Patent ID: 7370110

Claim:
A method for operating a network server to discourage use that disproportionately depletes server resources such as distribution of large media files, wherein the server is connected to a plurality of client devices, and configured to transfer information between selected ones of the client devices and a memory for static storage of information, said method comprising the steps of: receiving a request to transfer a file between the memory and one of the plurality of client devices; removing a packet of information from the file after said receiving step; transferring the packet of information from the memory to a lower-level network component operative to configure the packet as at least one lower-level packet according to a protocol of a packet-switched network for transmission to the one of the plurality of client devices after said removing step; pausing for a defined delay period after at least one of said removing and said transferring steps; and repeating said removing step, said transferring step, and said pausing step in any operative order until all of the file has been transferred to the lower-level network component, wherein at least one of the delay period and a defined number of information bits in the information packet is controlled so as to cause later-transferred portions of the file to be delayed by increasing amounts until all portions of the file have been transferred, whereby the entire file is transferred at a rate that decreases with increasing file size.