Patent ID: 7035871

Claim:
An automatic user preference detection computer system, comprising: a preference determination module, independent of a user computing device, to determine a preference profile for a user of a media content distribution source, the preference profile being based on previously determined media scores for the user and local media content files determined by scanning a disk drive of the user computing device to determine the local media content files stored on the user computing device; a database, independent of the user computing device, to store the preference profile for the user of the media content file distribution source; a score calculation module, independent of the user computing device, to determine a score for a media content file distributed to the user by the media content file distribution source, wherein the score is calculated based on a comparison of a length of time in which the user allows the media content file to be played at the user computing device relative to a total length of the media content file; and a processing module, independent of the user computing device, to modify the preference profile based on the score to create a new preference profile, wherein the processing module further selects a second media content file to distribute to the user based on the new preference profile, wherein the score for the media content file is stored in a temporary storage file and if the user allows multiple media content files to be played, in their entirety, for a predetermined length of time by not pressing a media control point, the score for the media content file is not moved to a permanent storage file.