Gold Peak Tea, a Coca-Cola brand, sponsored its “Take the Year Off” contest. The prize was one year off work and $100,000. Entrants were required to submit a video. Theodore A. Scott, a Decatur, Georgia, attorney, won the grand prize based on votes for his video. His video began with him describing how he had missed out with his family because of his career demands and vowed to spend time with his wife, children, and grandchildren if he won the prize. He also said that he would drink, of course, iced tea.

After Gold Peak told Mr. Scott that he had won, the company received a tip (and the company will not identify who gave them the tip) that Mr. Scott had gone to About.com, a site that has information on contests and sweepstakes, and made a pitch to voters there. Mr. Scott asked them to vote for him.

When Gold Peak learned of the post, it disqualified Mr. Peak and gave the prize to the next entrant in line. Rule 6B of the “Take the Year Off” contest provides that contestants were prohibited from obtaining votes by “offering prizes or other inducements to members of the public, vote farming, or any other activity that artificially inflates such finalists’ votes as determined by sponsor in its sole discretion.”

Mr. Scott has defended his action by saying that the people who voted for him were real people and that he did not use robotics or Facebook accounts. An expert on sweepstakes agrees: “In my opinion, that’s not cheating if those are real people who aren’t being induced.” Is Mr. Scott correct? Did he cheat?