Patent ID: 7546337

Claim:
A method of transferring one or more files comprising: connecting to a communications system host; receiving, from a first client connected to the communications system host, a request from a first user of the first client to transfer one or more files that are stored on a second client to the first client, the second client being connected to the communications system host; enabling a second user of the second client to perceive the request from the first user; enabling the second user to accept the request; and in response to the second user accepting the request: establishing a direct socket connection between the first client and the second client bypassing the communications system host, communicating to the first client identification information that identifies a group of files available for transfer from the second client to the first client, receiving, from the first client, a selection from the first user of at least one selected file from among the group of files available for transfer, and initiating the transfer of the at least one selected file from the second client over the direct socket connection to the first client, wherein receiving the request from the first user comprises receiving a request from the first user that identifies the second user of the second client, the request from the first user being generated by the first client in response to the first user inputting an identity of the second user for retrieving one or more files stored on a computer of the second user, further comprising, in response to receiving the request, determining whether an identity of the first user is among a predefined group of identities identified by the second user for manual authorization, the predefined group of identities being a subset of all identities from which requests are expected to be received by the second user, and wherein enabling the second user to perceive and accept the request is conditioned on the identity of the first user being included in the predefined group of identities.