Patent ID: 8140506

Claim:
A method of sharing files, said method comprising: receiving, by a computing device executing an open overlay service supporting a plurality of social network services, pledges of storage space from a plurality of users, wherein each pledge contributes a pledged amount of storage space for use in a peer-to-peer (P2P) storage infrastructure; constructing, by the computing device, the P2P storage infrastructure based on the pledges of storage space; identifying a folder of the P2P storage infrastructure to be shared with a first user of the open overlay service, wherein the folder corresponds to pledged storage space on a machine of a second user of the open overlay service; determining a social network service of the plurality of social network services to which the second user belongs; determining, based on an account of the first user with the open overlay service, whether the first user is allowed to view an identifier of the second user, wherein the identifier is used in conjunction with an account of the second user with the social network service; in response to determining that the first user is allowed to view the identifier of the second user, performing the following: providing to the first user a virtual folder corresponding to the folder to be shared with the first user, that is accessible to the first user; and populating the virtual folder with identifications of files that are placed in the folder by the second user to be shared with the first user.