Author: Roger D Davis
Date: 17:32:02 11/27/03
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On November 27, 2003 at 20:22:26, Martin Andersen wrote: >On November 27, 2003 at 20:05:22, Roger D Davis wrote: > > >Cut. > >You didn't read carefully enough: >"Programs which are discovered to be close derivatives of >others (e.g., by playing nearly all moves the same)." > >Pay close attention to (...). > >Yes they claim to have some circumstantial evidence, if >they had clear evidence they didn't need to ask for the source-code, but >just ban him at once. >It's very difficult, maybe impossible to prove that LIST is a Crafty clone >without having the source-code. > >It would be silly if we had a tournament where half of the programmes where >Crafty clones, but they couldn't be banned because nobody could prove it. >It's all in the Tournament rules: We are in doubt, show us the code. > >Martin. No no no...this has nothing to do with tournaments consisting of 50% crafty clones, because constructs such as GOOD FAITH come into play. Good faith means that you begin with the assumption that each participant is fundamentally honest, if not by deed, then at least by intention. My point is subtle, and it's not necessarily stipulated to be general to all cases, but I do believe it applies here: There was, as the Chessbase letter clearly states, only circumstantial evidence. If there was circumstantial evidence, then there was necessarily reasonable doubt. And if there was reasonable doubt, then---given that the reputation of the author is at stake---the burden of proof falls to the accuser, who must provide something which is more than circumstantial in order to cause the committee to request the source. In this case, the committee missed a step...they failed to recognize the balance, and instead explicitly stated that part of their goal was to satisfy the complainant. That put the burden of proof on solely on the author, who declined to participate, and justifiably so. Roger
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