Plagiarism and Rybka

[Enir]

I have permission to translate into English (my spanglish, apologies) and post the email I received from a world name novelist who is also a chess and computer-chess lover. He prefers to stay anonymous for the time being. Here it is:

I find it fascinating to realize how interdisciplinary studies can shed light over fields apparently unrelated.

There is perhaps nothing like literature to find about the unbearable lightness of plagiarism.

Dante became famous in his times for the opening clause of his Commedia: “Nel mezzo del cammin” (In the middle of the journey). It was the exact beginning of a letter addressed to the Pope by Thomas of Aquino, describing his travels through Lombardy. When the Commedia appeared some 50 years later, inquisitors (then called “enanos”, dwarfs) from the Saint Office prosecuted Dante for “unholy word robbing”, and rightly so, I may add. The Commedia being the highest form of poetry ever written did not condone the inadmissible appropriation of a full half sentence of Thomas of Aquino. Copyright didn’t yet exist, but the Saint Inquisition filled the gap and the infamous plagiarist had to flee from his beloved Florence and died in the cold solitude of his exile in Ravenna.

Cervantes himself is another rewarding case of the triumph of justice over intellectual misappropriation. The famous “a mí, Sabino, que los arrollo” of the great Count Alfredo Distéfano was literally copied in Cervantes’ early work “La soledad del arquero ante la pena máxima”. Inquisitors were once again up to the task of “morality over all” (famous precedent of the German “über alles”) and prosecuted that thief of words, who had to join the Foreign Legion, losing his left arm as a consequence. Crime pays.

Being an English speaking forum, CCC members will be, of course, familiar with Shakespeare’s appropriation of "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, sentence that originally belongs in the official account of Lord James Stewart, then ambassador of England in the court of Denmark. Ever since, the authorship of Shakespeare’s works has been disputed. “Fool me once…”

The analogy with the Rybka-Fruit case may be engrossing for all of us. It does not matter that Rybka is a unique phenomena in the history of computer chess, if it is finally proven that it contains indeed a copied line of the UCI protocol of Fruit. Fortunately, in our times we have civil prosecutors instead of inquisitors, but the morals are nonetheless identical now as in the old times: regardless of the greatness of Dante, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Rybka, crime pays.

Relieved and reassured for living amongst watchers of high morality,
X

[GenoM]

*deleted by myself*

[Rolf]

Enrique,
my newest research has discovered that Rybka is primarily a Go program and not made for chess. Only by chance Vasik had found out that Rybka could also play decent chess. Now if this could happen it's not strange if Rybka also looks like Fruit or Fritz. Perhaps this helps.

[Terry McCracken]

Enrique,
my newest research has discovered that Rybka is primarily a Go program and not made for chess. Only by chance Vasik had found out that Rybka could also play decent chess. Now if this could happen it's not strange if Rybka also looks like Fruit or Fritz. Perhaps this helps.

cracklesnaphsss.......

[Tony Thomas]

Enrique,
my newest research has discovered that Rybka is primarily a Go program and not made for chess. Only by chance Vasik had found out that Rybka could also play decent chess. Now if this could happen it's not strange if Rybka also looks like Fruit or Fritz. Perhaps this helps.

cracklesnaphsss.......

Potato Chips..

[cosmicnut]

Enrique,
That was wonderfully and artfully stated.
Please thank the author for me.

Kind regards from exile,
Ronaldo

[Terry McCracken]

Enrique,
my newest research has discovered that Rybka is primarily a Go program and not made for chess. Only by chance Vasik had found out that Rybka could also play decent chess. Now if this could happen it's not strange if Rybka also looks like Fruit or Fritz. Perhaps this helps.

cracklesnaphsss.......

Potato Chips..

Lots of noise, no substance...no value.

[Tony Thomas]

Enrique,
my newest research has discovered that Rybka is primarily a Go program and not made for chess. Only by chance Vasik had found out that Rybka could also play decent chess. Now if this could happen it's not strange if Rybka also looks like Fruit or Fritz. Perhaps this helps.

cracklesnaphsss.......

Potato Chips..

Lots of noise, no substance...no value.

To me Crackleshphass sounded like the name of a fancy variety of potato chips..I agree that what rolf said is pure bull.

[Terry McCracken]

Enrique,
my newest research has discovered that Rybka is primarily a Go program and not made for chess. Only by chance Vasik had found out that Rybka could also play decent chess. Now if this could happen it's not strange if Rybka also looks like Fruit or Fritz. Perhaps this helps.

cracklesnaphsss.......

Potato Chips..

Lots of noise, no substance...no value.

To me Crackleshphass sounded like the name of a fancy variety of potato chips..I agree that what rolf said is pure bull.

Nothing but static, potato chips/computer chips, all the same to Rolf.

[mariaclara]

hehehe....