[BillP]

Here we go again. When this happened in 2003 (as previously mentioned in this post), there was a flurry of discussion here, and at the various events that I attended. There were a lot of interesting points made on both sides.

Nonetheless, I (and our team) took a very strong stand in 2003 which I would like to reiterate here.

Point 1: Collusion is not "technically" against the rules. That is to say it is not against the letter of the rules. FIRST was quite clear on this when the official response to queries about the legality of collusion were effectively not answered.

Point 2: Collusion is (in my opinion) contrary to the spirit of gracious professionalism and contrary to the spirit of FIRST.

Point 3: In the "real world", collusion is illegal. Corporate executives and sports stars have been fined and sent to prison for participating in collusion.

FIRST attempts to prepare students to enter the world of technology through these competitions. Technology, without the business of technology does not accomplish much. Businesses that participate in collusion typically get themselves into trouble (think of Enron). I doubt seriously that FIRST would condone the practice of pre-match deal making, but I also understand their reluctance to make an official ruling on the subject (each of us has to decide if we are going the break the law or not).

Sorry this got a little long winded, but I feel very strongly about this subject. Collusion should be rejected by all teams. For all of you who have the courage and confidence to reject collusion, I applaud you. For those of you who don't, remind be not to buy stock in whatever company you end up working for.