Patent ID: 7310629

Claim:
A method of controlling file exchanges of multimedia data files in a de-centralized network comprising a first client, a second client and a central index server with a memory having a main database, the central index server configured to facilitate a connection between the first client and the second client, the method comprising the steps: a. generating a plurality of reliable identifiers from a respective plurality of known multimedia data files; b. determining copy restrictions associated with each of the plurality of known multimedia data files, a presence or absence of copy restrictions comprising a status of a known multimedia data file; c. forming an index within the main database, the index comprising a plurality of unique reference IDs correlating to the plurality of known multimedia data files; and d. indexing each of the plurality of reliable identifiers and corresponding respective statuses against the respective plurality of unique reference IDs within the main database of the central index server, such that the corresponding respective statuses may be individually searched within the central index server.