System, method and client user interface for a copy protection service

1. A system for a service provider to provide a copy protection service to a plurality of subscribers of the service, wherein each of the plurality of subscribers owns at least one file to be protected by the service from unauthorized copying and each of the plurality of subscribers controls a client computer, the system comprising:

a plurality of software agents controlled by the service provider, the plurality of software agents masquerading as nodes in a decentralized network for monitoring and interdicting file sharing activities of the files owned by the plurality of subscribers and being protected by the service; and

a control center controlled by the service provider and configured to receive information of such monitoring from the plurality of software agents, process the information to generate processed monitoring information for each of the service protected files, provide the processed monitoring information for each of the service protected files to the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the protected file, and command the plurality of software agents to perform such interdicting for each of the service protected files according to subscriber selected instructions received from the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the protected file.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the control center includes an instrumentation system configured to generate the processed monitoring information by estimating characteristics of the decentralized network.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the estimated characteristics include a size of the decentralized network.

4. The system according to claim 3 , wherein the estimated characteristics include a growth rate of the decentralized network.

5. The system according to claim 4 , wherein the estimated characteristics include a growth acceleration of the decentralized network.

6. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the estimated characteristics include a number of instances of the protected file in the decentralized network.

7. The system according to claim 6 , wherein the estimated characteristics include a rate of propagation of the number of instances of the protected file in the decentralized network.

8. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the estimated characteristics include an acceleration of propagation of the number of instances of the protected file in the decentralized network.

9. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the estimated characteristics include a number of search requests for the protected file over a period of time in the decentralized network.

10. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the estimated characteristics include a number of downloads of the protected file over a period of time in the decentralized network.

11. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the control center includes an interdiction system configured to control the plurality of software agents so as to perform such interdicting.

12. The system according to claim 1 , wherein each of the client computers controlled by the plurality of subscribers is configured with a user interface for communicating with the control center.

13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the processed monitoring information for each of the service protected files is presented to a user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file through the user interface.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the processed monitoring information for each of the service protected files is emailed to a user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file.

15. The system according to claim 14 , wherein the processed monitoring information for each of the service protected files is emailed to the user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file according to criteria established by the user.

16. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the interdiction instructions for each of the service protected files are transmitted from the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file to the control center through the user interface of the client computer.

17. The system according to claim 16 , wherein a protection icon is displayed adjacent the processed monitoring information for each of the service protected files by the user interface on a display screen of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file, and generation of the interdiction instructions for each of the service protected files is initiated by the user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file selecting the protection icon.

18. The system according to claim 17 , wherein the user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file selects the protection icon by clicking on it with a pointing device.

19. The system according to claim 18 , wherein a pop-up menu is displayed on the display screen in response to the user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file clicking on the protection icon, and the user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file specifies duration of interdiction through the pop-up menu.

20. The system according to claim 18 , wherein a pop-up menu is displayed on the display screen in response to the user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file clicking on the protection icon, and the user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file specifies a level of interdiction through the pop-up menu.

21. The system according to claim 20 , further comprising a billing system so that the user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file is appropriately charged for the level of interdiction selected by the user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber owning the file through the pop-up menu.

22. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of software agents masquerade as nodes in a plurality of decentralized networks for monitoring and interdicting file sharing activities of the protected files owned by the plurality of subscribers.

23. A method for a service provider to provide a copy protection service to a plurality of subscribers of the service, wherein each of the plurality of subscribers owns at least one file to be protected by the service from unauthorized copying and each of the plurality of subscribers controls a client computer, the method comprising:

receiving file sharing information for the files to be protected by the service in one or more decentralized networks from a plurality of software agents controlled by the service provider, the plurality of software agents masquerading as nodes in the one or more decentralized networks;

providing the file information for each file to be protected to the client computer controlled by the subscriber that owns the file;

receiving subscriber selected interdiction instructions for each of the files to be protected from the client computer controlled by the subscriber that owns the file; and

commanding the plurality of software agents to interdict file sharing activities in the one or more decentralized networks for each of the files to be protected according to the interdiction instructions received from the client computer controlled by the subscriber that owns the file.

24. The method according to claim 23 , further comprising: monitoring file sharing activity in the one or more decentralized networks for the files to be protected to generate the file information for each of the protected files.

25. The method according to claim 24 , wherein the monitoring of file sharing activity comprises: estimating a number of instances of individual of the protected files in individual of the one or more decentralized networks.

26. The method according to claim 24 , wherein the monitoring of file sharing activity comprises: estimating a number of search requests over a period of time for individual of the protected files.

27. The method according to claim 24 , wherein the monitoring of file sharing activity comprises: estimating a number of downloads over a period of time for individual of the protected files.

28. The method according to claim 23 , wherein the providing of the file information comprises: presenting file information for individual of the protected files to a user through a user interface of the client computer controlled by the subscriber that owns the protected file.

29. The method according to claim 23 , wherein the providing of the file information for each of the protected files comprises: emailing file information for the protected file to a user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber that owns the protected file.

30. The method according to claim 23 , further comprising: providing a selectable protection option along with the file information for each of the protected files to the client computer controlled by the subscriber that owns the protected file so that a user of the client computer may initiate generation of the interdiction instructions for the protected file by selecting the selectable protection option.

31. The method according to claim 23 , further comprising: charging each subscriber according to the subscriber selected interdiction instructions received from the client computer controlled by the subscriber.

32. A one-click method implemented in at least one server controlled by a service provider for providing a copy protection service to a plurality of subscribers of the service, wherein each of the plurality of subscribers owns at least one file to be protected by the service from unauthorized copying and each of the plurality of subscribers controls a client computer, the method comprising:

receiving protection commands and subscriber selected protection criteria for files to be protected from the client computers controlled by the subscribers that own the files;

updating billing information for the plurality of subscribers to reflect the received protection commands and subscriber selected protection criteria; and

interdicting file sharing activities for the files to be protected in a decentralized network according to the received protection commands and subscriber selected protection criteria.

33. The method according to claim 32 , further comprising: providing information for each of the files to be protected in the decentralized network to the client computer controlled by the subscriber that owns the protected file prior to receiving the protection command.

34. The method according to claim 33 , wherein the information for each of the protected files includes an estimate of a number of instances of the protected file in the decentralized network.

35. The method according to claim 33 , wherein the information for each of the protected files includes an estimate of a number of search requests over a period of time for the protected file in the decentralized network.

36. The method according to claim 33 , wherein the information for each of the protected files includes an estimate of a number of downloads over a period of time for the protected file in the decentralized network.

37. The method according to claim 33 , wherein the information for each of the protected files is provided to a user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber that owns the protected file through a user interface residing on the client computer.

38. The method according to claim 33 , wherein the information for each of the protected files is provided to a user of the client computer controlled by the subscriber that owns the protected file by email according to pre-established criteria.

39. The method according to claim 38 , wherein the pre-established criteria is specified by the user through the user interface.

40. The method according to claim 33 , further comprising: providing a protection option along with the information for each of the protected files to the client computer controlled by the subscriber that owns the protected file so that a user of the client computer may initiate the protection command by selecting the protection option.

41. The method according to claim 32 , wherein the billing information for the plurality of subscribers includes an identification of the protected file owned by the subscriber and a level of the interdiction of file sharing activities for the protected file.

42. A system for providing a copy protection service, comprising:

a control center configured to perform instrumentation and interdiction functions for subscriber specified files in at least one file sharing network; and

a subscriber operated client computer configured to receive results of the instrumentation function from the control center, display the results in a user selected format, facilitate user selection of an interdiction function from a plurality of user selectable interdiction functions distinguished by level of interdiction and duration of interdiction, and provide information of the user selected interdiction function to the control center.

43. The system according to claim 42 , wherein the subscriber specified files include subscriber specified objects.

44. The system according to claim 42 , wherein the instrumentation functions include estimation of a number of instances, a rate of propagation, and an acceleration of propagation of the subscriber specified files in the at least one file sharing network.

45. The system according to claim 42 , wherein the instrumentation functions include estimation of search and download activities for and of the subscriber specified files in the at least one file sharing network.

46. The system according to claim 42 , wherein the subscriber operated client computer is configured with a client user interface running as an application launched in a web browser to facilitate subscriber selection of the instrumentation and interdiction functions to be performed by the control center.

47. The system according to claim 46 , wherein the client user interface facilitates subscriber selection of an instrumentation function to estimate a number of copies of a subscriber specified file in the at least one file sharing network.

48. The system according to claim 46 , wherein the client user interface facilitates subscriber selection of the subscriber specified file.

49. The system according to claim 46 , wherein the client user interface facilitates subscriber selection of an instrumentation function to estimate a change in a number of copies of a subscriber specified file in the at least one file sharing network over a subscriber specified period of time.

50. The system according to claim 49 , wherein the client user interface facilitates subscriber selection of the subscriber specified file.

51. The system according to claim 49 , wherein the client user interface facilitates subscriber selection of the period of time over which the change in the number of copies of the subscriber specified file is to be estimated in the at least one file sharing network.

52. The system according to claim 46 , wherein the client user interface facilitates subscriber selection of a file sharing network for estimating the number of copies of the subscriber specified file in.

53. The system according to claim 42 , wherein the subscriber operated client computer is further configured to provide subscriber specified reports resulting from performance of the instrumentation and interdiction functions by the control center.

54. The system according to claim 53 , wherein the subscriber operated client computer is configured with a client user interface running as an application launched in a web browser to facilitate subscriber selection of the instrumentation and interdiction functions to be performed by the control center.

55. The system according to claim 54 , wherein the subscriber specified reports are displayed as graphs in the client user interface according to subscriber specified graph attributes.

56. The system according to claim 55 , wherein the subscriber specified graph attributes include penetration of copies of a subscriber specified file in the at least one file sharing network.

57. The system according to claim 55 , wherein the subscriber specified graph attributes include a supply index for copies of a subscriber specified file in the at least one file sharing network.

58. The system according to claim 55 , wherein the subscriber specified graph attributes include a demand index for copies of a subscriber specified file in the at least one file sharing network.

59. The system according to claim 55 , wherein the subscriber specified graph attributes include an effectiveness of interdiction for copies of a subscriber specified file in the at least one file sharing network.

60. The system according to claim 55 , wherein the subscriber specified graph indicates an attribute value over subscriber specified time increments.

61. The system according to claim 55 , wherein the subscriber specified graph indicates attribute values for subscriber specified file sharing networks.