Noticed that there seems to be a small if not potentially far reaching change to the game.  Sponsors are now seemingly held to the same standards as hands?

Are you sure you want to ASSIGN A.N.Other AS A SPONSOR? I also agree that I will take full responsibility for this persons past present and future actions, and that my account may be tied to theirs if problems arise. I certify that all upper structure has been informed of this and also agrees. I certify that I myself have personally fully trained this person and they are fully informed of their responsibilities.

Does this mean punsihment / DD's for all the upper structure should an assigned sponsor set outside of the game rules?

There have been many discussions in the past regards only making very trusted persons hands and how that potentially stifles new talent coming through.  One way of slowly gaining trust and respect of someone you could not yet fully trust was to assign them as a sponsor, this now appears to be taken away.  Thoughts welcome, especially from squishy .

Can any of the admins explain if a sponsor breaks a game rule then the upper structure of that family will suffer consequences?

I think sponsorship is not as big a deal as it once was or should be. A sponsor is supposed to get money, but no CLs give it to them. Sponsors are supposed to be responsible for training their associates, but they're not. Sponsors are basically supposed to be mini-CLs, but they aren't.

If you give sponsor abilities to someone who has been admin wacked for something and you know this, and they do it again - you are going to have a bad time.

My concern about this example specifically is that there are strict rules about asking about bloodlines, which I fully endorse. But it seems odd that crewleaders/upper strucutre will be held accountable for information that they shouldn't have. It can obviously cause concerns about creating an environment in which it is more and more discouraged for crewleaders to allow anyone who they cannot vouch for over years of cooperation into any position of any significance. 

Or am I just being stupid and the important contingency is "and you know this"? Although that seems hard to prove in any case. 

Correct me if I am wrong but the rule on asking about bloodlines is :

You can not ask a players bloodline until they have become a made man.

This as far as I interpret it  means once they are a made man you can ask them their bloodline.

Then you can decide at this point if they are sponsor worthy.

Thank you for clearing that up Coral! 

I think sponsorship is not as big a deal as it once was or should be. A sponsor is supposed to get money, but no CLs give it to them. Sponsors are supposed to be responsible for training their associates, but they're not. Sponsors are basically supposed to be mini-CLs, but they aren't.

SamAdams that statement is not 100% true if you are including CLs prior to the current regime of leaders.  My bloodline has personally assisted TazioLeonetti 's bloodline when CL several times now (as well as when my bloodline was CL too) with earnings reports and separate document reports including sponsor payouts, giving EACH sponsor in the family the FULL amount of whatever their associate brought in via voting, taxes, and donations combined.

I've even shown one of these docs to Squishy in the past along with a family tree, but he has a lot on his plate so not sure he'd remember it off the top of his head right now.  I believe I still have some googledocs with information of these payouts, and all glitter-free so don't worry Squishy! 

So I'd just like to say that not ALL CLs keep the cash designated for their sponsors because I can tell you of two CL bloodlines who did give to their sponsors.

Also I forgot to add that prior regimes or current leaders... no one knows the inner workings of each and every family, and how they handle their business, so saying "but no CLs give it to them" might not be accurate.