Patent ID: 8880692

Claim:
A method for transferring authorization rights to access a file, the method comprising: designating, using a computer hardware device, a storage location for the file; creating, using the computer hardware device, a file-transfer-reference for the file based on the storage location, wherein the file-transfer-reference identifies the storage location; creating, using the computer hardware device, an authorization protocol for the file; selecting, using the computer hardware device, at least one recipient of the file-transfer-reference; defining a validity period for the at least one recipient to access the file; and forwarding, using the computer hardware device, the file-transfer-reference to the at least one recipient according to the authorization protocol, wherein the authorization protocol includes a plurality of authorization levels, wherein the at least one recipient is accorded at least one of the plurality of authorization levels, wherein the at least one of the plurality of authorization levels empowers the at least one recipient to initiate the method step for creating a new authorization protocol and selecting a second at least one recipient of the file-transfer-reference; and forwarding the file-transfer-reference to the second at least one recipient according to the new authorization protocol, wherein each of the at least one recipient initiates creating an authorization protocol for the file; selecting at least one recipient of the file-transfer-reference; and forwarding the file-transfer-reference to the recipient according to the authorization protocol, and wherein the file-transfer-reference includes additional information fields selected from a group consisting of: a protocol specifier, a file server and a file name.