Aol Inc.

Facebook, Inc.

America Online, Inc.

Tellme Networks, Inc.

John Bandhauer

Christopher Robert Waterson

Vidur Apparao

Anthony Accardi

Eryk Warren

Greg Scallan

An enhanced metadata structure and associated process is provided which captures and stores metadata gathered about the source and usage of a media asset or file. The source and usage metadata is integrated, such as by encoding within the enhanced media file, as the media asset is transferred and used. The integrated metadata accumulates, as a trail of source information and usage information in the enhanced media asset, and can be extracted upon arrival at a target computer system.

Display of media asset information

Processes and system for accessing externally stored metadata associated with a media asset using a unique identifier incorporated into the asset itself

Tracking usage of a media asset

Tracking source and transfer of a media asset

Tracking source and usage of a media asset

A digital asset management system and method is responsive to user interactions with digital assets. A ranking of digital assets is generated based upon user interactions, to reflect the value of the digital assets to the user. The ranking is based in part on access frequency and recency, and the number and types of uses of the digital assets. An access hierarchy is derived from the ranking, wherein higher ranked digital assets are more easily accessed than lower ranked digital assets. Different types of uses can be distinguished, so that some types of uses imbue an asset with greater value than others. The types of uses may include passive viewing or playback, file sharing, transport, and editing. Subjective values may be assigned by the user to each digital asset that can be factored into the ranking independently of usage patterns. A volatility-dampening attribute moderates volatility in the access hierarchy.

Method and system for managing digital assets

Process and system for locating a media asset based on audit trail information incorporated into the asset itself

A call routing system includes a first set of routers and a second set of routers. The first routers and the second routers implement a same routing scheme based on dynamic distribution parameters. One of the first routers is configured to receive a call and make a first routing decision regarding the call based on the routing scheme and a first set of the dynamic distribution parameters. One of the second routers is configured to make a second routing decision regarding the call based on the routing scheme and a second set of the dynamic distribution parameters.

Routing/switching on a heterogeneous network

Process and system for incorporating audit trail information of a media asset into the asset itself

System for incorporating information about a source and usage of a media asset into the asset itself

A digital asset management system and method is responsive to user interactions with digital assets. A ranking of digital assets is generated based upon user interaction, to reflect the value of the digital assets to the user. The ranking is based in part on access frequency and recency, and the number and types of uses of the digital assets. An access hierarchy is derived from the ranking, wherein higher ranked digital assets are more easily accessed than the lower ranked digital assets. Different types of uses can be distinguished, so that some types of uses imbue an asset with greater value than others. The types of uses may include passive viewing or playback, file sharing, transport, and editing. Subjective values may be assigned by the user to each digital asset that can be factored into the ranking independently of usage patterns. A volatility-dampening attribute moderates volatility in the access hierarchy.

A simple, user-friendly method and apparatus for establishing and maintaining a categorized Web browsing history uses a directory service, such as the Open Directory Project, to get category metadata about visited URLs. Metadata thus obtained are used to present a user's personal browser history in a category based hierarchy.

Categorized web browsing history

The digital asset management system is responsive to user interactions with digital assets. Based on user interaction, the system generates a ranking of digital assets to reflect the value of the digital assets to the user. The ranking is based in part on access frequency and recency, and the number and types of uses of the digital assets. An access hierarchy is derived from the ranking that stores the digital assets so that higher ranked digital assets are more easily accessed from storage than lower ranked digital assets. The digital assets can include any of digital images, audio files, and Uniform Resource Locators. The system can also distinguish between different types of uses, such as passive viewing or playback, file sharing, transport, and editing. The system preferably allows subjective values to be assigned to digital assets that can be factored into the ranking independently of usage patterns.

Growing community of inventors

Aptos, CA, United States of America

John Bandhauer