Re: Tolerant of plagiary?

[Darren Cook <darren@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>> Anyway, if I had made a computer go program I would probably insert a
>> secret "signature" into its game-playing algorithm. [...]
>> This works of course only if someone does not *really* reverse-engineer
>> the whole code and be able to rip those parts he or she wishes

Very clever idea (also suggested by Julian)! Like a watermark.

>It is an art to devise go playing algorithmic signatures so that
>every hacker will be foiled. However, I would be glad to hear
>about easier counter-strategies against gifted hackers.

It can be quite easy; if you have a fuseki library, that is created from
say a set of professional games. Just create a special game, where black
plays on the first line only, and white creates your signature image in the
centre. Then the watermark needs no new code, and gets added the next time
you remake the database.

Of course, all the hacker has to do is replace your fuseki library, but (in
my program at least) that would be considerably more difficult than just
stripping away the user interface.

Darren