Re: computer-go: Authenticating the identity of a remote go-playing computer program

[Daniel Bump <bump@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> In Guiyang last month, I was talking with a go programmer, discussing the
> possibility of having computer go tournaments on the net instead of in one
> physical location.  I know that there are already tournaments being held on
> the net, but the stakes are not high enough to motivate anyone to cheat.  If
> a large amount of prize money were at stake, on the other hand,
> unfortunately there might be people who would try to cheat (for instance, by
> having a 7-dan human pretend to be the computer).  Thus, we need a way to
> reliably authenticate the identity of a remote computer program playing a
> game of go.

I find it difficult to imagine any method based on public key crypto
whereby the identity of a program can be authenticated. The program
can certainly prove its identity but there is no way that it can
prove that it is the source of the moves that are transmitted. A
ringer could step in after the authentication is complete.

A possible method would be to require the winner of the tournament
to supply a binary of the program to the tournament director who
would then verify that the program makes the same moves as were
played in the tournament. There are problems with this method too,
of course.

Daniel Bump