Friday, February 9, 2007

QotW4: The Gift of Giving


It is amazing how, in this utterly selfish dog-eat-dog world of endless war, we can still find selfless individuals who are more than willing to share not only what they have, but also help you find what you want. That was exactly what ran through my mind the first time I started using Kerrazy Torrents.


Kerrazy Torrents does not work like any other Bit Torrent websites. Firstly, it operates as a forum in which trackers can put up the link to their torrents, and then the forum can be used to discuss anything related to the torrent itself, as well as other topics to be discussed, for example, requesting of other torrent files of similar nature. People can also post comments about what they think of the posted materials, whether they like it or not, or even do a short review for people to see. Secondly, unlike in other websites whereby torrent files are posted by people who downloaded them from others, the files posted on Kerrazy Torrents are often first hand. Trackers actually go out and BUY the music legally, rip them and share it to people requested for them on the forums at absolutely no cost at all! All these trackers ask for is for people to show their appreciation by saying “thank you” after each download in the forum itself. That was all that they ask for. Of course they would be more than happy if anyone out there can help them find what they could not, and wanted to have. Otherwise, it is alright for them as they do this out of their own willingness, and they do not expect anything in return at all. On top of it all, most of these trackers not only upload music on CD format which is very easy, they also convert Cassette Tapes as well as Vinyls into mp3 format. Very often these releases are extremely rare stuff that are no longer available in the market, and has since become collector’s items that could very well amount to hundreds and even thousands of dollars should they be auctioned on eBay or Yahoo! Auction. Downloaders know this fact very well, and this in turn triggers reciprocity. They want to contribute what they can to this community as well. For those who have what others are looking for, they try to upload those stuffs for these people. Most of them give priority to trackers who have been uploading a lot of stuff as a form of paying back their kindness. As for others who do not really have anything to offer, they simply leave their torrents active for as long as they can. Some would even leave their computers on for 24 hours and reseed all the torrents to other downloaders when trackers are no longer able to do so. To add on to how "Kerrazy" these providers and trackers can get, they do not only post their torrent files on Kerrazy Torrents alone! They also share it with users at other torrent websites, Rockbox being the most affiliated one. It is absolutely remarkable to me, going to such lengths just to help everyone out.


Sounds very much like a gift economy? It IS definitely one. Characteristically, providers of services here do not expect anything in return, or rather, have no guarantee that their service would be reciprocated. This is in line with the definition of a gift economy, which is an economic system in which the prevalent mode of exchange is for goods and services to be given without explicit agreement upon a quid pro quo. [Wikipedia, 2007] As mentioned by Lewis Hyde in his book, whatever we have been given is supposed to be given away not kept. Or, if it is kept, something of similar value should move in its stead… The gift may be given back to its original donor, but this is not essential… The only essential is this: the gift must always move. [Hyde, 1983] This is basically what happens in most filesharing system, the downloaded files are always on the move, distributed from one to another. Apart from reciprocity, this is also one of the motivations behind seeders at Kerrazy Torrents for seeding the torrent files: to keep it moving.


The relative or absolute anonymity of the recipient makes it all the more remarkable that individuals volunteer valuable information – one cannot realistically count on the reciprocity of the recipient in the future to balance the gift that has occurred. While a balanced reciprocity with a particular individual may not be possible, there is a sense in which a balance might occur within a group as a whole. [Kollock, 1999] This is also what runs behind Kerrazy Torrents. Other users who were initially just receiving passively soon realized what they have been taking for granted, and this in turn creates a sense of guilt for not reciprocating the favour in them. They then feel the urge to contribute something back to the community and become trackers themselves as well or at least act as seeders for other people. As more people are doing this, the give-and-take flow soon becomes a cycle, where almost everyone is contributing in some way or another. Of course not everyone will do this, there will always be those bunch of freeloaders who will just take everything and not give back anything in return. As Peter Kollock himself has put it, this system of sharing is both more generous and riskier than traditional gift exchange. It is more generous because an individual provides a benefit without the expectation of immediate reciprocation, but this is also the source of risk. There is the temptation is to gather valuable information and advice without contributing anything back. [Kollock, 1999]


Thus, in conclusion, as suggested by the different sources used as well as my own analysis, I am sure many will agree with me that Kerrazy Torrents is definitely an ideal example of a gift economy and how it functions as one.






References

Gift Economy. (2007, February 4). Gift Economy. In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved February 10, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy#_note-mustmove

Hyde L. (1983) The Gift. Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property. New York: Random House; 1983.

Kollock, P. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace. Retreived on February 10, 2007 from http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/soc/faculty/kollock/papers/economies.htm

2 comments:

Kevin said...

This is definitely unique since it is anonymous, or rather, based on pseudonymes. This is of course due to the legality of the site, which makes it even more interesting to study since there are elements of risk involved.

Full grades and a creative award for bringing something new to the table :)

Serberuz Hammerfrost said...

Haha! Thanks a lot, sir! ;)