The contest is sponsored by Google, but is no longer associated with University of Waterloo CS Club (other than several current and former students still helping to organize it). Please don't contact them for anything regarding the contest. :}

Those who have been participating in the beta will certainly have a jump on those starting from scratch. But also it should be noted that some of the basic game mechanics were changed about 3 weeks ago, including the scoring and objective of the game. So it may not be quite as much of an advantage as it first appears.

About (2), judging by the few games I've seen, the current level of bots isn't very high yet, so the playing field is still open.

EDIT: I hadn't looked at the leader's games yet... They're already pretty good :)

That sucks (some people having a head start). What a silly way to run a competition.

There was a beta testing period to develop the game engine and ensure that the game was viable (i.e. there isn't a trivial solution, it's interesting to work on, etc.). There have been some fairly significant changes in the objectives from most of the beta, so that should help level the playing field somewhat.

It's regrettable that the beta did last so long; this has to do mostly with the up-and-down nature of the time volunteers had to work on the project (they have school and work).

I think the OP just meant that some people had seen this page before, not that there is any conspiracy behind that.

I didn't say it is a conspiracy, just silly.