US20030196094A1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for authenticating the content of a distributed database
Assignee: Applied Invention LLC
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Filing: 2002-11-06
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2022-11-06
Abstract
Abstract The invention comprises a combined public and private hashing scheme for authenticating the content of a distributed database. The public portion of the scheme is as performed in the prior art. When a portion of content is submitted to the database, a hash is computed using a publicly distributed hashing algorithm and a publicly distributed key, if a key is needed. The computation of the hash may be performed either by a registry computer system or the computer system of the individual submitting the content. Once the hash is computed, it is associated with the submitted content. Subsequent users of the submitted content can then authenticate the content locally, by computing a hash using the publicly available algorithm, and comparing the hash obtained to the hash associated with the content. In those instances where an extra measure of authentication is desired, or if unsuccessful verification of the public hash has called the authenticity of the content into question, the authenticity of the content can be determined via a private hash. The private hash is a second hash computed for the content upon submission to the database. The specific algorithm used to compute the private hash, and any keys used by this algorithm, are known only to the registry computer system. The authenticity of the content in question is determined by resubmitting the questioned content to the registry, where a hash is computed using the private hashing algorithm, and compared with the original private hash.
Inventors
- 👤 W. Hillis
- 👤 Bran Ferren
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 21:30
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F21/00; G06F21/60; G06F21/64; G06F2221/00; G06F2221/21; G06F2221/2115
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 84
Claim 1
Independent Claim
122 words
1 . An apparatus for authenticating content of a distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and a combined public and private hashing mechanism for authenticating said knowledge base content.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
122 words
1 . An apparatus for authenticating content of a distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and a combined public and private hashing mechanism for authenticating said knowledge base content.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
36 words
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising: a set of user tools comprising one or more tools for entering said knowledge, said meta-knowledge, and said one or more annotations into said knowledge base.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
58 words
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , said public and private hashing mechanism comprising: means for submitting content to said knowledge base; means for computing a hash on said content using a publicly distributed hashing algorithm and, optionally, a publicly distributed key; and means for once said hash is computed, associating said hash with said submitted content.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
50 words
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , said public and private hashing mechanism comprising: means for computing a second hash for said content upon submission to said knowledge base using a private hashing algorithm and, optionally any keys used by said algorithm, known only to a registry computer system.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
5 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein computation of said hash is performed by any of a registry computer system and a computer system of said individual submitting said content.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
23 words
6 . The apparatus of claim 3 , said public and private hashing mechanism further comprising: means for performing a first level verification.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
54 words
7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , said means for performing a first level verification comprising: means for subsequent users of said submitted content authenticating said content locally by computing a hash using said publicly distributed hashing algorithm; and a comparer for comparing said hash obtained to said hash associated with said content.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
8 . The apparatus of claim 4 , said public and private hashing mechanism comprising: means for performing a second level verification.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
47 words
9 . The apparatus of claim 7 , said means for performing a second level verification comprising: means for resubmitting said content to said registry; means for computing a hash using said private hashing algorithm; and a comparer for comparing said computed hash with said second hash.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
28 words
10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , said public and private hashing mechanism comprising: means for said registry computer system periodically authenticating content in said knowledge base.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
25 words
11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein said registry computer system periodically authenticates a subset of all content contained in said knowledge base.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
38 words
12 . A combined public and private hashing apparatus for authenticating content of a knowledge base, comprising: means for uniquely identifying said content; means for performing a first level verification; and means for performing a second level verification.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
38 words
12 . A combined public and private hashing apparatus for authenticating content of a knowledge base, comprising: means for uniquely identifying said content; means for performing a first level verification; and means for performing a second level verification.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
60 words
13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein said means for uniquely identifying said content comprises: means for submitting content to said knowledge base; means for computing a hash on said content using a publicly distributed hashing algorithm and, optionally, a publicly distributed key; and means for once said hash is computed, associating said hash with said submitted content.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
32 words
14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein computation of said hash is performed by any of a registry computer system and a computer system of said individual submitting said content.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
54 words
15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , said means for performing a first level verification comprises: means for subsequent users of said submitted content authenticating said content locally by computing a hash using said publicly distributed hashing algorithm; and a comparer for comparing said hash obtained to said hash associated with said content.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
24 words
16 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein said means for performing a second level verification comprises: means for performing a private hash.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
52 words
17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said means for performing a private hash comprises: means for computing a second hash for said content upon submission to said knowledge base using a private hashing algorithm and, optionally any keys used by said algorithm, known only to a registry computer system.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
55 words
18 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein said means for performing a second level verification further comprises: means for determining authenticity of said content by resubmitting said content to said registry; means for computing a hash using said private hashing algorithm; and a comparer for comparing said computed hash with said second hash.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
32 words
19 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein said means for performing a second level verification further comprises: means for said registry computer system periodically authenticating content in said knowledge base.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
25 words
20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein said registry computer system periodically authenticates a subset of all content contained in said knowledge base.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
128 words
21 . A method for authenticating content of a distributed database, comprising the steps of: providing a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; providing a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and providing a combined public and private hashing method for authenticating said knowledge base content.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
128 words
21 . A method for authenticating content of a distributed database, comprising the steps of: providing a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; providing a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and providing a combined public and private hashing method for authenticating said knowledge base content.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
55 words
22 . The method of claim 21 , said public and private hashing method comprising the steps of: submitting content to said knowledge base; computing a hash on said content using a publicly distributed hashing algorithm and, optionally, a publicly distributed key; and once said hash is computed, associating said hash with said submitted content.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
51 words
23 . The method of claim 21 , said public and private hashing method comprising the step of: computing a second hash for said content upon submission to said knowledge base using a private hashing algorithm and, optionally any keys used by said algorithm, known only to a registry computer system.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
32 words
24 . The method of claim 22 , wherein computation of said hash is performed by any of a registry computer system and a computer system of said individual submitting said content.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
24 words
25 . The method of claim 22 , said public and private hashing method further comprising the step of: performing a first level verification.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
52 words
26 . The method of claim 25 , said step of performing a first level verification comprising the steps of: subsequent users of said submitted content authenticating said content locally by computing a hash using said publicly distributed hashing algorithm; and comparing said hash obtained to said hash associated with said content.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
23 words
27 . The method of claim 23 , said public and private hashing method comprising the step of: performing a second level verification.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
43 words
28 . The method of claim 26 , said step of performing a second level verification comprising the steps of: resubmitting said content to said registry; computing a hash using said private hashing algorithm; and comparing said computed hash with said second hash.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
29 words
29 . The method of claim 22 , said public and private hashing method comprising the step of: said registry computer system periodically authenticating content in said knowledge base.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
25 words
30 . The method of claim 29 , wherein said registry computer system periodically authenticates a subset of all content contained in said knowledge base.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
35 words
31 . A combined public and private hashing method for authenticating content of a knowledge base, comprising the steps of: uniquely identifying said content; performing a first level verification; and performing a second level verification.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
35 words
31 . A combined public and private hashing method for authenticating content of a knowledge base, comprising the steps of: uniquely identifying said content; performing a first level verification; and performing a second level verification.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
57 words
32 . The method of claim 31 , wherein said step of uniquely identifying said content comprises the steps of: submitting content to said knowledge base; computing a hash on said content using a publicly distributed hashing algorithm and, optionally, a publicly distributed key; and once said hash is computed, associating said hash with said submitted content.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
32 words
33 . The method of claim 32 , wherein computation of said hash is performed by any of a registry computer system and a computer system of said individual submitting said content.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
52 words
34 . The method of claim 33 , said step of performing a first level verification comprises the steps of: subsequent users of said submitted content authenticating said content locally by computing a hash using said publicly distributed hashing algorithm; and comparing said hash obtained to said hash associated with said content.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
25 words
35 . The method of claim 31 , wherein said step of performing a second level verification comprises the step of: performing a private hash.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
53 words
36 . The method of claim 35 , wherein said step of performing a private hash comprises the step of: computing a second hash for said content upon submission to said knowledge base using a private hashing algorithm and, optionally any keys used by said algorithm, known only to a registry computer system.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
51 words
37 . The method of claim 36 , wherein said step of performing a second level verification further comprises the steps of: determining authenticity of said content by resubmitting said content to said registry; computing a hash using said private hashing algorithm; and comparing said computed hash with said second hash.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
33 words
38 . The method of claim 36 , wherein said step of performing a second level verification further comprises the step of: said registry computer system periodically authenticating content in said knowledge base.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
25 words
39 . The method of claim 38 , wherein said registry computer system periodically authenticates a subset of all content contained in said knowledge base.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
25 words
40 . The method of claim 31 , wherein an index hash provides first level verification; and wherein a secure signature provides second level verification.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
67 words
41 . A method for providing feedback in connection with various pieces of content, comprising the steps of: providing a feedback element comprising a “back” button; and a user viewing said content rating said content with said feedback element; wherein said “back” button is operable by said user to indicate any of usefulness of said content and said user's completion of said user's viewing of said content.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
67 words
41 . A method for providing feedback in connection with various pieces of content, comprising the steps of: providing a feedback element comprising a “back” button; and a user viewing said content rating said content with said feedback element; wherein said “back” button is operable by said user to indicate any of usefulness of said content and said user's completion of said user's viewing of said content.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
123 words
42 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and a user interface comprising an email client, wherein email information is read and classified, annotated with metadata, and stored accordingly.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
123 words
42 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and a user interface comprising an email client, wherein email information is read and classified, annotated with metadata, and stored accordingly.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
113 words
43 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for assigning context and degrees of associations to knowledge.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
113 words
43 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for assigning context and degrees of associations to knowledge.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
38 words
44 . The database of claim 43 , said means for assigning further comprising: means for ranking relevance of said knowledge in terms of degrees of association if a particular search locates more relevant and less relevant information.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
41 words
45 . The database of claim 43 , wherein said degrees of association are then stored as metadata; and wherein a search performed later on accesses said metadata to determine if said knowledge is relevant, based upon said degrees of association.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
38 words
46 . The database of claim 43 , wherein said knowledge base accumulates information about associations based on actual user experience, and wherein said degrees of association establish a metric for determining relevance of knowledge to other knowledge.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
18 words
47 . The database of claim 43 , wherein said knowledge base tracks both inclusionary and exclusionary information.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
32 words
48 . The database of claim 43 , wherein said knowledge base applies any of rules and exceptions to rules as a basis for determining and assigning relevance to knowledge and/or metadata.
Claim 56
Dependent Claim
41 words
50 . The database of claim 43 , wherein said knowledge base provides search results that include examples of items that do not belong within a search to help establish context, as well as provide examples of items that do belong.
Claim 57
Dependent Claim
40 words
51 . The database of claim 50 , wherein user experience gathered as a result of user access to said knowledge determines which knowledge falls within a “do not belong” category and which knowledge falls within a “do belong” category.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
128 words
52 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for providing collaborative associations for sharing contexts and rules of others among users, wherein user experiences from one user influence those of other users.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
128 words
52 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for providing collaborative associations for sharing contexts and rules of others among users, wherein user experiences from one user influence those of other users.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
22 words
53 . The database of claim 52 , wherein user experiences are weighted based upon degrees of influence appropriate for each user.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
37 words
54 . The database of claim 52 , further comprising: means for providing notice when individual users are searching for knowledge in a similar context, and for recommending that said users pool or share their contextual information.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
110 words
55 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for assigning annotations to prove authenticity.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
110 words
55 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for assigning annotations to prove authenticity.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
28 words
56 . The database of claim 55 , wherein said means for assigning annotations to prove authenticity are used to authenticate knowledge, wherein said knowledge may be signed.
Claim 65
Dependent Claim
28 words
57 . The database of claim 55 , wherein annotations are registered with a document and modifications to said document may be made, provided said modifications are certified.
Claim 66
Dependent Claim
138 words
58 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for modification and/or deletion of knowledge and/or annotations; wherein an object is generated for modified and/or deleted knowledge and/or annotations; wherein said object must be registered as a new object by said knowledge base.
Claim 67
Dependent Claim
138 words
58 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for modification and/or deletion of knowledge and/or annotations; wherein an object is generated for modified and/or deleted knowledge and/or annotations; wherein said object must be registered as a new object by said knowledge base.
Claim 68
Dependent Claim
27 words
59 . The database of claim 58 , wherein metadata is associated with said object to indicate that the object is a corrected version of another object.
Claim 69
Dependent Claim
16 words
60 . The database of claim 59 , wherein said metadata provides a document revision history.
Claim 70
Dependent Claim
23 words
61 . The database of claim 59 , wherein said metadata is used to register another user's comments with regard to said corrections.
Claim 71
Dependent Claim
44 words
62 . The database of claim 61 , wherein said knowledge and said annotations are hashed together to produce another unique object, which object is then registered to guarantee its authenticity; wherein said new object inherits said annotations as well as said corrected knowledge.
Claim 72
Dependent Claim
140 words
63 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for inheriting annotations and/or corrections comprising a redirection in which a query always points to an original document and further links to a revision history; wherein inherited annotations and/or corrections are provided in a single search.
Claim 73
Dependent Claim
140 words
63 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for inheriting annotations and/or corrections comprising a redirection in which a query always points to an original document and further links to a revision history; wherein inherited annotations and/or corrections are provided in a single search.
Claim 74
Dependent Claim
14 words
64 . The database of claim 63 , wherein revisions are inherited by reference.
Claim 75
Dependent Claim
145 words
65 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for providing identification when annotations are incorporated or referenced by others; wherein each document and its revisions, and annotations and/or comments are identified as a unique object; and wherein each such object comprises metadata that identifies its relation to other objects.
Claim 76
Dependent Claim
145 words
65 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and means for providing identification when annotations are incorporated or referenced by others; wherein each document and its revisions, and annotations and/or comments are identified as a unique object; and wherein each such object comprises metadata that identifies its relation to other objects.
Claim 77
Dependent Claim
128 words
66 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and wherein all information is archived such that an audit trail is maintained with regard to each object, as well as revised versions of said object.
Claim 78
Dependent Claim
128 words
66 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and wherein all information is archived such that an audit trail is maintained with regard to each object, as well as revised versions of said object.
Claim 79
Dependent Claim
27 words
67 . The database of claim 66 , wherein knowledge is marked with an aging tag in said metadata that indicates a retention period for said knowledge.
Claim 80
Dependent Claim
42 words
68 . The database of claim 66 , wherein knowledge is marked invalid by said metadata, such that it is either not stored, or it is moved to an area in storage where all information is deemed invalid and therefore effectively deleted.
Claim 81
Dependent Claim
52 words
69 . The database of claim 68 , further comprising: means for performing a search to a registry of hash codes for various pages of content, metadata, and annotations to determine if there are matches; wherein a document can be identified even if it is no longer stored at its original location.
Claim 82
Dependent Claim
45 words
70 . The database of claim 68 , further comprising: means for registering knowledge based on use of an identifier; wherein said knowledge itself is not exposed; and wherein documents may be made public for purposes of authenticating them, without actually publishing the contents thereof.
Claim 83
Dependent Claim
138 words
71 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and a registry system for virtualizing all data and database records; wherein records, documents and other content, metadata, and annotations are linked without regard to their various formats by assigning unique identifiers within said registry system.
Claim 84
Dependent Claim
138 words
71 . A distributed database, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn; and a registry system for virtualizing all data and database records; wherein records, documents and other content, metadata, and annotations are linked without regard to their various formats by assigning unique identifiers within said registry system.
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