Patent ID: 8032502

Claim:
A method for validating compliance of nodes in a peer-to-peer network with a rule, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of queries at a node in the peer-to-peer network, wherein each query from the plurality of queries originates from a different sending node in the peer-to-peer network; processing each of the plurality of queries to generate a corresponding response, wherein processing of each of the plurality of queries takes place at the node receiving the plurality of queries; and transmitting the generated responses to the corresponding sending nodes for each of the plurality of queries, the generated responses transmitted over one or more communications channels in the peer-to-peer network, wherein the generated responses are subsequently analyzed to determine whether the node receiving the plurality of queries is in compliance with the rule, and wherein the node receiving the plurality of queries receives fewer subsequent queries as a result of having been found to be in compliance with the rule.