Ok, here is my interpitation:
1) If your in the empire and join the NR and count the ships/planets/weapons and personal and see where it's all possitioned, then rejoin the empire and sell it/use it. Then that is an IC action.
2) You can not join a group and sell it to just any random group or person.
If that is wrong, yes please tell us in laimans terms.
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Evil dies by the hands of the All mighty..
Salvation is not a weakness, but a goal to obtain.
Praise the Mother!
Basically, while your in one faction you cannot give out or sell information that cannot be gotten any other way to anyone outside that faction. However, if you then leave that faction and go to another faction, you may tell that new faction everything about the old one. If you wanted to.
Good point guys, but let me ask you this. Is this an illegal action or not?
Lets say I join the empire, while I am in the empire I am given the chance to work freelance as a spy in the NR. I leave the empire and join the NR, while in the NR I periodically send the empire messages that reveal secret hideouts and such of the NR. I recieve pay from both the NR and the Empire. The entire operation lasts six months.
Now according to the rules this would be illegal and I could face OOC punishment
Now lets say I join the empire, while in the empire I am signed on as a double agent. I must leave the faction for a period of time to join the NR and soak in all the information I can. I then leave the NR and rejoin the empire and reveal all the information. The operation lasts six month.
Now according to the rules, this is a legal action and yet it does the same thing as the first scenario
AFTER MUCH THOUGHT HERE IS MY THEORY >>PLEASE LEAVE FEEDBACk!!
Now that I have put a lot of thought into this I realized that the spy rules regulate your physical position. (i.e. you cannot be in a faction and sell info to another faction) but the rules do not mention anything about the characters allegiance to a certain faction. In my scenarios above, my position changed from faction to faction, yet my allegiance stayed with only one faction the whole time. The creator of the rules only assumed that OOC actions were taking place, when they really weren't.
My interpretation of the rules are that you may not join a faction, and while you are still in that faction, give away details or that factions operations, assets, or other information. However, as long as you are not in the faction you're giving away information about, it is perfectly legal.
In short, I believe that you're right and spying is bannable based on faction membership, and not allegiances since the true intentions of a person are impossible to know.
If you still have any questions that aren't answered in this thread, the posts in this one may be helpful. Link. While it is mainly to debate the rules, many people have included their interpretation of them.
The basic rule is you cannot join the faction with the INTENT of spying. Obviously it's impossible to enforce but the idea is you can't join with the idea of spying or actively "spy".
Because if you are caught leaking information, you can get banned. And it should remain that way until that capship you're sitting next to in your CP spawned longprobe can either blow you up or tractor you aboard.