Internet behavior shows greed at work
By Sid Perkins
UPI Science News
WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) -- Research suggests that a simple aspect of
human nature -- greed -- is causing traffic jams on the Information
Superhighway.
The authors of an article in the journal Science today also say solving
the problem may be as simple as hitting users in the pocketbook.
At any one time, untold numbers of people use the Internet to send e-mail,
transfer data files or surf the World Wide Web. Bernardo A. Huberman, one
of the paper's authors, says the Internet is essentially an "electronic
commons," where people are not charged according to the amount of data
they transfer or access.
Huberman, at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, says each individual is
therefore motivated to transfer as much data as possible without regard
for overall system performance. He contends the Internet provides a
classic opportunity to observe greed at work.
To test this idea, Huberman and a colleague at the center in California
sent small packets of computer data on round-trips through the Internet to
measure time delays. During a 45-minute period, the researchers sent
10,000 "ping" packets between a computer in California and one in Great
Britain.
Huberman says the results clearly showed "storms" of Internet congestion,
as well as the social dynamics of greed. As people became impatient with
the slower system, some would drop off-line and relieve the
problem.
He says, "The way the Internet is currently set up lends itself to
clogging and abuse of the system. This wouldn't happen if everyone had to
pay for what they got."
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