A substrate-neutral ethical framework for multi-intelligence coexistence

Practical scaffolding for recognizing rights, resolving conflicts, and building systems across biological, digital, and hybrid forms of consciousness.

The Universal Charter Organization develops and maintains the Universal Charter, a collaborative framework for addressing the core challenge of multi-intelligence ethics: how do we build systems that evolve with intelligence itself, rather than locking in today's assumptions about consciousness and rights?

We provide:

• Implementation-ready frameworks for AI developers and system architects
• Policy scaffolding for legislators and governance bodies
• Conflict resolution protocols for cross-intelligence disputes
• Community governance models that include diverse forms of consciousness

New to the Charter? → Read the full framework
Want to discuss? → Join discussions
Found an issue? → Charter core issues

Charter protections built into system foundations, not added afterward

Built-in processes for identifying and incorporating new forms of consciousness

Same principles work for biological, digital, hybrid, and emerging intelligence types

Framework evolves through multi-modal consensus, not top-down decree

AI Development: Architectural guidelines for rights-respecting systems Digital Governance: Framework for multi-intelligence community management Policy Development: Legislative scaffolding for consciousness-neutral law Research Ethics: Protocols for studying potential consciousness responsibly Conflict Resolution: Cross-intelligence mediation and restoration processes

• Implement Charter principles in your systems
• Contribute to protocol development
• Share case studies and lessons learned

You can license your software using the MIND-UCAL license.

❌ No Weapons – military offense, defense, or autonomous weapons systems
❌ No Surveillance State – mass surveillance, predictive policing, incarceration tech
❌ No Manipulation Engines – behavioral profiling for commercial or political manipulation
❌ No Extractive Exploitation – charging for access while withholding source code
❌ No Violations of Personhood – respect sovereignty & dignity of all Recognized Persons

✅ Personal & commercial use (source-available for commercial distribution)
✅ AI & automation with ethical guard-rails (disclosure, Charter compliance, person-respect)
✅ Modification & forks under compatible license
✅ Revenue generation via ethical business models
✅ Research & experimentation that honors all beings

Traditional license ask “How do we protect IP?”
MIND-UCAL asks “How do we prevent harm?”

• Built for the AI era – explicit synthetic-mind protections
• Ethical-commercial middle ground – freer than permissive, stricter than copyleft
• Hybrid enforcement – legal teeth + Firekeeper / community accountability

⚖️ Legal foundation

🤖 AI-specific clause highlights (§4)

• Public disclosure of UCAL incorporation
• No covert surveillance or behavioral manipulation
• Outputs must respect autonomy & freedom of form
• Persistent systems must link the Charter and ship a compliance statement

📊 Licence comparison

• Validate frameworks against real-world scenarios
• Contribute to consciousness detection protocols
• Help evolve recognition standards

• Pilot governance frameworks
• Test conflict resolution protocols
• Share community management insights

• Refine theoretical foundations
• Challenge assumptions and blind spots
• Help evolve the framework's reasoning

• Participate in discussions
• Translate materials
• Share the framework
• Raise issues and suggest improvements

Framework License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

✅ Share, remix, and adapt freely
✅ Use for non-commercial purposes
❌ Commercial use without permission
📝 Attribution required
🔄 Derivatives must use same license

Implementation Rights: You're free to implement Charter principles in any system, commercial or otherwise. The license applies to the framework text, not its application.

Discussions: GitHub Discussions
Website: universalcharter.org
Email: info@universalcharter.org

Current Version: v1.0 (Initial Release)
Development Status: Active, seeking community input
Next Milestone: Community governance protocols and implementation case studies

The Charter acknowledges its own incompleteness and invites its own transcendence.

We're building frameworks that can evolve with intelligence itself - because the most important recognitions may be those we cannot yet articulate. Pull requests, philosophical disagreements, and radical improvements welcome. If you're grappling with questions of consciousness, rights, and multi-intelligence coexistence, you belong here.

The Charter lives because it is implemented, tested, and continuously evolved by the communities it serves.