The phrase 鈥渢ragedy of the commons鈥� was coined in 1833 by the British economist William Forster Lloyd. He used the term to describe the negative outcome of a hypothetical example of overgrazing by cattle on common land, 鈥渢he commons鈥�.
Today, 鈥渢ragedy of the commons鈥� is used to describe any scenario in which individuals in a shared-resource system behave in a manner that is contrary to the common good of everyone, including themselves, who participate in that system. When everyone in the shared-resource system acts in their self-interest rather than in the interest of the common good, that system is quickly depleted of its resources and destroyed.
For example, at our current resource burn rate, Earth will likely one day be our biggest 鈥渢ragedy of the commons鈥�. As world population increases (we鈥檒l have just passed 7.7 billion people on the planet by the time you鈥檙e reading this) so too will demand for dwindling natural resources.
Add to that billions of individuals as well as individual nations, companies, political parties, etc. all acting in their own self-interest rather than in the common good of everyone sharing those resources and the entire system careens toward failure. The way to avoid a tragedy of the commons is to impose limits on access and use of resources so that those resources are not completely depleted.
Though less tangible, the Internet is a sort of 鈥渃ommons鈥�. It鈥檚 a shared-resource system. Not only is the physical infrastructure of the Internet a shared resource鈥攃omputers, network routers and switches, a million miles of high-speed fiber鈥攂ut so is the ultimate product of the Internet: information and ideas.
In terms of the Internet, a 鈥渢ragedy of the commons鈥� develops when individuals as well as nations, companies, political parties, etc. act in their own self-interest rather than in the common good of everyone sharing the Internet鈥檚 resources, both the physical and the digital.
This is happening right now, to one degree or another, depending on what you believe is 鈥渢he common good鈥�.
Censorship is not in the common good. It鈥檚 common knowledge that China heavily censors what its citizens can say and what information they have access to on the Internet.
Only a few corporations controlling the largest social media platforms is not in the common good. There are major issues that are playing out in the shared-resource of the Internet. Facebook, Google, and Twitter own and control most of our social media.
A handful of corporations controlling the media is not in the common good. In America, just six corporations (GE, News Corp, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS) own and control 90 percent of the media.
鈥� A small minority deciding what network traffic will get a higher priority than others is not in the common good. (This is what the 鈥渘et neutrality鈥� battle is all about.)
鈥� Government entities engaging in mass surveillance of individuals and eroding privacy is not in the common good.
Just four corporations (Comcast, Charter, AT&T, and Verizon) provide nearly 80 percent of Internet services. We鈥檝e learned from multiple massive leaks, that the NSA has increasingly been engaging in mass domestic surveillance since 9/11.
When you view the Internet as a commons, none of the above is in the best interest of the common good. In some cases, it may be really beneficial for individual shareholders or for an individual country acting in its own self-interest, but it creates a scenario in which the resources of information and ideas are depleted.
The Internet has become a very complex system that is now woven into the fabric of everything: politics, culture, the economy, etc. For better or for worse it has become our 鈥渄igital commons鈥� and being such it is subject to the 鈥渢ragedy of the commons鈥� just like any other shared-resource system.
If our current trend continues, the Internet will become a monosphere of marketing and propaganda-peddling controlled by just a few powerful entities, and that would be tragic鈥攖o say the least.
Scott Dewing is a technologist, writer, and educator. He lives on a low-tech farm in the State of 老夫子传媒.
