Patent ID: 8479241

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, at a network component device, a request for data associated with a data source, wherein the network component device has a limited capacity to distribute data; determining, after receiving the request, whether a capacity of the network component device exceeds a first distribution capacity threshold; in response to determining that the capacity of the network component device exceeds the first distribution capacity threshold, determining whether the capacity of the network component device exceeds a second distribution capacity threshold, wherein a difference between the limited capacity of the network component device and the second distribution capacity threshold is greater than a bandwidth of a single high definition television channel; in response to determining that the capacity of the network component device does not exceed the second distribution capacity threshold, determining whether the data source satisfies a popularity criterion; and sending the data associated with the data source in response to determining that the data source satisfies the popularity criterion when the capacity of the network component device does not exceed the second distribution capacity threshold.