Patent ID: 7483985

Claim:
A system providing search functionality to support the exchange and consumption of media among a self administered group of users administered by a member of the self administered group of users, the system comprising: a first television in a first home; a first storage in the first home that stores the media; the first storage supporting consumption of the media by the first television, and having a first network protocol address associated with a first user; a user interface displayed on the first television in the first home, the user interface having at least one view comprising a representation of media available for consumption, the user interface supporting delivery of media from the first home to a second home; a second television in the second home; a second storage supporting consumption of the media by the second television in the second home, and having a second network protocol address associated with a second user; and search software that receives a request comprising user defined search criteria and one of the first and second associated network protocol addresses, the first and second associated network protocol addresses representing members of the self-administered group of users, where the self-administered group of users is defined based on authorization by the member of the self-administered group of the users, and responds by identifying media currently stored on at least one of the first and second storage, the identified media matching the user defined search criteria.