Patent ID: 7930367

Claim:
A portable media player comprising: a memory to store a playlist that includes a plurality of entries, each entry comprising: a media file identifier, and a user preferences field to store information specifying one or more policies associated with obtaining content of a media file identified by the media file identifier; and a media access manager component to: transmit the media file identifier to one or more devices over one or more of a plurality of networks, receive a media file identifier and information specifying one or more policies relating to obtaining content of a media file associated with the received media file identifier, determine that the stored information, specifying one or more policies associated with obtaining the content of the media file associated with the received media file identifier, is consistent with the received information, download, in response to the determination, a first portion of the media file associated with the received media file identifier when the portable media player connects to the one or more devices, over the one or more of the plurality of networks, where the first portion of the media file is less than the entire media file, and download, in response to the determination, a second portion of the media file associated with the received media file identifier when the portable media player, after downloading the first portion, next connects to the one or more devices, over the one or more of the plurality of networks, where the second portion of the media file is less than the entire media file and different than the first portion.