Peer to Peer Distribution of Media Files

1 . A system comprising

a video recorder having a television recording part which allows receiving of television programs, and recording of television programs as recorded program information, and having a storage area for program information which includes said recorded program information, and information about which programs are stored, and a playback module which allows selection of playback of a stored program, and plays back said stored program, where said storage area also stores upcoming program information indicative of programs which have not yet been recorded, and having a recording process which allows using said upcoming program information to record said programs, and said video recorder having a connection to a network which is publically available, over which said video recorder receives said upcoming program information,

and further comprising a peer-to-peer, program module, associated with said video recorder, and operating to allow media files to be downloaded and uploaded via said peer to-peer connection, and allowing said media files to be stored in said storage area, and uploaded from said storage area, and allowing information which has been downloaded via the peer-to-peer connection to be played by said playing module of the digital video recorder, said playing module is that digital video recorder also allowing playing of said programs which have been recorded using said upcoming program information.

2 . A system as in claim 1 , wherein said playback module allows a media file to be played while said peer-to-peer program module is still distributing said media file to multiple other peers.

3 . A system as in claim 1 , further comprising a file dividing process, which allows a specified portion of said file to be selected for download separate from other portions of the file, and which allows playing back the specified portion once that portion has been downloaded and while other said portions have not yet been downloaded.

4 . A system as in claim 1 , wherein said peer-to-peer module playback module allows uploading of files which have been marked as deleted.

5 . A system as in claim 1 , further comprising a selection part that accesses a list of media files that can be accessed via said peer-to-peer system via each of a plurality of different peers, and provides information indicative of said list to allow a peer to begin a file download.

6 . A system as in claim 1 , further comprising a selection part which enables selection of information related to a ratio between uploading and downloading of said peer-to-peer information.

7 . A system as in claim 1 , further comprising a security module in said digital video recorder which allows said media file obtained via said peer-to-peer connection to be played no more than a specified number of times, where that specified number of times is greater than one and less than unlimited.

8 . A device as in claim 1 , further comprising a security module in said digital video recorder, which prevents said media file obtained via said peer-to-peer connection from being sent outside said digital video recorder unit.

9 . A method, comprising:

using a digital video recorder to connect to a network connection to obtain programming information for programs that are sent over a television carrying channel and to use said programming information to record at least one television carrying program;

allowing said digital video recorder to obtain files from plural different file sources using a peer-to-peer file transfer system over said network connection and to upload said files as downloaded from any of said plural different file sources to any of a second plurality of different file sources that include said plural different file sources; and

allowing playing of either said television carrying program or said peer-to-peer programs, using said digital video recorder.

10 . A method as in claim 9 , wherein said peer-to-peer module playback module allows said upload of files which have been marked as deleted.

11 . A method as in claim 9 , wherein said obtain program information comprises downloading program information which allows automatic determination of titles to be recorded using said digital video recorder, and wherein the program information also includes information about media files that can be obtained using the peer-to-peer file transfer system.

12 . A method as claim 11 , further comprising requesting one of said media files by selecting from a list of different available media files, and providing account information.

13 . A method as in claim 12 , further comprising maintaining a desired ratio between uploading and downloading of peer to peer files.

14 . A method, comprising:

using a computer to select a media file for download using a peer-to-peer program;

determining a ratio between uploading and downloading on said computer; and

charging a fee for the download based on said ratio.

15 . A method as in claim 14 , wherein said computer is a digital video recorder, with a digital storage unit that stores off the air recorded programming, and also stores said media file obtained by said peer-to-peer program and includes a playing mechanism which allows playing either the broadcast information or the peer to peer collected information.

16 . A method as in claim 15 , wherein said playing mechanism defines different portions of the file, where a first portion of the file to be downloaded is the first portion of the file which will be played, and which downloads other sections of the file, and signals that the other sections can be played once the portion has been completely downloaded, even before the remaining portion of the file has been completely downloaded.

17 . A method as in claim 16 , further comprising marking a location where file playing has stopped, and allowing file playing to resume from a portion where the file playing has been read.

18 . A method as in claim 14 , further comprising executing a specified security aspect on files which have been downloaded, which prevents at least one action on said files.

19 . A method as in claim 18 , wherein said security aspect comprises causing said file to be deleted after a specified action.

20 . A method as in claim 19 , wherein said specified action comprises deleting the file after playing a specified number of times.

21 . A method as in claim 14 , wherein said peer-to-peer program allows said upload of files which have been marked as deleted