I don't agree - Patrick was (ab)using the discrepancy between file content size and file store size. For a single compressed file this may not be very relevant

I don't agree - Patrick was (ab)using the discrepancy between file content size and file store size. For a single compressed file this may not be very relevant (hence its omission in the original problem description), but the changed rules proposed by patrick also didn't address it. As the designer of those new rules it was his responsibility to be clear, particularly since he was intending to use that discrepancy to his advantage. Yeah, Mike was stupid and not exactly nice - but that doesn't mean Patrick wasn't too.