WO2005038617A9 - Computer systems and methods for enhancing the distribution and revenue streams derived from works made available in digital form - Google Patents

Abstract

Methods and computer systems for increasing the revenue stream from a work made available in digital form are provided. The methods and systems of the invention are particularly useful for musical, video, interactive game files, and artistic or commercial works that can be digitally copied and transferred or distributed, such as via the Internet. Embodiments of the present invention advantageously can form part of a greater system that provides access to digital forms of numerous works or groups of works, such as those that are copyrighted, to thereby extend the revenue-producing capabilities for the copyright holder of digital or digitized works to bona fide purchasers of those works. In turn, bona fide purchasers of a work who later provide copies of that work or other authorized works, or provide transfer or distribution bandwidth with respect to that work or other authorized works may receive incentives. Advantageously, no central warehouse of digital content is necessary with the present methods, and users may introduce authorized content into the present system in a controlled manner, through peer-to-peer systems, while realizing economic incentives for doing so. The present systems and methods also provide a myriad of embodiments of incentive and apportioning payment schedules, configurations and properties.

Description

IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

Formal Utility Patent Application For:

COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ENHANCING THE DISTRIBUTION AND REVENUE STREAMS DERIVED FROM WORKS MADE AVAILABLE IN DIGITAL FORM RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/511,665, filed October 17, 2003, and of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/572,229, filed May 19, 2004, to U.S. Utility Patent Application entitled Object Schemas And Packet Chain Protocols For Managing Digital Content Routing And Distribution In Peer-To-Peer Dynamic Connection Structures, Serial No. , Attorney Ref. No. 98753-125009, filed concurrently, and to U.S. Utility

Patent Appli-cation entitled Dynamic Connection Structure Topologies And Methods

For Facilitating The Peer-To-Peer Transfer Of Digital Files, Serial No. ,

Attorney Ref. No. 98753-125013, also filed concurrently. All of the above-listed applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to computer systems and methods for increasing both the ease of transfer, and the revenues realized from, works amenable to distribution or sharing digitally, such as via the Internet. The methods of the invention relate also to business models for encouraging those who acquire digital copies of copyrighted works, such as users who would be tempted to create and distribute unauthorized copies, to work within the legal framework relating to the protection of intellectual property rights such as copyrights. The present invention relates also to hardware components which are interconnected as needed in one or more networks comprising a small or large plurality of peers. Interactions between and among those peers are managed centrally while content transfer is facilitated between and among the peers themselves. This centralized management is on an intermittent, or as needed, basis. Thus, the use of centralized management hardware, such as servers, is minimized. Because of its legality, ease of use, and incentive characteristics, the invention is thus adaptable to be easily accepted, and even embraced, by users who wish to obtain authorized copies of any of numerous types of digital data files. Examples of such digital files include audio files, video files, game files, interactive files such as downloadable and on-line game files, and any other type of digitized, digitizable or digital file.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Typically, a computer user's files are stored digitally on media such as a hard drive, tape, flashcard or other media contained physically within, or adjacent to, the user's computer. In some cases, a computer user's files are stored remotely on the user's own server, or on a local or remote server that is owned or operated by a third party. Typically, a portion of the user's files, the shared files, are made available to others during the time that the user's computer or server is connected to the Internet. When the user's computer or server is not connected to the Internet, the user's shared files are not available for copying by one or more demand users. Thus, only when the user logs onto the Internet are the user's shared files available to demand users. This type of file sharing provides an efficient means of data or content transfer from the user's shared files to one or more demand users. Thus, for any given user, the degree and quantity of file availability and transfer from the user's shared files to one or numerous demand users is limited primarily by the time that the user's computer is connected to the Internet and the maximum transfer speed achievable via the means of connection of the specific computer to the Internet. The availability of such an efficient means of copying and transferring files has also provided means for numerous end users to easily circumvent intellectual property laws. This is particularly so with respect to the copyright laws of most nations. Indeed, with respect to copyrighted works, millions of unauthorized copies are effected each year via the digital copy means afforded by business and personal computers connected for any period of time to the Internet. This circumstance has resulted in the enormous loss of revenue to copyright owners. Indeed the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) estimates that billions of dollars are lost each year due to the Internet-facilitated infringement of numerous audio and video digital works. This problem is so rife that a substantial portion of the Internet traffic facilitated by well-known file-sharing websites such as KaZaA, Morpheus, iMesh and BearShare involves the unauthorized copying and unauthorized digital transfer of copyrighted works. Indeed, the extent of such infringement is so significant and so acute, that neither the threat of legal action for such infringing activities nor actual legal action against numerous users who have uploaded unauthorized copies of copyrighted works has resulted in only a 15% reduction in such activities across these websites. Indeed, information released by Nielsen/NetRatings, a provider of Internet audience measurement services, indicates that the millions of loyal users of the digital work transfer services of such file-sharing websites are unlikely to change their infringing habits in the near future despite such legal actions. Thus, there is a need for means and methods for interconnecting hardware systems that provide incentives for users of the Internet and other networks who wish to purchase legitimate copies of target works, and users who wish to distribute legitimate copies of target works via the Internet or other networks, to pay royalties to the owners of copyrighted target works. There is also a need for systems and methods to facilitate and track such transactions while minimizing the involvement of centralized hardware components such as servers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Advantageously, there is no central warehouse of digital content with the present systems and methods. Because of this, the expenses attendant to the use and maintenance of content servers are largely eliminated. This is so because, with the present systems and methods, digital content can be provided from, and by way of, peers in the network. In many aspects therefore, the present methods and systems are functionally superior to those which depend upon one or numerous content servers. Works made available to be transferred by the present computer systems and methods, that is, uploaded into the system or downloaded from it, include any work which is, or can be, made available in digital form, including format- defined classes of works such as distributable MP-2-ready, MP-3-ready, MP-4-ready, CD format, non-revenue works, marketing method to stimulate the market for particular artists, or 1-time listen, 2-plays, 3-plays, lives on hard drives, an previously non-distributable works. Moreover, every user is allowed to introduce controlled content into the system, and users earn incentive credits in a number of ways.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As an aid to understanding the present Peer-To-Peer Advantage ("PTPA") invention, the following definitions are provided as a guide. As one of skill in the art will comprehend, there are many permutations of the present invention which fall within the scope and spirit of the present claims. A "system" is the sum total of all of the components that are adapted and arranged to operate according to the present Peer-to-Peer Advantage ("PTPA") invention . A "system component" or "subsystem" is any portion, that is, a discrete part or portion of the technology of a system according to the invention. For example, software which confers upon a system user, or a computing device, an ability to perform a function of the system is a system component or subsystem. In the context of the invention, a "system user" is any operator of a computing device, or the combination of an operator and a computing device, or the combination of an operator and more than one computing device, that is capable of communicating over a network such as the Internet, and is connected in some respect to a system in accordance with the present invention. Examples of a system user according to the invention include a person operating one or more PC's, a person operating a mobile communications device such as a PDA or mobile telephone, a person operating a computing device such as an FPGA, and a computer operating one or more computing devices such a PC or FPGA. A "supply user" is a system user who provides content to be transferred, that is, uploaded or downloaded, from the supply user's computing or storage device to one or more demand users, or to one or more storage locations in the system. For example, a supply user can make available through the shared file portions of her hard drive, server or other storage medium, one or more target works that can be requested by one or more demand users. In accordance with the invention, all or parts of the one or more target works can then be transferred directly or indirectly to the demand users. A "demand user" is a system user who is downloading, that is, transferring, content from the computing devices of one or more supply users, or from one or more devices which comprise server side technology, to a computing/storage device controlled by the demand user. "Client side technology" is any piece of technology, such as hardware, software or firmware, which resides principally on a system user's computer. In contrast, "server side technology" is any piece of technology, such as hardware, software or firmware which resides principally in a centralized location. A "checksum" is any hash that can be used to verify the integrity of a piece of content, that is, the sum of a group of data associated with the group and used for error checking purposes. A "user identifier" is any hash, piece of code or combination of hashes and code portions, which can be used to identify a system user. A "target work" is an individual piece of content, that is, a complete piece of digitized content. Examples of target works amenable to transfer by the methods or systems of the invention include audio files such as songs, DVD videos, games, photographs, graphic images and software. An "authorized target work" is a target work in digitized form for which arrangements have been made with the copyright holder of the target work to permit one or more of its copying, distribution, transfer and reproduction. A "target work identifier" is any hash, piece of code or combination of hashes and code portions, which can be used to identify or track a target work. A "target work authorization code" is any hash, piece of code or combination of hashes and code portions, which can be used to signify that a target work is authorized. A "chunk" is a fractional portion of an individual piece of digitized content, that is, a portion of a target work or authorized target work. A "system implementer" is a person or computing device, or one or more people or computing devices, or a combination of one or more people and one or more computing devices, which are adapted and arranged to operate a system according to the invention. A "system implementer" is a person or computing device, or one or more people or computing devices, or a combination of one or more people and one or more computing devices, which are adapted and arranged to operate a system according to the invention. An "Incentive Credit" ("IC") is a credit paid to the PTPA account of a user in payment for providing content or services to the system. Content includes authorized works, original works or non-copyrighted works from the user's own library. Services that can be provided by the user include providing upload bandwidth to transfer works to others in the PTPA System, or for providing transfer capacity for acting as a node in a DCS to transfer content (not in the user's own library) between other users in the system. In many embodiments of the present system, the incentive credit is not a cash payment. Instead, incentive credits may accumulate in Johnny's PTPA account and be available for use in the PTPA system, for example, for making purchases through the PTPA system, or for transfer to the accounts of other users, groups or sub-groups of users in the PTPA system. In other embodiments, a PTPA System user may "cash out" if the account balance meets certain requirements. An "Incentive Credit Account" ("ICA") is an account of a PTPA user which is maintained within the system and which keeps track of the credits earned by one or more users. A PTPA user can have one or more accounts. More than one PTPA user can share the same account. A "Purchase IC" is a credit paid to a PTPA account in payment for a purchase made on the PTPA System. An "Upload IC" is a credit paid to a PTPA account in payment for an authorized work (owned by the user) which has been uploaded to the PTPA System from the user's media. A "Bandwidth IC" is a credit paid to a PTPA account in payment for the use of transfer capacity when the system uses the account-holder's processing/transfer capacity ("bandwidth") as a node in the PTPA System to transfer a target work from one or more source nodes to a PTPA demand user. A bandwidth IC is paid only for the use of processing/transfer capacity and not for content. A "Group Incentive Credit Account" ("GICA") is a joint account of two or more PTPA users which is maintained within the system and which keeps track of the sequestered transactions of a group or sub-group of users. A PTPA user can have one or a plurality of accounts including a personal account, a GICA account, etc. A "Charitable Group Incentive Credit Account" ("CGICA") is a joint IC account held for the benefit of one or more charitable organizations which is maintained within the system to accept credits from PTPA users. Attributions to a CGICA are irrevocable. "Favored Charitable Sequestered Transactions" ("FCST's") are those transactions which are denominated by prior agreement with one or more copyright holders to earn a higher credit award if the purchase is directed by the user to a CGICA. Thus, the purchase of certain works will earn more than the standard incentive credit if the user directs that the credit be attributed to a CGICA. Attributions to a CGICA are irrevocable. "Sequestered Transactions" ("ST's") are those transactions which are denominated by individual users as belonging to a specific GICA. For example, a user can direct that credits earned by certain types of purchases be accredited to his own account while credits for other types of purchases are accredited to one or more group accounts. "Charitable Sequestered Transactions" ("CST's") are those transactions which are denominated by individual users as belonging to a specific GICA which is set up for the benefit of one or a group of charities. Thus, an individual user may denominate that credit for certain specific or types of transactions be attributed to a pre-determined charitable account. Attributions to a CST are irrevocable. An "Incentive Transaction Group" ("ITG") is a group of PTPA users formed for effecting file transfers only among members of the group. An ITG can have a set of works which may be transferred only under the limitations of the ITG. A "Parental Incentive Account Transaction Upload Report" ("PICTUR") is a report which is automatically sent (typically e:mailed ) by the PTPA account administrator to the parent of a user who is not of sufficient legal age to enter into a contract. In one embodiment, a PICTUR is triggered only when the user's account exceeds certain parameters that have been pre-selected by the parent. Examples of parameters include number of transactions/week or month, account expenditures and types of works transferred. Thus, a report might contain a list of works transferred, and indications of their types of content, such as "pornography" or "explicit lyrics." A parent can have control of the use of the credits in the account that is monitored via PICTUR. A "Royalty Fee" is a fee paid to the copyright holder in accordance with one of a number of pre-arranged royalty schedules with the copyright holders of various works provided to, and transferred among, users of the PTPA system. A "Facilitation Overhead Fee" is a fee paid to the PTPA system implementer to support overhead costs in facilitating the operation of the PTPA System. A "Dynamic Connection Structure" ("DCS") is a dynamically changing network of computers and/or mobile communications devices (nodes). DCS systems of the invention are organized and re-organized as needed according to a number of attributes to maximize efficiency by maximizing usage of upstream and downstream bandwidth capacity, for example, network connection speed, firewall status, geographic location, IP sub-net address, location of chunks of content by sub-net address and user account information. A DCS of the invention may comprise almost any number of nodes, a few nodes, or dozens or hundreds or thousands of nodes. A "Traffic Cop" node is a computer or mobile communication device which is enabled to manage a DCS of the invention by being connected to a network set up in accordance with the invention, such as a mesh, graph, binary tree or loop. A traffic cop node is adapted and arranged such that it is connected to the mesh only on an as needed basis to thereby provide management functions such as changes to the routing of files, data and messages between nodes of the DCS. A user of the present system operates from a node, such as a computer or mobile communication device, connected to a DCS of the invention. In one aspect, the means and methods of the present invention provide a sustainable source of revenue to the owners of copyrighted works by providing monetary and other incentives to several classes of users of the systems, methods and products of the invention. Moreover, the present methods, systems and products provide incentives for users to maintain their computers and storage media in a state in which it is accessible to others who wish to obtain one or more target works that can be made available over a digital network, such as the Internet An individual computer, server or any other form of storage media, such as a mobile communications device, can be used to effect transfers of digital content in accordance with the present systems and methods. In one aspect of the present methods, when a demand user downloads a particular work or group of works from a legitimate provider, for example a server stocked by a legitimate vendor of copyrighted songs, the user pays a provider fee to the provider. The provider fee can be paid automatically, for example, by means of an electronic debit from the user's credit card or bank account by means, for example, of a transaction server. Thus, for each work or group of works provided to the user, a provider fee is paid by the user to the provider. The work is then made available to others via uploads from shared file storage media in the possession of the user. When an accessor, or demand user, uploads from the user's storage media, an accession fee (which is typically smaller than the provider fee) is collected from the demand user by the provider (or by the user in some embodiments) and a portion of the accession fee is paid into the user's account. Thus, a user functions essentially as a distributor of the work - by paying a provider fee for the first copy and then by collecting a fee from each demand user who uploads a copy of the work. Thus, when multiple demand users upload the target work, multiple fees are collected by the user. There are thus multiple incentives for a content provider to participate in the system of the present invention. By obtaining a complete copy of the copyrighted work from the provider, a complete, legitimate and accurate copy of the work is obtained by the user, who can then vend or distribute a high quality copy of the work to one or multiple demand users. By vending a high quality copy to multiple demand users, the user can receive payments from multiple demand users. In turn, each demand user obtains a high-quality copy of the target work for a fee significantly smaller than that required to purchase the work in a retail establishment. The present methods and systems of revenue participation thus encourage users and demand users to buy content from a legitimate provider because doing so results in the transfer of high-quality copies that are also legitimate. Moreover, certain users will be motivated by the credit payment incentives of the present methods to actively promote distribution of the copyrighted work. In one significant aspect, the invention attributes a portion of the acquisition cost of the target work to an incentive account maintained for the user by the system. For instance, when a user downloads a particular work, for example a song, the user pays a dollar. Then, each demand user who uploads from the user's storage media pays $.25, an accession fee all or part of which is paid to the user, with the remaining portion to be paid to the provider. In this way, all of the parties to the transfer of a work are rewarded in some way. As one of skill in the field of computer systems, or in Business Process Reengineering, can appreciate, there are numerous permutations of the various steps of the present methods and processes. For example, in one aspect, the present invention provides for numerous differing incentive payment schemes. Among these payment schemes are diminishing returns for users as the number of accessions to a particular work reach a pre-set level, and where ultimately a maximum payment level is attained. Digital Rights Management Software ("DRMS") can be used to control file access, the number of views or copies permitted, the length of the views, altering, sharing, copying, printing and saving and the like. Digital Rights Management Hardware ("DRMH") can be used similarly. With the present systems and methods, advantageously, there is no central warehouse of digital content. Every user is allowed to introduce controlled content into the system. Moreover, users, or their designated charities or other groups, can thus earn credits every time another user downloads a piece of digital content from the first user's computer. Thus, in many aspects, the present methods and systems are functionally superior to those employing a plurality, or numerous, content servers. For example, in one aspect, the present invention provides for numerous types of incentive payment schemes. These payment schemes include those which require diminishing returns for users as the number of accessions to a particular work reach a pre-set level. The following examples are provided as an aid to understanding the many permutations of the invention. As one of skill in the art will comprehend, however, although the examples are illustrative of embodiments of the invention, they are provided as guidelines and not as limitations on the scope or spirit of the invention. Example 1 presents a "simple scenario" to illustrate how one permutation of a system according to the present invention may be used. In Example 1 , the hardware, software and methods of the present invention facilitate the purchase (by Bobby) of one song that is provided to the system by a system user (Johnny). 1. Johnny and Bobby sign up as users of the Peer-To-Peer Advantage ("PTPA") System, for example, by accessing a PTPA website. Bobby and Johnny do not know one another and are geographically separated by a few, or many thousands, of kilometers. Bobby and Johnny each download the necessary PTPA software onto their personal computers. Significantly, the PTPA software enables each of their computers to perform many functions, such as the locating, authenticating and transferring of content without the necessity of constant communication with a centralized server. Advantageously, the overwhelming majority of content in the present system resides in personal computing and communication devices and not in a centralized server or on central servers. 2. Johnny uses a PTPA-provided CD-ripper to rip the song "Black" by the band "Pearl Jam" from his own legitimate copy of Pearl Jam's album entitled "Ten". The content of "Black" is encoded using a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system contained within the system ripper to produce an authorized copy of "Black" which, subject to PTPA verification, is made available as a Certified Content File ("CCF") for copying by others through the components of the PTPA system. 3. All of the metadata for "Black" (song, album, band, length, etc.) is encoded into the CCF.

4. The content is verified against a central server to ensure the integrity of the file. This content verification ensures that all PTPA copies of "Black" pulled off of the legitimate CD "Ten" will produce identical content. Thus, if the song "Black" is contributed (uploaded) to the system by more than one user, all of the contributed copies, or chunks thereof, will be virtually identical with respect to all salient aspects.

5. Johnny uses the content management interface provided, for example, by the PTPA website, to make his recently ripped song available for download through the PTPA system by other users. Thus, Johnny has provided authorized content, the song "Black," to the PTPA system.

6. Bobby thinks that he'd like to purchase the song "Black" by "Pearl Jam." He uses the content management interface to search the PTPA system for an authorized copy of "Black" in order to sample it for the purpose of finalizing his decision.

7. A PTPA server side search component indicates to Bobby that the song "Black" is available. Johnny, who can be one of a plurality of PTPA system users with an authorized copy of "Black," has recently uploaded "Black" into the PTPA system such that it is available for download by others. 8. Bobby downloads the song "Black" in order to sample it. The PTPA system facilitates the transfer of "Black" from Johnny's computer to Bobby's computer in a transitory format that can be accessed and played by Bobby, but is not in a format amenable to copying to a CD or MP3 player. Thus, through the present PTPA systems, Bobby can sample the content product "Black" before deciding to purchase it. After the authorized content file "Black" is transferred, it is verified for integrity once again. 9. Bobby listens to the song twice without paying for it. He then decides to purchase the song. He accesses the PTPA account interface and pays the PTPA system price for the song, for instance, by debiting his credit account already in the PTPA system. Alternatively, he enters his credit card information into the PTPA system, and pays the PTPA system price, for example, 100 units for the song. 10. After Bobby's payment into the PTPA system is verified, the content of "Black," which also includes Digital Rights Management encoding, is unlocked (unencrypted) into a portable file format, and provided to Bobby so that he can burn the song to other media such as a CD, or upload it to his portable MP3 player. 11. The PTPA system then apportions the division and distribution of Bobby's payment in accordance with obligations such as royalty fee payments to the copyright holder of "Black" and other system determinants such as the incentive credit components. For purposes of this Example, of the 100 unit PTPA system price, a royalty fee of 20 units is paid, or apportioned, to the copyright holder in accordance with one of a number of pre-arranged royalty schedules with the copyright holders of various works provided to, and transferred among, users of the present PTPA systems and methods.

12. Of the 100 unit PTPA system price, an incentive credit of, for example, 10 units is accorded to Johnny's PTPA system incentive credit account for providing the content and upload bandwidth to transfer "Black" to Bobby. In some embodiments of the present system, the incentive credit is preferably not a cash payment. Instead, incentive credits may accumulate in Johnny's PTPA account and be available for use in the PTPA system, for example, for making purchases through the PTPA system, or for transfer to the accounts of other users, groups or sub-groups of users in the PTPA system.

13. Of the 100 unit PTPA system price, a facilitation overhead fee of, for example, 20 units, is given to the PTPA system implementer to support overhead costs in facilitating the transfer. 14. Of the 100 unit PTPA system price, a remainder of 50 units is available to the PTPA system implementer for facilitating the transfer, or as may be apportioned to vendors or contractual partners of the system. Thus, via the means and methods of the present system, the purchase transaction, division and distribution of Bobby's payment is typically accomplished in a matter of seconds or minutes.

Example 2 is a continuation of the scenario of Example 1, and illustrates a swarming scenario, another of the many permutations of the present systems and methods.

15. Suzy (also a user of the PTPA system, and having downloaded the PTPA software onto her home computer or mobile computing device) decides that she too wants to download and pay for an authorized copy of the song "Black." The search results that she receives, via a PTPA website for example, indicate that the song is available for download from the PTPA system. 16. When Suzy initiates her download through the PTPA system, and the song is broken up into 2 chunks by means of PTPA software, Suzy's computer, through the PTPA System, downloads the first half of the content from Johnny and the second half from Bobby. Thus, both Johnny and Bobby contribute portions, or chunks, of the song in response to Suzy's request, and Suzy receives a complete, verified and legitimate copy of "Black." 17. When Suzy purchases "Black," Johnny and Bobby each receive an incentive credit which is paid into their respective PTPA accounts. For example, because half of the song "Black" is contributed by each Bobby and Johnny, then each of them is credited with half of the total incentive credit, or 5 units.

Example 3 is a continuation of the scenarios of Examples 1 and 2, and illustrates a swarming scenario, which is also another of the many permutations of the present systems and methods. As one of skill in the art can appreciate, there are numerous variations and permutations of how payments may be apportioned or credited in accordance with the present computer systems and methods. 18. Pierre (also a user of the PTPA system) having downloaded the PTPA software onto his home computer or mobile computing device, decides that he too wishes to download and pay for an authorized copy of the song "Black." The search results that he receives, via a PTPA website for example, indicate that the song is available for download from the PTPA system.

19. When Pierre initiates his download through the PTPA system, and the song is broken up into 10 chunks by means of the PTPA software and system components, Pierre's computer or mobile communications device, through the PTPA System, downloads one tenth of the content file of "Black" each from Johnny, Suzy and from Bobby, that is, three tenths of the total "Black" digital file. Thus, Johnny, Suzy and Bobby each contribute portions, or chunks, of the song in response to Pierre's request, and Pierre receives a complete, verified and legitimate copy of "Black."

20. In accordance with salient aspects of the invention, a one-tenth chunk is provided by each of seven other PTPA system users in order to provide Pierre with a complete copy of "Black." Moreover, when Pierre purchases "Black," Johnny, Suzy and Bobby each receive an incentive credit which is apportioned into their respective PTPA accounts. For example, because one tenth of the song "Black" is contributed by each of Bobby, Suzy and Johnny, then each of them is credited with one tenth of the total incentive credit, or 1 unit.

Thus, payments to the copyright holder, system implementer, and other participants can be apportioned as discussed above, or in any other way so as to satisfy system requirements and the requirements of business partnering and _v marketing. As one of skill in the art can appreciate, there are numerous variations and permutations of how payments may be apportioned or credited in accordance with the present computer systems and methods. Advantageously, the overwhelming majority of content in the present system resides in personal computing and communication devices and not in a centralized server or on a plurality of centralized servers. Because of this, most of the computer and networking infrastructure for effecting the methods and computer systems of the invention is provided by users of the system and not by centralized computer components such as servers. Descriptions of other salient technical aspects of the present computer systems, software and methods can be found in co-pending U.S. Utility Patent Applications entitled "Object Schemas And Packet Chain Protocols For Managing Digital Content Routing And Distribution In Peer-To-Peer Dynamic Connection Structures" and in U.S. Utility Patent Application entitled "Dynamic Connection Structure Topologies And Methods For Facilitating The Peer-To-Peer Transfer Of Digital Files," both filed concurrently with the present application . Another advantageous aspect of the present system pertains to how the incentive system can be configured and re-configured to incentivize a number of different marketing tools, systems, personal computer system abilities and capacities, and the capacities and behavior of one or more system users. Thus, incentive payments, or credits, can be apportioned with respect to many factors of an individual's behavior or computer system characteristics. For example, the present systems and methods can be Thus, incentive payments, or credits, can be apportioned with respect to many factors of an individual's behavior or the characteristics of the computer system or mobile communication device which is being used in a DCS of the present systems and methods. For example, the present systems and methods can be adapted and arranged such that incentive credit accounts can be managed in accordance with preset or variable rules which apportion payments depending on capacities or behaviors that the system implementers wish to "favor." Thus, increased favor means an increased incentive in terms of the increased apportionment of credits from various transactions, or groups of transactions, to one or more users, or groups of users. For example, increased favor may be given to those with more currently available upstream bandwidth, to those who spend significant amounts of time on the PTPA network sharing content, and to those with large selection of content. Increased favor can also be accorded to those users on the same network, for instance, all of those users who communicate with the PTPA system through a particular university, or by way of a specific communications provider, such as AT&T, or Comcast. The present systems and methods also provide for a credit cap per unit time for each registered user. For example, yearly, monthly or weekly limits can be built into the system. Moreover, each registered user in the system must have valid name, mailing address and matching credit card information in order to receive credits. This aspect provides a barrier to entry to businesses who might attempt to participate as content providers within the system. Digital Rights Management Software ("DRMS") can be used to control file access, the number of views or copies permitted, the length of the views, altering, sharing, copying, printing, saving, and the like. Digital Rights Management Hardware ("DRMH") can be used similarly, and Electronic Media Management System ("EMMS") designed for electronic media distribution that originally protected music files is adaptable for use with the present invention. The present means and methods can employ also preference patterns technology whereby the purchase or download patterns of individuals or groups are tracked, indexed or both to assemble and maintain one or more Purchase Pattern Databases ("PPDs"). Based upon these detected patterns, the software/firmware of the invention can then make suggestions to the user regarding similar products, for example, types or styles of songs, videos or games. Moreover, the invention provides for the distribution of free promotional works such as songs, video clips, any form of digitized art, or other digital and free downloads. Moreover, central server software in addition to that attendant to the Traffic Cop functions of the invention can be provided to controls and maintains an index of works available, and a list of which members on the network have those works.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for providing revenue from digital content sharing, comprising the steps of i) providing a dynamic connection structure (DCS), ii) via said DCS, providing a copy of a target work to the user storage media of one or more users in exchange for a provider fee that is paid by each user, iii) enabling the uploading of one or more copies of said target work from at least one computer of said one or more users to said DCS, iv) tracking the transfer history of copies of portions of said target work with respect to each copy of said target work that is downloaded from said user storage media by a demand user, v) collecting from each said demand user at least one accession fee, and vi) apportioning said accession fee such that said user is accorded a benefit.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of vii) tracking the transfer history of said target work or works that are transferred from said user to said one or more demand users.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said tracking is effected by means of a transaction server.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of vi) tracking the payment history regarding said target work or works that are transferred from said user to said one or more demand users.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said tracking is effected by means of a transaction server.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of

18 vii) providing a variable payment schedule to said one or more users, wherein said schedule varies in accordance with one or both of said payment history and said transfer history.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of viii) providing an apportionment schedule to said one or more users, wherein said schedule varies in accordance with one or more user characteristics.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said user characteristics are one or more from the group consisting of the frequency of uploading of authorized works to the system, charitable contributions facilitated through the system, the amount and frequency of distributive bandwidth provided, the extent and frequency of active marketing of services offered by the system, the extent and frequency which the user's inventory is made available via a DCS of the system, the extent and frequency of the active posting and listing of available authorized inventory, the extent and frequency to which older content is made available via a DCS of the system.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of vii) providing an apportionment schedule to said one or more users, wherein said schedule varies in accordance with one or more computer characteristics of said users computer.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said computer characteristics are one or more from the group consisting of the amount and frequency of distributive bandwidth provided, the time the users computer is actively connected to a DCS of the system, and the time the user's computer is passively connected to a DCS of the system.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said apportioning is adapted and performed such that a maximum limit is effected on the amount that can be paid to a user.

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12. The method of claim 1, wherein said target file transaction is decentralized and the management of said payment apportioning is facilitated by a traffic cop node.

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