When should a necessary inconvenience be introduced gradually, and when should it be imposed all at once? The question is crucial to web content providers, who in order to generate revenue must sooner or later introduce advertisements, subscription fees, or other inconveniences. Assuming that...

A distinguishing feature of the information era is the saliency of people's attention as a scarce resource. Unlike an earlier time when information was a valuable resource, its easy availability has shifted the focus to the limited bandwidth that people can devote to ubiquitous media and news....

We explore the use of parimutuel markets in a peer- to-peer setting to generate a wide diversity of content offerings while responding adaptively to customer demand. Files are served and paid for through a parimutuel market similar to that used for betting in horse races and in lotteries. Our...