Patent ID: 8572120

Claim:
A method of accessing a digital document in a peer-to-peer communication network, in which peers are capable of exchanging data, said method being implemented in a first peer of the communication network and comprising the following steps: i) receiving, from a second peer of the communication network, at least one digital document and a collection comprising at least one document identifier designating the at least one digital document and at least one user identifier designating a user having a right to access any document identified in this collection, wherein the at least one digital document represents data items which can be shared with another peer via a peer-to-peer communication, and wherein the collection represents meta-data which controls access to the at least one digital document for sharing with another peer; i1) verifying at least one condition agreeing to supply from the first peer any document identified in the collection to any user identified in the collection; ii) storing locally the at least one digital document and the collection, received from the second peer, in response to a positive outcome of the step, of verifying the at least one condition; iii) receiving a request coming from another peer on behalf of a specific user for accessing at least one digital document, the request comprising an identifier designating the document and an identifier designating the specific user; iv) searching locally for at least one locally-stored collection containing the identifier of the document and the identifier of the specific user as a user having a right to access any document identified in the at least one locally-stored collection; v) in the case of a positive search, supplying the document to the peer; and vi) in the case of a negative search, supplying the document to the peer if at least a further condition is verified.