DXCC Announces Accreditation Criteria Rule Change

From: ARRL

DXCC Announces Accreditation Criteria Rule Change
NEWINGTON, CT, Aug 14, 2006 -- ARRL's DXCC program has added language to its Accreditation Criteria to minimize difficulties stemming from online DXpedition logs. The change, recently approved by the ARRL Board of Directors Programs and Services Committee, limits the level of QSO detail that DXpeditions may provide on Web-based log sites, search engines or other public forums and still qualify for DXCC accreditation. ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG, notes that it's become accepted practice for DXpeditions to post QSO information on the Web.
"Although this information is generally limited to call sign, band and mode, it has been useful in reducing the number of duplicate contacts in the DXpedition log," Mills points out. "Publishing complete QSO information or information from which full QSO information can be derived, on the other hand, threatens the integrity of the QSLing process, and is unacceptable."
Mills says at least some key information a station provides when submitting a DXpedition contact for DXCC credit must be obtained solely by actually making the QSO. "If complete contact information can be derived from information based on the DXpedition log, the QSL manager's job can be much more difficult if busted calls are involved," he says.
Section III, Accreditation Criteria, Rule 5, of the DXCC rules states:
"The presentation in any public forum of logs or other representations of station operation showing details of station activity or other information from which all essential QSO elements (time, date, band, mode and call sign) for individual contacts can be derived creates a question as to the integrity of the claimed QSOs with that station during the period encompassed by the log. Presentation of such information in any public forum by the station operator, operators or associated parties is not allowed and may be considered sufficient reason to deny ARRL award credit for contacts with any station for which such presentations have been made. Persistent violation of this provision may result in disqualification from the DXCC program."
"In almost every case, the new accreditation rule will change nothing," said Mills, calling the new rule a "reasonable compromise" in terms of its impact on the program's integrity. "Publishing band and mode information for each call sign -- as is now done -- is perfectly acceptable. It is only the rare case where complete QSO information is published or can be derived from published data that we are concerned about."