CONTENT DISTRIBUTION USING SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

摘要

Embodiments of the present invention enable users to allocate resources on their client devices according to relationships with other users. Resources include content such as games or movies. In one embodiment, a content provider directs a requesting device to a peer device that has access to the requested content. When users are in a social relationship, the users' devices are said to be socially affiliated. A user's social network is a collection of the user's electronic relationships with other people. Embodiments of the present invention allow users to establish sharing preferences for one or more client devices. In general, a sharing preference gives an individual preferential access to a user's computing resources on the one or more client devices. The access is preferential when compared to access given to nonsocially affiliated computing devices.