Bill,
Statements along the lines of "There is what the law says and what people want
it to mean" are frequent, but at bottom they simply mean "I think the law is
X." It would be better to simply say, "I think the law is X because Y..."
Whatever the case, "the law" will always be a product of interpretations that
are based on our understanding of words, morals, politics, and history. When
those interpretations are being enforced by someone with power to enforce them,
we call them "constructions."
That said, I think Jim et al have a point: the rule is ambiguous. The rule
does not "clearly" state that "that the CK should be the last two digits of the
first year the person is licensed." It says "You." "You" could mean a number
of things when it is addressed to an indeterminate number of people in varying
situations. In this case, "You" can refer to the operator's first year of
licensing, the station-owner's first year, etc. It is further complicated if
someone first held a license in another country, and later obtained an American
license.
Unlike other contest rules, relating to station-class, compliance with national
laws, use of spotting, etc., I don't think that using a different CK does any
structural damage to the contest. Let's say I make up a number, and
consistently use it as a check, nobody is prejudiced. Sure, they might be
deprived of the "truth" of the year I was first licensed, but most exchanges in
contesting are not exchanges of assertions of the truth. (If it was, then we
would give accurate signal reports.)
Now, on the other hand, if we ignore rules about who can use packet spots, then
entrants *will* be prejudiced. Scores will not reflect the "type" of stations
competing against each other.
73,
Dave/KA1NCN
dave@KA1N.CN
.
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