Bizarre message with 2000 rating

I just won an online game to push my rating (barely) over 2000, and Chess.com sent me a weird message.  It has a brief congratulatory note, followed by two paragraphs detailing how evil it is to cheat and how they will catch me and ban me if they find out that I am cheating.  I have not ever cheated (and usually find better continuations when I run my games through an engine after they are done), and this message seems really unfriendly to me.  I work hard on my games, and it feels somewhat accusatory...  Couldn't they put more emphasis on the "congratulations" and less on the "don't cheat"?

[The site's policy is to limit discussion about cheating to the Cheating Forum.  http://www.chess.com/groups/view/cheating-forum

More information in the FAQ  http://support.chess.com/Knowledgebase/Article/View/124/0/cheaters--cheating-what-you-need-to-know - Moderator]

Now I'm curious (and don't have the patient to wait untill I reach 2000 myself ) could you post the message here?

Congratulations mineralfellow on achieving a high rating on Chess.com! You are now among the strongest players on our site.

Whenever any player reaches this level we send out this message to remind them of our policies and practices related to cheating: We have a zero-tolerance policy on cheating. We work hard to detect cheating and have developed sophisticated cheat-detection methods which are extremely effective at identifying those players who are using anything but their own skills to play. When we catch cheaters, we close their accounts immediately and ban them from future participation on Chess.com.

If you are unclear on our policies related to the use of chess software or reference materials, now would be a good time to review our FAQ on cheating. Rest assured that we remain vigilant, doing everything we can to minimize the impact of cheating in your games and those of other honest players on our site.

We wish you best as you continue to play and improve!

Sincerely,
Chess.com

I have a friend who received the same message when he hit 2000. I wouldn't take so much offense if I were you. I find it does two things. One, it puts you on notice if you are a cheater. Two, it assures you that if you are not a cheater that chess.com is vigilant about catching and punishing those that do. And apparently quite a few do: http://www.chess.com/forum/view/community/chesscom---list-of-caught-cheaters

I never received such a message when I crossed 2000.  Odd.

Which real site are you referring to solomonben? 

Honestly IMO that seems a pretty unfriendly message, esspecially the second paragraph that all but accuses the reciever outright. I think most people can realize by themselves using an engine is cheating without reviewing the FAQ so what is the real reason of saying it...

Solomonben..A site made by beginners??patzers?? engines?? a real site where GMs Im play?? are you serious?? Can you not see all the titled players on here?? The best players are 1500's?? There are some doubts alright! but not about the integrity of the site! I doubt you know what you are talking about!

I think this a computer generated message and therefore nothing you should take as an personal accusation.

Unfortunately cheating is really an issue and there are still a lot of people who lack pride and integrity by playing with the help of chess engines.

The good news is that chess.com is surprisingly efficient in detecting and eliminating those cheaters.

The problem with reducing emphasis on "don't cheat" is that it has to scare people who are cheating. If you really are not cheating, then don't worry. The methods they use to detect cheating should be accurate enough (they need a large quantity of games) to tell if you are a human player. And besides, it's really arrogant (harsh, I know) of you to be worried about your play being mistaken for an engine's if it isn't.

how did we get to posting games?? The issue was whether or not GM's IM 's play here!..hello!

see,..again you have no idea what you are talking about!..lol..I can post many games against masters that I have played on here..so since you have no idea what you are talking about please be quiet. But AGAIN!! the point was not whether I could post games of playing titled players!! HELLO>>your point was ..and I quote

" If you were going to play on a real site, where GMs, IMs and titled players give simul, and play, you would not receive such message."

You claimed that titled players dont play on here!!...you are wrong!!..stick to your point..dont go off on some rabbit trail about posting game I have played..your point was titled players! Not me playing titled players..and yes ,again, I can post games that I have played against titled players but I dont really feel like wasting my time with someone who cant keep the facts straight..

This is just from a patzer..... but... what real impact does cheating have on this site?  This is not a gambling site, so people aren't loosing money to cheaters.  One's rating means absolutely nothing in terms of chess competition (eg:  FIDE, USCF)...  So, the only impact that cheating has that I can see is how it can impact one's relative rating.  And since the rating has no bearing on anything other than ego, what difference does it make?

Please, I do not condone cheating.  I just don't understand why this site makes such a big deal about it.  Go ahead, flame away...

When I hit 2000 in online I did not receieve the message or I do not recall it, although I would hope my memory serves me well.  I would surmise it is a relatively recent policy.  And it is one that applies to a very small percentage of members, partially because there are a significant amount of casual chess players that use this site.  It is good policy, people do not want to associate with cheaters and the site ownership wants to maintain the integrity of its site at little to no expense of it members, I do not see a problem.  I do not see anything in the writing that has evil connotations.  I would distinguish between evil and negative.  The point obviously is deter cheating, which is a good.  All that I can infer from the writing, is that, simply, cheating is bad, the staff vigilantly enforce site policies, tell you where you can find them, and tell you that a 2000 rating may draw attention to quality of the games, to your opponents most definitely, and possibly to the staff.  It is simple for some humans to see distinction between human and engine chess, as it is the difference between apples in oranges, or black white, these comparisons are hardly dissimilar, in some positions more than others, and additionally it is very easy to use statistical measures to check for engine-like tendencies.  An FM here, Evan Ju, I think the name (Eilysuim? - he used an odd spelling), wrote a fair article regarding this point, and there are endless discussions about fair-play and chess on the internet.   As I see it, the site ownership is invested in the integrity and development of this site.  This is good business.