Recent protests concerning congressional action over the proposed Protect Intellectual Property Act and Stop Online Piracy Act legislation demonstrate that the digital age has escalated the classic “tragedy of the commons” problem.
The tragedy of the commons, an idea introduced in 1968 by Garrett Hardin, considers problems associated with common ownership. Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” 162 Science 3859, 1243-48 (1968). As illustrated by Hardin, the tragedy of the commons arises when a group of herders allow their cows to graze on common land. Each herder benefits from each additional grazing cow in an amount greater than the damage he suffers, because the cost of damage to the common land is distributed among the group. Damage can be limited by dividing the commons into privately owned parcels so that each herder bears the benefits and costs of her actions.
