Patent ID: 7756718

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of delivering software of a predetermined manufacturer to end users via prescribed channel partners, where said prescribed channel partners include prescribed vendors of said software from said manufacturers to end users, or prescribed distributors of said software from said manufacturers to said vendors, or said vendors and said distributors, and where at least some of the end users are separate from the channel partners, the method comprising operations of: a first computer-implemented operation comprising: responsive to an end user transmitting a machine-readable order for a given product to a first one of the channel partners, the first channel partner performing substantially simultaneous operations of: transmitting a machine-readable purchase order to said manufacturer, the purchase order omitting end user shipping information; forwarding said purchase order to a third party electronic software digital management (ESDM) system, said ESDM system separate from the channel partners and the manufacturer; a second computer-implemented operation comprising: following receipt of the purchase order from the first channel partner, the ESDM system retrieving information including predetermined content prescribed for the first channel partner; a third computer-implemented operation comprising: following the second operation, the ESDM system transmitting machine-readable communication including the retrieved content and order access information to the end user either directly or via the first channel partner; and a fourth computer-implemented operation comprising: responsive to the manufacturer receiving a user request to download the given product via a manufacturer site, the manufacturer performing operations comprising: using information including said predetermined content prescribed for the first channel partner to present the end user with a prescribed view defined by said first channel partner; and providing download of the given product to the end user.