Well, that begs the question then, should a pool submit a block that it happens to solve between the time that it sees a new block solved by a different pool and before its workers are able to be updated with new work based on that new block? To intentionally create a fork just in case it sticks instead of the other one. How ethical is it to do so when, because of your hash rate, you have a high probability of being the pool that decides which branch to follow? How about a group of pools banding together to always support each other: In an orphan race I'll always favor blocks from a set of pools I like over a set of pools I don't like. Basically the 51% issue camouflaged to look like there are separate pools. Is it happening?

Stirring the pot.