Peer-to-peer trading platform

1. A system comprising:

a network-based interaction environment including a plurality of peer-to-peer nodes being able to communicate directly with each other using a peer-to-peer protocol and a peer-to-peer client application, each peer-to-peer node of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes including a processor and a memory coupled to the processor for storing data related to persistent item information, wherein a network connection between at least two peer-to-peer nodes of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes is shared by another data transfer session;

a first peer-to-peer client application to maintain persistent item information on at least one peer-to-peer node of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the persistent information being related to an item being offered in an e-commerce transaction by a first user of the first peer-to-peer client application, the first peer-to-peer client application further to authenticate the first user, the persistent information related to the item being offered in an e-commerce transaction by the first user being stored on a plurality of other peer-to-peer nodes; and

a search engine on any of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the search engine including a filter to exclude search results from peer-to-peer nodes of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes that are not on a buddy list, search results produced by the search engine being cached on the at least one peer-to-peer node of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the cached search results being accessible to other peer-to-peer nodes of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes that are on the buddy list, the cached search results being related to items being offered in an e-commerce transaction by a plurality of users, the search engine enabling a search of peer-to-peer nodes on a buddy list without using a central search server.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the persistent item information is maintained on more than one peer-to-peer node of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the bandwidth on the network connection is prioritized between a plurality of data transfer sessions.

4. The system of claim 1 being further operable to authenticate the first user by accessing a trusted site.

5. The system of claim 1 being further operable to certify the item being offered by the first user.

6. The system of claim 1 being further operable to provide feedback to the first user regarding the item being offered by the first user.

7. The system of claim 1 being further operable to encrypt information associated with the item being offered by the first user.

8. The system of claim 1 being further operable to apply a digital signature to the information associated with the item being offered by the first user.

9. A method comprising:

providing a network-based interaction environment including a plurality of peer-to-peer nodes being able to communicate directly with each other using a peer-to-peer protocol and a peer-to-peer client application, wherein a network connection between at least two peer-to-peer nodes of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes is shared by another data transfer session;

maintaining persistent item information using a first peer-to-peer client application on at least one peer-to-peer node of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the persistent information being related to an item being offered in an e-commerce transaction by a first user of the first peer-to-peer client application, the persistent information related to the item being offered in an e-commerce transaction by the first user being stored on a plurality of other peer-to-peer nodes;

authenticating the first user; and

providing a search engine on any of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the search engine including a filter to exclude search results from peer-to-peer nodes of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes that are not on a buddy list, search results produced by the search engine being cached on the at least one peer-to-peer node of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the cached search results being accessible to other peer-to-peer nodes of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes that are on the buddy list, the cached search results being related to items being offered in an e-commerce transaction by a plurality of users, the search engine enabling a search of peer-to-peer nodes on a buddy list without using a central search server.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the persistent item information is maintained on more than one peer-to-peer node of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the bandwidth on the network connection is prioritized between a plurality of data transfer sessions.

12. The method of claim 9 further including authenticating the first user by accessing a trusted site.

13. The method of claim 9 further including certifying the item being offered by the first user.

14. The method of claim 9 further including providing feedback to the first user regarding the item being offered by the first user.

15. The method of claim 9 further including encrypting information associated with the item being offered by the first user.

16. The method of claim 9 further including applying a digital signature to the information associated with the item being offered by the first user.

17. An article of manufacture comprising a machine-readable medium having machine executable instructions embedded thereon, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

enable network communication among a plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the peer-to-peer nodes being able to communicate directly with each other using a peer-to-peer protocol and a peer-to-peer client application, wherein a network connection between at least two peer-to-peer nodes of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes is shared by another data transfer session;

maintain persistent item information using a first peer-to-peer client application on at least one peer-to-peer node of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the persistent information being related to an item being offered in an e-commerce transaction by a first user of the first peer-to-peer client application, the persistent information related to the item being offered in an e-commerce transaction by the first user being stored on a plurality of other peer-to-peer nodes;

authenticate the first user; and

perform a search on any of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the search including a filter to exclude search results from peer-to-peer nodes of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes that are not on a buddy list, search results produced by the search engine being cached on the at least one peer-to-peer node of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the cached search results being accessible to other peer-to-peer nodes of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes that are on the buddy list, the cached search results being related to items being offered in an e-commerce transaction by a plurality of users, the search enabling a search of peer-to-peer nodes on a buddy list without using a central search server.

18. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 17 wherein the persistent item information is maintained on more than one peer-to-peer node of the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes.

19. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 17 wherein the bandwidth on the network connection is prioritized between a plurality of data transfer sessions.

20. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 17 being further operable to authenticate the first user by accessing a trusted site.

21. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 17 being further operable to certify the item being offered by the first user.

22. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 17 being further operable to provide feedback to the first user regarding the item being offered by the first user.

23. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 17 being further operable to encrypt information associated with the item being offered by the first user.

24. The article of manufacture as claimed in claim 17 being further operable to apply a digital signature to the information associated with the item being offered by the first user.