[CQ-Contest] Petition to Ban Skimmer

[Pete Smith]

I'm intrigued to note that while this petition has been being pushed 
through individual e-mails, it has not yet even been mentioned on 
cq-contest.  Could it be that the sponsors realize theirs is a minority 
position, and want to get as much of a head-start as they can?

I think it's ironic that those who are leading the charge to ban this 
particular technology are also those who are most over-estimating its 
impact. I began working with Skimmer believing it would be a real contest 
paradigm-changer. I still believe this is true for a few specific cases, 
such as CW Sweepstakes. For the rest, though, I think the impact will be 
very similar to packet, and will mostly overlap. The same foolish people 
who over-rely on packet will over-rely on Skimmer, and will pay the price. 
People who cheat with packet will probably add Skimmer to their arsenals. 
It will be harder to catch through statistical analyses (since you won't be 
able to know, for sure, when a given station was first heard by a given 
Skimmer), but greedy cheaters will still be catchable, and cautious ones 
still won't be.

Banning the technology from contests will have no useful effect.  By all 
means, retain a single-op unassisted class without it (like packet), and 
let the marketplace decide.


73, Pete N4ZR