I read a particularly poignant passage the other day at Clickz....

Perhaps we'd all be well served by dusting off Garrett Harden's famous treatise, "The Tragedy of the Commons." It teaches us about the fundamental conflict between individual interests and the common good. Hardin talks of a plot of land used by all livestock farmers in a village. Each farmer keeps adding more livestock to the common, lured by the fact it costs him nothing to do so. Meanwhile, he's blinded to the painful reality of overgrazing and depletion.

eMail Marketing has fallen victim to this, for sure. Spam and viruses and over zealous eMarketers and publicists with quantity over quality lists have all contributed to the delete button becoming all too familiar. I see SEO going this way (just take a look at the pollution on Google) in the near future.

What else do you see falling prey to the Tragedy of the Commons?