PEER-TO-PEER FILE SHARING SYSTEM AND METHOD USING USER DATAGRAM PROTOCOL

摘要

A network-based file-sharing system includes a plurality of host computers. A first host computer is programmed to generate a list (130) of other host computers where a user-selected file is stored. The first host is programmed to retrieve at least a portion of the file (138) from a second host using User Datagram Protocol.A registry server is coupled to the network for maintaining a registry containing, for each files, a message digest uniquely identifying the file and an indication of restriction status of the file. Access to the file by any of the host computer is based on the indication in the registry of restriction status.