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SUMMARY:Policing Online Games -- Defining A Strong\, Mutually Verifiable R
 eality in Virtual Games - Peter Wayner
DTSTART:20091026T161500Z
DTEND:20091026T171500Z
UID:TALK20112@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Joseph Bonneau
DESCRIPTION:Ronald Reagan was fond of saying "trust but verify". Alas\, th
 e modern virtual world of games gives users no basis for trust and no mech
 anism for verification. Foolish people wager real money on a hand of cards
  dealt to them by an offshore server. Some of the virtual worlds have been
  rocked by scandals where sys admins take bribes to add special features l
 ike unbeatable armor to favored players. \n\nThe good news is that we can 
 build strong\, virtual worlds that give users the basis for trust and the 
 ability to verify the fairness of a game. The algorithms are well-known an
 d tested\, to some extent\, by time. This talk will revue a number of the 
 classic results designed for playing poker or distributing digital cash\, 
 and explore how they can be used to stop some of the most blatant cheating
  affecting the more sophisticated online world.
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre 2\, Computer Laboratory\, William Gates Building
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