System and method for community centric resource sharing based on a publishing subscription model
First Claim
1. In an Internet based network with a plurality of registered users, wherein each of said users is either or both of a publisher to publish his information to others and a subscriber to subscribe shared information from others, a computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions, which when loaded into a digital computational device establishes a system for sharing digital resources based on a publishing-subscribing model, comprising:
- means for designating a subscriber as a member of a publisher'"'"'s community;
means for creating groups within said publisher'"'"'s community, each of said groups being based on a predefined sharing relationship between said publisher and the community members of said group;
means for defining a period of time after which a publish offer lapses;
at least one publisher-agent on behalf of said publisher to serve as a gateway for all of said publisher'"'"'s software applications to send out announcements and process all requests from subscribers and non-subscriber users;
means for processing a non-subscriber user'"'"'s request for sharing;
means for establishing a limited sharing relationship between a subscriber user and a non-subscriber user;
at least one subscriber-agent on behalf of a community member of said publisher to serve as a gateway for all of said community member'"'"'s software applications to process requests from said publisher and other subscribers; and
means for delivering different views of a resource to different groups based on different sharing relationships;
wherein whenever said resource is modified by said publisher any local copy of said resource accessible by any member of said publisher'"'"'s community is automatically updated;
wherein a subscriber of said resource can edit published information in a local copy of said resource, said edited published information being overwritten by any update published by said publisher; and
wherein each of said views has metadata describing sharing styles, as well as version, creation date and size, wherein each sharing style corresponds to a specific sharing relationship of the publisher.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides a Web service which enables a publisher to share his digital resources such as an address card or a calendar with a number of subscribers based on different sharing relationships. The Web service includes a host-based interface called “My Community”, for example, with which the publisher manages the share-relationships with his community members. The community members are organized into different groups. Each group includes a number of community members who have a common sharing relationship with the publisher with respect to one or more views of the shared resources. A resource may have multiple views. Each of the views has Metadata describing sharing-styles, as well as version, creation date, size, and the like. Each sharing style corresponds to a specific sharing relationship between a community member and the publisher.
60 Citations
89 Claims
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1. In an Internet based network with a plurality of registered users, wherein each of said users is either or both of a publisher to publish his information to others and a subscriber to subscribe shared information from others, a computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions, which when loaded into a digital computational device establishes a system for sharing digital resources based on a publishing-subscribing model, comprising:
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means for designating a subscriber as a member of a publisher'"'"'s community; means for creating groups within said publisher'"'"'s community, each of said groups being based on a predefined sharing relationship between said publisher and the community members of said group; means for defining a period of time after which a publish offer lapses; at least one publisher-agent on behalf of said publisher to serve as a gateway for all of said publisher'"'"'s software applications to send out announcements and process all requests from subscribers and non-subscriber users; means for processing a non-subscriber user'"'"'s request for sharing; means for establishing a limited sharing relationship between a subscriber user and a non-subscriber user; at least one subscriber-agent on behalf of a community member of said publisher to serve as a gateway for all of said community member'"'"'s software applications to process requests from said publisher and other subscribers; and means for delivering different views of a resource to different groups based on different sharing relationships; wherein whenever said resource is modified by said publisher any local copy of said resource accessible by any member of said publisher'"'"'s community is automatically updated; wherein a subscriber of said resource can edit published information in a local copy of said resource, said edited published information being overwritten by any update published by said publisher; and wherein each of said views has metadata describing sharing styles, as well as version, creation date and size, wherein each sharing style corresponds to a specific sharing relationship of the publisher. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for sharing digital resources through an Internet based network which has a plurality of registered users, wherein each of said users is either or both of a publisher to publish his information to others and a subscriber to subscribe shared information from others, said method comprising the steps of:
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a publisher creating one or more views of a resource; designating a subscriber as a member of said publisher'"'"'s community; defining a period of time after which a publish offer lapses; creating groups within said publisher'"'"'s community, each group being based on a predefined sharing relationship between said publisher and the community members of said each group; processing a non-subscriber user'"'"'s request for sharing; establishing a limited sharing relationship between a subscriber user and a non-subscriber user; announcing availability of one or more views of said resource to one or more subscribers of said network; designating a subscriber who subscribes one or more views of said resource to one or more of said groups; using at least one publisher-agent on behalf of said publisher to serve as a gateway for all of said publisher'"'"'s software applications to send out announcements and process all requests from subscribers and non-subscriber users; using at least one subscriber-agent on behalf of a community member of said publisher to serve as a gateway for all of said community member'"'"'s software applications to process requests from said publisher and other subscribers; delivering different views of said resource to one or more of said groups based on different sharing relationships; whenever said resource is modified by said publisher, automatically updating any local copy of said resource accessible by any member of said publisher'"'"'s community; wherein a subscriber of said resource can edit published information in a local copy of said resource, said edited published information being overwritten by any published by said publisher; and wherein each of said views has metadata describing sharing styles, as well as version, creation date and size, wherein each sharing style corresponds to a specific sharing relationship of the publisher. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. In an Internet based network with a plurality of registered users, wherein each of said users is either or both of a publisher to publish his information to others and a subscriber to subscribe shared information from others, a computer readable storage medium encoded with instructions, which when loaded into a digital computational device establishes a system for hosting an address card service comprising:
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means for a publisher to set up an address card having multiple views, each of said views being associated with a different label which, when being clicked, brings said associated view to the front of screen; means for managing said address card, whereby said publisher designates a sharing relationship to one or more groups of subscribers; means for defining a period of time after which a publish offer lapses; means for publishing said address card to a number of selected subscribers based on different sharing relationships; and means for updating local copies of said address card possessed by said subscribers; wherein a subscriber of said publisher'"'"'s address card can edit published information in a local copy of said address card, said edited published information being overwritten by any update published by said publisher based on an on-going subscription; wherein when said publisher chooses to publish to a recipient who is not a registered member of said Internet based network, a notification along with an image of said publisher'"'"'s address card is sent to said recipient via e-mail, said notification comprising a first link which enables said recipient to subscribe future modifications of said publisher'"'"'s address; and wherein each of said views has metadata describing sharing styles, as well as version, creation date and size, wherein each sharing style corresponds to a specific sharing relationship of the publisher. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A method for providing a digital address card service through an Internet based network which has a plurality of registered users, wherein each of said users is either or both of a publisher to publish his information to others and a subscriber to subscribe a published address card from others, said method comprising the steps of:
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a publisher configuring an address card, said address card having multiple views, each of said views being associated with a different label which, when being clicked, brings said associated view to the front of screen; designating a sharing relationship to one or more groups of subscribers; defining a period of time after which a publish offer lapses; and publishing said address card to a number of selected subscribers based on designated sharing relationships; wherein a subscriber of said publisher'"'"'s address card can edit published information in a local copy of said address card, said edited published information being overwritten by any update published by said publisher based on an on-going subscription; wherein when said publisher chooses to publish to a recipient who is not a registered member of said Internet based network, sending a notification along with an image of said publisher'"'"'s address card to said recipient via e-mail, said notification comprising a first link which enables said recipient to subscribe future modifications of said publisher'"'"'s address and wherein each of said views has metadata describing sharing styles, as well as version, creation date and size, wherein each sharing style corresponds to a specific sharing relationship of the publisher. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88)
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89. A method for providing a digital address card service through an Internet based network which has a plurality of registered users, wherein each of said users is either or both of a publisher to publish his information to others and a subscriber to subscribe a published address card from others, said method comprising the steps of:
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a publisher configuring an address card, said address card having multiple views, each of said views being associated with a different label which, when being clicked, brings said associated view to the front of screen, wherein each of said views has metadata describing sharing-styles, as well as version, creation date and size; wherein configuring said address card comprises entering said publisher'"'"'s contact information from a central entry page, wherein any of said entered contact information is automatically populated to one or more of said views, wherein each of said views is based on a template containing a set of predefined fields, customizing one or more of said views, setting preferences, adding said publisher'"'"'s self-expression elements into said address card, setting parental control to prevent children from handling said address card, modifying said address card, configuring update policies; wherein said address card is incorporated into said publisher'"'"'s address book from which said selected subscribers'"'"' e-mail addresses are extracted, and wherein said address book comprises a virtual button, by selecting a screen name from said address book and then clicking said virtual button, said publisher is prompted to a screen of an editable address card where said publisher completes the contact information of a new contact associated with said selected screen name; designating one of said views as a default view; designating a sharing relationship to one or more groups of subscribers, wherein each of said sharing styles corresponds to a specific sharing relationship of the publisher; defining a period of time after which a publish offer lapses; publishing said address card to a number of selected subscribers based on designated sharing relationships by any of sending a pre-populated email, invoking an immediate popup from an instant messaging system, highlighting an indicator in an online address book and invoking a popup at sign-on; wherein a subscriber of said publisher'"'"'s address card can edit published information in a local copy of said address card, said edited published information being overwritten by any update published by said publisher based on an on-going subscription; wherein any of said subscribers who receive a publish offer may take any action of rejecting said offer, accepting said offer by subscribing said publisher'"'"'s address card and accepting said offer by subscribing said publisher'"'"'s address card and at the same time reciprocating with a publication of said subscriber'"'"'s address card to said publisher; and
wherein a subscriber of said publisher'"'"'s address card can choose to un-subscribe at any time;viewing by said publisher any of an accepted subscription, a rejected subscription and a pending subscription; wherein when said publisher chooses to publish to a recipient who is not a registered member of said Internet based network, sending a notification along with an image of said publisher'"'"'s address card to said recipient via e-mail, said notification comprising a first link which enables said recipient to subscribe future modifications of said publisher'"'"'s address card, wherein said notification comprises a second link which enables said recipient to reciprocate said publisher with contact information.
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Specification