Patent ID: 7383433
Filing Date: 2008-06-03
Classification: G06F,G06Q,H04L

Abstract:
1. A peer computing system, comprising: a plurality of peer nodes; at least a subset of the plurality of peer nodes configured to participate in areas of interest to find and exchange codats relevant to the areas of interest, wherein a codat is computer-representable content or data; wherein the at least a subset of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to participate in a distributed trust mechanism to establish and maintain trust relationships among the peer nodes in particular areas of interest from trust evaluations of codat exchange among the peer nodes in the particular areas of interest; and wherein each of the at least a subset of the plurality of peer nodes is configured to provide secure access to codats at a plurality of levels of trust, wherein, at one or more of the levels of trust, the at least a subset of the plurality of peer nodes use certificates to provide secure access to the codats, wherein a certificate is a security credential corresponding to a particular peer node; wherein each of the at least a subset of the plurality of peer nodes is further configured to determine trust in certificates corresponding to other peer nodes in accordance with the distributed trust mechanism, wherein, to determine trust in certificates corresponding to other peer nodes, each of the at least a subset of plurality of peer nodes is further configured to: