Abstract:
A consumer-to-consumer lending system and method for digital content such as digital ebooks. The lending system invention enables a user who has purchased digital content to lend that content to another user. The lending system enables a lender to extend a lending offer to a lendee and a lendee to respond to the lending offer. A lendee may accept or reject a lending offer. Upon acceptance, the lending system provides the lent content to the lendee who controls the content until returning it, purchasing it or until a predetermined lending period expires. During the lending period the lender does not have access to the lent digital content item. The lending system assists a lender with initiating a lending offer, such as providing a pre-populated email form, and delivers the lend offer notification to the target lendee. Lending offers may be initiated and notifications received over common channels, including email systems, mobile devices, and web-based user accounts. The lending process can be initiated directly from a consumer device.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/907,960, filed Oct. 19, 2010, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/253,037, filed on Oct. 19, 2009, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to digital content distribution and, in particular, to a consumer-to-consumer lending system for electronic books (ebook). 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Publishers have legitimate business and legal concerns regarding digital content lending systems. Unlike paper copies of their book content, copies of digital content are relatively easy to make and very easy to distribute. To meet business concerns, publishers require that a lending system ensures that only one user at a time has access to the ebook content purchased by a user. To meet legal concerns, publishers require that a lending system does not permit the duplication of multiple copies of ebook content in violation of copyright law. These business and legal concerns present a technical problem to which there is currently no technical solution. 
         [0004]    There are library-based lending systems in use that allow an ebook to be lent from a library to a patron of the library (see for example the ebook lending system at the New York Public Library (ebooks.nypl.org)). A library-based lending system is not a consumer-to-consumer lending system and differs in several significant regards. In a library lending system, a library patron submits a request to the library for a book contained in the library. The requests for books are always between patrons and the library system itself. There is no lending between patrons of the library system. Current library-based lending systems do not have the technical capability to facilitate a lending process directly between one user and another user. 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,901,386 describes a system by which corporations or other entities can manage their licenses to electronic assets, e.g. software. As is well known, software licenses, particularly licenses to enterprise software, can be very expensive. Corporations are therefore always looking for ways to maximize the use of their licenses across the organization. In the system described in this patent, the owner of a current license to an electronic asset “releases” its license to the license management system. This released license can be re-assigned other users in the organization. 
         [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,054,840 describes a clearinghouse for rights in digital material. If a user decides to sell or otherwise transfer her rights to some digital material, she transfers her rights to a clearinghouse server which posts the digital material as being for sale or other transfer. When a buyer or borrower sees the posting, he can buy or borrow the material through the clearinghouse. 
         [0007]    U.S. Patent Publication US 2006/10543134 describes a licensing system in which a request for a license is received either directly from a borrower or indirectly through a licensing authority. 
         [0008]    None of these systems of the prior art describe a consumer to consumer lending system that provides the technical safeguards required by authors and publishers to ensure unauthorized copies are not made. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention is a consumer-to-consumer lending system for digital content. More specifically, the present invention is a lending system for digital ebooks, but can be used to facilitate lending of other digital content such as audio books, movies, music or software. The lending system invention enables a user who has purchased digital content to lend that content to another user. The lending system enables a lender to extend a lending offer to a lendee and a lendee to respond to the lending offer. A lendee may accept or reject a lending offer. Upon acceptance, the lending system provides the lent content to the lendee who controls the content until returning it or until a predetermined lending period expires. The lending system assists a lender with initiating a lending offer, such as providing a pre-populated email form, and delivers the lend offer notification to the target lendee. Lending offers may be initiated and notifications received over common channels, including email systems, mobile devices, and web-based user accounts. The present invention has the ability to initiate the lending process directly from a consumer device. 
         [0010]    The lending system of the present invention provides a technical solution to the technical problem of applying digital rights management (DRM) techniques to control and support the expiration of lent content. When a lendee rejects or blocks an electronic lending offer, the lending system returns control of the digital content to the lender. Similarly, when an electronic lending offer expires or the lending period for the lent content ends, the lending system returns control of the digital content to the lender. 
         [0011]    The lending system also electronically manages the conditions for lending each digital content item within the system. For example, not all owners of digital content may provide the authorization for their digital content to be lent. Another owner of a particular digital content item may only let its digital content be lent by a lender once. Most owners of digital content allow only one user at a time to access its digital content. Therefore, for most digital content items, the system of the present invention prevents a lender from using content lent to a lendee during the lending period. In this preferred embodiment, only the lendee can use the lent content during the lending period. The lending system can allow some properties of digital content to be configurable in support of changing business needs, while other properties must be fixed in support of owner/publisher restrictions and statutory requirements. For example, the duration of a lending period may be configurable to tie in with marketing promotions while copying digital content may be prohibited to adhere to copyright laws. 
         [0012]    As appreciated by those skilled in the art, the consumer-to-consumer lending system and method of the present invention can apply not only to ebooks, but also to any digital content, such as digital movies, digital music, digital audio books, digital pictures, or other downloadable digital content. 
         [0013]    In a first aspect of the present invention, the method is operated on a lending server for controlling the lending of a digital content item from a lender to a lendee. The lending server first receives a lending offer from the lender of the digital content item. The lending offer identifying at least the digital content item to be loaned and identifying the lendee. The lending server generates a lending notice identifying at least the digital content item and transmits the lending notice to the lendee. The lending server receives an acceptance or rejection of the lending offer from lendee. If the lendee has accepted the lending offer, the lending server provides the lendee with access to the digital content item and prevents access by the lender to the digital content item. 
         [0014]    In a preferred embodiment, a browser-based interface is provided for the lender and the lendee to interface with the lending server. Additionally, a non-browser-based interface is also provided for the lender and the lendee to interface with the lending server. A notice is provided to the lendee on an electronic device of the lendee that is registered with the lending server. In a further aspect, an email is generated and transmitted to the lendee letting the lendee know of the lending offer. In a further aspect, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is included in the email and the lendee connects to the lending server using the URL. IN this aspect, the URL contains parameters including a combination of a lending offer ID and an encrypted security hash code. The server verifies that the parameters contained in the URL used by the lendee matches an existing, valid, unexpired lending offer. 
         [0015]    In a further aspect, the server prevents access by the lender to the digital content item after the lending notice has been transmitted. In this further aspect, a copy of the digital content item is stored on an electronic device of the lender. The server prevents access by the lender to the digital content item by removing the digital content item from the lender&#39;s electronic device. Each of the lender and the lendee can have electronic devices by which they access the lending server. In this aspect, the electronic devices are synchronized with the lending server. 
         [0016]    In a further aspect, the server provides the lendee with access to the digital content item by transmitting a copy of the digital content item from the server to an electronic device of the lendee. In this aspect, the copy of the digital content item is preferably encrypted before it is transmitted from the server to the electronic device of the lendee. 
         [0017]    In a further aspect, an expiration period is set for the lending notice during which the lendee must accept the lending offer. Also, a loan period is set for the loan of the digital content item. After the expiration of the loan period, the lending server prevents access by the lendee to the digital content item and grants access to the digital content item by the lender. In a preferred embodiment, a lender can loan the digital content item a predetermined numbers of times. 
         [0018]    In a further aspect, an interface is provided for the lender to view a plurality of digital content items to which the lender has access. In a preferred embodiment, an identification of which of the plurality of digital content items are capable of being loaned is provided. 
         [0019]    A system of the present invention for controlling the lending of a digital content item from a lender to a lendee includes a lending server that operable to receive a lending offer from the lender of the digital content item. The lending offer identifies at least the digital content item to be loaned and identifies the lendee. The server generates a lending notice identifying at least the digital content item and transmits the lending notice to the lendee. The server further receives an acceptance or rejection of the lending offer from lendee. If the lendee has accepted the lending offer, the server provides the lendee with access to the digital content item and prevents access by the lender to the digital content item. 
         [0020]    In an aspect of a system of the present invention there is a customer account database that stores information related to accounts that the lender and lendee have with the lending server. A lending offer database stores information related to the lending offer including the acceptance or rejection of the lending offer. A digital locker database stores information related to the digital content item. Customer data software uses the customer account database, the lending offer database and the digital locker database to validate the lending offer, create the lending notice, and mark the digital content item as lent in a lender&#39;s digital locker in the digital locker database. 
         [0021]    In a further aspect of a system of the present invention, a digital content file database stores the digital content item. Content control software encrypts the digital content items. 
         [0022]    Another aspect of a system of the present invention includes a user interface for communicating with the lender and the lendee. The user interface receives a lending offer from the lender of the digital content item. The lending offer identifies at least the digital content item to be loaned and identifying the lendee. A customer account database stores information related to accounts that the lender and the lendee have with the system. A lending offer database stores information related to the lending offer. A digital locker database stores information related to the digital content item. Customer data software uses the customer account database, the lending offer database and the digital locker database to validate the lending offer, create a lending notice to the lendee, and mark the digital content item as lent in a lender&#39;s digital locker in the digital locker database. A digital content file database stores the digital content item. Content control software encrypts the digital content item. 
         [0023]    In another aspect of a system of the present invention includes a lender electronic device. The lender electronic device generates a lending offer identifying at least the digital content item to be loaned and identifying the lendee. A lending server receives the lending offer from the lender, generates a lending notice identifying at least the digital content item to be loaned and transmits the lending notice to the lendee. A lendee electronic device receives the lending offer, generating an acceptance or rejection of the lending offer and transmits the acceptance or rejection to the lending server. If the lendee has accepted the lending offer, the lending server provides the lendee with access to the digital content item and prevents access by the lender to the digital content item. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0024]    For the purposes of illustrating the present invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise form shown by the drawing in which: 
           [0025]      FIG. 1  shows a conceptual block diagram representation of an embodiment of a consumer-to-consumer lending system and method of the present invention; 
           [0026]      FIG. 2  illustrates component parts of the lending server of a consumer-to-consumer lending system of the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 3  depicts a flowchart of a method for a consumer-to-consumer lending process where a lender initiates content lending from a mobile device; 
           [0028]      FIG. 4  depicts a flowchart of a method for a consumer-to-consumer lending process where a lender initiates content lending from an account on the web; 
           [0029]      FIG. 5  illustrates a flowchart of a method for a consumer-to-consumer lending process where a lendee receives a content lending offer via device notification and acts upon the lending offer; 
           [0030]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  contain a flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a method for a consumer-to-consumer lending process where a lendee receives a content lending offer via email notification and acts upon the lending offer; and 
           [0031]      FIG. 7  illustrates a state diagram for an item of digital content during the lending process. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0032]      FIG. 1  shows components of lending system  100  according to the present invention. Lender  105  is an authorized user of lending system  100 . Many of the functions of lending system  100  of the present invention are carried out on lending server  150 . As appreciated by those skilled in the art, many of the functions described herein can be divided between the lending server  150  and the user&#39;s local device  130   a . Further, as also appreciated by those skilled in the art, lending server  150  can actually be comprised of several servers performing interconnected and distributed functions. The lender  105  can connect to the lending server  150  via the Internet  140 , a telephone network  145  (e.g., a cellphone network) or other suitable electronic communication means. Lender  105  has an account on lending server  150 , which authorizes lender  105  to use lending system  100 . 
         [0033]    Associated with the lender&#39;s  105  account, is the lender&#39;s  105  digital locker  120   a  located on the lending server  150 . As further described below, in the preferred embodiment, digital locker  120   a  contains links to copies of digital content  125  previously purchased by lender  105 . Some of the digital content  125  purchased by lender  105  is digital content  125  with lending rights. For the digital content  125  with lending rights, lender  105  is allowed to lend lender&#39;s  105  copy of digital content  125  to another authorized user of lending system  100 . 
         [0034]    Indicia of rights to all copies of digital content  125  owned by lender  105 , including digital content  125 , is stored by reference in digital locker  120   a . Digital locker  120   a  is a remote online repository that is uniquely associated with the lender&#39;s  105  account. As appreciated by those skilled in the art, the actual copies of the digital content  125  are not necessarily stored in the user&#39;s locker  120   a , but rather the locker  120   a  stores an indication of the rights of the user to the particular content  125  and a link or other reference to the actual digital content  125 . Typically, the actual copy of the digital content  125  is stored in another mass storage (not shown). The digital lockers  120  of all of the lenders  105  who have purchased a copy of a particular digital content  125  would point to this copy in mass storage. Of course, back up copies of all digital content  125  are maintained for disaster recovery purposes. Although only one example of digital content  125  is illustrated in this figure, it is appreciated that the lending server can contain millions of files  125  containing digital content. It is also contemplated that the lending server  150  can actually be comprised of several servers with access to a plurality of storage devices containing digital content  125 . As further appreciated by those skilled in the art, in conventional licensing programs, the user does not own the actual copy of the digital content, but has a license to use it. Hereinafter, if reference is made to “owning” the digital content, it is understood what is meant is the license or right to use the content. 
         [0035]    Lender  105  can access his or her digital locker  120   a  using a local device  130   a . Local device  130   a  is an electronic device such as a personal computer, an e-book reader, a smart phone or other electronic device that the lender  105  can use to access the lending server  150 . In a preferred embodiment, the local device has been previously associated (registered) with the lender&#39;s  105  account using lender&#39;s  105  account credentials. Local device  130   a  provides the capability for lender  105  to download lender&#39;s  105  copy of digital content  125  via his or her digital locker  120   a . After digital content  125  is downloaded to local device  130   a , lender  105  can engage with the downloaded content locally—e.g., read the book, listen to the music, watch the video. 
         [0036]    In a preferred embodiment, local device  130   a  includes a non-browser based device lending interface that allows lender  105  to initiate the lending of digital content  125  to another authorized user of lending system  100  in a non-browser environment. Through the device lending interface, the lender  105  is automatically connected to the lending server  150  in a non-browser based environment. This connection to the lending server is a secure interface and can be through the telephone network  145 , typically a cellular network for mobile devices. If lender  105  is accessing his or her digital locker  120  using the Internet  140 , local device  130   s  also includes a web account interface. Web account interface provides lender  105  with browser-based access to his or her account and digital locker  120  over the Internet  140 . The web account interface also includes web lending interface similar to the device lending interface of the non-browser embodiment. Web lending interface allows lender  105  to initiate the lending of digital content  125  to another authorized user of lending system  100  in a browser based environment. 
         [0037]    Lendee  109  is also an authorized user of lending system  100 . As with lender  105 , lendee  109  has account with lending server  150 , which authorizes lendee  109  to use lending system  100 . Lendee  109  can be the recipient of a loaned copy of digital content  125  from lender  105 . Indicia of rights to digital content  125  that is lent to lendee  109  and indicia of rights to any other copies of digital content owned by lendee  109  are stored by reference in her digital locker  120   b . As with lender  105 , lendee  109  can access his or her digital locker  120   b  using her local device  130   b . In a preferred embodiment, local device  130   b  is a device that lendee  109  has previously associated (registered) with his or her account using lendee&#39;s  109  account credentials. Local device  130   b  allows lendee  109  to download a copy of loaned digital content  125  from digital locker  120   b  once the copy of digital content  125  is successfully lent from lender  105 . Lendee  109  can engage with downloaded lent digital content  125  locally on local device  130   b . Local device  130   b  also includes a device lending interface. Device lending interface allows lendee  109  to respond to lending offer notifications. 
         [0038]    Lendee  109  can also access his or her digital locker  120   b  using a browser based web account interface. Web account interface provides lendee  109  with browser-based access to his or her account and digital locker  120   b  over the Internet  140 . Web account interface also provides lendee  109  with access to web lending interface. Web lending interface allows lendee  109  to respond to lending offer emails. 
         [0039]    Lender  105  initiates an electronic lending offer  110  to lend digital content  125  to lendee  109 . As further described below, when processed by the lending server  150 , a lending offer  110  initiated by lender  105  is linked to the digital content  125  to be loaned and linked to lender  105  via his digital locker  120   a . The lending offer  110  may include informational details about the loaned content  125  and lender  105 , such as the title of the item  125  and the name of lender  105 . Lending offer  110  preferably includes an email address  111  of lendee  109  and a lending offer message  112 . The email address  111  is an unconfirmed email address of lendee  109  that is entered by lender  105 . Lending offer message  112  contains content (e.g., lendee&#39;s  109  email address) that is used to communicate the lending offer  110  to lendee  109 . Lending offer message  112  may also include optional message content entered by lender  105  (e.g., “Hi, I think you&#39;ll like this book”). 
         [0040]    In the non-browser embodiment, email address  111  is used by the lending server  150  to identify the lendee  109  in order to deliver a lending offer notification  113  to lendee  109  on local device  130   b . This lending offer notification  113  will be received by the lendee  109  the next time she logs onto her account on the lending server  150 . Email address  111  is also used to deliver lending offer email  114  directly to lendee&#39;s  109  email account. Lending offer notification  113  is an alert delivered by lending system  150  to lendee  109  which lendee  109  receives and can respond to using device lending interface in his or her local device  130   b . Lending offer email  114  is an email delivered to email address  111  that lendee  109  receives via his or her email system. Lending offer email  114  contains a lending offer Uniform Resource Locator (URL). Lending offer URL  115  contains a combination of a lending offer ID and an encrypted security hash code. This combination of parameters in the lending offer URL is used to verify that an incoming request to respond to lending offer  110  over the Internet  140  matches an existing, valid, unexpired lending offer  110 . This feature provides security for intentional or unintentional hacking of the system and prevents unauthorized access to digital content  125 . 
         [0041]    Lending server  150  manages the receipt of the lending offer  110  from lender  105  and initiates the generation and delivery of lending offer notification  113 , and lending offer email  114  to lendee  109 . As further described below, Lending server  150  is also capable of receiving lending offers  110  from lender  105  that are intended for a proposed lendee that is not already an authorized user of the system (i.e. proposed lendee does not have an account established on lending server  150 ). In this embodiment of the present invention, lending server  150  only sends the lending offer email  114  to the proposed lendee. In order to accept the lending offer, the proposed lendee must log onto the system and register with the lending system and thus become an authorized lendee  109 . 
         [0042]      FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of the detailed components of lending server  150  in lending system  100 . Lending server  150  handles front-end functions related to web server operations and user interactions with web and device lending interfaces in connection with the user&#39;s local devices  130 . Lending server  150  also handles all backend functions of lending system  100  related to managing accounts, tracking lending offers, maintaining digital locker records, maintaining content metadata and lending rights, and providing encryption and expiration services. 
         [0043]    Lending server  150  provides both the browser based web lending interface and non browser based device lending interface. Lender  105  may engage with web lending interface or device lending interface to initiate lending offer  110 . Lending server  150  uses web lending interface as a way to present lending offer  110  to lendee  109  over the Internet  140 . Lending server  150  uses the device lending interface as a way to present lending offer notification  113  directly to lendee  109  on local device  130   b . Lendee  109  may engage with web lending interface or device lending interface to accept or reject lending offer  110 . Lendee  109  may also engage with web lending interface or device lending interface  106  to return lent digital content  125  prior to the expiration of the lending period of digital content  125 . 
         [0044]    Lending server  150  provides access to a web account interface for lendee  109 . Lendee  109  may log into his or her account in response to receipt of a lending offer email  114  delivered to email address  111 . Lending server  150  also provides access to web account interface to a party with email address  111  who receives lending offer email  114 , but does not have an account in lending system  100 . The party may use web account interface to create an account. Creating the account establishes the party as lendee  109  with an account and a digital locker  120  in lending system  100 . 
         [0045]    Lending server  150  employs web server  200  including web services interface software  205  to handle interactions between front-end components; such as device lending interface, web account interface, and web lending interface; and back-end database components of lending system  100 . Web server  200  services include serving up the web pages  210  that comprise web account interface and web lending interface, and the underlying web services associated with device lending interface. Web services interface software  205  include handling user&#39;s logins to their accounts and processing the initiation of and response to lending offer  110 . 
         [0046]    Back-end database components of lending system  100  include customer accounts database  215 , digital lockers database  220 , lending offers database  225  and content metadata database  230 . Records for users&#39; accounts are stored and managed in customer accounts database  215 . Records for digital lockers  120  are stored and managed in digital lockers database  220 . Records for lending offers  110  are stored and managed in lending offers database  225 . Content metadata database  230  serves as a source of metadata and lending rights information for individual digital content items  125  in lending system  100 . Lending rights information in content metadata database  230  indicates whether any particular digital content  125  may be lent. 
         [0047]    Web services interface software  205  in the web server  200  interfaces with customer data services  235  to update customer accounts database  215 , digital lockers database  220 , and lending offers database  225 . Customer data services  235  processes database updates such as maintaining and validating customer data in user&#39;s accounts, marking and unmarking digital content  125  as lent in digital lockers  120 , creating and validating lending offers  110 , and sending lending offer notifications  113  and lending offer emails  114 . 
         [0048]    Web services interface software  205  in the web server  205  also interfaces with content encryption services  240  to secure elements of lending offers  110  and to package digital content  125  for secure delivery to lender  105  and lendee  109 . Web services interface software  205  provides an encrypted security hash code as a parameter for lending offer URL as described above. Content encryption services  240  processes digital content  125  to ensure that content  125  is packaged securely for lender  105  as owner and separately packaged securely for lendee  109  when lent. 
         [0049]    Web services interface software  205  in the web server  200  further interfaces with Digital Rights Management (DRM) services  240  and lending offers database  235  to manage lending expirations. Web services interface software  205  manages expiration setting, checking, and enforcement for lending offers  110  and the lending period for digital content  125 . DRM services  240  stamps an expiration date on digital content  125  when lent to lendee  109 . 
         [0050]    In the preferred embodiment of the invention, lending system  100  is a consumer-to-consumer ebook lending system. Although the ebook application is the preferred embodiment, as appreciated by those skilled in the art, the lending system  100  of the present invention is not limited to consumer lender  105  lending only an ebook to consumer lendee  109 . Lending system  100  can be used for consumer-to-consumer lending of any digital content, such as digital movies, digital music, digital audio books, digital pictures, or other downloadable digital content. 
         [0051]    In the preferred embodiment of the invention, local devices  130   a  and  130   b  are mobile electronic reader (eReader) devices. The embodiment of the invention is not intended to limit local device  130   a  or local device  130   b  to a mobile eReader device. Local device  130   a  or  130   b  may be a desktop personal computer or another type of mobile consumer electronic device, such as, for example, a cell phone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer or other such mobile digital device. 
       Operation 
       [0052]      FIG. 3  shows an exemplary method for a lender  105  to initiate a lending offer  110  from a mobile device  130   a  to lend digital content  125 . In step  300 , lender  105  engages with his or her local device  130   a  to identify the lender&#39;s  105  digital content  125 , including digital content  125  that may be lent. In the preferred embodiment, copies of content  125  to which lender  105  has rights are maintained on local device  130   a . Alternatively, if the content is not stored on the device  130   a  itself at the time lender  105  initiates the process, at least information about the content  125 , including its lendability is stored on local device  130   a . The actual copies of the content  125  can be stored on lending server  150 . In another embodiment, the local device  130   a  can connect to the lending server  150  to view lender&#39;s  105  digital content  125 . 
         [0053]    In step  305 , lender  105  invokes device lending interface to initiate a lending offer  110  for the digital content  125  that he or she wants to loan out. In step  310 , device lending interface presents lender  105  with a form having certain data entry fields that are pre-populated. Pre-populated fields include information about lender  105  that can be pulled from lender&#39;s  105  account in Customer Account Database  215  and information about digital content  125  that can be obtained from Content Metadata Database  230 . For example, the email address of lender  105  and the title and author of digital content  125  may be provided. In the data entry fields presented by device lending interface, lender  105  enters lendee&#39;s  109  email address  111  and an optional message to lendee  109  that can be included in lending offer message  112 . When finished, lender  105  selects a control on device lending interface to send lending offer  110  to lendee  109 . 
         [0054]    In step  315 , lender&#39;s device  130   a  initiates communication, preferably over a wireless network  140  or  145  to direct lending server  150  to process lending offer  110 . Lending server  150  generates a lending offer notification  113  and directs it to lendee&#39;s  109  local device  130   b . In a preferred embodiment, the offer notification is stored in the lendee&#39;s digital locker  120   b . The lendee  109  is be able to view this notification  113  next time she logs onto her account on lending server  150 . Using lendee&#39;s  109  email address  111  provided by the lender  105  in the lending offer  110 , lending server is able to identify lendee  109  via the Customer Accounts Database  215 . Lending server  150  also generates a lending offer email  114 , which is sent to lendee&#39;s  109  email address  111 . In step  325 , if lending offer email  114  is not emailed successfully, digital content  125  in digital locker  120   a  is not marked as lent and lender  105  is informed in step  330  that the lending offer  110  was not successfully sent. 
         [0055]    In step  335 , if lending offer email  114  is emailed successfully or lending offer notification  113  is delivered successfully, lending server  150  marks digital content  125  in lender&#39;s  105  digital locker  120   a  as lent. Upon synchronization of local device  130   a  with digital locker  120   a , lender  105  cannot download, lend, or otherwise use digital content  125  while digital content  125  is lent. A record in lending offers database  225  for lending offer  110  is created with an associated lending offer ID. The “loaned” digital content  125  is marked as lent, even if the lendee  109  has not yet accepted the lending offer  110 . In a preferred embodiment, lendee  109  must accept lending offer  110  within a specified period of time, which CGI software  205  checks and enforces. If lendee  109  does not accept lending offer  110  within a specified period of time, CGI software  205  expires the lending offer  110  and the lent indication on digital content  125  in digital locker  120   a  is removed. When digital content  125  no longer has a lent indication, lender  105  may use digital content  125 . 
         [0056]      FIG. 4  shows an exemplary method  400  for initiating a lending offer  100  using a web browser, where lender  105  initiates lending offer  110  to lend digital content  125  from web enabled interface on his local device  130   a . The method illustrated in  FIG. 4  for initiating a lending offer using a web enabled interface is similar to the method illustrated in  FIG. 3  for initiating a lending offer from an authorized mobile device  130 , except lender  105  initiates lending from a web browser in the method described in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0057]    In step  400  it is assumed that lender  105  has previously purchased some digital content  125  that is referenced in her digital locker  120   a . In step  405 , lender  105  uses web account interface to log into her account on lending server  150 . Once logged in, lender  105  can view all of the digital content  125  owned by lender  105  which is referenced in digital locker  120   a . Digital locker  120   a  identifies whether digital content  125  that lender  105  owns may be lent. In step  410 , lender  105  invokes web lending interface to initiate a lending offer  110  for digital content  125  that she wishes to lend to lendee  109 . In step  415 , web lending interface presents a form, similar to that described in  FIG. 3 , with data entry fields and fields that are pre-populated with information about lender  105  from her account and information about digital content  125  that is proposed to be lent from content metadata database  230 . In the data entry fields presented by web lending interface, lender  105  enters lendee&#39;s email address  111  and an optional message to include in lending offer message  112 . When finished, lender  105  in step  420  selects a control on web lending interface to send lending offer  110  to lendee  109 . The web browser underlying web lending interface initiates communication over a network  140 ,  145  to direct lending server  150  to process the lending offer  110 . In step  425  lending server  150  generates lending offer notification  113  and directs it to lendee&#39;s  109  local device  130   b . Lending server  150  also generates a lending offer email  114  that is sent to lendee&#39;s  109  email address  111 . If the lending offer email  114  is not emailed successfully, digital content  125  in digital locker  120   a  is not marked as lent and lender  105  is informed. In step  430 , if lending offer email  114  is emailed successfully, lending server  150  marks digital content  125  in digital locker  120   a  as lent in step  440 . Lender  105  cannot download, lend, or otherwise use digital content  125  while digital content  125  is lent. 
         [0058]    A record in lending offers database  225  for lending offer  110  is created with an associated lending offer ID. In a preferred embodiment, lendee  109  must accept lending offer  110  within a specified period of time, which CGI software  205  checks and enforces. If lendee  109  does not accept lending offer  110  within a specified period of time, CGI software  205  expires lending offer  110  and the lent identification on digital content  125  in digital locker  120   a  is removed. When digital content  125  no longer has a lent indication, lender  105  may use digital content  125  again. In step  435 , if lending offer email  114  is not emailed successfully, digital content  125  in lender&#39;s  105  digital locker  120   a  is not marked as lent and lender  105  is informed in step that the lending offer  110  was not successfully sent. 
         [0059]      FIG. 5  shows an exemplary method for receiving a lending offer  110  from a mobile device, where lendee  109  receives lending offer notification  113  to accept or reject lend offer  110  on her local device  130   b . Lendee  109  previously registered local device  130   b  with lending server  150 , providing her email address  111  to the server  150 . In step  500 , lendee  109  engages with local device  130   b  while having an active wireless or wired Internet connection. As described above in connection with  FIGS. 3 and 4 , lending server  150  sends details of lending offer  110  to lendee&#39;s  109  local device  130   b  in the form of a lending offer notification  113 . When lendee&#39;s  109  local device  130   b  receives lending offer  110 , lending offer notification  113  is displayed on local device  130   b . Lendee  109  invokes device lending interface to view details of lending offer  110  and to accept or reject lending offer  110 . 
         [0060]    In step  510 , if lendee  109  rejects lending offer  110 , lending server  150  updates digital content  125  in lender&#39;s  105  digital locker  120   a  to indicate that digital content  125  has not been lent. When digital content  125  no longer has a lent indication, lender  105  may once again use digital content  125 . In one embodiment of the invention, there is a limit on the number of times a lender  105  can lend a particular digital content  125 . In this embodiment, a rejected lending offer  110  does not count against the lending limit associated with digital content  125 . Lender  105  is informed by an appropriate means (e.g., an email or other electronic notification) that lendee  109  rejected lending offer  110 . In step  515 , if lendee  109  accepts lending offer  110 , lending server  150  adds digital content  125  to lendee&#39;s  109  digital locker  120   b . Once lending offer  110  is accepted and digital content  125  is available in lendee&#39;s  109  digital locker  120   b , the expiration timer for the lending period of digital content  125  starts. In a preferred embodiment, the lending period is 14 days, but this pending period can be adjusted without limitation in the system and method of the present invention. Publishers and owners of the digital content  125  will typically dictate the maximum lending period allowed for digital content  125 . Lendee  109  may download and use digital content  125  during the lending period on any of her authorized local devices  130   b.    
         [0061]    After the lending period has expired, the digital content  125  is removed from the lendee&#39;s digital locker  120   b  and lendee  109  is thereafter not permitted access to the digital content  125 . Simultaneously, the indication in lender&#39;s  105  digital locker  120   a  that digital content has been lent is removed and lender  105  is once again provided full access to the digital content  125  that had been lent. 
         [0062]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a copy of the digital content  125  to be loaned is stored on the lender&#39;s local device  130   a . In this embodiment, the local device  130   b  periodically performs a synchronization process with the lending server  150 . During the synchronization, the lending server  150  takes any action necessary with respect to the local copy of the digital content item  125  stored on the lender&#39;s local device  130 , as indicated by the status of the digital content item  125  contained in the lender&#39;s digital locker  120   a . For example, after the lender  105  has sent a lending offer  110  with respect to a particular item of digital content  125 , the status of the item  125  in the lender&#39;s digital locker  120   a  is indicate as on HOLD, pending the acceptance or rejection of the lending offer  110  by the lendee  109 . While the item is marked as being on HOLD, the lender  105  is prevented from accessing the copy of the digital content item  125  on her local device  130   a . To prevent the lender&#39;s  105  access to the item  125 , the server  150  sets the appropriate flags associated with the copy of the item  125  on the local device  130   a . Similarly, once the item is lent, the server  150  prevents the lender  105  from accessing the local copy on device  130   a . Alternatively, the server  150  can actively remove the copy of the item  125  from the lender&#39;s local device  103   a  during the HOLD or lending period. 
         [0063]    Similar to the operation in regard to the lender&#39;s local device  130   a , the server also controls the access to item  125  on the lendee&#39;s local device  130   b . For example, when a lendee  109  accepts a loan offer  110 , the server downloads a copy of the loaned content  125  to the lendee&#39;s local device  130   b . In a preferred embodiment, the content  125  is encrypted before it is sent from the server  150  to the lendee&#39;s local device  130   b , and decrypted for reading by the local device  130   b . During the lending period, the loaned item  125  is marked both in the lendee&#39;s digital locker  120   b  and on the local device  130   b  as being borrowed. After the expiration of the lending period (or when returned or purchased by the lendee  109 ), when the lendee&#39;s local device  130   b  synchronizes with the server  150 , the server  150  removes the borrowed copy of the item  150  from the lendee&#39;s local device  130   b.    
         [0064]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  show an exemplary web enabled method for accepting or rejecting a lending offer  110 . In step  600 , lendee  109  receives a lending offer  110  via email. In this embodiment, a lending offer email  114  is delivered to email address  111  of lendee  109  that was provided by lender  105  Lending offer email  114  contains instructions and a lending offer URL, which is a link that the email address  111  recipient can click to start the process for accepting or rejecting the lending offer  110 . Lending offer URL contains a lending offer ID and encrypted security hash code parameters. In step  605 , when the email address  111  recipient has an active Internet connection and clicks lending offer URL, a web browser is opened with web account interface. In step  610  it is determined if the recipient is already an authorized user of the system (i.e., has an account with lending server  150 ). If the email address  111  recipient is not an authorized user with an existing account, the email recipient in step  615  is prompted to create a new account. Once a new account is created, the email recipient can use web account interface to log in to the new account and continue with the lending process. If the email recipient is a current authorized user, i.e., a lendee  109 , lendee  109  can use web account interface to log in to her account. In step  620 , once lendee  109  is logged in successfully, lending server  150  checks to make sure the lending offer ID and encrypted security hash code that came with the URL parameters match those for an existing, valid, unexpired lending offer  110 . 
         [0065]    In step  630 , if the lending offer ID and encrypted security hash code do not match a valid lending offer  110 , an error message is displayed to lendee  109  indicating that lending offer  110  is invalid or expired. If the lending offer ID and encrypted security hash code match a valid lending offer  110 , lending server  150  in step  635  associates lending offer  110  with lendee&#39;s  109  account. This association is made using a combination of the lending offer ID and encrypted security hash code. Once lending offer  110  is associated with lendee&#39;s  109  account, lendee  109  is presented with web lending interface in step  640  to accept or reject lending offer  110 . If lendee  109  rejects lending offer  110 , lending server  150  processes the rejection in a manner similar to the method illustrated in  FIG. 5  as shown in step  650 . If lendee  109  accepts lending offer  110 , lending server  150  processes the acceptance in a manner similar to method illustrated in  FIG. 5  as shown in step  655 . 
         [0066]    Lendee  109  may use device lending interface or web lending interface to return or purchase lent digital content  125  before its lending period expires (not shown in Figures). When digital content  125  is returned or purchased before its lending period expires, or when its lending period expires, lending server  150  updates the identification with respect to digital content  125  in lender&#39;s  105  digital locker  120   a  to identify that the previously lent digital content  125  as not lent. 
         [0067]      FIG. 7  illustrates a state diagram explaining the status of an item of digital content  125  during the lending process. At the start of the process  700 , an offer  110  by lender  105  has not been made. Once the offer  110  is made, the state of the digital content  125  in lender&#39;s digital locker  120   a  changes to PENDING_LEND  705 . Once the offer  110  has been received by lendee  109 , the status of the digital content in lendee&#39;s digital locker  120   b  is PENDING_BORROW to indicate that the lendee  109  has a outstanding lending offer  110  that he or she can accept, reject or ignore. In an additional aspect, once the lendee  109  has viewed but not acted on the offer  110 , the status of the item in lendee&#39;s locker  120   b  changes to PENDING_VIEWED. 
         [0068]    If the lendee  109  rejects the offer  110 , if the offer  110  expires, or if the offer is invalid, the state of the digital content  125  in the lender&#39;s locker  120   a  and the lendee&#39;s locker  120   b  is marked as nullified  710 . If lendee  109  accepts the offer  110 , the status of the loaned digital content  125  in lender&#39;s locker  120   a  changes to LENT  715 . As described above, if the status of an item is lent, lender  105  is prevented from accessing the lent digital content  125 . In the lendee&#39;s digital locker  102   b , the status of the item  125  is changed to BORROWED. 
         [0069]    After a loaned item has been returned or purchased by lendee  109 , but before the expiration of the lending period as described above, the item is marked in lender&#39;s locker  120   a  as LENDER_HOLD  720 . At the same time, the item  125  in lendee&#39;s digital locker  120   b  is marked as RETURNED. At the end of the lending period (expiration) the status of the item  125  is marked as EXPIRED  725  in lendee&#39;s locker  120   b , and is again available for lending by the lender  105 , assuming further lending is permitted by the rules for lending associated with the digital content  125  (e.g., some content can only be lent once, some content can only be lent once during a particular time period . . . ). 
         [0070]    Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and other uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the gist and scope of the disclosure.