Patent ID: 7529712

Claim:
A method of distributing content to a plurality of recipients over a distributed computer network, each recipient having a recipient terminal connected to the network, comprising the steps of: (a) storing, in server, a user profile for each recipient, each user profile comprising login information and a unique identifier; (b) receiving and storing, at the server, a content file, a release condition, a release state, and a distribution list associated with said content file, the receiving step being performed from a provider terminal connected to the network, wherein the distribution list contains unique identifiers of specific authorized recipients of the content file; (c) receiving a request for access from one of the recipient terminals, the request containing login information; (d) in response to the request for access; a. comparing the received login information to the stored login information to verify that the request came from one of the recipients, b. based on the comparing step, retrieving the stored unique identifier from the user profile, c. verifying that the distribution list includes said one of said recipients by comparing the retrieved unique identifier to the distribution list; and (e) providing access to the content file at said one of the recipient terminals based on the release condition and the release state.