Patent ID: 7424534

Claim:
A system supporting common consumption of media, the system comprising: a first television at a first home; a first storage in the first home, the first storage supporting consumption of the media by the first television, and having a first network protocol address with respect to a first user in the first home; a user interface displayed on the first television at the first home, the user interface having at least one view comprising a representation of media available for consumption, the user interface supporting the selection and scheduling of media for delivery to a second home; a second television at the second home that is separate and distinct from the first home; a second storage in the second home, the second storage supporting consumption of the media by the second television, and having a second network protocol address with respect to a second user in the second home, wherein the second user is known to the first user; a communication network; and server software that maintains a user defined association of the first and second network protocol addresses and that receives a request identifying one of the associated first and second network protocol addresses and responds by identifying the other of the associated first and second network protocol addresses to support delivery via the communication network of the media from the first storage to the second home for simultaneous consumption by the first and second television displays under control of a user at the first home.