Patent ID: 8886700

Claim:
A method of sharing content between a plurality of devices adapted to communicate in a data communications network, the method comprising: receiving a first indication, at a first device of the plurality of devices, of an association of a first content tag with a first content stored on the first device, wherein the first content is to be shared with at least one second device of the plurality of devices; generating, at the first device without interaction from a user, a first action metadata message that identifies the first content to be shared with the at least one second device, wherein the first action metadata message does not include the first content; transmitting, by the first device without interaction from the user, the first action metadata message directed to the at least one second device, wherein the generating and transmitting are executed automatically responsive to the association of the first content tag with the first content; receiving, at the first device, a second action metadata message from one device of the at least one second device of the plurality of devices, wherein the second action metadata message identifies a second content that has been associated with the first content tag by the one device; processing, automatically and without interaction from the user, the second action metadata message to identify at least one address from which the second content may be retrieved; and retrieving, automatically and without interaction from the user, at least portions of the second content from the at least one address, wherein the first content and the second content are produced by different software applications.