Tit-for-tat, how BitTorrent incentivizes uploading

Γεια σου υπέροχο άτομο,

after using BitTorrent for some Ubuntu ISOs in the past myself I wanted to learn more about how the network works from a policy standpoint. I always tune down my uploading capacity to super low while allowing full speed downloads and thereby somewhat “abuse” the network as I am not actively taking part. This weeks paper describes the incentives that are build into the design (that clients have implement all consistent for this to work) to prevent the network from breaking apart if no-one uploads anymore. Quite interesting is also the Pareto efficiency referenced to in the paper (linked you a Wikipedia article below).


Abstract:

The BitTorrent file distribution system uses tit-for-tat as a method of seeking pareto efficiency. It achieves a higher level of robustness and resource utilization than any currently known cooperative technique. We explain what BitTorrent does, and how economic methods are used to achieve that goal.

Download Link:

https://www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~newhall/readings/bittorrentecon.pdf


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