Patent ID: 8009572

Claim:
A peer-to-peer system, comprising: a VoIP peer-to-peer system including: a substantially de-centralized peer-to-peer communication structure interconnecting a plurality of authorized end-user devices to facilitate VoIP calls over a VoIP communication route, the plurality of authorized end-user devices including a calling authorized end-user device and a called authorized end-user device; the peer-to-peer communication structure providing authorized end user identification by associating a respective username to each of the plurality of authorized end-user devices, where the username is useable as a telephone number in the peer-to-peer communication structure; the peer-to-peer communication structure including an administration node that is configured to circumvent unauthorized and fraudulent use of the peer-to-peer communication structure by issuing an authorization certificate to each of the plurality of authorized end-user devices to facilitate proof of authorized access in the peer-to-peer communication structure; the plurality of authorized end-user devices are configured to refuse to accept VoIP calls via the peer-to-peer communication structure where there exists an absence of proof of authorized access; said calling authorized end-user device is configured to receive information regarding an address of said called authorized end-user device and verify, prior to commencing a VoIP call, an authorization certificate provided by said called authorized end-user device, such that verifying the authorization certificate enables access to the peer-to-peer communication structure to establish a call over the VoIP communication route to said called authorized end-user device; and the calling authorized end-user device is configured to verify the authorization certificate from the called authorized end-user device to establish the VoIP call without needing to communicate with the administration node responsible for issuing the authorization certificate.