pgt: I regularly attend a REAL bridge club, and I have never seen anybody with a cloak and mask on.

I've attended REAL bridge and chess clubs as well. Never have I seen players being equipped with RFID tags to keep track of what they are doing. I don't think such clubs would have many members. Or even be legal in a lot of countries.

I'm having a real problem with what "privacy" is being breached if I see you browsing a discussion board.

Apparently, if you see me browsing a discussion board, you draw the (possibly false) conclusion that I'm not actively playing games. You follow me, and draw conclusions about what I do. I do have a problem with that. I do have a problem with goverments forcing ISPs to keep tabs on customers email and web browsing activities as well, or with plane passenger lists being cross-checked against god knows what kind of databases.

I have an even bigger problem that you don't even identify your country in your profile. One of the really nice things about this site is that it is international, and it is NICE to know what country you opponent is from.

If it's international, what does it matter from which country someone is? If it makes you feel more happy if you think I'm from Kenya, by all means, assume I'm from Kenya. If you prefer Norway, assume Norway. I don't see what displaying a flag besides ones name adds (and what flag should that be? Country of residence? Country one is born in? Country/countries one holds passport(s) off? Country where one would like to live?) Perhaps the absence of a flag next to my name is a statement on its own. Perhaps my country uses a flag Brainking doesn't have an image off. Perhaps my preferred country hasn't be widely recognized. Perhaps I consider countries to be old fashioned. Perhaps I'm a Roma. Maybe I'm on the move. Or on the run. But whatever it is, it's not of your business. I'm here to play games - as an individual, and not as a representative of a piece of soil with arbitrary borders.