Patent ID: 7558797

Claim:
A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions for providing content definitions for coordinating content sharing in a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, said computer executable instructions comprising: for each of a plurality of peers, identifying one or more matching peers in a P2P network, said matching peers having corresponding content sharing interests; for each matching peer and starting at a sharing root of each matching peer, preparing a root metadata ID file describing the content to be shared between the matching peers; wherein the sharing root of each matching peer represents a directory tree structure of folders and files to be shared by each peer; wherein each metadata ID includes data that describes the directory tree structure of folders and files comprising the content to be shared by each matching peer; wherein each metadata ID further includes data defining version chains representing a version history comprising a history of all past versions of the directory tree structure and any folders and files in that directory tree as known by each matching peer including a most recent modification to any of the directory tree structure and to any folders and files in that directory tree comprising the content to be shared by each matching peer; and exchanging the root metadata ID file prepared for each matching peer with every other matching peer via the P2P network to identify a set of shared files and folders between the matching peers.