Filter for a distributed network

• US 8,775,508 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2012
• Issued: 07/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Global File Systems Holdings, LLC
• Original Assignee: Altnet Incorporated (Brilliant Digital Entertainment Incorporated)
• Inventors: Rose, Anthony
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thai
• Application Number:
  US13/453,069
• Publication Number:
  US 20120209966A1
• Time in Patent Office: 806 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-203, 709217-219
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/903 Querying for retrieval from the web G06F16/953
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1065 Discovery involving distributed pre-established resource-based relationships among peers, e.g. based on distributed hash tables [DHT] pre-configuration of logical or physical connections H04L67/1053

Abstract

A device coupled to a network receives a request from an indexing node in the network, the request corresponding to a particular data item; and provides a response to the indexing node in response to the request, wherein the response to the indexing node includes an indication that the indexing node should index a substitute data item instead of the particular data item.

Claims

1. A device coupled to a network, wherein said network comprises a peer-to-peer network comprising ordinary nodes and indexing nodes, the device comprising hardware including at least one processor, and software, in combination with said hardware to:

(a) receive a request from an indexing node in said network, said request corresponding to a particular data item, wherein said indexing node made said request in response to an advertisement of said particular data item by an ordinary node in said network, said advertisement including a data item identifier corresponding to said particular data item, and wherein the request comprises said data item identifier corresponding to said particular data item;

(b) authenticate that said request was from an authorized source; and

(c) provide a response to the indexing node in response to the request, wherein the response to the indexing node comprises an indication that the indexing node should index a substitute data item instead of the particular data item, wherein the response comprises an identification of the substitute data item to be indexed instead of the particular data item, and wherein the identification of the substitute data item comprises a uniform resource locator (URL) or a uniform resource identifier (URI) of the substitute data item.

2. The device as in claim 1 wherein said response is based, at least in part, on whether or not the particular data item corresponds to an infringing data item.

3. The device as in claim 2 further operable to:

(d) determine whether or not said particular data item corresponds to said infringing data item.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein the request comprises a particular identifier for said particular data item, and wherein said device is operable to determine whether or not said particular data item corresponds to said infringing data item by determining whether or not said particular identifier corresponds to an identifier in a database, said database comprising a plurality of identifiers.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein the identifier comprises a hash of the particular data item.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is configured to receive the request over the Internet and to provide the index response over the Internet.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the network is the Internet.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein the device comprises a server.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the substitute data item is a different version of the particular data item.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the substitute data item is a copy protected version of the particular data item.

11. The device of claim 1 wherein said request corresponds to a request made at the indexing node to index the particular data item.

12. The device of claim 1 wherein said authenticating in (b) comprises:

verifying that the request was from an authorized source.

13. The device of claim 1 wherein said indexing node made said request in response to receipt by said indexing node of said advertisement.

14. A computer-implemented method operable in a network, said network comprising a peer-to-peer network comprising a server, ordinary nodes, and indexing nodes, the method comprising the steps of:

(A) receiving a request at said server from an indexing node in said network, said request corresponding to a particular data item, wherein said indexing node made said request in response to an ordinary node in said network advertising a particular data item to nodes on the network, said advertisement including a data item identifier corresponding to said particular data item, and wherein the request comprises said data item identifier corresponding to said particular data item;

(B) authenticating, at said server, that said request was from an authorized source; and

(C) in response to the request, providing a response to the indexing node, wherein the response to the indexing node comprises an indication that the indexing node should index a substitute data item instead of the particular data item, wherein the response comprises an identification of the substitute data item to be indexed instead of the particular data item, and wherein the identification of the substitute data item comprises a uniform resource locator (URL) or a uniform resource identifier (URI) of the substitute data item.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said response is based, at least in part, on whether or not the particular data item corresponds to an infringing data item.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:

(D) determining whether or not said particular data item corresponds to said infringing data item.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the request comprises a particular identifier corresponding to said particular data item, and wherein said determining whether or not said particular data item corresponds to said infringing data item comprises:

determining whether or not said particular identifier corresponds to an identifier in a database, said database comprising a plurality of identifiers.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the response comprises alternative data.

19. The method of claim 14 wherein the particular data item identifier comprises a hash of the particular data item.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the substitute data item is a different version of the particular data item.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the substitute data item is a copy protected version of the particular data item.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the network is the Internet.

23. The method of claim 14 wherein said request corresponds to a request made at the indexing node to index the particular data item.

24. The method of claim 14 wherein the authenticating in (B) comprises:

verifying that the request was from an authorized source.

25. The method of claim 14 wherein said indexing node made said request in response to receipt by said indexing node of said advertisement.

26. Non-transitory computer-readable media tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by at least one computer, the program comprising code to:

(a) receive a request from an indexing node in a network, wherein said network comprises a peer-to-peer network comprising said at least one computer, ordinary nodes, and indexing nodes, said request corresponding to a particular data item, and wherein said indexing node made said request in response to an ordinary node in said network advertising a particular data item to nodes on the network, said request including a data identifier corresponding to said particular data item, and wherein the request comprises said data item identifier corresponding to said particular data item; and

(b) authenticate that said request was from an authorized source; and

(c) provide a response to the indexing node in response to the request, wherein the response to the indexing node comprises an indication that the indexing node should index a substitute data item instead of the particular data item, wherein the response comprises an identification of the substitute data item to be indexed instead of the particular data item, and wherein the identification of the substitute data item comprises a uniform resource locator (URL) or a uniform resource identifier (URI) of the substitute data item.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 26 wherein said response is based, at least in part, on whether or not the particular data item corresponds to an infringing data item.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 27, the program further comprising code to:

(d) determine whether or not said particular data item corresponds to said infringing data item.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable media as in claim 26, wherein the response comprises alternative data.

30. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 26 wherein the identifier comprises a hash of the particular data item.

31. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 26, wherein the program is configured to receive the request over the Internet and to provide the index response over the Internet.

32. The non-transitory computer-readable-media of claim 26, wherein the network is the Internet.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 26, wherein the substitute data item is a different version of the particular data item.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 26, wherein the substitute data item is a copy protected version of the particular data item.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 26 wherein said request corresponds to a request made at the indexing node to index the particular data item.

36. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 26 wherein said authenticating in (b) comprises:

verifying that the request was from an authorized source.

37. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 26 wherein said indexing node made said request in response to receipt by said indexing node of said advertisement.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 26 wherein said at least one computer is a server.