A method and system for sharing reputation knowledge across virtual communities

摘要

In a first aspect the present invention is a method for computing a Cross-Community Reputation (CCR). A community that wishes to receive CCR data regarding one of its users sends a request to relevant communities either directly or through a trusted third party. Communities that have reputation data of the user and are willing to share the information, reply with the relevant reputation data. All the received data is assembled together into an object containing the CCR data of the user in the context of the requesting community. In a second aspect the present invention is a computer and communication system for computing and exchanging trust and reputation in virtual communities. This system is adapted to automatically allow the method of the first aspect of the invention to be carried out. In its core the system of the invention consists of computing and communication devices adapted to enable realization of two fundamental computational models - one for the internal reputation within each community and one for the sharing of reputation knowledge across communities.