Method and system for protection against unauthorized distribution of copyrighted computer files over peer-to-peer networks
OwnerClaude Fournierinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and system for protection against unauthorized distribution of copyrighted computer files by end-users over a peer-to-peer (P2P) network make use of the viral aspect of P2P network by providing a computer server including corrupted version of the copyrighted computer files, by connecting the computer server to the P2P network, and by allowing access to such corrupted version. The versions of the copyrighted computer files are so corrupted as to allow their identification by peer end-users as being the corresponding copyrighted computer files.
Claims21
A method for protecting against unauthorized distribution of a copyrighted digital file by end-users over a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, said method comprising:
- providing at least one corrupted copy of the copyrighted digital file on a first computer server;
- said at least one corrupted copy sharing sufficient similarities with said copyrighted digital file so as to be identifiable by at least one of the end-users as the copyrighted digital file;
- connecting said first computer server to the P2P network;
- and
- allowing access to said at least one corrupted copy over the P2P network to said at least one of the end-users;
- whereby, copying of said at least one corrupted copy by said at least one of the end-users yields a version of said at least one corrupted copy which becomes available through the peer-to-peer network and identifiable as the copyrighted digital file, thereby a) decreasing the probability that one of the end-users accesses the copyrighted digital file, b) diminishing the reliability of the peer-to-peer network, and c) contributing to dissuading unauthorized distribution of the copyrighted digital file over the peer-to-peer network.
A system for protecting against unauthorized distribution of a copyrighted digital file by end-users over a peer-to-peer (P2P) network using respective end-user device configured to share digital files over the P2P network, said system comprising:
- a first computer server connected to the peer-to-peer network;
- said first computer server including at least one corrupted copy of the copyrighted digital file;
- said at least one corrupted copy sharing sufficient similarities with the copyrighted digital file so as to be identifiable by at least one of the end-users as the copyrighted digital file.
A system as recited in claim 13, wherein said corrupted copy of the copyrighted digital file is selected from the group consisting of a truncated copy of the copyrighted digital file, a file including information not included in the copyrighted digital file, a copy of the copyrighted digital file having a lesser quality than the copyrighted digital file, and a partially incomplete copy of said copyrighted digital file.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.