Probably. Game mechanics trump RP. What the game mechanics say is what happens. Period. If you use a game mechanic and then say something like "Ignore the game mechanics, that's not what we're doing", then you are doing something wrong.
* Declaring war and then saying "It's not really a war, we just have to do this because we need to be at War status to do something"
* Sending a message tagged as Orders, and then saying "This isn't an order"
* Sending a message not tagged as Orders, and then saying "This is an order"
Does starting a religion, then saying it is not a religion count as well? Do you need to specifically declare that you're not a religion for it to count? Or can you just create a religion that is completely devoid of content, has no gods, etc., and have that count?
Thing is, if this is even stated anywhere at all (and I do not see it on the Rules and Policies Wiki page), it seems like more of a policy. The Magistrates are for adjudicating violations of the the IRs and the Social Contract. As Tom said, I don't believe that this falls into either category unless you want to argue that it's either a bug exploit or a Fair Play issue. IMO either one would be a stretch.
If Tom feels that this kind of thing should be officially proscribed, it is up to him to make or clarify the rule and determine who would enforce it. Otherwise, I think this is something that needs to be handled by the community, IG.
