Method and Apparatus for Obtaining Digital Objects in a Communication Network

Abstract

A technique for obtaining digital objects (such as songs or video clips) from information providers in data communication networks (such as the Internet); the digital objects being sent through channels (such as Internet radio channels or Internet TV channels) or being otherwise made available. The end-user gains several advantages over techniques supported by the known art. For example, end-users may easily locate desired digital objects, need not be connected during object capture, can be connected through a low speed connection, does not have to have a high capacity computer, can obtain digital objects legally, can receive supplemental information associated with the digital objects, can quickly scan a vast number of digital object having been sent earlier, need not have the required storage space for the digital objects available during object capture, can easily navigate through a multitude of digital object channels, can easily obtain objects with a certain desired quality, can easily obtain objects in a certain desired format, can legally obtain digital objects at no cost and can prove that the digital objects were actually obtained legally.

1 . A computer-implemented method of presenting requested content, gathered by a network-based server, to a remote user device, comprising:
 receiving, by a network-based server and from a remote user of a remote user device connected to a network, a request for one or more media objects;   monitoring, by the network-based server, at least one digital object channel provided by one or more information providers to await occurrence of the requested one or more media object, without directly requesting the one or more media objects from the one or more information providers;   locating, by the network-based server and based on one or more descriptors of media content transmitted in the at least one digital object channel, at least one undedicated media stream transmitting the one or more media objects via the at least one digital object channel, the at least one undedicated media stream not being directly initiated by the network-based server;   recording, by the network-based server, a copy of the one or more media objects while the one or more media objects are being transmitted in the at least one undedicated media stream; and   making the copy of the one or more media objects available, by the network-based server, to the remote user device;   wherein the remote user device is not required to stay connected to the network or the network-based server while the network-based server is locating or recording the requested one or more media objects.