[Air-L] Ratio FTP servers?

[Em Tonkin]

Hello Nik,

As Steven notes, ratios function as a way of ensuring that members
contribute as well as leech -- or even just think before they go ahead
and download everything in sight. The practicalities of content
distribution (bandwidth use, content provision, legalities etc) limit
choices to, for example:

a) sustaining a closed community of trusted individuals with a high 
barrier to entry - maybe 'initiation ceremonies' such as those Stephen 
mentions.
b) opening to the public, but changing the bandwidth equation by 
exploiting someone else's resources (see the 'pubstro' paper below)
c) using a distributed protocol (bittorrent etc)

'The pubstro phenomenon: Robin Hoods of the Internet' by Richard
Braithwaite explores a group of individuals engaged in exploiting 
servers in order to create 'pubstros' ('computers that have been cracked 
into and had an FTP server installed'). One rule enforced within the 
group stipulated the need to 'do something to remain [a] member and not 
only leech'. The rules for a certain project included
that 'Prospective members must establish a pub or pubstro of at least
1.5 Gigabytes in order to be granted membership', must 'post [at least]
2.5 Gigabytes per month to maintain membership' etc. That said, the code
of ethics of this group also included 'Equity: Never post a pub or
pubstro that isn't ratio free! Warez should be free for everyone.'

Another report on the activities of warez groups, including discussion
of access to FTP servers as reward for services rendered, appears in
Basamanowicz and Bouchard (2012). Overcoming the Warez Paradox: Online
Piracy Groups and Situational Crime Prevention. Policy and Internet,
Volume 3, Issue 2, pages 1–25, May 2011. DOI: 10.2202/1944-2866.1125

'Of the court cases examined, 16 individuals had the primary role of
supplying content to the group (Table 1). Successful suppliers are
rewarded with accounts on lavish FTP sites and peer approval, while
failures or lack of contribution can be punished by removal of FTP
accounts or banishment from the group. For example, Jeffery Lerman, a
supplier for the group Kalisto, a subsidiary of Fairlight, was granted
with access to at least eight FTP servers controlled by the group as a
reward for his contributions to the group (USA v. Lerman, Case Number
3:05CR50. D. CT, 2007); in contrast, Christopher Eaves, a supplier for
the group aPC, was threatened with banishment from the group because of
his lack of contribution (USA v. Eaves, Case Number 1:07CR00140, E.D.
VA, 2007).' Also see discussion of 'top sites' on p. 16, which talks
directly about the use of ratios in distribution of warez.

There's also Lang, D. (2004). Musik im Internet: MP3: Empirische Befunde
und motivationstheoretische Rechtfertigung, which talks a bit about the
use of ratio FTP servers in MP3 music sharing.

Although there is, as Steven notes and the pubstro example shows,
community resistance to the enforcement of ratios, the same idea still
shows up in the weirdest of places. As recently as 2009, Scribd
implemented a fairly similar concept:
http://mayank.name/2009/06/20/want-to-download-a-file-from-scribd-upload-one/

Cheers,

Emma



On 2014-08-17 16:44, Lovaas,Steven wrote:
> Hello, Nik
>
> I'm not sure how much detail you're seeking...
>
> The general notion is that setting a download/upload ratio should
> encourage people to contribute rather than just freeloading. Or, in
> slightly more positive language, to maintain the flow of fresh
> content. In practice, it tends to annoy people and drive them to
> other services ;) Here's a thread from 2001 showing community
> resistance to the notion:
> http://forums.justlinux.com/showthread.php?26703-Need-ftp-server-for-ratio-site
>
>
>
I've also seen it used as a sort of group initiation threshold for
> sites specializing in "warez", the notion being that you have to
> prove that you're in the game before you benefit from the group's
> work.
>
> Steve
>
> ======================== Steven Lovaas IT Security Manager Colorado
> State University Steven.Lovaas at ColoState.edu 970-297-3707
> ========================
>