The Virtual Commons: Why Free-Riding Can Be Tolerated in File Sharing Networks

Abstract

Peer-to-peer networks have emerged as a popular alternative to traditional client-server architectures for the distribution of information goods. Recent academic studies have observed high levels of free-riding in various peer-to-peer networks, leading some to suggest the imminent collapse of these communities as a viable information sharing mechanism. Our research develops an analytic model to analyze the behavior of P2P networks in the presence of free-riding. In contrast to previous predictions we find that P2P networks can operate effectively in the presence of significant free-riding. In future work we plan to explore how much peerto-peer network performance could be improved if free-riding were eliminated and discuss both the costs and benefits of managerial mechanisms to limit free-riding.

Peer-to-peer information retrieval

“…• While free-riding is unwanted behaviour, and many systems focus on discouraging it, it seems that free-riding is also part of a sustainable equilibrium: a certain amount of free-riding can be tolerated (Krishnan et al, 2002;Jian and MacKie-Mason, 2008). …”

“…These peers are said to engage in free riding. A peer-to-peer network should both discourage free riding and minimise the impact that free riders have on the performance of the network as a whole (Krishnan et al, 2002).…”

“…We look at two studies that examine this. Krishnan et al (2002) attempt to explain why free-riding can be tolerated in peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Ideally, the fact that once users download files they, by default, also share it immediately, leads to the situation where the provision of content on the network scales to match the level of demand for the content.…”

Interest-Based Self-Organizing Peer-to-Peer Networks: A Club Economics Approach

“…However, current P2P networks exhibit two well-known inefficiencies. First, users have weak incentives to share content, resulting in sharing below socially optimal levels (Krishnan et al 2002a). Second, network reach is limited (Asvanund et al 2002) and networks are organized without regard to content interest, meaning that in many cases peers are unable to locate their desired content on the network.…”

“…In the economics literature, recent empirical research suggests that free-riding -consuming network resources without providing resources in return -is extremely common in P2P networks (Adar et al 2000), and that free-riding worsens in larger networks (Asvanund et al 2004). High levels of free-riding limit network scalability and lead to inefficiencies from peers who consume scarce network resources without providing benefits in return to the network in the form of content, storage, or bandwidth (Krishnan et al 2002a;Krishnan et al 2002b). These high levels of freeriding are consistent with predictions of the public goods economics literature that the private provision of public goods will be socially inefficient in terms of under-provision (a.k.a.…”