Free riding on Gnutella
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v5i10.792Abstract
An extensive analysis of user traffic on Gnutella shows a significant amount of free riding in the system. By sampling messages on the Gnutella network over a 24-hour period, we established that almost 70% of Gnutella users share no files, and nearly 50% of all responses are returned by the top 1% of sharing hosts. Furthermore, we found out that free riding is distributed evenly between domains, so that no one group contributes significantly more than others, and that peers that volunteer to share files are not necessarily those who have desirable ones. We argue that free riding leads to degradation of the system performance and adds vulnerability to the system. If this trend continues copyright issues might become moot compared to the possible collapse of such systems.Downloads
Published
2000-10-02
How to Cite
Adar, E., & Huberman, B. A. (2000). Free riding on Gnutella. First Monday, 5(10). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v5i10.792
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Authors retain copyright to their work published in First Monday. Please see the footer of each article for details.