Patent ID: 7395395

Claim:
A method for managing content storage and selection, comprising: monitoring, remotely by an off-site host system, consumption of a storage space, of an at least one consumer user content device residing locally in a consumer user system, with respect to storage capacity in the at least one consumer user content device receiving content from a content provider, where the at least one consumer user content device contains a fixed amount of storage space; selecting content contained in the storage space for relocation, wherein the content for relocation is selected based on at least one of how long the content has been stored in the storage device, size of the content, a content device user's selection, and an inference based upon most frequently accessed content; relocating, remotely by the off-site host system, the content contained in the fixed amount of storage space of the at least one consumer user content device when a predetermined condition is met, where relocating the content frees up the fixed amount of storage space of the at least one consumer user content device; building a content library listing content contained in the storage space of the at least one consumer user content device and the relocated content, wherein a content storage and selection application maintains a single copy of a content item in a database and replicates the single copy for each user content device that includes the content item in its content library; associating the content library with a user account; providing access to the content library; providing access to the relocated content; monitoring a plurality of activities conducted by a content device user via transactions occurring in the content library associated with the content device user; comparing the plurality of activities conducted by the content device user with a plurality of other activities conducted by users of other content devices via transactions occurring in corresponding content libraries of the other content devices; determining relationships between the plurality of activities conducted by the content device user and the plurality of other activities conducted by users of other content devices; generating a listing of recommended content items based on determined relationships; and presenting the listing, to the content device user, wherein access to the content library includes providing an owner of the user account and a non-owner of the user account with access to the content library associated with the user account, wherein access by the non-owner includes at least one of: viewing listings in the content library, accessing content identified in the content library, adding content to an other content library associated with the non-owner, charging a fee for accessed content, and compensating a content owner for accessed content.