Patent ID: 7765281

Claim:
A method for distributing data to a plurality of agents in an distributed services network, comprising: receiving a first request from a requesting instance of a plurality of instances of an agent application configured to accept a service selected from the group consisting of a registration service, a profile data management service, a login service, an agent connection status service, a plug-in management service, a subscriber profile management service, a service point map service, a profile management service, an administrative service, a data publishing service, an announcement service, and an agent configuration service; in response to receiving the first request, transmitting an index file to the requesting instance, wherein the index file is configurable to: identify a service supported by the requesting instance; provide to the requesting instance a filter criterion configured to enable the requesting instance to recognize that the index file is applicable thereto; and provide a location of first data accessible to the requesting instance; receiving a second request from the requesting instance that is generated by the requesting instance in response to a filter engine associated with the requesting instance determining that the requesting instance is identified by the criterion; and in response to receiving the second request, transmitting the first data to the requesting instance.