The Problem of Scale
Digital preservation faces a "Tragedy of the Commons" risk. If one organization (like the Internet Archive) bears all the cost while everyone else benefits for free, the system is fragile. If the central node fails (lawsuit, fire, bankruptcy), the entire memory of the web is lost.
The solution is a Seed Bank: a distributed network of many independent preservation nodes. But distributed networks are hard to manage. Without a central dictator, how do you prevent:
- Freeriding: Organizations that use data but don't contribute storage.
- Fracture: Disagreements leading to the network splitting.
- Vandalism: Bad actors poisoning the data pool.
Ostrom's Rebuttal
Garrett Hardin's famous "Tragedy of the Commons" (1968) argued that shared resources inevitably collapse. Elinor Ostrom (1990) proved him wrong. She studied irrigation systems, forests, and fisheries that lasted for centuries. Her conclusion: Humans can self-govern commons, but only if they follow 8 Design Principles.
Governance Models
1. Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
Technically resilient but often lacks governance. Examples like IPFS suffer from the "discovery problem" and lack of incentives to pin (preserve) unpopular content.
2. Federated Consortia
The most successful model for digital preservation. Examples include LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe), where libraries pool resources. It uses "proportionality" (pay for what you use) and "monitoring" (polling checks) to ensure stability.
Field Notes
The Seed Bank Vision: "We need more Internet Archives." — Brewster Kahle. The goal is not to replace the Internet Archive, but to surround it with a resilient forest of independent archives, all cooperating as a commons.