System and method for secure storage, transfer and retrieval of content addressable information
First Claim
1. A method of managing a plurality of digital assets stored in a computer system comprising at least a first computer, the plurality of digital assets comprising a first digital asset, the first digital asset comprising content and having associated metadata, the method comprising acts of:
- (A) creating a customized first descriptor file that comprises content that includes at least some of the metadata associated with the first digital asset and an identifier of the first digital asset that is based, at least in part, on a cryptographic hash of at least some of the content of the first digital asset, the first descriptor file being a first type of descriptor file that is one of a plurality of customized descriptor file types created by a user, at least some metadata and behavior being automatically added to the first descriptor file based on the first descriptor file being of the first type, wherein the behavior that is automatically added to the first descriptor file based on the first descriptor file being of the first type is specified by the user and causes the first descriptor file to be placed in a particular folder based on the first descriptor file being of the first type, wherein the particular folder in which the first descriptor file is placed is specified by the user; and
(B) storing the first descriptor file on the computer system in the particular folder so that the first descriptor file is accessible as one of the plurality of digital assets and creating an identifier of the first descriptor file that is based, at least in part, on a cryptographic hash of at least some of the content of the first descriptor file.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An algorithm (such as the MD5 hash function) is applied to a file to produce an intrinsic unique identifier (IUI) for the file (or message digest). The file is encrypted using its IUI as the key for the encryption algorithm. An algorithm is then applied to the encrypted file to produce an IUI for the encrypted file. The encrypted file is safely stored or transferred within a network and is uniquely identifiable by its IUI. The encrypted file is decrypted using the IUI of the plaintext file as the key. The IUI serves as both a key to decrypt the file and also as verification that the integrity of the plaintext file has not been compromised. IUIs for any number of such encrypted files may be assembled into a descriptor file that includes meta data for each file, the IUI of the plaintext file and the IUI of the encrypted file. An algorithm is applied to the descriptor file to produce an IUI for the descriptor file. The plaintext descriptor file is then encrypted using the descriptor file IUI as a key for the encryption algorithm. An algorithm is applied to the encrypted descriptor file to produce an IUI for the encrypted descriptor file. The IUI of the encrypted descriptor file is a location-independent identifier to locate the encrypted descriptor file. A flattened descriptor file includes the IUIs of encrypted data files and the IUI of the encrypted descriptor file. An algorithm is applied to the flattened descriptor file to produce its own IUI.
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Citations
57 Claims
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1. A method of managing a plurality of digital assets stored in a computer system comprising at least a first computer, the plurality of digital assets comprising a first digital asset, the first digital asset comprising content and having associated metadata, the method comprising acts of:
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(A) creating a customized first descriptor file that comprises content that includes at least some of the metadata associated with the first digital asset and an identifier of the first digital asset that is based, at least in part, on a cryptographic hash of at least some of the content of the first digital asset, the first descriptor file being a first type of descriptor file that is one of a plurality of customized descriptor file types created by a user, at least some metadata and behavior being automatically added to the first descriptor file based on the first descriptor file being of the first type, wherein the behavior that is automatically added to the first descriptor file based on the first descriptor file being of the first type is specified by the user and causes the first descriptor file to be placed in a particular folder based on the first descriptor file being of the first type, wherein the particular folder in which the first descriptor file is placed is specified by the user; and (B) storing the first descriptor file on the computer system in the particular folder so that the first descriptor file is accessible as one of the plurality of digital assets and creating an identifier of the first descriptor file that is based, at least in part, on a cryptographic hash of at least some of the content of the first descriptor file. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed on a computer system, perform a method of managing a plurality of digital assets stored in the computer system, wherein the computer system comprises at least a first computer, the plurality of digital assets comprising a first digital asset, the first digital asset comprising content and having associated metadata, the method comprising acts of:
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(A) creating a customized first descriptor file that comprises content that includes at least some of the metadata associated with the first digital asset and an identifier of the first digital asset that is based, at least in part, on a cryptographic hash of at least some of the content of the first digital asset, the first descriptor file being a first type of descriptor file that is one of a plurality of customized descriptor file types created by a user, at least some metadata and behavior being automatically added to the first descriptor file based on the first descriptor file being of the first type, wherein the behavior that is automatically added to the first descriptor file based on the first descriptor file being of the first type is specified by the user and causes the first descriptor file to be placed in a particular folder based on the first descriptor file being of the first type, wherein the particular folder in which the first descriptor file is placed is specified by the user; and (B) storing the first descriptor file on the computer system in the particular folder so that the first descriptor file is accessible as one of the plurality of digital assets and creating an identifier of the first descriptor file that is based, at least in part, on a cryptographic hash of at least some of the content of the first descriptor file. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. At least one computer, in a computer system, for managing a plurality of digital assets stored in the computer system, wherein the plurality of digital assets comprising a first digital asset, the first digital asset comprising content and having associated metadata, the at least one computer comprising:
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at least one storage device; and at least one controller, coupled to the at least one storage device, that; (A) creates a customized first descriptor file that comprises content that includes at least some of the metadata associated with the first digital asset and an identifier of the first digital asset that is based, at least in part, on a cryptographic hash of at least some of the content of the first digital asset, the first descriptor file being a first type of descriptor file that is one of a plurality of customized descriptor file types created by a user, at least some metadata and behavior being automatically added to the first descriptor file based on the first descriptor file being of the first type, wherein the behavior that is automatically added to the first descriptor file based on the first descriptor file being of the first type is specified by the user and causes the first descriptor file to be placed in a particular folder based on the first descriptor file being of the first type, wherein the particular folder in which the first descriptor file is placed is specified by the user; and (B) stores, on the at least one storage device, the first descriptor file in the particular folder so that the first descriptor file is accessible as one of the plurality of digital assets and creates an identifier of the first descriptor file that is based, at least in part, on a cryptographic hash of at least some of the content of the first descriptor file. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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Specification