as) United States
`a2) Patent Application Publication 10) Pub. No.: US 2008/0263103 Al
`(43) Pub. Date: Oct. 23, 2008
`
`McGregoret al.
`
`US 20080263103A1
`
`(54) DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENTSYSTEM
`(DAMS)
`
`(76)
`
`Inventors:
`
`Lucas McGregor, Los Angeles, CA
`(US); Mike Depaoli, Windsor, CA
`(US); Adrian Gould, Los Angeles,
`CA (US); Chad Hill, Hamburg, PA
`(US); Michael ThomasRitchie,
`Laveen, AZ (US); Kyle Kincaid,
`Marina del Rey, CA (US); Glenn
`Lingle, Westchester, CA (US);
`Joseph Provost, Los Angeles, CA
`(US); Maria Vazquez, Buenos
`Aires (AR)
`
`Correspondence Address:
`Cislo & Thomas LLP
`1333 2nd Street, Suite #500
`Santa Monica, CA 90401-4110 (US)
`
`(21) Appl. No.:
`
`12/074,359
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Mar.3, 2008
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`(60) Provisional application No. 60/904,840,filed on Mar.
`2, 2007.
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`G06F 17/30
`
`(2006.01)
`
`(52) US. C0. cocccccceccssscsssssssssnnnes 707/200; 707/E17.005
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A digital asset management system (DAMS)provides an
`integrated user experience for the rapid and facile manipula-
`tion of a users digital assets in an online environment. Span-
`ning the spectrum ofdigital assets, the DAMS system set
`forth herein enablesusersto tag,filter, collect, and show such
`digital assets in a manner which requires preferably minimal
`user interaction in orderto achieve digital asset management
`and exhibition. Sharing among friends and family becomes
`mucheasier and incomingdigital assets may be automatically
`segregated according to user choices or history to enable
`easier management of such assets. Recognition of relation-
`ships, characteristics, features, and the like between different
`assets may occur automatically and develop an ongoing fash-
`ion to enable association of such similar assets into “collec-
`tions”or the like.
`
`MOLEOUTA BLE ACL sms
`
` WEB
`
`SERVERS
`
`APP
`SERVERS
`
`
` OPEN CHANNEL
`
`
`SERVERS
`
`
`
`SAMSUNG 1039
`
`SAMSUNG 1039
`
`1
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Oct. 23,2008 Sheet 1 of 10
`
`US 2008/0263103 Al
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Oct. 23,2008 Sheet 2 of 10
`
`US 2008/0263103 Al
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Oct. 23,2008 Sheet 3 of 10
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`Patent Application Publication
`
`Oct. 23,2008 Sheet 4 of 10
`
`US 2008/0263103 Al
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`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Oct. 23,2008 Sheet 5 of 10
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`US 2008/0263103 Al
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`
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`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Oct. 23,2008 Sheet 6 of 10
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`US 2008/0263103 Al
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`7
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Oct. 23,2008 Sheet 7 of 10
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`US 2008/0263103 Al
`
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`
`8
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`

`

`Patent Application Publication
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`Oct. 23,2008 Sheet 8 of 10
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`US 2008/0263103 Al
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`File Permission Model
`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`
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`Figure 11
`
`9
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Oct. 23,2008 Sheet 9 of 10
`
`US 2008/0263103 Al
`
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`
`10
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`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Oct. 23, 2008 Sheet 10 of 10
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`US 2008/0263103 Al
`
`
` APP
`
`
`
`
`WEB
`SERVERS
`
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`
`11
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`

`

`US 2008/0263103 Al
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`Oct. 23, 2008
`
`DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENTSYSTEM
`(DAMS)
`
`CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`[0001] Applicant(s) and/or Inventor(s) hereby rescind any
`disclaimer and/or any arguments madein any prior related
`application. Such disclaimer(s) and/or argument(s) as well as
`any prior art relevant to such disclaimer(s) and/or argument(s)
`may needto be revisited by the Examiner.
`[0002] This patent application is related to and claimspri-
`ority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.
`60/904,840filed Mar. 2, 2007 entitled Digital Asset Manage-
`ment System which application is incorporated herein in its
`entirety by this reference thereto.
`
`COPYRIGHT AUTHORIZATION
`
`Portions of the disclosure of this patent document
`[0003]
`may contain material which is subject to copyright and/or
`mask work protection. The copyright and/or mask work
`ownerhas no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any-
`one of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it
`appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or
`records, but otherwise reserves all copyright and/or mask
`workrights whatsoever. 37 C.F.R. § 1.71(d).
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`[0004]
`[0005] This invention relates to data storage systems and
`moreparticularly to a digital asset management system for a
`plurality of users.
`[0006]
`2. Description of the Related Art
`[0007]
`Incorporated by reference in their entirety are the
`following patents, patent applications, and patent application
`publications relating to the underlying Xdrive system:
`[0008] U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.
`60/163,626 filed Nov. 4, 1999 for Shared Internet Storage
`Resource, User Interface System, and Method;
`[0009] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/570,583 filed
`May 12, 2000 for Shared Internet Storage Resource, User
`Interface System, and Method which issued as U.S. Pat. No.
`6,351,776 B1 on Feb. 26, 2002;
`[0010] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/073,775 filed
`Feb. 11, 2002 for Shared Internet Storage Resource, User
`Interface System, and Method which issued as U.S. Pat. No.
`6,985,927 on Jan. 10, 2006;
`[0011] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/075,311 filed
`Mar. 8, 2005 for Shared Internet Storage Resource, User
`Interface System, and Method which waspublished as United
`States patent application publication number US 2005-
`0193132 Al on Sep. 1, 2005; and
`[0012] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/089,173 filed
`Mar. 23, 2005 for Shared Internet Storage Resource, User
`Interface System, and Method which issued as U.S. Pat. No.
`7,171,472 on Jan. 30, 2007;
`[0013] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/089,174 filed
`Mar. 24, 2005 for Shared Internet Storage Resource, User
`Interface System, and Method which waspublished as United
`States patent application publication number US 2005-
`0204020 Al on Sep. 15, 2005;
`[0014] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/089,397 filed
`Mar. 24, 2005 for Shared Internet Storage Resource, User
`Interface System, and Method which waspublished as United
`
`States patent application publication number US 2005-
`0171956 Al on Aug.4, 2005; and
`[0015] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/601,234 filed
`Nov. 17, 2006 for Network Personal Digital Video Recorder
`System (NPDVR).
`[0016] The foregoing patent-related documents generally
`disclose the Xdrive system and maybe used for reference and
`description with regards to the Xdrive system.
`[0017]
`Increasingly, individuals with Internet access are
`subject to a large numberof relevant and interesting informa-
`tion in the form of files, webpages, e-mails, audio/video
`mediafiles, and the like. This is one ofthe great benefits ofthe
`general acceptance of the Internet, electronic communica-
`tions, and the ability for electronic communication to inter-
`actively connect people despite great distances. Younger indi-
`viduals having the available timeare particularly involved in
`the dynamic informational environment provided by the
`Internet.
`
`[0018] However, the increased availability and presenta-
`tion of electronic mediavia the Internet or otherwise is some-
`whatakin to getting a drink of water from a fire hose.It has
`what the user wants, but not in a form that is readily con-
`sumed. While the firehose paradigm has become more well
`known in the recent past, it may be particularly appropriate
`for the onslaught of available incoming media and informa-
`tion that is available to a person who accessesthe Internet.
`[0019]
`In the past, certain utilities have been available to
`users to help them sort and segregate information. These have
`generally been limited in scope and have generally not taken
`into account the ongoing and extensive nature of new, incom-
`ing media and information to which such users are subject
`from friends, family, unknown third-party commercial enti-
`ties, and the like.
`[0020] As aresult, it would be advantageousand very help-
`ful for users to be able to selectively and/or automatically
`organize, segregate, evaluate, and handle muchof the media,
`that comesinto the user on a daily (and even hourly) basis.
`[0021]
`Prior attempts have been madein theart with respect
`to the managementofdigital assets, media files and other-
`wise. Brief descriptions of some of such prior attemptsare set
`forth below. While the descriptions are believed to be accu-
`rate, no admission is made by them regarding their subject
`matter which is solely defined by the patent or reference
`involved.
`
`Publication No.
`Patent Application
`[0022] U.S.
`20020180803 issued to Kaplan et al. on Dec. 5, 2002 for
`Systems, Methods And Computer. Program Products For
`Managing Multimedia Content discloses multimedia content
`that may be stored, manipulated, displayed, and packaged.
`The system providesa visual inventory of suchfiles to facili-
`tate retrieval of desired content from external removable
`media such as CDs, DVDs, or removable disk drives. The
`system enables the creation of removable media with desired
`multimedia content and hierarchical structure for playback as
`well as labeling and the like. Multimedia content may be
`shared in a simple mannerwith other such as friendsor family
`membersandthe user mayselect specific multimedia content
`to be accessed by specified individuals via the Internet.
`[0023] U.S.
`Patent Application
`Publication No.
`20020186844 issued to Levy et al. on Dec. 12, 2002 for
`User-friendly Rights Management Systems And Methods
`discloses a system where contentis identified with an identi-
`fier which, once extracted, is used to index the database to
`locate a corresponding usagerule. Usage rights may be deter-
`
`12
`
`12
`
`

`

`US 2008/0263103 Al
`
`Oct. 23, 2008
`
`mined by linking the content identifier to external data with
`such usagerights possibly including the scope of permissible
`copying, rendering, transferring, etc. Content usage may be
`tracked via an identifier for billing, etc.
`Publication No.
`[0024] U.S.
`Patent Application
`20040024720 issued to Fairweather on Feb. 5, 2004 for Sys-
`tem And Method For Managing Knowledge discloses a
`memory system that may form collections of datums and
`enable manipulation and exchange ofthese collections both
`within a local machine as well as across a network. Such
`collections may support the ability to attach arbitrary tags or
`annotations to the binary data they contain without in any way
`altering the binary representation itself. Small executables, or
`“widgets,” may operate upon data for which they have mini-
`mal information, but least know the “type”of data involved.
`[0025] U.S.
`Patent Application
`Publication No.
`20050246374 issued to Blinn et al. on Nov. 3, 2005 for a
`System And Method For Selection Of Media Items discloses
`searchable media items based on tagged metadata in accor-
`dance with user selection. Sorts may be performed to orga-
`nize the output in a user-selected order. In one embodiment, a
`list of photos may include an embedded query command
`which maybebasedonfile attributes, image characteristics,
`and/or photo metadata such as tagged keywords.
`[0026] U.S.
`Patent Application
`Publication No.
`20070011138 issued to Boucardet al. on Jan. 11, 2007 for a
`System And MethodForInteractive Data Managementdis-
`closesarticles that may be linked to data including multime-
`dia data. In one embodiment, an identifier identifies an article
`while the associated pointer identifies one or more locations
`of all data content associated with the article.
`
`Publication No.
`Patent Application
`[0027] U.S.
`20070156770 issued to Espelien et al. on Jul. 5, 2007 for a
`System And MethodFor Controlling And/or Managing Meta-
`data Of Multimedia has metadata with regards to multimedia
`is madeportable with respect to one or moreusers, terminals,
`the source, and the provider and/or the content service. Users
`can share, transfer, transmit and, and/or access the metadata
`via databases, terminals, servers, and/or networks indepen-
`dent and or separately with respect to the multimedia.
`[0028] U.S.
`Patent Application
`Publication No.
`20070208685 issued to Blumenauet al. on Sep. 6, 2007 for
`Systems And Methods ForInfinite Information Organization
`has client software that provides meansto create, edit, main-
`tain, update, revise, modify, and produce metadata enabling
`categorization and identification of digital assets. The meta-
`data providestracking, locating, searching, and other features
`for the disclosed system. When a newdigital assetis received,
`the system may require the end user to provide at least a
`portion of the metadata/categorization information. Search-
`ing/locating operations may be effected on the categorized
`data. Digital assets may include files, voice mails, instant
`message logs, e-mails or the like as well as digital asset
`containers such as folders, directories, disk drives, removable
`storage media, andthelike.
`Publication No.
`[0029] U.S.
`Patent Application
`20070260572 issued to Boucardet al. on Nov. 8, 2007 for an
`Interactive Data Management System discloses an interactive
`data managementsystem that links an article to files pertain-
`ing to the article including text, image, audio, and video data
`without requiring the user to work through a hierarchical
`menustructure.
`
`[0030] U.S. Pat. No. 6,484,156 issued to Gupta et al. on
`Nov. 19, 2002 for Accessing Annotations Across Multiple
`
`Target Media Streamsdiscloses a system enabling the access-
`ing of annotations across multiple target media streams. An
`annotation server uses a hierarchical annotations storage
`structure to maintain correspondence between a plurality of
`multimedia stream annotations in a hierarchical higher group
`identifier the annotations correspondingto different multime-
`dia streams can be easily accessed concurrently by referenc-
`ing the groupidentifier. The patent defines annotationsas data
`(e.g., audio, text, video, etc.) that corresponds to multimedia
`presentation. When annotations correspond to multiple dif-
`ferent multimedia streams, an annotation server uses a hier-
`archical annotations storage structure to maintain a corre-
`spondence between the annotations and a hierarchical higher
`group identifier. The annotations corresponding to these dif-
`ferent multimedia streams can then be more easily accessed
`concurrently by using the group identifier. Annotation entries
`maintained by an annotation server may be made in an anno-
`tation metadatastore.
`
`[0031] U.S. Pat. No. 7,155,676 issued to Landet al. on Dec.
`26, 2006 for a System And Method For Multimedia Author-
`ing And Playback discloses more intuitive display control
`interfaces which are used in a multimedia authoring and
`playback system. This provides improved authoring of mul-
`timedia, websites, and other media-rich content. While some
`organization is set forth in this disclosure, it generally does
`not match that set forth in the DAMSsystem set forth herein.
`[0032] U.S. Pat. No. 7,167,864 issued to Vasudevan on Jan.
`23, 2007 for a Multimedia Inspection Database System (MI-
`DAS) For Dynamic Run-time Data Evaluation discloses sub-
`structures in a data set representing physical structures that
`are assignedto structural groups to facilitate easy access to
`the data elements which represent the substructures.
`[0033] U.S. Pat. No. 7,197,493 issued to Ashbyet al. on
`Mar. 27, 2007 for a Collection Management Database Of
`Arbitrary Schemaseeks to provide apparatus and methodsfor
`deterministically classifying and indexing objects, such as
`digital media and files,
`in a database. Upon establishing
`descriptive category sets, the user may select objects (such as
`digital media andfiles) having attributes perceived by the user
`to correspondto the descriptive category set. Searching utili-
`ties are also included.
`
`[0034] While several-attempts have been madein the art
`previously, providing an integrated system having a user-
`friendly interface that facilitates the manipulation of digital
`assets on a large-scale basis has generally not been seen until
`the present inventive system (DAMS).
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`In view of the foregoing advantagesinherent in the
`[0035]
`known types of file organizers and media library facilities
`now present in theprior art, the present invention provides a
`new method, means, and system by which digital assets can
`be managed, organized, shared, and exploited wherein the
`same can be used to makethe user’s experience better, more
`friendly, and more manageable.
`[0036] The general purposeofthe present invention, which
`is described in greater detail below,is to provide a new digital
`asset management system which has manyofthe advantages
`of such media organizers and libraries mentioned heretofore
`as well as many novelfeaturesthe results in a new digital asset
`management system whichis not anticipated, rendered obvi-
`ous, suggested, taught, or even implied by anyofthepriorart
`systems, either alone or in any combination thereof.
`
`13
`
`13
`
`

`

`US 2008/0263103 Al
`
`Oct. 23, 2008
`
`[0037] The Digital Asset Management System (DAMS)of
`the present invention enablesusers to store, intuitively orga-
`nize, share, and enjoytheir digitalassets(files, e-mails, digital
`media, and the like) regardless of type with a single, compre-
`hensive solution. Consequently, it becomes mucheasier for
`the inexperienced user to readily adapt to the DAMS system
`as well as enabling the expert to quickly organize and use the
`increasing amountof digital informationthatis flooding most
`individuals ofthe industrialized world. Additionally, for those
`whohaveyet to grasp the astounding depth and richness of
`available electronic media and information, the DAMSsys-
`tem set forth herein enables them to more readily adjust and to
`morereadily engage a new personal environment whereelec-
`tronic information and communication are available on a
`
`worldwide andincreasingly instantaneousbasis.
`[0038] The digital asset management system (DAMS)pro-
`vides an extensive utility for the online managementofdigital
`assets suchasfiles including pictures, audiofiles, video files,
`and the like. DAMSprovides convenient and easily-ascer-
`tainable features and operations even for the inexperienced
`user.
`
`[0039] DAMSpresents a web-basedinterface designed to
`intuitively facilitate use and the important feature of “collec-
`tions” are represented as icons, such collections being logical
`collections of items. Overall, there may be considered to be
`three keytiers: storing, organizing, and sharing of the digital/
`online assets. Filtering is available to provide subsetsof avail-
`able assets. Tags can be associated with items in orderto help
`with their segregation and/orfiltering.
`[0040] Assets can be dragged or droppedto a buddy, asso-
`ciate, friend, family member, or otherwise, enabling rapid
`sharing with same. Such assets can be represented by a
`thumbnail image andthe recipient can either download the
`asset or access it from their DAMSsystem. Permissions can
`be set for individualfiles, assets, and/or collections ofassets.
`Such permissions can be dynamically adjusted orset stati-
`cally.
`[0041] Assets can be viewed or reviewed by time andhis-
`tograms may beusedto aid in same. Assets can be identified
`bytheir time of creation.
`[0042] DAMSmay“listen” for the addition of any assets
`with specific tags or properties. Upon discovery or recogni-
`tion, such assets can be added automatically to one or more
`collections. Users control whether this occurs automatically,
`with user approval, or notatall.
`[0043]
`“Intellisync,”or intelligence synchronization can be
`provided between home network drives, local PCs, wireless
`devices, hosts, other home networks, and the like. Asset forth
`in more detail below, mail grabs, e-mail drop boxes, shopping
`history mail grabs, and additional mail grabs may be created
`and put to good use.
`[0044] Aconfederated “back end”takes multiple disaggre-
`gated file systems on the back end and makesthese available
`in a single user interface withfile hierarchy. A single logical
`file system aggregates various and distributed data stores
`combining what DAMScontains with what it connects to,
`i.e., attachments in e-mail, files in picture services (such as
`AOL’s picture services), and the like andthe DAMSsystem as
`a whole can all be managedasa single file system.
`[0045] Actions and operations may be performed on the
`user’s behalf without his or her (hereinafter, “his’’) direct
`action, including: virus scanning, resizing pictures, upload-
`ing music, putting files in important folders, podcasting, cre-
`ating RSS podcasts of public files, auto generation of collec-
`
`tions based on usage patterns, etc. A framework is provided
`for autonomousservices that work upon the user’s data on his
`behalf.
`
`[0046] With “smart collecting,” scanning and autotagging
`may occur. Clusters of related data may be inspected and
`aggregated generally according to user preferences and/or
`convenience. Most searching is focused on rapidly finding a
`specific asset. Additionally, finding relations or relationships
`between user assets may help to create “clusters” of related
`media and/or data. For example, by looking at a Christmas
`picture, a cluster of related pictures, music, and documents
`could be associated with one anotherall having somerela-
`tionship to Christmas. This feature provides an experience
`that focuses on allowing users to “explore” large chunks of
`their data which in the present day are becoming increasingly
`voluminous.
`
`[0047] DAMS maybe built on the Xdrive “Full Integra-
`tion”project as its foundation. (Full integration accomplishes
`baseline requirements for global support on AOL or other
`internetworked systems for members and non-members).
`[0048] DAMS may include all of the fundamental store,
`organize, access, share capabilities of current Xdrive (see the
`related patent applications, above), plus the changes and addi-
`tions as set forth herein. A user interface with appropriate
`paradigms and features for digital asset acquisition, organi-
`zation, use, and sharing may be implemented. A facility for
`asset meta-tagging and easy re-use of existing tags may be
`provided. Collections may be auto-added and/or user-added
`according to logical or other groupings of files. Collections
`maycontainfiles ofany type, and/or other collections. DAMS
`may“listen”for the addition ofanyassets with specific tags or
`properties, and automatically adds those assets to one or more
`collections. Users control whether this occurs automatically,
`with user approval, or notatall.
`[0049]
`“Shows”are collections ofmultimediafilesthat also
`include specific playback instructions defined by users and
`recognizable by DAMS’ integrated Viewer/Player. Easy to
`use views, filters, and searching capability for browsing and
`searchingfora) files; b) physical and c) logical collections of
`files may be provided. Viewsandfilters may harness available
`metadata that may have been both auto-populated and/or
`manually populated. User defined compoundfilters and
`searches may besavedas newfilters for future use.
`[0050] A capability for tangential navigation of digital
`assets across tags and through nested/compoundfilters and
`views, in any collection or search result may be provided and
`notification of sharing events via RSS feeds, AOL’s Buddy
`Feeds API or similar, and/or a client-based Toaster may be
`made.
`
`[0051] Anti-virus support may be provided enabling the
`DAMSto foster peace-of-mind and security through host-
`based virus scanning performedatthe time a user adds new or
`updated files to DAMSstorage. The UI may post warning(s)
`whena virus-infected file is detected and may present to the
`user options to repair, delete, or quarantine the file. Quaran-
`tined files may be stored but maynotbeeligible for sharing.
`[0052] A Synch feature enables anytime, anywhere access
`to important files, with or without an Internet connection.
`DAMSmay automatically synchronize file additions and
`changes across a subset of user-identified files/folders on a
`local PC(s) and the user’s host-based storage on DAMS. Once
`enabled by the user, synchronization may occur automati-
`cally in the background wheneveran Internet connection is
`present on the local machine(s).
`
`14
`
`14
`
`

`

`US 2008/0263103 Al
`
`Oct. 23, 2008
`
`[0053] A backup facility enables users to backup selected
`folders and files on demand, or on a scheduledbasis.
`[0054] DAMSmayread and write its pictures to the same
`backend system as AOL Pictures or anotherpicture or graphic
`system. Hence, users with pictures in, for example, the AOL
`Pictures datastore can easily access their photos in DAMS
`and vice-versa.
`
`[0055] A special e-mail attachment access feature may
`enable DAMSto capture andstore all email attachments sent
`and receivedfor the user, including AOL and AIM mail (auto-
`matically), and for other IMAP and POP3 compliant mail
`systems (with user configuration). Users may employ pre-
`configuredfilters and/or custom-built filters to automatically
`capture and group specific e-mails and e-mail attachments in
`DAMS. Such “Mail Grabs” may work seamlessly for users,
`including AOL mail and AIM mail users. Users on other
`IMAPor POP3 compliant mail systems may use Mail Grabs
`after performing limited one-time setup steps. DAMS may
`ship with two preconfigured Mail Grabs that users mayedit as
`desired: 1) E-mail Dropbox; 2) Shopping History.
`[0056] The E-mail Dropbox mail grab may copy from
`e-mail to DAMSany e-mail attachments where the e-mail
`contains, for example, an AOL-assigned, user-editable “PIN”
`string in the subject line (e.g., 7892). The user may reset the
`pin to be no/any string and maytreat the PIN as private or
`share it with buddies as desired. Among its many uses, this
`functionality is ideal for quickly sending pictures from
`mobile devices to DAMS.
`
`In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in
`[0062]
`the knowntypesof digital information and asset management
`systems now present in the prior art, the present invention
`provides a digital asset management system whereinfiling
`informational assets can be accessed, distributed, collected,
`portrayed, and exhibited by a plurality of users in a conve-
`nient andattractive fashion.
`
`[0063] The general purposeofthe present invention, which
`will be described subsequently in greaterdetail, is to provide
`a new digital asset-management system and method which
`have manyofthe advantagesofprior systems as well as many
`new andoriginal features whichare not anticipated, rendered
`obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art
`systems, either alone or in any combination thereof.
`[0064]
`In one embodiment of the present
`invention, a
`method for managing digital assets includes the steps of rec-
`ognizing a new digital asset, determining a tag associated
`with the digital asset, and associating the digital asset with a
`collection of digital assets according to the tag. In this way,
`digital assets with similar tags may be quickly sorted by
`choosinga filter for the tag.
`[0065]
`In another embodimentof the present invention, a
`method for managing digital assets includes the steps of rec-
`ognizing a new digital asset (where the digital asset selected
`from the group including audiofiles, audio/video mediafiles,
`digital asset containers, digital media files, directories, disk
`drives, e-mails, files, folders, instant message logs, pictures,
`removable storage media, video files, voice mails, webpages,
`webpage URLs, and combinationsthereof), determining a tag
`associated with the digital asset, and associating the digital
`asset with a collection of digital assets according to the tag
`such thatdigital assets with similar tags may be quickly sorted
`by choosinga filter for the tag. In this way, the new digital
`asset is more easily organized and moreeasily available in the
`future to a user.
`
`[0066] Other embodiments of the present invention are set
`forth in more detail, below, and the embodiments set forth
`above are made for purposes of example only and not of
`limitation.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 isa schematic view ofa link to a file with its
`[0067]
`attributes to the file itself with its attributes.
`
`[0057] The Shopping History mail grab may copy from
`e-mail to DAMSany e-mails that contain specific, editable,
`order-related words in the subject line, and come from an
`editable list of the top 100 webretailers.
`[0058] Users may create and edit additional Mail Grabs to
`conveniently capture and store e-mail attachments based on
`any/all ofthe following filter