> Rick Loomis
>
> I think "very possible" is an exaggeration, unless the work in question is
> very simple and very obvious. Odds are that your "friend" is a better
> actor than you think, and he found a way to copy your work without you
> knowing it. If the works are virtually similar, most likely one of the
> people in question found a way to make a copy, and that's most likely the
> way the case would be decided too. There's no way to prove that
> two people
> "had no contact what-so-ever". (Especially with the internet).
This story is very likely true. I have had similar experiences with
computer software in a learning setting, because all of the programmers DO
have a common contact - the instructor. Programming is also a very limited
and structured language, and the learning setting uses contrived problems
with solutions designed to highlight a specific principle of programming.
This, combined with the students' tendency to emulate the instructor's
style, make the creation of duplicate code unlikely, but not surprising.
Game rules are likewise a restricted and structured dialect of (in this
case) English, but such coincidences are still possible. However, if there
are a long series of such coincidences, one's credibility will certainly be
questioned, whether all parties are telling the truth or not.
-Brad
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