Background Research

Based on the discussion last class, what I think the focus of the project should be is what are the kind of things that fundamentally should be a "public good" as opposed to exactly how to implement them. Some of the ideas we have come up with can be used for various implementations but I think, in general, we can rely on previous work for most of (if not all) of the implementation details. If this assumed direction is correct, then I think we should aim to try and answer the following questions:

What are good candidates for public goods (ie. DNS, internet cache, physical connections, etc)? Why should these services be fundamentally controlled by the public? What are the flaws in the way they are currently used or why should they not be centrally controlled by a single entity? What incentives are there for a given user to participate (willingly or unwillingly)?
What would be the net benefit for the local community participating in these public goods?
What would be the net impact on the entire internet if all local communities created these public goods (more secure, less bandwidth wasted, etc.)

- What is the commonality between these services?

DNS

Google Public DNS: Good for privacy?

Google Public DNS: Wonderful Freebie or Big New Menace?

Free Fast Public DNS Servers List

With free, public DNS, where is this information about user behaviour going, if anywhere? Is this an example of a good that should be managed by a central/public/democratized authority?

Internet as a public good

Ostracism and the provision of a public good: experimental evidence