Peer-to-peer trading platform

1. A system comprising:

a network-based interaction environment including a plurality of peer-to-peer nodes configured to communicate directly with each other using a peer-to-peer protocol, the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes including a first peer-to-peer node; and

a first peer-to-peer client application configured to run on the first peer-to-peer node, the first peer-to-peer client application to maintain persistent item information in a storage device of the first peer-to-peer node, the persistent item information describing an item, the first peer-to-peer client application further to maintain persistent user account information in the storage device of the first peer-to-peer node, the persistent user account information including a plurality of peer-to-peer accounts associated with a user account of the first peer-to-peer node, each peer-to-peer account being assigned to a different role from among a plurality of roles, each role corresponding to a different particular operation in a transaction for the item, at least one peer-to-peer account being assigned to a first role associated with a selling operation in the transaction for the item, at least one other peer-to-peer account being assigned to a second role associated with a buying operation in the transaction, the user account of the first peer-to-peer node being assigned to a third role corresponding to a controlling authorizer for the transaction, the user account of the first peer-to-peer node having a control option to accept or reject at least one of the selling operation or buying operation in the transaction.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the role assigned to each peer-to-peer account implements a different set of functionality for respective peer-to-peer accounts.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first peer-to-peer client application is further to maintain persistent buddy information on the first peer-to-peer node, the persistent buddy information including a buddy list identifying trusted peer-to-peer nodes from among the network of peer-to-peer nodes.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first peer-to-peer client application is further to maintain persistent reputation information on the first peer-to-peer node, the persistent reputation information including information related to the reputation of at least one other peer-to-peer node in the network of peer-to-peer nodes.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the persistent reputation information is a function of a feedback score related to prior user experience in conducting a transaction at the at least one other peer-to-peer node.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein a network connection between at least two peer-to-peer nodes of in the network of peer-to-peer nodes is shared by more than one data transfer session.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein bandwidth on the network connection is prioritized between a plurality of data transfer sessions.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user account of the first peer-to-peer node is assigned to the third role for any transaction performed by any peer-to-peer node assigned to the second role.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the second role is a minor child role and the third role is a parent adult role.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the second role is an employee role and the third role is an employer representative role.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein a user acting in the second role may buy items for sale using their own peer-to-peer user name.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the second role is associated with a lite account, and the third role is associated with a trusted account.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein a user acting in the third role may pre-authorize an action later attempted by a user acting in the first or second role.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein a user acting in the third role is automatically offered an option to reject an action attempted by a user acting in the first or second role.

15. A method comprising:

enabling communication among a network 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;

maintaining persistent item information in a storage device of a first peer-to-peer node from among the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the persistent item information describing an item; and

maintaining persistent user account information in the storage device of the first peer-to-peer node, the persistent user account information further including a plurality of peer-to-peer accounts associated with a user account of the first peer-to-peer node, each peer-to-peer account being assigned to a different role from among a plurality of roles, each role corresponding to a different particular operation in a transaction for the item, at least one peer-to-peer account being assigned to a first role associated with a selling operation in the transaction for the item, at least one other peer-to-peer account being assigned to a second role associated with a buying operation in the transaction, the user account of the first peer-to-peer node being assigned to a third role corresponding to a controlling authorizer for the transaction, the user account of the first peer-to-peer node having a control option to accept or reject at least one of the selling operation or buying operation in the transaction.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising maintaining persistent buddy information in the storage device of the first peer-to-peer node, the persistent buddy information including a buddy list identifying trusted peer-to-peer nodes from among the network of peer-to-peer nodes.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising maintaining persistent reputation information in the storage device of the first peer-to-peer node, the persistent reputation information including information related to the reputation of at least one other peer-to-peer node in the network of peer-to-peer nodes.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the persistent reputation information is a function of a feedback score related to prior user experience in conducting a transaction at the at least one other peer-to-peer node.

19. The method of claim 15 , automatically offering, to a user acting in the third role, an option to reject an action attempted by a user acting in the first or second role.

20. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations-comprising:

enabling communication among a network 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;

maintaining persistent item information in a storage device of a first peer-to-peer node from among the plurality of peer-to-peer nodes, the persistent item information describing an item; and

maintaining persistent user account information in the storage device of the first peer-to-peer node, the persistent user account information further including a plurality of peer-to-peer accounts associated with a user account of the first peer-to-peer node, each peer-to-peer account being assigned to a different role from among a plurality of roles, each role corresponding to a different particular operation in a transaction for the item, at least one peer-to-peer account being assigned to a first role associated with a selling operation in the transaction for the item, at least one other peer-to-peer account being assigned to a second role associated with a buying operation in the transaction, the user account of the first peer-to-peer node being assigned to a third role corresponding to a controlling authorizer for the transaction, the user account of the first peer-to-peer node having a control option to accept or reject at least one of the selling operation or buying operation in the transaction.