Method of selecting and distributing items to consumers of electronic media
First Claim
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1. A method of distributing playable media items, the playable media items corresponding to machine readable media readable by a subscriber machine player, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) setting up a subscriber rental queue for a subscriber with a computing system, said subscriber rental queue consisting of an ordered list of one or more playable media items to be delivered to the subscriber;
wherein said subscriber rental queue, including an order of said list, is set up at least in part in response to item selection directions provided by the subscriber;
(b) determining with said computing system which of said titles are available titles which can be delivered to the subscriber;
(c) selecting with said computing system from said available titles from said subscriber rental queue for delivery to the subscriber;
wherein said available titles are not considered for selection by said computing system based exclusively on an order in which they are designated within the subscriber rental queue and can be considered for delivery in a sequence which differs from said ordered list.
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Abstract
A network based distribution system and method for distributing/temporarily renting playable media items, such as movies in a digital format. The distribution system includes software logic for selecting and delivering titles based on a variety of factors, including a scoring and weighing adjustment on a title/subscriber basis.
186 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of distributing playable media items, the playable media items corresponding to machine readable media readable by a subscriber machine player, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) setting up a subscriber rental queue for a subscriber with a computing system, said subscriber rental queue consisting of an ordered list of one or more playable media items to be delivered to the subscriber;
wherein said subscriber rental queue, including an order of said list, is set up at least in part in response to item selection directions provided by the subscriber;
(b) determining with said computing system which of said titles are available titles which can be delivered to the subscriber;
(c) selecting with said computing system from said available titles from said subscriber rental queue for delivery to the subscriber;
wherein said available titles are not considered for selection by said computing system based exclusively on an order in which they are designated within the subscriber rental queue and can be considered for delivery in a sequence which differs from said ordered list. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of distributing playable media items, the playable media items corresponding to machine readable media readable by a subscriber machine player, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) setting up a subscriber rental queue for a subscriber with a computing system, said subscriber rental queue consisting of an ordered list of one or more playable media items to be delivered to the subscriber;
wherein said subscriber rental queue, including an order of said list, is set up at least in part in response to item selection directions provided by the subscriber;
(b) selecting available titles from said subscriber rental queue with said computing system and placing them in a first sequence in a subscriber delivery queue;
(c) delivering titles from said subscriber delivery queue in a second sequence which differs from said first sequence. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of distributing playable media items, the playable media items corresponding to machine readable media readable by a subscriber machine player, the method comprising the steps of:
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setting up a subscriber rental queue for a subscriber with a computing system, said subscriber rental queue consisting of an ordered list of one or more playable media items to be delivered to the subscriber;
wherein said subscriber rental queue, including an order of said list, is set up at least in part in response to item selection directions provided by the subscriber;
identifying a set of M top ranked titles from said subscriber;
selecting a subset N of titles from said set of M top ranked titles;
scoring each title in said subset of N titles to determine a delivery sequence for said N titles;
wherein said scoring for a title includes factors other than a ranking identified by the subscriber for such title;
delivering titles from said subscriber rental queue in a sequence which differs from said ordered list. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification