On designing incentives-compatible peer-to-peer systems

Most existing p2p system are designed to address issues such as scalability, load-balancing and fault-tolerance, but they assume that all participants in the system follow the protocols and observe the system’s fair use policies. However, in a system with open or loosely controlled membership, participants have a self-interest in modifying their software if it allows them to consume the network’s resources without contributing any of their own.