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| -rw-r--r-- | users/Profpatsch/blog/default.nix | 9 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | users/Profpatsch/blog/notes/private-trackers-are-markets.md | 46 |
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diff --git a/users/Profpatsch/blog/default.nix b/users/Profpatsch/blog/default.nix index 9f7b0fdfa255..f233eda9bbdc 100644 --- a/users/Profpatsch/blog/default.nix +++ b/users/Profpatsch/blog/default.nix @@ -26,6 +26,15 @@ let # /notes/* notes = [ { + route = [ "notes" "private-trackers-are-markets" ]; + name = "Private bittorrent trackers are markets"; + page = { cssFile }: markdownToHtml { + name = "private-trackers-are-markets"; + markdown = ./notes/private-trackers-are-markets.md; + inherit cssFile; + }; + } + { route = [ "notes" "an-idealized-conflang" ]; name = "An Idealized Configuration Language"; page = { cssFile }: markdownToHtml { diff --git a/users/Profpatsch/blog/notes/private-trackers-are-markets.md b/users/Profpatsch/blog/notes/private-trackers-are-markets.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..88fe5f07e5d7 --- /dev/null +++ b/users/Profpatsch/blog/notes/private-trackers-are-markets.md @@ -0,0 +1,46 @@ +# Private bittorrent trackers are markets + +Private bittorrent trackers have a currency called ratio, +which is the bits you upload divided the bits you download. + +You have to keep the ratio above a certain lower limit, +otherwise you get banned from the market or have to cut a deal with the moderators → bancruptcy + +New liquidity (?) is introduced to the market by so-called “freeleech” events or tokens, +which essentially allow you to exchange a token (or some time in the case of time-restricted freeleech) +for some data, which can then be seeded to generate future profits without spending ratio. + +Sometimes, ratio is pulled from the market by allowing to exchange it into website perks, +like forum titles or other benefits like chat-memberships. This has a deflationary effect. +It could be compared to “vanity items” in MMOs, which don’t grant a mechanical advantage in the market. +Is there a real-world equivalent? i.e. allowing rich people to exchange some of their worth +for vanity items instead of investing it for future gain? + +Sometimes, ratio can be traded for more than just transferred bits, +for example by requesting a torrent for a certain album or movie, +paying some ratio for the fulfillment of the request. + +--- + +Based on how bittorrent works, usually multiple people “seed” a torrent. +This means multiple people can answer a request for trading ratio. +Part of the request (i.e. the first 30% of a movie) +can be fulfilled by one party, part of it by a second or even more parties. + +For small requests (e.g. albums), often the time between announcing the trade +and filling the trade is important for who is able to fill it. +Getting a 1 second head-start vastly increases your chance of a handshake +and starting the transmission, so on average you get a vastly higher ratio gain from that torrent. +Meaning that using a bittorrent client which is fast to answer as a seeder will lead to better outcomes. +This could be compared to mechanisms seen in high-speed trading. + +--- + +Of course these market-mechanisms are in service of a wider policy goal, +which is to ensure the constant availability of as much high-quality data as possible. +There is more mechanisms at play on these trackers that all contribute to this goal +(possible keywords to research: trumping, freeleech for underseeded torrents). + +In general, it is important to remember that markets are only a tool, +never an end in themselves, as neoliberalists would like us to believe. +They always are in service of a wider goal or policy. We live in a society. |