Author: Bob Durrett
Date: 10:42:16 02/11/03
This computer chess bulletin board has, historically, been mostly preoccupied with chess engines, with an occasional reference to chess database management software as an afterthought. But there are other kinds of chess software which could and should be discussed here. These include chess servers, such as the Internet Chess Club [ICC] server, and online databases, such as the ChessBase online database. Now that the USA Federal Government has formally announced, thru CNN and other news media, that it has formed an Internet Warfare unit [presumably to interfere with IRAQ internet], ALL nations, international corporations, and other international organizations will feel the necessity of following suit, developing and using their own internet warfare capabilities, both defensive and offensive. Within a few years, the Internet may be VERY different. How will this affect the operation of internet chess software? Consider two cases: (1) Internet Chess Club: It is not uncommon to have thousands of people using the ICC server simultaneously. Each user relies on software, such as Blitzin, on their computers. The composite of the ICC server(s), the thousands of computers hooked up to the ICC server, and the interconnecting internet may be considered to be a large "system." Interference with the operation of this large system would disrupt ICC-related operations. A few years ago, a malicious computer guru decided to shut down ICC because he had been kicked out for misbehavior. That malcontent effectively "all but shut down" the system by sending thousands of messages to ICC. Essentially, the internet routers were overloaded so that ICC's server could not use the internet. Somehow, ICC got that *&^#$ to quit. Maybe they shot him, I don't know. But that was a warning! It showed that ICC is vulnerable to "internet warfare." It would have been quite irritating if ICC’s coverage of the Kasparov vs DJ match had been disrupted. (2) ChessBase On-line Database: I do not know about any history of interference in this case, perhaps because the on-line server has not been online very long. SUMMARY: Is this just "unnecessary worrying"? After all, who would care about chess??? Bob D.
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