Method for interactive real time sharing of multimedia data, server, and interactive real time communication network

1. A method of sharing multimedia data, comprising:

a step of inserting multimedia data into a virtual space administered by an author;

a step of the author establishing a list of approved persons receiving a right of access to the multimedia data contained in the space administered by the author, those persons forming a virtual community;

a step of authenticating a visitor requesting access to the virtual space administered by the author;

a step of informing the author of the identity of the authenticated visitor; and

a step of automatically launching an interactive real time communication session with the author and the authenticated visitor.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 including a step of sending a list of addressees a message informing them of insertion of multimedia data into the space administered by the author.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 including a step of defining conditional access and digital rights management (DRM) rules for each multimedia data item.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , including:

before the launching of the communication session, a step of browsing the multimedia data of the author by the authenticated visitor; and

a step of displaying on a terminal of the author during the communication session the paths taken by the authenticated visitor when browsing.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , including a step of the visitor terminal communicating the identity of the visitor associated with that terminal if that terminal is not recognized as belonging to one of the members of the virtual community.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of launching the interactive real time communication session includes informing the author of the identity of the authenticated visitor.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:

generating icons showing in real time the content examined by the authenticated and giving the authenticated visitor's identity; and

sending the icons to the author during the interactive real time communication session showing the author which content the authenticated visitor is browsing.

8. A server for sharing multimedia data comprising:

a database containing multimedia data of an author and associated metadata, the database containing a list of approved persons receiving a right of access to the multimedia data, those persons forming a virtual community;

means for authenticating a visitor requesting access to the multimedia data;

means for informing the author of the identity of the authenticated visitor; and

means for automatically launching an interactive real time communication session with the author and the authenticated visitor.

9. The server as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the metadata includes information relating to conditional access to the multimedia data and to digital rights management (DRM).

10. The server as claimed in claim 8 , further comprising a presence server indicating what address should preferably be used for the author, the presence server sending a notification to the author at the address containing the identity of the authenticated visitor.

11. The server as claimed in claim 8 , including a data adaptation function for presenting the multimedia contents as a function of the capacities of the terminal of the visitor and the network.

12. The server as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the data adaptation function adapts the format as claimed in predefined document models.

13. The server as claimed in claim 8 wherein the means for automatically launching the interactive real time communication session with the author and the authenticated visitor is the means for informing the author of the identity of the authenticated visitor.

14. The server as claimed in claim 8 , further comprising:

means for generating icons showing in real time the content examined by the authenticated and giving the authenticated visitor's identity; and

means for sending the icons to the author during the interactive real time communication session showing the author which content the authenticated visitor is browsing.

15. A network comprising:

a terminal associated with an author;

a terminal associated with a visitor;

a gateway receiving a request from the terminal associated with the visitor to view multimedia belonging to the author; and

a server including a database containing the multimedia and associated metadata, the database containing a list of approved persons receiving a right of access to the multimedia those persons forming a virtual community, means for authenticating the terminal associated with the visitor requesting access to the multimedia, means for informing the author of the identity of the authenticated visitor, and means for automatically launching an interactive real time communication session with the author and the authenticated visitor.

16. The network as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the terminals integrate a multimedia data browsing function.

17. The network as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the terminals integrate the digital rights management (DRM) rules.

18. The network as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the means for automatically launching the interactive real time communication session with the author and the authenticated user is the means for informing the author of the identity of the authenticated visitor.

19. The network as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the server further comprises:

means for generating icons showing in real time the content examined by the authenticated visitor and giving the authenticated visitor's identity; and

means for sending the icons to the author during the interactive real time communication session showing the author which content the authenticated visitor is browsing.