System and method for determining an anonymous user-centric cross community reputation

摘要

The invention is a system and computer implemented method for using the system to determine a cross-community reputation for a specific user that participates in one or more communities belonging to the group of communities, while maintaining the anonymity of the user. The method is administered by a Central Authority (CA), which is responsible for authenticating the validity of users, and disclosing their anonymity in case of illegal or malicious activity and a Cross-Community Reputation Entity (CCRE) which is responsible for issuing a cross-community reputation certificate (CCRC), based on the reputation certificates from the communities. The system comprises: computers of a plurality of users who are members of one or more of the communities; computers of each of the communities in the group of online communities; computers of the CA and the CCRE; and software components located on each of the computers of the users, the communities, the CA, and the CCRC.