I firmly believe that only the two people playing a game can decide its outcome. I will resign a game that I feel is totally lost, but I would be vehemently against someone else telling me that my game was lost and that I should give up. And I completely understand Erik's position .. they should never implement anything like that.
I think that people forget that this is correspondence-style chess that we're talking about. It seems to me that what these less-than-patient people want are Live Chess tournaments.. something where you know that the game is not going to take longer than a set amount of time. I have no idea if this is something being worked on or intended to be worked on, but maybe that option could help cut down on the frustration.
Alternatively, how about something easier to implement? Could we have deadlines for rounds? Could a TD specify that each round be completed by a certain date? The question would be what to do about games still in progress at the deadline.
Or maybe the simplest thing would be to allow the next round of a tournament to begin as long as there aren't games still in progress that would change the outcome of the round.
Most of all, I think people just need to relax. If somebody is doing you wrong over the board, prove that you've got what it takes to put them away. If it's not your game, then stay out of it and let the game take its course.
I refuse to see any justification at any time and for any reason for an outside arbiter to decide the outcome of a game of chess, for, to paraphrase what someone said earlier, such an arbitration would chase new players away who want to learn HOW to checkmate or want to play on even if a stalemate is impossible. Yes, the "soon-to-be-winner" knows how to checkmate, and is too savvy to stalemate accidentally, but the "soon-to-be-loser" has no way of knowing this.......let the games be played out to conclusion, and if a "temporary" draw will speed along a tournament if it is but one game delaying things, so be it..........but please, let us not alienate new players who see possibilities which are obviously just mirages to more experienced players.