A game theoretic framework for incentives in P2P systems

Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks are self-organizing, distributed systems, with no centralized authority or infrastructure. Because of the voluntary participation, the availability of resources in a P2P system can be highly variable and unpredictable. We use ideas from game theory to study the interaction of strategic and rational peers, and propose a differential service-based incentive scheme to improve the system's performance.