Patent ID: 8706636

Claim:
A system for managing distribution of digital assets over a network, comprising: one or more computing devices having code stored therein which, when executed by at least one of the one or more computing devices, causes the at least one of the one or more computing devices to: enable storage of a first instance of a digital asset, the first instance of the digital asset including digital content and a first unique identifier associated with the first instance of the digital asset; in response to a request to transfer the digital content from an external client computing device associated with a first user to another client computing device, determine a second unique identifier associated with a second instance of the digital asset, the second unique identifier being different from the first unique identifier, the second instance of the digital asset including the digital content and at least one other portion that does not include the digital content; enable storage of the second instance of the digital asset, the second instance of the digital asset including the second unique identifier embedded in the at least one other portion of the second instance of the digital asset; wherein other instances of the digital asset have unique identifiers embedded therein and the unique identifiers are used to track instances of the digital asset; wherein said second instance of said digital asset is stored on the another client computing device; and debit an account of a customer related to the transfer of the instance of the digital asset.