CiteSeerX — Social Aspects of Trust in the Internet: Issues and Incentives

by Mikko Sarelä , Pekka Nikander

Abstract

Abstract—This paper draws lessons from research on trust in social sciences. Human beings have an innate drive towards cooperation including a basic willingness to trust strangers, and to altruistically punish defectors, even at a high cost to themselves. The ability to trust people, i.e. having an environment, in which people can be generally assumed to be benevolent, is considered important for democracy and working markets. Market efficiency and creation of communities are of importance for the future of communications. Based on the findings, a number of architectural principles that have effects on trust are proposed: prefer code, multi-dimensional compensation, intention neutrality, balancing privacy and attribution, internalising and market shaping, and explicit representation of trust and reputation. The findings indicate that a technical architecture that fosters trust is necessary for the future of communication networks.
CiteSeerX — Social Aspects of Trust in the Internet: Issues and Incentives