Transaction-based charging in mnemosyne: A peer-to-peer steganographic storage system

Abstract

Mnemosyne is a peer-to-peer steganographic storage system: one in which the existence ofa user's files cannot be verified without a key. This paper applies the techniques used in Mnemosyne - erasure codes and anonymous block writing - to move most of the administrative overhead of a commercial storage service over to the client, resulting in cost savings for the service provider. The contribution ofthis paper is to present a radically alternative way of charging for storage services. In place ofrenting some amount ofspace for some period of time, systems like Mnemosyne allow more flexible billing models closer to those proposed for network bandwidth, including versions ofcongestion pricing. We show how a reliable, commercial storage service using is feasible, and examine the details of the tradeoff it offers compared with conventional storage services. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002.