 * ...-and command those with the proper power to arrest them.
 * Oversee Club Penguin around-the-clock, 24/7/365.
 * Manage the everyday affairs of CP and keep an eye on safety, new developments, and keep all other institutions in line.
 * Control Club Penguin and maintain the populace.
 * Expel the banned.
 * Ban himself answered directly to the Moderators.
 * Issue free items.
 * Set dates and themes for parties and regulate them, including the items they give and penguin access by membership.
 * They could only lock out non-Members in times of parties.
 * Levy, create, remove, alter, and manage taxes, and rent.
 * Directly control the PSA and EPF.
 * Create, manage, and delegate servers to specific types of development.

Passive reign
Libertarian Club Penguinites believe that The Club originally intended for Club Penguin to be extremely minimalist in government: a night watchman state. This means that the purpose of government in Club Penguin is solely to "protect the citizenry from aggression, theft, breach of contract, fraud, and immorality".

They greatly criticize the current segregationalist and fierce government expanding acts of EBUL and state that The Club never intended for CP to work in the way that it now does. The Club, they argue, were not in for profit (and the last member of The Club died in December 2007, right when EBUL began its tarriffs).

This school of thought seeks for a disbandment of EBUL and a return to The Club's method of membership, a minimalist and humble flat fee that was paid voluntarily.

These arguments are disputed, though, because The Club never spoke out against EBUL. Historically, The Club never said much on EBUL, and indeed, the last surviving Club member gave all copyrights and royalty fees to the CP name to EBUL, a fact the libertarians never speak of. Of course, the support has a point in saying that The Club never lived to see the modern operations of EBUL.

Post-EBUL
EBUL incorporated in October 24th, 2005, which many rejoice as Founders' Day. Anyone worth their salt knows that this was also the day that the Beta Hat was handed off, and was the signal that the Beta Era ended. Penguin Chat transitioned to Club Penguin.

At first, EBUL took a backseat to the Moderators, who controlled much of the economy and allowed the buildings on Club Penguin to mostly operate themselves.

EBUL only had the power to decide what to sell and what not to sell (all catalogs only displayed EBUL merchandise, as they do to this day). Moderators were given the exclusive right to distribute and create free items at whim, while EBUL controlled membership items (catalogs). Back then, EBUL was prohibited from meddling with games, rooms, and free items. If it was free, it was the Moderators' jurisdiction, and for pay, it was EBUL's. This was a very unprofitable business, because non-Members could do anything but buy items.

EBUL slowly began to creep its power outward and expand itself subtlety in late 2007. This took a step up in 2008 and shifted to turbo in 2009, and following the ratification of the DISNEY Act, EBUL permanently established itself as the prominent governor of Club Penguin, the Moderators taking the backseat.


 * Moderator power was drastically reduced. Now, they can and/or are to:


 * Process and respond to all reports.
 * Arrest and detain those found to break the rules.
 * ...-and command those with the proper power to arrest them.
 * Oversee Club Penguin around-the-clock, 24/7/265.
 * Manage the affairs of CP safety.
 * Expel the banned.
 * Control the PSA and EPF.


 * Powers they once had but surrendered to EBUL include:


 * Authority over free items and free events.
 * The right to allow or disallow non-Members into games and rooms.
 * Control over non-inventory aspects shops and buildings.
 * EBUL was originally restricted to stocking the catalogs, but they now have total control over the shops, including access and rent.
 * Levy, create, remove, alter, and manage taxes, and rent.
 * Bar agents from certain PSA or EPF tasks by membership level.
 * Create, manage, and delegate servers to specific types of development.

Analysts predict that EBUL will obtain more of the Moderators' authorities, until the point that Moderators are absorbed into EBUL and become a position within. Other, less extreme predictions estimate that all non-morality powers, such as parties and themes, will go to EBUL, leaving them only with reporting/arrest, expulsion, and commanding the EPF.

Trivia

 * Billybob is both a Moderator and President of the United States of Antarctica. He actually considers himself a Moderator first, the President second, and when not being required to exercise his constitutionally-mandated roles as head of state, he is at Club Penguin performing the job he loves. (Of course, his first duty is directly to the BoF, though since the Board of Fiction and DJ X are more than capable of babysitting the other masters, he's usually only needed to write short manuscripts.)
 * Moderators are officially the leaders and heads of government in Club Penguin. They share this distinction with The Club, who are forever considered the true rulers and authority of CP, even though they are dead.
 * Moderators do not receive salary. The job is voluntary, and employment compensation is maintained through free clothes, free housing, and the right to access anything and everything in Club Penguin. All Moderators, current and retired, are Members-for-life.
 * Some penguins hack themselves to become Moderators and try to use the powers delegated to them. Moderators crack down hard on impersonators.
 * EBUL repo-penguins were given the authority to arrest and detain Moderator impersonators- the only morality law EBUL can enforce and the only direct police power they hold -and the penguins they capture return shaking and horrified, as if they had lived through a war. Apparently, EBUL does more then simply ban Moderator wannabes.
 * Penguins that impersonate Moderators are forbidden to run for any office in the USA, from entering Club Penguin without express Moderator permission, and can not be pardoned by any member of the government, including the AIA or CNIC, who usually have total right of pardon.