Method and apparatus for controlling file sharing of multimedia files over a fluid, de-centralized network

• US 7,310,629 B1
• Filed: 04/03/2002
• Issued: 12/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Moon Glow, Series 82 of Allied Security Trust I (Allied Security Trust)
• Original Assignee: Napster Incorporated (MelodyVR Group Plc)
• Inventors: Fanning, Shawn, Mendelson, Jordan
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Merilyn P
• Application Number:
  US10/115,714
• Time in Patent Office: 2,085 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/10, 707/6, 713/100, 713/156, 713/176
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1834 implemented based on peer-to-peer networks, e.g. gnutella p2p communication protocols H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/41 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/30 Compression, e.g. Merkle-Damgard construction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/605 Copy protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3239 involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

Communication is established between a first client and a central index server in a fluid, de-centralized network. The central index server searches the memory of the first client for usable data files which lack authentication certificates issued by the central index server. A data-file identifier is generated for a first data file among the select files lacking authentication certificates within the first client. The data-file identifier is compared to a reliable identifier in a main data base of the central index server. The reliable identifier is indexed within the main data base against a first unique reference ID. If the data-file identifier matches the reliable identifier, a valid authentication certificate is issued to the first data file in the first client. An IP address of the first client is then referenced against the first unique reference ID within the main data base of the central index server. When file request is received from a second client for a file represented by the first unique reference ID, a connection is facilitated between the first client and the second client so that the authenticated first multimedia data file can be transferred from the first client to the second client. If the data-file identifier does not match the reliable identifier within the data base, no authentication certificate is issued, and the first data-file identifier is systematically compared against a remaining plurality of identifiers within the main data base of the central index server to determine its true identity.

Claims

1. A method of controlling file exchanges of multimedia data files in a de-centralized network comprising a first client, a second client and a central index server with a memory having a main database, the central index server configured to facilitate a connection between the first client and the second client, the method comprising the steps:

a. generating a plurality of reliable identifiers from a respective plurality of known multimedia data files;

b. determining copy restrictions associated with each of the plurality of known multimedia data files, a presence or absence of copy restrictions comprising a status of a known multimedia data file;

c. forming an index within the main database, the index comprising a plurality of unique reference IDs correlating to the plurality of known multimedia data files; and

d. indexing each of the plurality of reliable identifiers and corresponding respective statuses against the respective plurality of unique reference IDs within the main database of the central index server, such that the corresponding respective statuses may be individually searched within the central index server.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

a. establishing communication between the first client and the central index server;

b. generating a client-file identifier from a first multimedia data file present in the first client, the first multimedia data file comprising ancillary data including user recognizable data; and

c. comparing the client-file identifier to a first reliable identifier within the central index server.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein the first reliable identifier within the central index server is selected according to the steps:

a. indexing sets of ancillary data corresponding to the plurality of known multimedia files, including user-recognizable data, against the respective plurality of unique reference IDs within the main data base of the central index server; and

b. selecting a reliable identifier comprising ancillary data corresponding to the ancillary data of the first multimedia data file.

4. The method according to claim 3 further comprising the step of determining that the client-file identifier and the first reliable identifier represent a same underlying performance.

5. The method according to claim 3 further comprising the steps:

a. determining that the client-file identifier and the first reliable identifier do not represent the same underlying performance; and

b. systematically comparing the client-file identifier against a remaining sequence of reliable identifiers within the main database of the central index server.

6. The method according to claim 4 further comprising the steps of:

a. identifying a first unique reference ID corresponding to the first reliable identifier; and

b. downloading the first unique reference ID from the central index server to the first client following the step of determining that the client-file identifier and the first reliable identifier represent the same underlying performance.

7. The method according to claim 4 further comprising the step of downloading an authentication certificate from the central index server to the first client following the step of determining that the client-file identifier and the first reliable identifier represent the same underlying performance.

8. The method according to claim 6 further comprising the step of downloading an authentication certificate from the central index server to the first client following the step of determining that the client-file identifier and the first reliable identifier represent the same underlying performance.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein each reliable identifier is a fingerprint of its respective known multimedia file, a fingerprint being generated according to the steps:

a. defining a set of sensible characteristics of a multimedia recording;

b. establishing quantifiable parameters for measuring each of the sensible characteristics;

c. examining the sensible characteristics of the underlying performance; and

d. quantifying each of the sensible characteristics of the underlying performance according to the quantifiable parameters.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein each reliable identifier is a digital hash extracted from its respective multimedia file, the digital hash being generated according to the step of digitally reducing a size of the known multimedia file through a digital reduction algorithm.

11. The method according to claim 6 further comprising the step of:

a. indexing an IP address of the first client against the first reference ID in the main data base;

b. receiving a file request from the second client for a file represented by the unique reference ID;

c. facilitating a connection between the first client and the second client; and

d. transferring the first multimedia file from the first client to the second client.

12. The method according to claim 9 wherein the sensible characteristics of the multimedia recording are selected from among a group consisting of tempo, mood, richness, tambour, pitch, frequency, frequency range, beat, key, scales, and amplitude variation.

13. The method according to claim 10 wherein the digital hash is a value derived from an MP3 compression of a sound recording.

14. The method according to claim 7 wherein the authentication certificate is selected from a group consisting of a unique reference ID, a key for encrypting data, a key decrypting data, a date code, and a code generated from an algorithm.

15. The method according to claim 14 wherein the authentication certificate is embedded in a data group selected from a group consisting of an MP3 file, a cryptographic hash value, and a song certificate.

16. The method according to claim 5 further comprising the steps:

a. determining that the client-file identifier does not represent the same performance as any reliable identifier stored within the main data base of the central index server; and

b. storing the client-file identifier in a data base of unknown files within the central index server along with ancillary data related to the file identified by the client-file identifier.

17. The method according to claim 16 further comprising the steps:

a. comparing the client-file identifier to other identifiers within the data base of unknown files;

b. determining that some identifiers within the date base of unknown files match in that they represent the same performance;

c. compare other data fields related to matching identifiers; and

d. determine a reliability of an identification based upon the degree of agreement among the various data fields related to the matching identifiers.

18. The method according to claim 17 further comprising the steps:

a. creating a data profile of the underlying performance represented by the matching identifiers, the data profile including a representative identifier; and

b. indexing the data profile against an unused reference ID within the main data base of the central index server.

19. A method of controlling file exchanges of multimedia data files in a de-centralized network comprising a first client, a second client and a central index server with a memory having a main database containing a plurality of reliable identifiers referenced against a respective plurality of unique reference IDs, the central index server configured to facilitate a connection between the first client and the second client, the method comprising the steps:

a. establishing a communication between the first client and the central index server;

b. searching a memory of the first client for usable data files;

c. identifying a plurality of files which lack authentication certificates issued by the central index server;

d. generating a first data-file identifier for a first multimedia data file among the plurality of files which lack authentication certificates; and

e. comparing the first data-file identifier to a first reliable identifier in the main data base of the central index server, the first reliable identifier being separately indexed against both a first unique reference ID and a copy status value.

20. The method according to claim 19 further comprising the steps of:

searching the copy status value to determine whether the select files are copyright protected.

21. The method according to claim 20 further comprising the steps of:

a. determining that the first data-file identifier matches the first reliable identifier; and

b. issuing a valid authentication certificate for the first data file in the client.

22. The method according to claim 21 further comprising the step of referencing an IP address of the first client against the first unique reference ID within the main data base of the central index server.

23. The method according to claim 20 further comprising the steps:

a. determining that the first data-file identifier does not match the first reliable identifier; and

b. systematically comparing the first data-file identifier against a remaining plurality of identifiers within the main data base of the control index server.

24. The method according to claim 22 further comprising the steps:

a. receiving a file request from the second client for a file represented by the first unique reference ID;

b. facilitating a connection between the first client and the second client; and

c. transferring the first multimedia data file from the first client to the second client.

25. The method according the claim 23 further comprising the steps:

a. Determining that the first data-file identifier does not represent a same performance as any reliable identifier stored within the main data base of the central index server; and

b. storing the first data-file identifier, along with ancillary data related to the first multimedia data file, in a data base of unknown files within the central index server.

26. The method according to claim 25 further comprising the steps:

a. creating a data profile of an underlying performance represented by the matching identifiers, the data profile including a representative identifier; and

b. indexing the data profile against an unused reference ID within the main data base of the central index server.

27. The method according to claim 20 wherein the first reliable identifier comprises a fingerprint of a respective multimedia file, a fingerprint being generated according to the steps:

a. defining a set of sensible characteristics of a multimedia recording;

b. establishing quantifiable parameters for measuring each of the sensible characteristics;

c. examining the sensible characteristics of the underlying performance; and

d. quantifying each of the sensible characteristics of the underlying performance according to the quantifiable parameters.

28. The method according to claim 20 wherein the first reliable identifier is a digital hash extracted from a respective multimedia file, the digital hash being generated according to the step of digitally reducing a size of the known multimedia file through a digital reduction algorithm.

29. The method according to claim 27 wherein the sensible characteristics of the multimedia recording are selected from among a group consisting of tempo, mood, richness, tambour, pitch, frequency, frequency range, beat, key, scales, and amplitude variation.

30. The method according to claim 28 wherein the digital hash is an MD5 value derived from an MP3 compression of a sound recording.

31. A method of controlling file exchanges of multimedia data files in a de-centralized network, comprising:

providing a first client and a second client;

providing a central index server with a memory including a main database, the central index server configured to facilitate a connection between the first client and the second client;

generating a plurality of reliable identifiers from a respective plurality of known multimedia data files;

determining copy restrictions associated with each of the plurality of known multimedia data files, wherein each copy restriction is associated with a field of codes that define specific conditions under which a known multimedia data file may be made available for copying, a presence or absence of copy restrictions corresponding to a status of a known multimedia data file;

forming an index within a main database of the central index server, the index comprising a plurality of unique reference IDs correlating to the plurality of known multimedia data files; and

indexing each of the plurality of reliable identifiers and corresponding respective statuses against the respective plurality of unique reference IDs within the main database of the central index server, such that the corresponding respective statuses may be individually searched within the central index server.