[CQ-Contest] LoTW question

[Lyndon Nerenberg]

> Their idiotic rules for registering are hurting a lot of DX stations.
> I simply fail to understand why a key could not be obtained by a robot
> reply to the station sending the
> request.

Because that does not provide any proof that the originator of the 
request is who they claim to be. No form of email or web sign-up can do 
this. This is one of the fundamental concepts of security. Any (good) 
introductory text on computer security will explain this.

> After all, we do that with our reflectors.

No, that's not what's happening. Mailing list subscription validation is 
a weak attempt to prevent simple subscription spoofing using third-party 
addresses. It in no way authenticates the originator of the message.

--lyndon