Patent ID: 8868439

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving a new user log on, the new user log on being associated with the new user initially signing up for an online service, the user not having a history of past activities over time, with the online service, to serve as a basis for making a decision with respect to the new user; monitoring, by at least one computer, new user activities, including the user's first actions after signing up for the online service, at least some new user activities comprising file-related actions associated with file sharing, at least some file-related actions comprising uploading one or more files using the online service; logging, by at least one computer, the new user activities, the logging including logging an identifier of the one or more uploaded files and a number of total file uploads; transmitting the new user activities to a reputation service; receiving, from the reputation service, information associated with the new user, the information including a reputation category of the new user, the reputation category comprising one of multiple reputation category types that can vary along a spectrum from trusted to untrusted, the multiple reputation category types including at least two less-trusted category types for new users and at least two more-trusted category types for users that pay money for the online service, users that have subscribed to the online service for a particular period of time, or users with friends who have high reputations, the reputation category assigned to the new user based on a comparison of the new user activities with a collection of historical activities associated with other users that indicate whether or not the new user activities are associated with a pattern that indicates an abuse pattern, and the reputation category defining a set of allowed and disallowed actions for the new user, the comparison including comparing the identifier of the one or more uploaded files to a record of previous uploads of respective ones of the one or more uploaded files, the record comprising a number of previous uploads of the file, an indication of whether the file has been confirmed as being abuse-related, and an average reputation of other users that previously uploaded the file; and allowing or disallowing, by at least one computer, new user actions for the particular new user based upon the reputation category of the new user received from the reputation service.