VideoShare LLC v Google Inc. and YouTube LLC

Filing 1

COMPLAINT FOR PATENT INFRINGEMENT filed with Jury Demand against Google Inc., YouTube LLC - Magistrate Consent Notice to Pltf. ( Filing fee $ 400, receipt number 0311-1302957.) - filed by VideoShare LLC. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Exhibit A)(jeb, )

Exhibit A

IIIIII

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
US00843 8608B2

United States Patent

(10)

Liwerant et al.

c12)

(45)

(54)

SHARING A STREAMING VIDEO

(75)

Inventors: Gad Liwerant, Cambridge, MA (US);
Christopher Dodge, Arlington, MA
(US); Guillaume Boissiere, Cambridge,
MA(US)

(73)

Assignee: VideoShare, LLC, Chestnut Hill, MA
(US)

( *)

Notice:

(52)

(58)

Patent No.:
US 8,438,608 B2
Date of Patent:
*May 7, 2013

U.S. Cl.
USPC ................. 725/115; 725/86; 725/87; 725/91;
725/92; 725/98; 725/105; 725/109; 725/112;
725/114
Field of Classification Search ............. 725/86-115
See application file for complete search history.

(56)

References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35
U.S.C. 154(b) by 74 days.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

(21)

Appl. No.: 13/175,688

(22)

Filed:

Prior Publication Data
US 2011/0265136Al

8/2004 Ellis et al.

348/14.01

OTHER PUBLICATIONS
XP-002149004 "Rea!Video Content Creation Guide" Version 1.0,
Progressive Networks, Inc., Dec. 6, 1997.*
XP-002150023 "StreamingEmail"Chapter 18, pp. 303-3017, Sep.4,
1998. *

* cited by examiner

Jul. 1, 2011

(65)

6,774,926 B1 *

Oct. 27, 2011

Related U.S. Application Data
(63)

Continuation of application No. 11/927,806, filed on
Oct. 30, 2007, now Pat. No. 7,987,492, which is a
continuation of application No. 09/803,243, filed on
Mar. 9, 2001, now abandoned.

(60)

Provisional application No. 60/188,082, filed on Mar.
9, 2000.

(51)

Int. Cl.
H04N71173

Primary Examiner- Dominic D Saltarelli
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm- Guerin & Rodriguez, LLP
(57)

ABSTRACT

A video segment can be shared over a computer network by
first receiving the video segment at a receiving computer on
the network. The receiving computer assures that the video
segment is in a streaming video format, and creates at least
one identification tag for the video segment. The receiving
computer also stores the video segment, and communicates
the identification tag to another computer on the network.
Upon subsequent receipt of that identification tag, the receiving computer streams the video segment to a destination
computer on the network.

(2011.01)

23 Claims, 16 Drawing Sheets
Embodiments of
transmission formats:

Upload and process:

1200 Standard email or HTML e-mail
r'!1405 Receive Video
1410 Take Information
1210 To: Host
0 Define if video is in streaming
1200 From: Client user
video compatible format
Subject: Name and
1230 Description
op1ional
1240 Return address
Attachment (including

1~~~ r
l~n

10

r

fil~~~rs~~{~~~~~~~~~dio

Convert 1o lormat compatible
with streaming video

1250 audio files) also contains

.......

information as In HTML
form.

-

1425
1400

HTMLFORM

1~40

1300 or Web Page

1~~g~~~~~F·Io
A1t,onalln1ormatlon:

I

50

This video is about my
Uncle Sam, who was
born on the Fourth of

1350

Sender can then cut and paste the video
identifier in any Web page source code.
II will automativally trigger the displaying
of the video streamed by server D.

60

61

60

--{_Database

l51:=toatabase

1305 http://www.host.com
1310 Name:
1320 Return Address:

VIdeo Identifier

h

1422-~

Video
Store

~~X/;~SS''desired:

H~h Resolution
A d'l Copy on CD-ROM
Paymen method:
Credit Card# XXXX-YYY

Delivery of the streaming video
to a viewer.

-

Send to user (or to user's

rde:~~~~;~uch
1440- e-mail with textas URL
info (HTML)
embed video in e-mail
Web page
145~

D=9

146

Sender sends identifier back to
system
Video will stream to person
who sent identifier

~

00

•

30

21

10

~

~

~

Sender A

~

=

Processing
Server C

Mail
Server B

~

Email with
Video Attachment

~

~

~-....l

N
0

Video Identifier

......

(.H

rFJ

Streaming
Server D

=-

('D
('D

40

......
......

Stream Video

0

......
......

0\

Sender can then cut and paste the video
identifier in any Web page source code.
It will automativally trigger the displaying
of the video streamed by server D.

60

d
61

rJl
00

~

w

FIG. 1A

"'00
0'1

=
00

=

N

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

US 8,438,608 B2

Sheet 2 of 16

Embodiments of
transmission formats:

Upload and process:

1200 Standard email or HTML e-mail
1405- Receive Video
1410- Take Information
1210 To: Host
1420- Define if video is in streaming
1200 From: Client user
1430.[ video compatible format
1
Subject: Name and
1230 Description
yes
optional
1422 1240 Return address
Attachment (including
video setlment and audio
file, or strl images and
Convert to format compatible
1250 audio files) also contains
...-- with streaming video
information as in HTML
(1425
form.

l l

-

HTML FORM
1300 or Web Page

0
no

~

/1400

server~ 40

I

,~Database

60

.I

61

-i Database

50

1305 http://www.host.com
1310 Name:
1320 Return Address:
1220 Description
1340IBrowse for File
I
Additional Information:
This video is about my
Uncle Sam, who was
born on the Fourth of
1350 July, 1 ......
Services desired:
H~h Resolution
A d\1 Copy on CD-ROM
Payment method:
Credit Card# XXXX-YYY

-i Store

J

]

J Video

Delivery of the streaming video
to a viewer.

1440~

Send to user (or to userls
designee):
Identifier such as URL
e-mail with text info (HTML)
embed video in e-mail
Web page

J

14S04 Sender sends identifier back to
system

FIG. 1 B

1460

-l who sent 1dent1f1erto person
Video
will_stre~f!l

I

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

US 8,438,608 B2

Sheet 3 of 16

21

40

30

22

CfJ

1510

CfJ

CfJ

1520

y

1540

1550

y

y
1580

FIG. 1C

9

1530

\

9

1560

1500

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

Import
existing
Multimedia
File Types

US 8,438,608 B2

Sheet 4 of 16

Home PC Environment

20

Record
Directly
from
Input Device

One-Click Publishing $%tern
(send or submit video)
VideoShare.com

60

VideoShare.com

Web-Based Appr~ea1ions
and Servers

70

Video Distributed Across the World Wide Web

Client-Side Browser-Based Viewing Platform
(with or without plug-ins)

FIG. 1D

50

~

Video Hosting

!

16

)
Upload
Video

18 --I

00

•

62

6~

VideoShare
Servers

+

GJ,.64

~

~

~

~

=
~

Storage
~

COMPUTER
VIDEO INPUT DEVICE
USER

~

~-....l
N

0

......

(.H

Produce/Record Video
On the Hard Disk (Computer)
Email with Link to Video
Stored on the VideoShare
Server (can be included in
. . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - , a VideoShare card)
COMPUTER or
DISPLAY OUTPUT DEVICE f-g
2
or VIDEO OUTPUT DEVICE
USER

Possible Compression/Format
Change to the Video

FIG. 2

From the link in the email
click and display the video or
video greeting card. The video
is downloaded direct from the
VideoShare Server

rFJ

=-

('D
('D

......

Ul

0

......
......

0\

d

rJl
00

~

w
00
0..,

=
00

=
N

~

00

FIG. 3

•
VideoShare Functional Diagram

~

~

Ci)®
Download

i1

Bundle

~

~0
~~QuickCam

l

~

IJ;jiD@ I~I«!>P!~I

<ll

~

~

d

~-....l
N

....

0

(.H

10

~
0

~0

Public VideoSpace
Open to the Web

0

8
~

Private Email

t

i

0

rFJ

=-

('D
('D

.....

0\
0

.....
....

0\

..----------.
~

v 1 d e a s h a r e~»

Streaming File Format

ffi~[Dij
Servers

VideoShare Producer

0

Streaming video

Find or Create
AVI Video Clip
V1deoShare Producer· Microsoft lntamet Explorer

=

videos h a r e'm

Install & Register
VideoShare
on Member PC

!

~

~

Storage

HOSTING

d

rJl
00

~

w
00
0..,

=
00

=
N

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

US 8,438,608 B2

Sheet 7 of 16

400

)
~

VideoS hare
VideoS hare Login

I
To begin using the VideoShare Producer, please enter in
your VideoS hare account Login Name and Password.
VideoShare Login Name

410-

I

~vtest

Start
VideoShare _
Producer

VideoShare Password

415

l*******

I

VideoShare Grou12
VideoShare

I
430
440

f-

420

I

_PI Remember Password

~

--

.-PI Work Offline

v.1.0.0000

I

Create Another
Account

J

460

Ill

Help!

}

450

VideoShare Producer v. 1.0.0000. (c) 1998-2000
VideoShare Inc. All Rights Reserved.

FIG. 4

[2]

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

US 8,438,608 B2

Sheet 8 of 16

500

520
VideoS hare Producer

Press the 'Record' button to begin recording or 'Import
Video' to load a video.
I

522

FIG. 5

I?J
~

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

US 8,438,608 B2

Sheet 9 of 16

600

{

User obtains and selects
video segment

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

605

----------------------------~~~-~:
'
:

Convert to compatible
file format

''
'
1

NO

!
''

615

:

:
'

Temporarily store file

620

Convert file to streaming
multimedia format ("SMF") file

635

Create and temporarily store
JPEG "thumbnail" identifier

640

Transfer ("upload") temporarily
stored SMF file and JPEG
thumbnail identifier to host
com uter 60

645

Delete temporary files to
conserve storage space on
user's computer

650

Log/create identification tag
ana store uploaded file and
identifiers

655

Compress file

Optionally upload additional
identifiers to host computer 60 - 660

_____
T_ra_n_s_m_i_tf_il_e_t_o_v_ie_w_e_r__--~670

FIG. 6A

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

601

Sheet 10 of 16

US 8,438,608 B2

Optional: User authentication
with server
User qbtains and selects
v1deo segment

605

Temporarily store file

620

Optional compression of file

623

Convert file to streaming
multimedia format ("SMF") file

635

Create and temporarily store
JPEG "thumbnail" identifier

640

Transfer ("upload") temporarily
stored SMF file and JPEG
thumbnail identifier to host
com uter 60

645

Delete temporary files to
conserve storage space on
user's com uter

650

Log/create identification tag
and store uploaded file and
identifiers

655

Optionally upload additional
identifiers to host computer 60

"'

604

660

r•••••••···--------~-E?~~-----------····-······-··•••••••••••••••••• ----------------------------------Convert to compatible
file format

NO

615

''
:

''
'''
'

'
:
'''
'
I

:
'

i
'

!
'

'
'
~---------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------~

Transmit file to viewer

FIG. 68

670

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

Sheet 11 of 16

US 8,438,608 B2

602

\..

User obtains and selects
video segment

609

605

------------------------------~------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------·'

'

'
:

'
i
''

Convert to compatible 1+----N_O_---<:
file format

'
:
'
:
''
:
''
:

615

L _______-+f----=Tr;e;m~po~r;a:riri~ly;-;s;t;:;-or~e~tfiiil;::;:-e-1 --620
~----------~----------

i'

Compression of file
in multiple streaming
multimedia formats

633

Create and temporarily store
JPEG "thumbnail" identifier

640

Transfer ("upload") temporarily
stored SMF file and JPEG
thumbnail identifier to host
com uter 60

645

Delete temporary files to
conserve storage space on
user's computer

650

Log/create identification tag
ana store uploaded file and
identifiers

655

Bandwidth Target A
Bandwidth Target B

636

Bandwidth Target C
-638

Optionally upload additional
identifiers to host computer 60

Transmit file to viewer

FIG. 6C

i'

-- 660

670

''

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

Sheet 12 of 16

US 8,438,608 B2

634

636

638
64

FIG. 60

/ 690

Connection Speed
Detector

USER

/694
User receives and
views SMF file

/69 2
Logic to select and serve
SMF file to User

FIG. 6E

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

US 8,438,608 B2

Sheet 13 of 16

/700

ISave Video to VideoShare Server
The VideoS hare Producer is currently processing your video and
will save this video to the VideoShare servers. This may take a
few minutes to complete. When finished, this video will be
available in your VideoCenter page.
If you are working in "off-line" mode, This processed video will be
stored in you "Sharing Queue" for later uploading to the
VideoShare servers.

9783 of 9783
bytes

Uploading video file

" 1 •
1•
"~================~••

I Cancel II
======~II
/

FIG. 7

800

181

How do you wish to share your video?
Your video has been successfully saved in your VideoCenter at VideoShare.
You can find this video under the VideoShare World Wide Web site
(http://www.videoshare.com) where you can browse and maintain your
collection of videos.
Do you wish to share this video with friends and family right now?

810

-~I

820 -I-

Share as a video
mail
Share as a video
greeting card

I

Sending a video mail will use your email browser to send
this video to your friends and famly.
Sending a video greeting card will bring you to the
VideoShare Video Greeting Card site.

830

1-

Share through ICQ
messaging

840

1-

Take me to my
VideoCenter

You can also go to the My VideoCenter site where your
video is currently stored. From here you can also share
videos and maintain your video account.

850

1-

Put HTML code in
my clipboard

This feature will place HTML code in your clipboard to
reference this video. You can then paste this code into
an HTML document to automactically play this video.

860

1-

Nothing, I'll share
this video later

If you do not wish to share this video right now, you can
return and record another video.

Share this video through ICQ Instant Messenger

FIG.8

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

Sheet 14 of 16

Swell, that's that - Message (HTML)
!nsert Format Tools Actions Help

0File Edit View
l~s~endl ~~I

X

US 8,438,608 B2

1-IEJIIRJ
9 00

~ Li I~ D lm SiW ~~·HI~ I ~OQ.tions.NI ~ .. 1

v

ICDThis message has not been sent.

I To ... II
I Cc... II

I
-l- 1-'902
+- f-'904
+- f-'906

Subject: I well, that's that

~

Q~
·····

r-910

JDO,W~

[filcffi]Liffl

~>lmlol I~=WI~II~»I~>~~~I

c:f)..dl

"--920
Hit the play button to see the video. The above embedded object requires that you have a current
version of the Windows Media Player installed. You can download the latest version of the player at
http://microsoft.com/windows/mediaplayer/download/default.asp
Non HTML compatible mail browsers can retrieve this video mail at:
http://www. videoshare.com/vm.asp ·: c-2073&c-39gyTU ke9Zk8 Y &r=y
Want to send your own Video Mail, absolutely free? Visit the VideoShare website at
htlJ:!:I/www.videoshare.com.

FIG. 9

...,

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

US 8,438,608 B2

Sheet 15 of 16

[8]

VideoShare Producer

I

I

I

VideoShare Login Record/Playback SettingsiSharingQueue About

I
-- 1000

Preview

~~
r--11(@-@1

This lists contains all
baby1
of the video clips
bad
[~-~.i.i.9.'.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·-~·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·.·_·j recorded and not
uploaded because
you are working
off-line

n:;,j
1020 -

~~7:}

You can preview one
or more recorded
video clip names and
click the Save and
Share Now button to
publish these video
clips to the
VideoShare Server.

"

Video Clip Description

j--

1 040

I Preview]IShare and ,ff
Save
now

1 030

I
\

Delete

1010
Press 'Save and Share' to save your video, 'Play' to view
video, or 'Delete' to re-record another.

FIG. 10

[2]

1 050

U.S. Patent

May 7, 2013

US 8,438,608 B2

Sheet 16 of 16

1110

'

I

I

VideoShare Login Record/Playback SettingsiSharingQueuel About
ASF Encoding Bitrates
Please select the encoding bitrate
that you wish to compress at
1120-

0
0
0
0

........................
\~.~-~.M~.~~m.l
ISDN (1 OOkbit)
T1/LAN/Cable Modem (300kbit)
Multi-bitrate Encoding (low)
Multi-bitrate Encoding (high)

C)

j,Kodak DVC325 Digital Video Camera
1140

Audio source device

-

f.--1130

121 Preallocate video file
~MBytes
Use VFW Drivers

Gl IVideo Settingsjf-- 1160
Gl IAudio SettingsJ---1170

jps4236/37/38
.
"':'orkmgJc:\Temp
Directory
1180
D~ue~e lc:\Program Files\VideoShare Praducer\Publish
1rec ory

1150

-

Used3.13%

0

Camera source device

I

Server Space Usage

0 2B.8k Modem
~

~

)

VideoShare Producer

1

II
I I

I
Browse I
Browse

1190
Press the 'Record' button to begin recording or 'Import
Video' to load a video.

FIG. 11

[2]

-1100

US 8,438,608 B2
1

2

SHARING A STREAMING VIDEO

can also be identified with an image that represents the content or subject matter of the video, so that the video can
readily be identified when held in a collection of videos. Such
identifiers as file names that are useful in a computer file
processing, storage and retrieval system can further identifY
the video. In addition or alternatively, the invention can
employ such identifiers as a file handle, a storage location, an
interactive control, and a control object operating according
to the Component Object Model (COM).
In one aspect, the invention relates to a method of sharing
a video segment over a computer network. The network
includes a receiving computer and a plurality of other computers including a destination computer. The method includes
the steps of (a) receiving at the receiving computer the video
segment sent over the computer network from one of the
plurality of other computers; (b) performing automatically at
the receiving computer, in response to a command received
over the network, the steps of (b1) assuring that the video
segment is in a streaming video format; (b2) creating at least
an identification tag for the video segment to identifY the
video segment; (b3) storing the video segment under the
control of the receiving computer in the streaming video
format; and (b4) returning the identification tag to the one of
the plurality of other computers; (c) receiving the identification tag at the receiving computer; and (d) in response to the
receipt of the identification tag at the receiving computer,
streaming the video segment in the streaming video format
over the network to the destination computer.
In one embodiment, the method further includes causing
the video segment to be displayed at the destination computer.
In one embodiment, the video segment comprises an image
with associated audio information. In one embodiment, the
video segment comprises a still image. The computer network can include one of a wire connection, a cellular communication connection, a wireless networking connection,
and a terrestrial satellite communication connection.
In one embodiment, step (a) comprises receiving the video
segment which includes an identifier. In one embodiment, the
identifier comprises a selected one of an image, a file handle,
a storage location, an address, a Universal Resource Locator
(URL ), a file name, an interactive control, and a control object
operating according to the Component Object Model (COM).
In one embodiment, step (a) comprises receiving the video
segment which is sent in association with an electronic mail
message. In one embodiment, step (a) comprises receiving
the video segment which is sent in association with a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) mail message. In one
embodiment, step (a) comprises receiving the video segment
which is sent in association with an upload form residing on
a World Wide Web (Web) page. In one embodiment, step (a)
comprises receiving the video segment which is sent in association with a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) transfer. In one
embodiment, step (a) comprises receiving the video segment
which includes information supplied by a sender at the one of
the plurality of other computers. The information can include
information describing a streaming format into which the
receiving computer converts the video segment. The information can include an identification of the sender. In one
embodiment, the identification of the sender comprises a
proper name. In one embodiment, the identification of the
sender comprises a usemame. In one embodiment, the identification of the sender comprises a password.
In one embodiment, the information comprises a return
address of the sender. The return address can be an e-mail
address. In one embodiment, the information comprises an
identifier of the video segment. The identifier can be a title.
The identifier can be a name. The identifier can be a date the

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED
APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to and is a continuation of
U.S. patentapplicationSer. No. 11/927,806, entitled "SHARING A STREAMING VIDEO", filed Oct. 30, 2007 which
claims priority to and is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/803,243, entitled "SHARING A
STREAMING VIDEO", filed Mar. 9, 2001, which benefits
and claims priority to provisional U.S. patent application No.
60/188,082, entitled "SHARING A STREAMING VIDEO",
filed Mar. 9, 2000, the entirety of which are incorporated
herein by reference.

10

15

TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to the distribution of video
segments. More particularly, the invention relates to sharing
video in streaming video format over a network.

20

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A video can be sent over a computer network as a file
attachment to an electronic mail (e-mail) message. With this
type of transmission, the entire video file must be transmitted
and received before the receiver can view the video. For large
files, the time required to complete such transmissions can be
longer than the actual playing time of the video. Also, this
type of transmission typically requires multiple computer
programs to perform all of the necessary functions, including
an e-mail application program to send or receive the video in
computer file form, and a second program to play or display
the video from the received file attachment. With this type of
transmission, it is difficult to control the delivery time of the
video, and it is difficult to share or forward the received video.
A video can be posted to a World Wide Web ("Web") page.
In order to provide a video in this manner, a server computer
connected to the Web must be used to host the Web site, and
software packages must exist and be used to prepare the
video, and transmit it over the Web using the File Transfer
Protocol (FTP or ftp) or the HyperText Transfer Protocol
(HTTP or http). To implement this type of video posting, at
least a detailed knowledge of various computer communication protocols is required.

25

30

35

40

45

SUMMARY
It is an object of this invention to provide methods and
systems for sharing video segments over a network. It is
another object of this invention to provide a user with the
ability to upload automatically a video segment over a network onto a server, without any specialized skill or knowledge on the part of the user. It also is an object of the invention
to store the automatically uploaded video segment either on
the server or remotely. The stored segment can then be
streamed over the network, for example the Internet, to a
destination computer such that a person at that destination
computer can view the video segment.
In accordance with the present invention, full motion video
can be automatically uploaded to a video server and then
accessed by any number of viewers after each viewer has been
provided with an identifier of the video. The video identifier
can in general be an identification tag which identifies where
and/or how the video can be accessed, for example a network
address, or a universal resource locator ("URL"). The video

50

55

60

65

US 8,438,608 B2
3

4

video segment was produced. The identifier can be a location
formats, the format based on a selected one of the receiving
relating to the video segment. The identifier can be a subject
computer responding to user settings at the destination comrelating to the video segment.
puter, the receiving computer responding to display software
In one embodiment, the information comprises a comment
installed on the destination computer, the receiving computer
responding to information received in association with the
about the video segment. In one embodiment, the information
receipt of the identification tag, and the receiving computer
comprises a period of time during which the video segment
will be available. In one embodiment, the information comdetermining an optimal viewing format for the destination
prises information relating to a priority order of processing a
computer of the formats available. In one embodiment, the
video segment by the receiving computer.
receiving computer sends to the destination computer a video
In one embodiment, the information comprises an instruc- 10 segment that is not in streaming format prior to the display of
the video segment.
tion for transmittal of a response. The instruction can include
In another aspect, the invention features a computerized
a formatting instruction. The instruction can include a speed
of transmission. The instruction can include a transmission
system for sharing a video over a computer network, comprotocol to be used. The instruction can include a format of a
prising a receiving computer for communicating with one or
physical medium to be used in sending a physical machine- 15 more other computers over a computer network including a
readable copy of the video segment. The instruction can
destination computer, the receiving computer receiving a
video segment from at least one of the one or more other
include a resolution of the video segment. The instruction can
include an image quality of the video segment. The instruccomputers, the receiving computer responsive to a commution can include a display format of the video segment on a
nication from the one or more other computers that can actidestination computer.
20 vate the receiving computer automatically, the receiving comIn one embodiment, the information comprises financial
puter comprising: (i) a control module that controls a
information. The financial information can include a credit
memory, the memory capable of holding computer instruccard number. The financial information can include a finantions and data; (ii) a receiving module that receives a message
cial account identifier.
associated with the video segment sent from the at least one of
In one embodiment, step (b 1) comprises converting the 25 the one or more other computers; (iii) an analyzer module that
video segment, if it is not in a streaming video format at the
determines whether the video segment is in a streaming video
time of receipt by the receiving computer, to a streaming
format; (iv) a format conversion module that converts a forvideo format, independent of a received command to perform
mat of the video segment to a format that is compatible with
such conversion. In one embodiment, step (bl) comprises
streaming video; (v) a storage module that stores the video
automatically converting the video segment from a first 30 segment in streaming video format in the memory module;
(vi) an identification module that creates the identification tag
streaming video format characteristic of the video segment
upon receipt at the receiving computer to a second streaming
identifying the video segment in streaming video format
video format.
stored in the memory module; (vii) a transmitter module that
In one embodiment, the method further comprises queuing
transmits over the network the identification tag to a computer
a second video segment and a command transmitted with the 35 of the one or more other computers; and (viii) a sharing
module that streams the video segment in streaming video
second video segment for processing by the receiving comformat to the destination computer in response to a return of
puter according to steps (b) through (d) in the event that the
receiving computer is performing any of steps (b) through (d)
the identification tag to the receiving computer.
in response to receipt of a first video segment. In one embodiIn one embodiment, the system further comprises an
ment, the method further comprises providing to a sender of 40 extraction module that extracts from the received message the
a video segment an estimate of a duration of the required
video segment and information sent with the video segment.
processing time for the conversion of the video segment. The
In one embodiment, the information sent with the video segestimate is provided prior to performing any of steps (b)
ment comprises an identity of the user of the computer of the
through (d).
one or more other computers. In one embodiment, the inforIn one embodiment, the method further comprises provid- 45 mation sent with the video segment comprises a return
address of the user of the computer of the one or more other
ing to the destination computer of a video segment an estimate of a duration of the required processing time for the
computers. In one embodiment, the information sent with the
conversation of the video segment. In one embodiment, the
video segment comprises a title of the video segment. In one
video segment is converted into multiple video formats. The
embodiment, the information sent with the video segment
multiple video formats can include a format not compatible so comprises an identifier of the video segment. In one embodiment, the information sent with the video segment comprises
with streaming video. In one embodiment, the identification
tag received by the destination computer is communicated by
a subject of the video segment. In one embodiment the information sent with the video segment comprises a date of crethe receiving computer in association with one of an electronic mail message, an HTML electronic mail message, and
ation of the video segment. In one embodiment, the informaan instant message. The identification tag can be a hyperlink 55 tion sent with the video segment comprises a description of
the video segment.
provided in the message sent to the destination computer, the
In one embodiment, the analyzer module that determines
hyperlink pointing to a Web page that causes the streaming of
the video. In one embodiment, the video segment in streamwhether the video segment is in a streaming video format
ing video format is streamed from the receiving computer as
determines if the video segment is in QuickTime format. In
information embedded in a message. In one embodiment, in 60 one embodiment, the analyzer module that determines
response to the receipt of the identification tag at the receiving
whether the video segment is in a streaming video format
computer, the video segment in a first streaming video format
determines if the video segment is in ASF format. In one
embodiment, the analyzer module that determines whether
is converted into a video segment in a second streaming
the video segment is in a streaming video format determines
format by the receiving computer, and the video segment in
the second video format is streamed to the destination com- 65 if the video segment is in WMF format. In one embodiment,
puter. In one embodiment, the receiving computer streams the
the analyzer module that determines whether the video segvideo segment in a format of the available streaming video
ment is in a streaming video format determines if the video

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segment is in MPEG format. In one embodiment, the analyzer
module that determines whether the video segment is in a
streaming format determines if the video segment is in Real
Networks (Real) format. In one embodiment, the analyzer
module that determines whether the video segment is in a
streaming format determines if the video segment is in AVI
format.
In one embodiment, the format conversion module that
converts a format of a video segment from a format that is not
compatible with streaming video to a format that is compatible with streaming video comprises a format conversion
module that creates a Direct Show filter graph that decompresses the video file into an uncompressedAVI format file.
In one embodiment, the identification module that creates
an identification tag identifYing the video segment in streaming video format stored in the memory module comprises a
module that selects a video frame from the video segment in
streaming video format. In one embodiment, the identification module that creates an identification tag identifYing the
video segment in streaming video format stored in the
memory module comprises a module that identifies a location
where the video segment is stored. In one embodiment, the
identification module that creates an identification tag identifYing the video segment in streaming video format stored in
the memory module comprises a module that identifies how
the video segment can be accessed. In one embodiment, the
identification module that creates an identification tag identifYing the video segment in streaming video format stored in
the memory module comprises a module that provides an
image that represents the subject matter of the video segment.
In one embodiment, the identification module that creates an
identification tag identifYing the video segment in streaming
video format stored in the memory module comprises a module that generates a file name.
In one embodiment, the transmitter module that transmits
over the network the identification tag to at least one computer of the one or more other computers comprises a module
that transmits the identification tag using an electronic mail
message communication protocol. In one embodiment, the
transmitter module that transmits over the network the identification tag to at least one computer of the one or more other
computers comprises a module that transmits the identification tag using a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) mail
message communication protocol. In one embodiment, the
transmitter module that transmits over the network the identification tag to at least one computer of the one or more other
computers comprises a module that transmits the identification tag using an upload form residing on a World Wide Web
(Web) page. In one embodiment, the transmitter module that
transmits over the network the identification tag to at least one
computer of the one or more other computers comprises a
module that transmits the identification tag using a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) transfer.
In one embodiment, the sharing module that streams the
video segment in streaming video format to one computer of
the one or more other computers in response to a return of the
identification tag comprises a module that streams the video
segment to a specified computer. In one embodiment, the
sharing module that streams the video segment in streaming
video format to one computer of the one or more other computers in response to a return of the identification tag comprises a module that streams the video segment at a selected
bitrate. In one embodiment, the sharing module that streams
the video segment in streaming video format to one computer
of the one or more other computers in response to a return of
the identification tag comprises a module that streams the
video segment at a selected transmission quality. In one

embodiment, the sharing module that streams the video segment in streaming video format to one computer of the one or
more other computers in response to a return of the identification tag comprises a module that streams the video segment
at a selected performance level. In one embodiment, the sharing module that streams the video segment in streaming video
format to one computer of the one or more other computers in
response to a return of the identification tag comprises a
module that streams the video segment in a selected format.
The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, and
advantages of the invention will become more apparent from
the following description and from the claims.

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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
The objects and features of the invention can be better
understood with reference to the drawings described below,
and to the claims. The drawings are not necessarily to scale,
emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the
principles of the invention. In the drawings, like numerals are
used to indicate like parts throughout the various views.
FIG. 1A is a diagram of an embodiment ofthe invention,
showing the relationships between the components and their
interactions with each other and with a sender and a viewer.
FIG. 1B shows illustrative embodiments of the invention,
and describes the activities that occur in the various components.
FIG. 1C is a diagram showing software modules that are
resident on one or more of the mail server B 21, the processing
server C 30, and the streaming server D 40, according to an
embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 1D shows an embodiment of a process and system
according to the invention.
FIG. 2 is an embodiment of a system according to the
invention, including the interactions and interrelationships
within the system.
FIG. 3 is a functional block and flow diagram of an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 4 is a login screen on a user's computer, in one
embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 5 is a record/playback screen as seen by the user, in
accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6A is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the invention in which software automates a number of steps in connection with the uploading of a video segment.
FIG. 6B is a flow diagram of another embodiment of the
invention in which software automates a number of steps in
connection with the uploading of a video segment.
FIG. 6C is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the invention in which software automates a number of steps in connection with the formatting of a video segment.
FIG. 6D shows the relationship of some of the files created
in the flow diagram of FIG. 6C.
FIG. 6E is a flow diagram of a method by which an optimally formatted video segment is sent to a user according to
the invention.
FIG. 7 is a screen as seen by the user, the screen indicating
that file processing is occurring.
FIG. 8 is an interactive screen used to determine the desires
of the individual who sends a video for storage.
FIG. 9 is a video playback screen seen by the user.
FIG. 10 is a screen used by the user to control the status of
a video queue.
FIG. 11 is a screen used by the user to control the operational settings of equipment associated with the user's computer.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

according to the Component Object Model (COM), for
example an Active X control. The streaming server D 40
transmits the video in streaming video format to the machinereadable storage 50, which, at the direction of the streaming
server D 40, can store the video in streaming video format and
also can store an identification tag for the video on itself or on
the databases 60, 61. The identification tag, or another identifier of the video, such as the thumbnail and/or the URL, is
communicated back to the sender A's computer 10 by way of
one or more of the streaming server D 40, the processing
server C 30, and the mail server B 21. The operator of sender
A's computer 10 can then use the identifier to request that the
video be streamed to sender A's computer 10 for viewing,
and/or the operator of sender A's computer 10 can provide the
identifier to another viewer, for example, by way of a Web
page, or by an e-mail. In one embodiment, the identification
tag can be embedded in a Web page so that a visitor to the Web
page can activate the identification tag, such as a link to a
URL, and can transmit to the receiving computer the information required to cause the streaming of the video segment
to the computer of the Web page visitor for viewing. In the
case of an identifier such as a URL, the operator of sender A's
computer 10 additionally can communicate the identifier
orally or in writing to another viewer. The other viewer can
then use the identifier to request that the video be streamed
from the streaming server D 40 to his or her computer for
viewing.
Turning to FIG. 1B, the system and method are described
in more detail in a number of alternative exemplary embodiments. The video sent by sender A's computer 10 (whether
sent by e-mail, by HTML message, by use of a Web page, or
by some similar or other mechanism operating over a network) can include additional information provided by the
user of sender A's computer 10. This additional information
includes, but is not limited to, the identification of the user of
sender A's computer 10 (such as a proper name or a username
and password registered with the server computer), the electronic return address of the user of sender A's computer 10
(such as an e-mail address), a title or an identifier for the video
(such as a name, a date produced, a location, or a subject
relating to the video that the user of sender A's computer 10
will recognize), a description of the video and/or other comments by the user of sender A's computer 10 about the video,
a description of how a response should be transmitted and/or
formatted (e.g., e-mail, Web page containing the video,
HTML e-mail with the video embedded, and the like), and
any other information that may help to identify the user of
sender A's computer 10 and/or the video.
In an embodiment in which the video is submitted by
standard e-mail or HTML e-mail1200, the information that
the user of sender A's computer 10 provides is in general
standard information that the e-mail format supports. The
identity 1220 of the user of sender A's computer 10 and the
return address 1240 of the user of sender A's computer 10 is
automatically provided as part of the e-mail. The title or
identifier of the video (e.g., name and subject matter) 1230
preferably can be provided as the subject of the e-mail, or
alternatively within the body of the e-mail, or as an attachment such as a text file. The description of the video and/or
other comments by the user of sender A's computer 10 preferably can be provided in the body of the e-mail. Alternatively, the description and/or other information related to the
video or to the user of sender A's computer 10 can be provided
as part of the subject line of the e-mail, in the body of the
e-mail message, or as an attachment to the e-mail message.
The video (and optionally audio) material is sent as an attach-

In the description presented below, there are references to
software and software modules. One of ordinary skill in the
computer arts understands that any functionality that can be
operable by the use of software can also be made to operate by
the use of firmware, such as software, commands, logic or
data encoded on a chip, and equally by the use of hardware,
such as a hard-wired circuit that is designed to perform a
specific task. It is also possible to provide some of the functionality by use of software modules, and some of the functionality by use of firmware modules and/or hardware modules. In general, a module is an assemblage of one or more
parts of software, firmware, and/or hardware that accomplishes a defined function or task.
Turning to FIG. 1A, a sender ("sender A") using a computer 10 sends a video segment in file form and any associated
audio material (or a plurality of still images with their associated audio files) as, for example, an e-mail attachment to an
e-mail message from sender A's computer 10 over a network
(such as the Internet or over any other communication
medium that sender A's computer 10 can employ) to a mail
server B 21. The network can include one or more of a wire
connection such as a hardwired connection, a cable connection using RS232, RS422 or RS 485 technology, and telephonic connections or cable connection using a modem. The
network can include one or more wireless connections such as
a cellular communication connection, an infrared connection,
a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) and Bluetooth technology. The network can include a terrestrial satellite communication connection.
The mail server B 21 performs various parsing and file
recognition processes, described in greater detail below. The
mail server B 21 is in bidirectional communication with a
processing server C 30. The functions of the mail server B 21
can be performed by one or more server computers, and the
functions of the processing server C 30 can be performed by
one or more server computers. In some embodiments, the
mail server B 21 and the processing server C 30 can be
implemented on the same one or more server computers.
The processing server C 30 performs various video and file
conversion and identification processes, described in more
detail below. The processing server C 30 is in bidirectional
communication with a streaming server D 40. The functions
of the streaming server D 40 can be performed by one or more
server computers. The streaming server D 40 receives the
video in streaming video format from the processing server C
30, and returns to the processing serverC 30 atleastonevideo
identifier that can be used to request the video to be streamed
to a viewer. The streaming server D 40 includes machinereadable storage 50, such as one or more of a hard disk, a
CD-ROM, and a semiconductor memory. The machine-readable storage 50 (a single example of which is shown for
simplicity) is in communication with one or more databases
60, 61 (only two of which are shown for simplicity). Each of
machine-readable storage 50 and the databases 60, 61 can be
local or remote, in that each can be implemented as a component that is connected directly to the streaming server D 40,
or each can be connected to the streaming server D 40 by way
of a network
The streaming server D 40 also creates one or more identifiers for the video file. The identifiers, which are discussed in
more detail below, can include, for example, one or more of
an image identifier (for example, a "thumbnail" or iconic
image), an identification tag, a file handle, a storage location,
an address such as aUniversal Resource Locator (URL ), a file
name, or an interactive control, or a control object operating

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ment 1250 to the e-mail. The recipient of the e-mail and
attached video appears as the addressee 1210.
In another embodiment in which the video is submitted by
HTML form or message 1300, or by use of a Web page, the
server computer 1400 provides a form which has specific
interactive spaces or dialog boxes for each piece of information, including the identity of the user of sender A's computer
10 and the return address 1320 of the user of sender A's
computer 10, the title of the video 1310 and/ or identifier of the
video, and the description 1330 of the video and/or other
comments. The HTML message or the Web page can also
have space for additional information 1350, as well as
optional information that the user of sender A's computer 10
desires to submit.
The additional information can include, but is not limited
to, payment information (e.g., credit card number, account
number, or the like), specifications such as resolution and/or
image quality desired by the user of sender A's computer 10,
and optional services desired, such as the provision of the files
in some additional optional form, such as recorded on CDROM and sent to the user of sender A's computer 10 by postal
serv1ce.
The optional information can also include information
indicating the streaming video format that the video segment
should be converted into, information about the resolution,
transmission bitrate, and video quality of the streaming video
format that is desired, and a period of time that the video
segment should remain available. In one embodiment, an
instruction includes a display format of the video segment to
be displayed on a destination computer, such as information
about the size of the display in pixels or in linear measure such
as inches or centimeters, information about what portion of
the screen is to be used, such as the location on the screen, or
whether the full-screen is to be used, and the like. In one
embodiment, the sender A using computer 10 is able to set
priorities about which video segments should be processed
first by the receiving computer. The form can include a
browse button 1340 that allows the user of sender A's computer 10 to browse a drive and its directories/subdirectories or
other file storage location to more easily locate a file to be
sent. The browse button 1340 also activates a series of computer commands that automatically retrieve and attach the file
to be sent to the HTML form.
In an embodiment (not shown) in which the video is submitted by FTP, the server computer 1400 parses the various
parts of the FTP message, for example by identifying images
as one of the various image file formats, by identifying audio
files as one of the many audio file formats, and by identifying
and parsing text files.
The system and method include functions that take place at
the server computer 1400 in FIG. lB. The server computer
1400 can be implemented using one or more server computers. The capabilities that the server computer 1400 provides
include all of the capabilities of the mail server B 21, the
processing server C 30, the streaming server D 40, the
machine-readable storage 50, and the databases 60, 61
described in FIG. lA. These capabilities include, but are not
limited to, performing the functions of: receiving the transmission of a video file, optionally with one or more audio
files, in e-mail, HTML message, Web page format, or FTP
upload to the server computer ("receive information" at box
1405); extracting from the received message the video and all
of the information sent with the video, including but not
limited to, the identity of the user of sender A's computer 10,
the return address of the user of sender A's computer 10, the
title of the video or identifier of the video (such as subject,
place, date, or the like), the description and/or other com-

ments, optional additional information, as well as information that the user of sender A's computer 10 desires to submit
("take information" at box 1410). The server computer 1400
performs functions that are described in detail in the discussion below with respect to one or more computer programs,
(collectively) called the VideoS hare Producer, that operate on
a user's computer, such as a personal computer. In the present
invention, many of the functions described in detail for the
VideoS hare Producer are performed by one or more computer
programs that operate on the server computer 1400. These
functions, steps, or operations include, but are not limited to:
determining whether the video is already in a format compatible with streaming video ("define if video is streaming compatible format" at box 1420); if the video is not in a format
compatible with streaming video, automatically converting
the video into a format that is compatible with streaming
video (No at box 1422 and "convert to format compatible with
streaming video" at box 1425); passing the video to the next
process step if it is already in streaming video format (Yes at
box 1430); optionally compressing the video in streaming
video format; creating an identification tag for the video in
streaming video format; storing a copy of the video in streaming video format in an archival machine-readable storage 50;
recording in a database 60, 61 the identification tag and the
storage location of the stored copy of the video in streaming
video format for later retrieval; creating one or more identifiers, such as a "thumbnail," a URL, a file handle, or a file
name for the video and recording the one or more identifiers;
sending at least one of the one or more identifiers to sender
A's computer 10 of the video at box 1440; and upon a request
in the form of a return of the identifier back to the server at box
1450, serving the video in streaming video format in response
to the request at 1460 to the source of the request. In another
embodiment, the request to stream the video segment comes
from a computer other than that of the sender A of the video
segment, and the streaming video is then served to the computer other than that of the sender A. In addition to the processes just described, the methods and systems of the invention can also convert the video segment from a first streaming
video format to a second streaming video format, differing
from the first streaming video format in at least one of a file
format, an encoding scheme, a resolution, an image quality, a
transmission rate, and a file size. In some embodiments, a
video segment is converted into a plurality of different formats, differing in one or more of the properties enumerated
above, such as the file format, the file transmission quality and
bitrate, and the like. In some embodiments, the conversion of
a video segment from one streaming video format to a different streaming video format is performed in response to a
request for the video segment to be streamed in a specific
format.
The discussion below describes how a video can be examined to determine if it is or is not in a format compatible with
streaming video format. The discussion below describes the
kinds of conversion that are done to convert a video that is not
in a format compatible with streaming video format to a
format that is compatible. The discussion below describes the
optional compression of a video segment. The discussion
below describes the creation of an identification tag for a
video and the use of the identification tag. The discussion
below describes storing a video in uncompressed or in compressed streaming video format, either locally or remotely
from the storage of the server computer. The discussion below
describes recording in a database the identification tag and the
storage location of the stored copy of the video in streaming
video format for later retrieval. The discussion below
describes creating one or more identifiers for the video and

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recording the one or more identifiers. The discussion below
describes sending at least one of the one or more identifiers to
the sender of the video. The discussion below describes serving the video in streaming video format in response to
requests to serve the video.
In communicating over a network, a file can be transmitted
along with information about the file between computers
either through an e-mail attachment, by using an FTP clientserver program, or by using an upload mechanism placed on
the Web. In one embodiment, the systems and methods of the
invention can optionally convert a video in one streaming
video format to a second streaming video format, as indicated
by the arrow labeled "optional" that points from box 1430 to
box 1425. In one embodiment, if the segment is not in streaming format at the time it is received by the receiving computer,
the receiving computer will automatically convert it into
streaming format. In one embodiment, even if the video segment is in streaming format upon receipt at the receiving
computer, the receiving computer automatically converts the
video segment into another streaming video format. In some
embodiments, the video segment can be converted into multiple video formats, including both formats compatible with
streaming video and formats not compatible with streaming
video. In some embodiments, the destination computer is
notified that the segment is available in more than one format
and that a user of the destination computer can select whichever format is preferred for the transmission.
In the case where the video segment is available into multiple formats at the receiving computer, the format that will be
used in streaming the video segment to the destination computer can be selected based on criteria that exist at the destination computer, including the possibility that the video segment should be downloaded to the destination computer in a
non-streaming format, and then displayed at the destination
computer when the entire video segment has been downloaded.
While a viewer can select a video format, in the event that
the viewer does not know which format to select, or in the
event that a better viewing experience would result, a suggested format can be communicated to the receiving computer from the destination computer. Example of such communications can include a default viewer setting, such as a
default ASF format, if available, and a secondary preference
for a QuickTime format. In another embodiment, the receiving computer makes a format recommendation to the destination computer along with the transmission of the identification tag. Such a recommendation can, for example, be a
communication that of the various streaming video formats
available (which can be enumerated) a particular format is
suggested as the preferred format. The receiving computer
can also determine a format for streaming a video segment in
response to information that the receiving computer obtains
about the display software that is installed on the destination
computer, and the receiving computer can then recommend a
format for which the destination computer already has display software. Another alternative is to determine a streaming
video format that will provide an optimal viewing quality.
Viewers who do not have appreciable technical information
regarding streaming video formats will be afforded guidance
as to which one to use. This format detection mechanism is
very similar to the speed detection mechanism described
elsewhere in this application.
The systems and methods of the present invention use
convention methods for such activity. The system and method
of the present invention extract from the received message the
video and all of the information sent with the video, including
but not limited to, the identity of the sender (e.g., the user of

sender A's computer 10), the sender's return address, the title
or identifier of the video, the description and/or other comments, optional additional information, as well as information that the sender desires to submit. In general, if one has
know ledge of the syntax of the message that one has received,
it is possible to parse the message into its component parts. In
an embodiment that relies on conventional transmission formats, such as e-mail, the message is parsed into the component parts according to a set of parameters that correspond to
the default encoding of the message format. If such parsing
fails to disclose one or more components, a second more
specialized computer program can search for a string that
corresponds to a title or identifier. For example, if the subject
line is blank, there appears to be no sender-supplied title or
identifier, and the more specialized program could look for a
string having a format like "(words) at (words)," such as "(My
family) at (the beach)," or the like. In an embodiment such as
an HTML or Web page form, the parsing is direct in that each
dialog box has a prompt that the sender responds to, and the
content of each box is taken to be the requested information.
The server computer can check some of the information provided, such as an e-mail address, for example by inquiring of
the Internet Service Provider (ISP) serverwhetherthe address
is valid. Information that is optional, or information such as a
title for a video, can be accepted without the necessity to
confirm the accuracy or validity of the information.
The server computer 1400 operates on the received message with the video in the following manner, irrespective of
whether the message is in e-mail, HTML mail, HTML Web
page submission format, or FTP. The server computer 1400
recovers the video and each of the pieces of information from
the message. The server computer 1400 determines if the
video is in a format compatible with streaming video, or not.
If not, the server computer 1400 converts the video into a
format compatible with streaming video format. The server
computer 1400 takes that form of the video that is compatible
with streaming video format and optionally performs compression of the video. The server computer 1400 takes the
video in format compatible with streaming video format, in
uncompressed or optionally compressed condition, and creates one or more identifiers, which can include a "thumbnail"
image (described in the discussion below), a file name, a
handle and the like, as well as other identifiers such as a
description of the video. The server computer 1400 creates an
identification tag, which it uses to identify the uncompressed
or optionally compressed video in streaming video format for
storage and retrieval purposes. The server computer 1400
stores the uncompressed or optionally compressed video in
streaming video format locally or remotely in an archive. The
server computer 1400 stores in a database the identification
tag and the location of the uncompressed or optionally compressed video in streaming video format. The server computer 1400 sends to the sender one or more of the identifiers
of the video. The identifiers can be sent to the sender in one or
more different formats, including an identifier such as a Universal Resource Locator (URL) that is associated with the
stored uncompressed or optionally compressed video in
streaming video format; an e-mail with information relating
to the location and/or command required to request that the
video be streamed; the command to stream the video embedded in an e-mail or a HTML message; the command to stream
the video embedded in a Web page, and the like. The information sent to the sender can include the "thumbnail" image
for ease of identification of the video and its subject matter.
In some embodiments, if the receiving computer is already
processing a video segment at a time that another video segment is received, the second video segment and associated

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commands is queued to be processed later. This involves
queuing the video segment and any commands associated
with the video segment in a storage location under the control
of the receiving computer. In some embodiments, if video
segments are queued under the control of the receiving computer, the video segments can be processed in an order based
on a priority set by the sending computer, a priority set by the
receiving computer, or according to any other priority
scheme, such as a calculation performed using an algorithm,
that is implemented on the receiving computer.
In some embodiments, the sender or the intended recipient
at a destination computer is notified of an estimate of how
long the processing of a video segment is going to take, before
the video segment is actually processed. The notification can
be provided by any method, such as by a return email sent
upon receipt of the video segment at the receiving computer.
As those familiar with the processing of video segments will
appreciate, converting a video into streaming format can be
time-consuming, and if many computers submit their videos
at the same time, some requests for service may take some
time to process by the receiving computer. In this case, it is
important to be able to notify the sender or the destination
computer of an approximate amount of time that providing
the required service will take. This is similar, but by no means
identical, to phone systems in which a caller is notified of the
approximate waiting time until the next operator will be available to respond to a call. In a system where a caller waits for
a response by a human operator, who speaks with other callers, there is only a statistical possibility of defining a waiting
time, because any call may be longer or shorter than an
average, or expected, duration. In the methods and systems of
the invention, a calculated estimate of a processing time can
be provided based on the file size and the format of a video
segment. For example, knowing the processing speed of a
CPU, and an estimate of the time or the number of processing
operations required to convert a file of a predetermined format and size, a file having a given size of the same format
could be expected to require a time proportional to the ratio of
the file sizes, to a first approximation.
In some embodiments, the identification tag is communicated to the destination computer by the receiving computer
in association with one of an electronic mail message, an
HTML electronic mail message, and an instant message, such
as a message communicated among members of an affinity
group of computer users who are contemporaneously on-line.
In one embodiment, the identification tag is an hyperlink
provided in the message sent to the destination computer, the
hyperlink pointing to a Web page that causes the streaming of
the video.
The sender of the video can request that the video be
streamed to the sender, and the sender can additionally, or
alternatively, provide the information needed to request the
server to stream the video to one or more other viewers. When
the sender of the video, or a party who has been given the
requisite information, sends to the server computer a request
to stream of the video, the server computer streams the video
to the requester. It can also automatically submit the video to
a third party service including but not limited to on-line
auctions, on-line resume services, on-line dating services, or
on-line customer support centers.
FIG. 1C is a diagram 1500 showing software modules that
are resident on one or more of the mail server B 21, the
processing server C 30, and the streaming server D 40. The
software modules perform specific tasks. The servers 21, 30,
40 are interconnected by a network 22 with a machine-readable memory, such as storage array 64, upon which software,

including software modules, can be recorded and retrieved for
use by the servers 21, 30, 40. The software modules are
described below.
A control module 1510 controls a memory, which can be
any conventional machine-readable memory such as RAM,
magnetic memory, or optical memory. The control module
1510 can store and retrieve information from the memory.
The memory is capable of holding computer instructions and
data, and as indicated above, can be located locally with
respect to any of the servers, or remotely from the servers, but
in any event the memory is accessible over the computer
network 22.
A receiving module 1520 can receive both a video segment
and an associated message. The video segment and the associated message can be sent from any one of the one or more
other computers in the network 22 with which the servers 21,
30, communicate. The receiving module 1520 can determine
that the video segment and the associated message have been
received correctly, and that the files are complete, for example
by use of error detection and correction technology such as
cyclic redundancy checking (CRCs) and coding.
An analyzer module 153 0 determines whether the received
video segment is in a streaming video format. The determination of a format can be carried out by comparing the format
to known format characteristics and format identifiers. The
analyzer module 1530 can determine whether the format of
the video segment is a particular format including, but not
limited to, such formats as QuickTime format, ASF format,
WMF format, MPEG format, a Real Networks (Real) format,
anAVI format, an uncompressedAVI format, and formats not
compatible with streaming video.
A format conversion module 1540 converts a format of the
video segment to a format that is compatible with streaming
video. The format conversion can be a conversion from a
format not compatible with streaming video to a format compatible with streaming video, a conversion from a format not
compatible with streaming video to a different format not
compatible with streaming video, a conversion from a format
compatible with streaming video to a different format compatible with streaming video, or a conversion from a format
compatible with streaming video to a format not compatible
with streaming video. The format conversion can be performed by subjecting a file having a known format to a transformation that prepares an additional file encoded according
to a second known format. Such transformations are generally algorithmic in nature.
A storage module 1550 stores the video segment in streaming video format in the memory that is under the control of the
servers 21, 30, 40, control being exerted by way of the control
module 1510.
An identification module 1560 creates an identification tag
identifying the video segment in streaming video format that
is stored in the memory. As indicated below, the identification
tag can take many forms, including a hyperlink provided in
the message sent to the destination computer, the hyperlink
pointing to a Web page that causes the streaming of the video.
The identification module 1560 can select a video frame from
the video segment in streaming video format as an identification tag. The identification module 1560 can identifY a
location where the video segment is stored. The identification
module 1560 can identifY how the video segment can be
accessed. The identification module 1560 can provide an
image that represents the subject matter of the video segment.
The identification module 1560 can generate a file name.
A transmitter module 1570 transmits over the network 22
or another network such as the Web the identification tag to a
computer of the one or more other computers. The transmitter

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module 1570 can transmit the identification tag using an
electronic mail message communication protocol. The transmitter module 1570 can transmit the identification tag using a
HyperText Markup Language (HTML) mail message communication protocol. The transmitter module 1570 can transmit the identification tag using an upload form residing on a
World Wide Web (Web) page. The transmitter module 1570
can transmit the identification tag using a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) transfer.
A sharing module 1580 streams the video segment in
streaming video format to the destination computer in
response to a return of the identification tag to the receiving
computer. The video segment is streamed over the network 22
or another network such as the Web. The sharing module 1580
can stream the video segment to a specified computer. The
sharing module 1580 can stream the video segment at a
selected bitrate. The sharing module 1580 can stream the
video segment at a selected transmission quality. The sharing
module 1580 can stream the video segment at a selected
performance level. The sharing module 1580 can stream
streams the video segment in a selected format.
In this document there are references to methods and systems that operate on the computer of the user. There are
references to software called Videoshare Producer that operates on the computer of a user. It should be understood that
any system, process or capability that can be carried out on the
user's computer in relation to the VideoShare Producer software can equally well be carried out on a host computer that
includes one or more server computers that communicate
over a network such as the Web with other computers. That is,
any process performed on a user computer by software such
as the Video Share Producer can also be performed on a host
computer that includes servers.
This document makes reference to processing of a video
file on the user computer before the video file is uploaded to
a host computer. It should be understood that it is also possible to upload the video file without performing all of the
processing described at the user computer, but rather performing the processing at the host computer after the video
has been uploaded.
Referring to FIG. 1D, a user of the system, such as a private
individual working from home, or a professional working
from a business, employs a computer system 10. The computer system 10 can include a computer which can be a
personal computer of conventional type such as a desktop or
laptop computer, a hand held device such as a PDA, or a more
powerful computer such as a workstation, a server, a minicomputer, a mainframe, or the like. The computer system 10
can operate software including a web browser such as
Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator or Communicator or the like, for communication over a network such
as the Internet using the World Wide Web (hereinafter "the
Web"), or to permit wireless communication. The computer
system 10 can operate software that can manipulate video
segment files. The computer system 10 can communicate
with video sources, such a video cameras and video recording
machines, if the user wishes to employ such sources. Conventional commercially available personal computers typically have sufficient capability to meet these requirements.
The computer system 10 can also employ video segments
generated digitally by the computer and appropriate software,
or by another computer, if the user wishes to employ such
techniques. In one embodiment, the computer system 10
operates a software package called Video Share Producer 20,
which will be described and explained in more detail below.
The VideoShare Producer 20 is a software application
package that the user can download from the Web site

www.VideoShare.com 50 or that the user can obtain in other
formats such as on a CD-ROM or bundled with other software
or hardware. The VideoShare Producer 20 software can be
operated by the user under his control on his computer, in the
computer system 10, in order to provide the capability of
recording, converting, and optionally, compressing video
segments, creating one or more identifiers for a video segment, and transmitting a video segment with one or more of
the identifiers to a host computer 60 operating under the
control of a host such as www.VideoShare.com 50 for storage
at a location under the control of the host computer 60. The
host computer 60 will be described further below.
The computer in the computer system 10 of the user one
can be connected to one or more kinds of equipment for
generating video segments, such as a video camera such as a
Web cam 12 or another type of video camera such as a
professional quality video camera. The computer in the computer system 10 of the user can be connected to one or more
kinds of equipment for providing prerecorded video segments, such as a video recorder 14, or another computer that
can create digital video segments through the use of suitable
software, such as for example digital video segments that
have been created for various commercial films, or the like.
Once the user has obtained a video segment, and has manipulated it according to the procedures described below with
regard to the operation of the VideoShare software package,
or its equivalent, the video segment with one or more identifiers is transmitted to the host computer 60.
The host computer 60 includes one or more server computers 62, 62', 62" that communicate over a network such as
the Web with other computers, such as the computer in the
user's computer system 10. The one or more server computers
62, 62', 62" also communicate with a storage array 64, or
optionally with a plurality of storage arrays substantially
similar to storage array 64. The storage array 64 can be any
convenient storage system, such as a redundant array of magnetic storage disks, one or more readable and writeable CDROMs, random access semiconductor memory, any combination of such storage devices, or the like. In one
embodiment, the host computer 60 operates the www.VideoShare.com 50 web site, and provides a video hosting service to one or more users. The host computer 60 can connect
over the Web and the web site www.VideoShare.com 50 to
one or more computers that comprise the Web, conceptually
denoted by the box 70, which, while not a part of the
www.VideoShare.com 50 Web site, appears to be transparent
to users of the www.VideoShare.com 50 Web site, as well as
to viewers of video segments that are being hosted by the host
computer 60.
Viewers, or individuals who desire, or are invited, to view
video segments hosted on the host computer 60, can access
video segments hosted on the host computer 60. As will be
described in more detail below, in one embodiment, video
segments can be hosted on host computer 60 in areas that are
open to the public, or can be hosted in other areas that are open
only to viewers who have the appropriate permission or
authorization to view a specific video segment. A hosted
video segment that is stored and controlled by the host computer 60 may be delivered to and displayed for a viewer in a
variety of formats, and through a variety of methods, as
denoted generally by the box 80. In different embodiments, a
video segment can be displayed as: a video greeting card 81,
such as a person wishing another a happy birthday; as video
email 82, as video that can be viewed on a remote website 83
(e.g., a video segment embedded into the remote website so
that a viewer who visits the remote website sees the video
segment as part of the page that is presented); as video com-

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merce 84, for example a video that depicts a person describing
his or her experience and training as part of a resume submitted on-line; or as a video advertisement 85, for example a
video depicting the benefits or showing the use of a product.
Many other like applications of the technology can be envisioned. In various embodiments, the video segment can be
made available to the viewer as a streaming video that is sent
to the viewer, or may be made available by sending the viewer
a message such as an email that contains an address of a
location to visit on the Web (e.g., a Universal Resource Locator, or URL ), or may be made available by sending the viewer
a message that contains an embedded link to a URL, for
example by sending an e-mail containing the link or by sending a still image that may have some interest to a viewer (e.g.,
sending a grandmother a still image of her grandchildren) to
which a link is attached (e.g., the still image is linked to a
streaming video of the grandchildren that is delivered and that
plays when the still image is clicked). In the latter two methods of making a video segment available, or in like methods,
the viewer must take some action, such as employing the URL
or activating the link. In some embodiments, the viewer can
use a hand held device such as a PDA or a cellular telephone
that can connect to a network such as the Internet to view the
video segment.
In FIG. 2, the computer 16 of the user's computer system
10 is shown. The box 18 is intended to schematically depict a
user of a computer video input device, which device can be
the computer 16 operating suitable software to generate digital video, or can be another such computer, or can be the web
cam or video camera 12, or can be the video recording device
14, or the like. The user begins by producing and/or recording
a video segment on the hard disk of the computer 16 or within
the temporary memory of a handheld device. As a second
step, the video segment of step 1 can optionally be compressed and/or can be changed as regards the computer file
format in which it is recorded on the hard disk. As a third step,
the video segment recorded on the hard drive of the computer
16 is transmitted with one or more identifiers to the host
computer 60 that includes the Video Share servers 62, 62' and
the storage array 64. The video segment is stored nnder the
control of the host computer 60, which can generate an identification tag that the host computer 60 can use to locate the
stored video segment for retrieval and for viewing. In different embodiments, the identification tag can be provided to a
user in the form of a URL, or can be embedded into a Web
page on a remote site, or can be linked to a message. In one
embodiment the message can be a still image that can be
selected from the video segment. The third step is schematically depicted by the arrow pointing generally from the computer 16 to the VideoS hare servers 62, 62'. As a fourth step, the
user who stored the video can send a message to an intended
viewer, so that the viewer can access and view the video
segment. The fourth step is schematically depicted by the
arrow pointing generally from the computer 16 to the computer 90 of the viewer. The box 92 is intended to schematically depict a user of a display device. In one embodiment, the
display device can be the computer 90, or the display device
can be a display device such as a Web TV, or can be a video
output device such as a television set with a suitable decoder,
or the like. The display device can also be a wireless hand held
device such as a PDA or a cellular telephone or the like. In a
fifth step, the viewer activates the viewing of the video segment. The viewer's action is indicated schematically by the
arrow pointing generally from the computer 90 to the server
computer 62, 62'. In one embodiment the viewer activates a
link by clicking a button, and the server computer 62, 62'
responds by sending a streaming video segment that the

viewer observe. The streaming video segment can in one
embodiment be delivered as part of a video greeting card 81.
In an alternative embodiment, the video can be delivered as a
streaming video directly to the viewer from the host computer
60, without the viewer having to activate the host computer
60.
As shown in FIG. 3, the user can obtain a copy of the
Video Share Producer 20 software by downloading a copy of
the software from the Website www.VideoShare.com 50, as
indicated by the picture at numeral 1. Alternatively, the user
can obtain a copy of the Video Share Producer 20 software on
machine readable media such as a CD-ROM or the like. The
Video Share Producer 20 software can be bundled with one or
more utility or application programs that are useful for a user
to have, such as a "container" application so that the VideoShare Producer 20 software can be operated on a desktop
computer. The user can install the VideoShare Producer 20
software on his or her computer 16 and can register with the
Video Share. com hosting service at no charge. In registering
for the VideoShare service, the user obtains a username and a
password that can be used to identify the user. The activity of
installing the VideoShare Producer 20 software on the user's
personal computer or the like and registering with the VideoShare system is indicated by the picture at the numeral 2.
In order to use the system, the user first obtains a video
segment. The user can create the video segment, for example
with a Web cam 12, or the user can use an existing video
segment obtained from a video recorder 16, as indicated by
the picture at the numeral 3. The VideoShare Producer 20
software has direct capture capabilities that permit the user to
create the video segment.
The user can employ the Video Share Producer 20 software
to optionally compress the video; to determine if a video
segment is in a format that is compatible with streaming
video; to convert the video to a file format that is compatible
with streaming video if the video segment is not already in a
file format that is compatible with streaming video; and to
transmit the video segment together with one or more identifiers that represent selections that the user can make (for
example, a still image selected from the series of images that
comprise the video segment, an identifier of the sender of the
video segment (e.g., the user), an access privilege associated
with the video segment, information indicative of a time
period during which the video segment will be accessible, and
information indicative of a number of instances that the video
segment may be accessed). The activities carried out in conjunction with the VideoShare Producer 20 software are generally indicated by the graphic at numeral 4.
The video segment and the identifier(s) are transmitted to
the host computer 60 for storage and for later distribution. In
one embodiment, the video segment is transmitted in a
streaming video file format. This transmission activity is
denoted by the graphic at numeral 5.
The video segment is stored nnder the control of the host
computer 60, which can include one or more server computers 62 and storage array 64. The activity of receiving the video
segment at the host computer 60 and storing the video segment and its identifier(s) is denoted by the pictures at numeral

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Depending on the choice of the user as to access privileges,
the video segment can be stored as a publicly available video
in a location in storage array 64 that has no restrictions on
access, or it can be stored in a portion of storage array 64 that
requires some form of authorization to enable access, such as
in a private email account area. The storage of the video
segment as a public or private video segment is denoted by the
pictures at numeral 7.

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Upon request from a viewer who has the proper authorization, or upon any request in the case of a video segment
available publicly, the host computer 60 sends the video in
streaming video format to a viewer, who can observe the
video in real time using a conventional web browser without
additional plug-in modules. The activity of serving the video
segment as a streaming video is denoted by the graphic at
numeralS.
The majority of the VideoShare Producer 20 software was
developed as a Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 2000
("Windows 9x/2000") compatible ActiveX control (e.g. an
OCX file), with additional components existing as active
template library (ATL) component object model (COM)
components that are instantiated during runtime. A "container application," named "VideoProducer.exe," allows the
VideoShare Producer ActiveX Control to be executed from
the Windows 9x/2000 desktop. The VideoShare Producer
Active X Control can also be embedded into a web page, as is
done within the www.VideoShare.com 50 web site.
The custom written VideoShare Producer 20 software
includes the following binary/source code components: (1)
VideoShare Producer ActiveX Control (VideoProducer.ocx);
(2) JPEG ATL COM component jpeg.dll); (3) Thumbnail
Acquisition DirectShow (ThumbnailFilter.ax); (4) Extended
MAPI interface (MapiExAPI.dll); (5) ICQ interface (icqglue.dll); AND (6) VideoS hare Upload/Database Server (vpserver.exe ).
All components, except for significant portions of the
JPEG component that uses public domain source code, were
entirely written by Video Share Inc. The Video Share Upload/
Data Server constantly runs at the VideoShare Hosting Facility, an embodiment of the host computer 60, with which an
installed instance of the VideoS hare Producer 20 software on
a user's computer 16 can be in constant communication. The
VideoShare Producer 20 software client/server structure
allows the user to upload videos to his or her account through
the "Save and Share" button that is described later.
The VideoShare Producer 20 software is built upon the
following third-party technologies that provide lower-level
device support, document sharing, and file format conversion: (1) Microsoft's DirectShow; (2) Microsoft's Windows
Media Technologies; (3) Microsoft's Video for Windows; (4)
MAPI; AND (5) ICQ.
When the user launches the Video Share Producer 20 software, he or she will see the window depicted in FIG. 4 appear
on his or her computer 16 operating the Win9x/2000 operating system. The login screen can be made optional for repeat
users by providing a unique identifier for the user, such as a
password, or by installing on the user's computer or the like a
record similar to the "cookies" used by some interactive computer systems operating on a network such as the Internet.
When the user enters in his or herusername in the box 410
labeled VideoShare Login Name and his or her password in
the box 415 labeled VideoShare Password and activates the
"Start VideoS hare Producer" button 420, the VideoS hare Producer 20 software opens a TCP/IP socket connection to the
VideoS hare Upload/Database Server using port 80 in order to
avoid typical Firewall and/or Proxy Server problems. If the
box 430 labeled Remember password is checked, the VideoShare Producer 20 software will remember the user's password, eliminating the necessity to type in that information
each time the software is started. The VideoShare Upload/
Database Server then verifies the validity of the username/
password. Furthermore, the VideoShare Producer 20 software will notifY the user if there is a more recent version of the
software available, giving him or her the opportunity to automatically download and install the new software.

Also at this point, the user can choose to work offline by
checking box 440 "Work offline", which suspends communications to the VideoS hare Upload/Database Server until the
user has filled his or her "Sharing Queue" as described later.
The ability to work offline is principally of use for people with
computers that do not have a continuously open Internet
connection, e.g. computers that use telephone modems rather
than high speed connections or equipment such as cellular
telephones or hand held devices that require the user to dial in
to establish a connection. With this login dialog, the user can
also receive help, by activating the "Help" button 450, taking
the user to a web page on the VideoShare web site. The login
dialog box can also be used to create a new VideoShare user
account, by clicking the "Create Another Account" button

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Once the login process has been completed, the VideoShare Producer 20 software looks for available DirectS how
audio and video capture devices. These available devices are
enumerated and listed within the "Settings Tab" as described
later. The Video Share Producer 20 software initializes the
audio and video capture device, by recalling as a default the
device that was used most recently.
VideoShare Producer Preview/Capture/Import Process
After the capture device initialization, the VideoS hare Producer 20 software displays the window depicted in FIG. 5.
The image 510 in the middle of the window is the video
input stream from the initialized, default video capture
source. The image in FIG. 5 is that of an employee of the
assignee of the present invention, in the offices of the
assignee. The VideoShare Producer 20 software automatically builds a DirectShow "preview graph" where the video
stream from the video device is displayed on the screen, but is
not saved to disk. This gives the user the opportunity to adjust
the camera, e.g. an opportunity to correct the camera position,
the camera focus, the camera angle, the magnification of the
image, and the like.
At the top of this window, the user is presented with five
different "tabs", each presenting the user with different
aspects of the Video Share Producer 20 software. In FIG. 5,
the tab labeled "Record/Playback" 520 is active, indicating
that the Video Share Producer 20 software is ready to acquire
and/or display a video segment.
At the bottom of the window, there is a status message 522
that displays the current operation of the VideoShare Producer 20 software. In FIG. 5, the status message 522 prompts
the user to either activate the Record button 531 to create a
new video segment, or to import an existing video segment by
activating the Import Video button 535, both of which are
described in more detail below.
Directly below the video preview image 510 is a Capture/
Playback Control Panel530 that includes the following items:
Record button 531 which begins a new audio/video capture;
Stop button 532 which terminates an active audio/video
capture operation;
Play button 533 which initiates the playing back of the last
recorded or imported video;
Delete button 534 which cancels the last record or import
operation and begins a new video preview;
Import Video button 535 which allows the user to select a
pre-existing video file from his or her hard drive;
Save and Share button 536, which in the present embodiment activates software modules that convert the current
video file into a compressed streaming format, upload that
converted file to the VideoShare web site, and give the user
options to distribute that video to other people; and

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Shuttle Bar 537 which is used to control the current position of the playback file together with forward button 537 and
reverse button 538, allowing the user to rewind and fast forward through the current video.
The software modules that operate upon the activation of
Save and Share button 536 will be covered in a subsequent
section in this document in detail.
When the user begins to record a video, the VideoShare
Producer 20 software builds a new "Capture Graph" that
renders the video stream to both the display window as well as
to a temporary AVI file on the user's hard drive. The audio/
video capturing continues until the user activates the "Stop"
button 532 at which point the VideoShare Producer 20 software stops the "Capture Graph", destroys the DirectShow
filter, builds a Direct Show "Playback Graph", and displays
the first frame of the captured video as video preview image
510. When the user activates the Play button 533 the DirectShow "Playback Graph" is put into running mode, playing
back the entire recorded video from beginning to end.
The user can also choose to import a pre-existing video,
which in one embodiment can be a file format selected from
the AVI, MPEG, or QuickTime file formats, by activating the
Import Video button 535. The Video Share Producer 20 software automatically renders the correct DirectShow filter to
display an imported video correctly.
Save and Share Process
Once a video segment has been recorded or imported into
the user's computer 16 that is running the VideoShare Producer 20 software, the user can choose to process the video
segment with various optional alternatives by activating the
Save and Share button 536. When the Save and Share button
536 is activated, the video segment is archived and distributed
automatically. The Video Share Producer 20 software greatly
simplifies the entire process by seamlessly automating the
following steps that are depicted in FIG. 6A:
Video file format conversion, as required;
Compression to a streaming multimedia format at a userspecified bitrate;
Creating a "Thumbnail" JPEG snapshot of the video file, as
an identifier that a user or a viewer can observe in order to
assess the content of the video segment;
Transferring the resultant video and thumbnail files to the
VideoShare server computers 62, 62;
Logging the transactions and managing the user's storage
account, including causing the generation of an identification
tag that the server computers 62, 62' can employ to retrieve
the video segment for viewing; and
Automating several possible methods of distributing the
video to third party recipients, e.g., viewers.
FIG. 6A shows a flow diagram 600 of an embodiment of
the invention in which the Video Share Producer 20 software
automates a number of steps in connection with uploading a
video segment by activation of the Save and Share button 536
described in FIG. 5. As indicated at box 605, a user first
obtains and selects a video segment for processing for distribution. The box 605 schematically encapsulates all of the
actions that a user takes as described in relation to FIGS. 4 and
5 above. When the user activates the Save and Share button
536 the actions described below that are enclosed by the
dotted line 607 are automatically carried out under the control
of the VideoShare Producer 20 software.
The VideoS hare Producer 20 software subjects the selected
video segment to analysis to determine whether the selected
video segment is or is not in a file format that is compatible
with a streaming video format, as indicated at diamond 610.
Formats that are compatible with streaming media formats
include formats such as MPEGs and QuickTime videos. If the

selected video segment is not compatible with a streaming
video format, it is converted to a compatible format, as
depicted by the arrow labeled "NO" that points from the
diamond 610 to the box 615, "Convert to compatible file
format." The conversion process performed by the VideoShare Producer 20 software creates a DirectShow filter
graph that decompresses the video file into a temporary,
uncompressedAVI file.
The video segment file in a format that is compatible with
streaming video is then temporarily stored in the user's computer 16, for example as a file on the hard drive of computer
16. This storing step is performed if the file was originally in
a format compatible with streaming video by following the
arrow marked "YES" that points from the diamond 610 to the
box 620, "Temporarily store file." Alternatively, the storing
step is performed if the file was originally not in a format
compatible with streaming video by following the arrow that
points from the box 615 to the box 620.
The stored temporary file representing the selected video is
then analyzed by the VideoShare Producer 20 software, as
represented by diamond 625, "Should file be compressed?" to
determine if the temporarily stored file should be compressed.
If the software determines that the file should be compressed,
as indicated by the arrow labeled "YES" that points from the
diamond 625 to the box 630, labeled "Compress file," the file
is compressed. The compression involves compressing the
video file to a user-specified bitrate, or the bandwidth that is
required to view the video without disruption in the transmissian. The user can select the desired bitrate by using the
"Settings Tab" that is described in more detail below.
The file is then converted to a streaming multimedia format
file as indicated by the box 635, labeled "Convert file to
streaming multimedia format ("SMF") file," as denoted by
the arrow pointing from the box 630 to the box 635. If the file
is not to be compressed, the flow follows the arrow labeled
"NO" pointing from the diamond 625 to the box 635, and the
file is then converted to a streaming multimedia format file as
schematically represented by the box 635.
The process that is performed by the Video Share Producer
20 software as denoted by the box 635 involves reading in the
video file, frame by frame, and converting the video into a
streaming multimedia format. In one embodiment, the VideoShare Producer 20 software uses the Windows Media
Streaming Format, known as ASF or WMF, but it is not
technologically restricted to this choice. The Windows Media
Streaming Format comprises MPEG 4 v3 for the video stream
and the Windows Media Audio format for the audio stream.
The output of this file is stored as a temporary file on the user's
hard drive, in one embodiment.
The flow diagram indicates that the process makes a
"thumbnail" of the video file, as represented schematically by
the box 640, labeled "Create and temporarily store JPEG
"thumbnail" identifier." The VideoShare Producer 20 software produces a JPEG still image that is used as a reference
image to the entire video file. It is an identifier of the subject
matter or content of the video that a user or a viewer can
readily recognize, as compared to an alphanumeric string
such as a typical string used to identifY a file by its drive,
directory (and one or more subdirectories) and filename. Such
alphanumeric identifiers are useful, but may be totally uninformative as to the content or subject matter contained in the
identified file or video segment. In one embodiment, the
Video Share Producer 20 software creates the "thumbnail" by
taking the "middle" image of the entire video file, as measured by the temporal duration of the file. In another embodiment, the selection of an image from which to make the

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"thumbnail" can be left to the discretion of the user. This
JPEG file is also stored as a temporary file on the user's hard
drive, in one embodiment.
The next part of the process is the upload operation, in
which the Video Share Producer 20 software contacts the host
computer 60, which in one embodiment is the VideoShare
Upload/Database Server at the VideoShare hosting facility.
This portion of the automated process is denoted by the box
645labeled "Transfer ("upload") temporarily stored SMF file
and JPEG thumbnail identifier to host computer 60." The
VideoShare Producer 20 software notifies the host computer
60 that the user wishes to place his or her video into a repository maintained by the host computer 60, which in one
embodiment can be the VideoShare VideoCenter, which is a
repository of all recorded and uploaded videos to date. This
upload is performed automatically using a direct TCP/IP
socket connection over a specific connection port ofthe user's
computer known as port 80. The VideoShare Producer 20
software uses a standard communications protocol to perform
this transfer to the host computer 60. In another embodiment,
a proprietary protocol can be used, for example if one wants
to maintain the security of information contained in the video
segment. In another embodiment, the video segment can be
encrypted in order to provide enhanced security. Both the
compressed video streaming multimedia file and the thumbnail image are uploaded at substantially the same time.
As schematically depicted by box 650, labeled "Delete
temporary file to conserve storage space on user's computer,"
the Video Share Producer 20 software removes all of the temporary files that were created in the course of the automated
processing described above. This feature provides for the user
a convenient, secure, and transparent process, with the benefit
that the user's computer storage device( s), for example one or
more hard drives, do not become cluttered with unnecessary
and obsolete files.
Once the upload has been completed, the VideoShare Producer 20 software and the host computer 60 (for example, the
VideoShare Upload/Database Server) will update the user's
account to account for the required storage space that the
video requires. The necessary logging, creation of an identification tag, and storing of the video and the associated identifier or identifiers is also performed automatically, as schematically depicted by box 655.
The user can optionally add additional identification and
control information about the user, and about how and under
what conditions the video is to be made available for distribution, as schematically indicated by box 660. The process by
which some of this information is collected is discussed
below with regard to FIG. 8. The user is automatically
prompted to provide this information, but has the option to
forego making a decision immediately. The transmission of
video segment files to viewers is discussed in more detail
below, and is represented in FIG. 6 by the box 670 labeled
"Transmit file to viewer" which is outside the region 607 as an
indication that the transmission of files to viewers is an action
beyond the material discussed above in conjunction with the
Save and Share button 536 of FIG. 5.
FIG. 6B shows a flow diagram 601 of another embodiment
of the invention in which software automates a number of
steps in connection with uploading a video segment. Many of
the steps already described in connection with FIG. 6A also
occur in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6B, and are numbered in the same manner as in FIG. 6A. In FIG. 6B, there is
first an optional step indicated by the box 604 labeled
"Optional: User authentication with server" in which the User
is optionally required to provide identification, such as a user
name and password, that authenticates the identity of the user

to the server or host computer 60. The user then obtains and
selects a video segment for processing for distribution, as
indicated at box 605 that schematically encapsulates all of the
actions that a user takes as described in relation to FIGS. 4 and
5 above. When the user activates the Save and Share button
536 the actions described below that are enclosed by the
dotted line 608 are automatically carried out under the control
of the VideoShare Producer 20 software.
As discussed in relation to FIG. 6A, the VideoShare Producer 20 software subjects the selected video segment to
analysis to determine whether the selected video segment is
or is not in a file format that is compatible with a streaming
video format, as indicated at diamond 610. If the selected
video segment is not compatible with a streaming video format, it is converted to a compatible format, as depicted by the
arrow labeled "NO" that points from the diamond 610 to the
box 615, "Convert to compatible file format." The conversion
process performed by the VideoShare Producer 20 software
creates a DirectShow filter graph that decompresses the video
file into a temporary, uncompressedAVI file.
The video segment file in a format that is compatible with
streaming video is then temporarily stored in the user's computer 16, for example as a file on the hard drive of computer
16. This storing step is performed if the file was originally in
a format compatible with streaming video by following the
arrow marked "YES" that points from the diamond 610 to the
box 620, "Temporarily store file." Alternatively, the storing
step is performed if the file was originally not in a format
compatible with streaming video by following the arrow that
points from the box 615 to the box 620.
The stored temporary file representing the selected video is
then analyzed by the VideoShare Producer 20 software, and
optionally compressed as represented by the box 623 labeled
"Optional compression of file." The file is then converted to a
streaming multimedia format file as indicated by the box 635,
labeled Convert file to streaming multimedia format ("SMF")
file. Alternatively, a file from the box 620 can be uploaded to
the host computer 60 without being converted to a streaming
format, and the conversion to a streaming video format can be
accomplished at the host computer 60. The process that is
performed by the VideoShare Producer 20 software as
denoted by the box 635 involves reading in the video file,
frame by frame, and converting the video into a streaming
multimedia format.
The flow diagram indicates that the process makes a
"thumbnail" of the video file, as represented schematically by
the box 640, labeled Create and temporarily store JPEG
"thumbnail" identifier.
The next part of the process is the upload operation, in
which the Video Share Producer 20 software contacts the host
computer 60, which in one embodiment is the VideoShare
Upload/Database Server at the VideoShare hosting facility.
This portion of the automated process is denoted by the box
645labeled "Transfer ("upload") temporarily stored SMF file
and JPEG thumbnail identifier to host computer 60 ." Both the
compressed video streaming multimedia file and the thumbnail image are uploaded at substantially the same time.
As schematically depicted by box 650, labeled Delete temporary file to conserve storage space on user's computer, the
VideoShare Producer 20 software removes all of the temporary files that were created in the course of the automated
processing described above. This feature provides for the user
a convenient, secure, and transparent process, with the benefit
that the user's computer storage device(s ), for example one or
more hard drives, do not become cluttered with unnecessary
and obsolete files.

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Once the upload has been completed, the VideoShare Producer 20 software and the host computer 60 (for example, the
VideoShare Upload/Database Server) will update the user's
account to account for the required storage space that the
video requires. The necessary logging, creation of an identification tag, and storing of the video and the associated identifier or identifiers is also performed automatically, as schematically depicted by box 655.
The user can optionally add additional identification and
control information about the user, and about how and under
what conditions the video is to be made available for distribution, as schematically indicated by box 660. The process by
which some of this information is collected is discussed
below with regard to FIG. 8. The user is automatically
prompted to provide this information, but has the option to
forego making a decision immediately. The transmission of
video segment files to viewers is discussed in more detail
below, and is represented in FIG. 6B by the box 670 labeled
"Transmit file to viewer" which is outside the region 608 as an
indication that the transmission of files to viewers is an action
beyond the material discussed above in conjunction with the
Save and Share button 536 of FIG. 5.
FIG. 6C shows a flow diagram 602 of an embodiment of the
invention in which software automates a number of steps in
the formatting of a video segment. In particular, in this
embodiment, the video segment that the user wishes to provide in streaming video format is compressed into a plurality
of formats, each of which is encoded for optimal display at a
different transmission bitrate. There can be a benefit to
recording the same video segment in multiple formats. For
example, a casual viewer may have only a slow speed modem,
such as a 28.8 kilobaud (kB) modem. For such a viewer, the
slow transmission speed can make the size of a file a critical
feature. Such a user can view a video in real time if it is
formatted for a 28.8 kB modem, but not if it is formatted for
appreciably higher transmission speeds. Another user, for
example, one who has a T1 connection that can handle transmission speeds up to approximately 1.5 megabaud, could
successfully receive a version of the same video segment that
is formatted for higher transmission speeds, with the possibility of having a better quality image and higher resolution,
perhaps with better audio as well. The T1 user could see the
version of the video segment intended for 28.8 kB transmission if he or she wanted to, but might prefer to see a video
segment that appeared to be more professional in quality. By
using a system that can automatically discriminate the transmission speed capabilities of the hardware that the user
employs, the embodiment allows each user to view a version
of the video segment that is optimally configured for the
user's hardware.
In particular, the steps of the method enclosed within the
dotted rectangle 609 are automated by software that embodies the present invention. As described above, the user obtains
and selects a video segment for processing for distribution, as
indicated at box 605 that schematically encapsulates all of the
actions that a user takes as described in relation to FIGS. 4 and
5 above. When the user activates the Save and Share button
536 the actions described below that are enclosed by the
dotted line 609 are automatically carried out under the control
of the VideoShare Producer 20 software.
As discussed in relation to FIG. 6A, the VideoShare Producer 20 software subjects the selected video segment to
analysis to determine whether the selected video segment is
or is not in a file format that is compatible with a streaming
video format, as indicated at diamond 610. If the selected
video segment is not compatible with a streaming video format, it is converted to a compatible format, as depicted by the

arrow labeled "NO" that points from the diamond 610 to the
box 615, "Convert to compatible file format." The conversion
process performed by the VideoShare Producer 20 software
creates a DirectShow filter graph that decompresses the video
file into a temporary, uncompressedAVI file.
The video segment file in a format that is compatible with
streaming video is then temporarily stored in the user's computer 16, for example as a file on the hard drive of computer
16. This storing step is performed if the file was originally in
a format compatible with streaming video by following the
arrow marked "YES" that points from the diamond 610 to the
box 620, "Temporarily store file." Alternatively, the storing
step is performed if the file was originally not in a format
compatible with streaming video by following the arrow that
points from the box 615 to the box 620.
The temporarily stored file is then compressed in multiple
streaming multimedia formats, as denoted by the box 633. In
the present example, three files will be used to describe the
process, but it should be understood that more or fewer than
three formats may be created at substantially the same time.
The resulting multiple files are denoted by the three boxes
634, 636 and 638labeled "Bandwidth Target A," "Bandwidth
Target B," and "Bandwidth Target C," respectively. Each file
is optimally encoded for play as a streaming video segment at
a particular transmission rate and bandwidth, such as 28.8 kB,
56 kB, 100 kB, 300 kB, or other transmission rates.
As described above, the method includes a step of creating
and temporarily storing a thumbnail identifier, as denoted by
the box 640. Rather than transmitting one video segment in
one SMF with one thumbnail, the embodiment of FIG. 6C
transmits all the files 634, 636 and 638 in association with the
single thumbnail and any other identifiers that are selected as
appropriate. For example, each SMF file can be identified as
to its bandwidth. In an alternative embodiment, the system
transmits only a single SMF file with its associated identifiers,
including the JPEG "thumbnail", and the multiple bandwidth
variants of the SMF file are generated at the host computer 60.
This embodiment may be advantageous when the user has
only a slow speed modem, and would be severely time constrained by having to upload multiple files.
The remaining steps of this embodiment, as denoted by the
boxes 650, 655, 660 and 670, correspond substantially to the
steps in FIG. 6A represented by the boxes identified with the
corresponding numerals. It should be noted that the precise
order of some of the steps, for example, the step denoted by
the box 655 and the step denoted by the box 650, can be
interchanged without a different outcome of the overall process. Other such interchanges in sequence are possible as
well, again without a different outcome of the overall process.
FIG. 6D depicts an embodiment of the database 64 of the
host computer 60 on which are recorded the three exemplary
bandwidth target files 634, 636 and 638 for FIG. 6C. These
files are available for delivery over a computer network to a
viewer. The files 634, 636 and 638 represent three versions of
the same video segment in streaming multimedia format,
each suitable for optimal viewing by a user having hardware
operating at the transmission rate corresponding to the format
of one of the files.
As shown in FIG. 6E, the user (or the viewer) transmits to
the host computer 60 a request for a particular video segment,
denoted by the arrow from the box labeled "USER" to the box
960 labeled "Connection Speed Detector." Host computer 60
can include hardware that can sense the transmission speed of
a user computer 16, or of a computer used by a person desiring
to view a video segment. Alternatively, the host computer 60
can inquire of the computer on the network that is connected
to the user computer 16 or the computer of a viewer about the

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speed of connection that is being maintained. When the information is available to the host computer 60, the host computer
60 can determine which file of the files exemplified by 634,
636 and 638 is most appropriate to serve to the user or viewer,
as denoted by the box 692 labeled "Logic to select and serve
SMF file to User." The host computer 60 then transmits the
appropriate file to the user, as denoted by the arrow from the
box 692 to the box 694labeled "User receives and views SMF
file." Alternatively, the viewer can request the transmission of
a file encoded at a specific bitrate.
When the user begins the process described in relation to
FIG. 6A, in one embodiment, the "Progress Dialog" screen
700 depicted in FIG. 7 is presented, reflecting the status of the
process in real time. The "Progress Dialog" screen 700 notifies the user about the total number of bytes that have to be
uploaded to perform the transfer and it also informs the user
of the number of bytes and the percentage of the file that have
been uploaded in real time.
FIG. 8 depicts a dialog panel800 presenting several methods with which the user can distribute the uploaded streaming
video segment and its associated identifiers to third party
recipients. The dialog panel 800 prompts the user as to the
possible selections that the user can elect.
In one embodiment, there are five possible methods to
distribute the video file:
The user can elect to use an email browser to send an email
to one or more people that includes a URL reference to the
video located on the Video Share web site. This also includes
the further possibility to send the video player directly
embedded inside the email message. This option is elected by
activating the button 810, labeled "Share as a video mail."
The user can elect to share the video as a greeting card,
bringing the user to the Video Greeting Card web page at the
VideoShare web site. In this case, the user will also select
features relating to the greeting card. The user can elect this
option by activating the button 820, labeled "Share as a video
greeting card."
The user can elect to send an ICQ URL message, automatically interfacing with ICQ' s Instant Messenger software. The
user can elect this option by activating the button 830 labeled
"Share through ICQ Messaging."
The user can elect to go to the user's VideoCenter page on
the VideoShare web site, from which location the video can
also be shared or sent to others. The user can elect this option
by activating the button 840, labeled "Take me to my VideoCenter."
The user can elect to place HTML code in the user's clipboard that references the video. This HTML code can be
"pasted" into any Web page that supports HTML inserts. The
user can elect this option by activating the button 850, labeled
"Put HTML code in my clipboard." In one embodiment, this
option allows a user to paste a video into a Web page, for
example to demonstrate the use of a product for sale, or to
present a personal greeting to visitors to the Web page.
By electing to activate the button 860, labeled "Nothing,
I'll share this video later," the user can postpone making an
election regarding the sharing of the uploaded video segment.
The above options are discussed in more detail below.
Sharing the video by using email will bring up the user's
default email browser, such as Outlook, N etscape Communicator, Eudora, etc. This is accomplished through the use of
MAPI technologies that allow for document exchange on
Win9x/2000 systems. A user who employs Netscape Communicator or Microsoft Outlook will be able to directly
embed the Windows Media Player inside the email text body,
allowing the recipient to directly play the video from his or
her email browser. In one embodiment, this "embedded video

mail" feature causes a window such as that depicted in FIG. 9
to appear, for example when the user is using Microsoft
Outlook for e-mail service.
As shown in FIG. 9, at the top of the email message, the
Video Share Producer 20 software will display the Windows
Media Player 910 with the sender's recorded video preloaded. The recipient of this embedded video mail only needs
to activate the play button 920 on the Windows Media Player
to see the video segment, rather than going to a URL hyperlink. The embodiment includes the conventional dialog boxes
for entry of an email address for a recipient (box 902), a
"carbon copy" ("cc") address (box 904), and a subject (box
906). In the embodiment shown, instructions are presented
below the Windows Media Player 910 for the convenience of
the recipient.
The two options "Share as a Video Greeting Card" and
"Take me to my VideoCenter" causes the VideoShare Producer 20 software to spawn off a Web browser and automatically jump to one of these two pages on the VideoShare Web
site. The user can define the features of a video greeting card,
and can direct the card as an e-mail to a viewer. Alternatively,
the user can define a recipient list for the video segment as a
single item to be viewed, and can send the video to the
locations on the list.
The "Share Through I CQ Messaging" button 83 0 can bring
up ICQ's Instant Messenger software, if it is installed on the
user's machine, and can initiate a "URL Message" construction automatically. The Video Share Producer 20 software can
automatically fill out the URL that references the playback of
the user's video. The recipient of this URL Message can view
the video by clicking a mouse on the URL to be taken directly
to the VideoShare web site, where the video can be displayed.
The "Put HTML code in my clipboard" button 850 can
place a section of HTML code that, when the user pastes this
code in a web page, causes the Windows Media Player to
automatically instantiate a video playback of the message.
This feature enables the user to place this video in any system
that supports HTML code, such as personal web pages, online
auction sites, online job boards, and the like.
Working Offline and the "Sharing Queue"
The Video Share Producer 20 software also allows the user
to "work offline." Offline means that the VideoS hare Producer
20 software will not communicate with the host computer 60
(for example, the Video Share Upload/Database Server) until
the user explicitly uploads one-or-more videos by using a
"Sharing Queue." This Sharing Queue appears to the user as
one of the main tabs in the VideoShare Producer 20 software
and acts as a temporary queue for recorded/imported videos.
"Work offline" allows the user to not make an Internet connection until he or she is ready to upload more than one video
at a time. This mode of operation is useful for modem users
who incur considerable expense for extended dial-in times or
people who are using laptops and are not always near an
Internet connection outlet.
FIG.10 shows a screen 1000 used to control the status of a
video queue. When the user, after recording or importing a
video, clicks the "Save and Share" button 536 ofFIG. 5 while
in "offline mode," the Video Share Producer 20 software performs the first three steps of the "Save and Share Process,"
namely, the video file format conversion represented by box
615 of FIG. 6A, the compression of the video segment to a
streaming multimedia format at a user-specified bitrate represented by the box 635 of FIG. 6A, and the creation of a
"Thumbnail" JPEG snapshot of the video file represented by
the box 640 of FIG. 6A. The resulting output files are stored
in a local database for later use in the "Sharing Queue," which
is an operation similar to the temporary storage of files

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depicted in FIG. 6A. In the middle of FIG. 10 is a dialog box
1010 that displays a list of video segments that are ready to be
uploaded to the VideoShare Web site. The small "Preview"
window 1020 in the upper left corner of FIG. 10 is a DirectShow playback graph that allows the user to review the stored
video segment that is highlighted in the dialog box 1010. The
user can use this window to preview the video segment file by
activating the "Preview" button 1030, to delete the video
segment file by activating the "Delete" button 1040, and to
upload and publish the video by activating the "Save and
Share Now" button 1050.
The "Save and Share Now" button 1050 performs the
uploading process on each of the queued videos, creating a
TCP/IP connection to the VideoShare Upload/Database
Server, transferring the file to the VideoShare web site, and
updating the user's VideoS hare account, in a manner substantially similar to the method employed by the Save and Share
button 536 of FIG. 5 to accomplish the same activities.
AudioNideo Setting Process
FIG.11 shows a screen 1100 used to control the operational
settings of equipment connected to the user's computer.
Another feature of the VideoShare Producer 20 software the
ability of the user to change the configuration of the audio,
video, and compression devices through the use of the "Settings" tab 1110. Upon activation of the Settings tab 1110, the
screen 1100 is active.
The user can select the "bitrate" at which the streaming
multimedia files will be compressed by using the set of radio
buttons 1120 at the upper left corner of the screen 1100. The
default setting is "56 k Modem" which corresponds to a user
using a 56 k modem. This default setting is denoted by the 56
k Modem radio button 1120 appearing with a dot, while the
remaining radio buttons for bitrate 1120 are blank. In one
embodiment, the pie graph 1130 that appears at the upper
right corner of screen 1100 indicates the percentage of the
user's VideoShare storage space that is full. In the embodiment shown, the user has filled approximately 3.13% of the
available storage capacity available for storing files. Two
pull-down menus, "Camera source device" box 1140 and
"Audio source device" box 1150, list all of the available video
and audio capture sources that the user has available on his or
her Win9x/2000 machine. The user can select a source of
audio or video by activating the appropriate pull-down menu
box and locating a device of his or her choosing. To the right
of these pull-down menus, there are two buttons, "Video
Settings ... "1160 and "Audio Settings ... "1170 that allow
the user to change the properties of the currently selected
audio and video device. Such properties include image size,
capture compression, lighting conditions, and the like. The
screen 1100 also provides to the user the current working
directory information in a the box 1180 and the current queue
directory information in the box 1190, which the user can
optionally change by entering new values in either or both
boxes 1180 and 1190.

receiving, by a receiving computer via a web page, a video
file sent by a user on a second computer on a network;
executing, by the receiving computer server, in response to
receiving the video file, an automated function automatically performing each of:
(b1) converting the video file into a streaming video file
comprising a streaming video format, the video file
being converted independent from receiving a command
to perform such conversion from the user;
(b2) generating an identification tag comprising a video
frame image representing a subject matter of the streaming video file and identifYing the streaming video file;
and
(b3) embedding the identification tag comprising the video
frame image into a web page for serving the streaming
video file to one or more users on one or more computers
on the network.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the streaming video file
comprises an advertisement.
3. The method of claim 1,further comprising uploading, by
the user on the second computer, the video file onto the
receiving computer via an upload form residing on a web
page.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, by the receiving computer, the video file along
with information supplied by the user, and
transmitting, by the receiving computer via the web page,
the information to the one or more users on the one or
more computers.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the information comprises one of an identification of the user or a username of the
user.
6. The method of claim 4, wherein the information comprises one of a title of the video file or a comment about the
video file.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises
one or more of: a cellular communication connection, a wire
connection or a wireless networking connection.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification tag
comprises a uniform resource locator (URL).
9. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b1) further comprises converting the video file into a second video format.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein:
step (b 1) further comprises converting the streaming video
file comprising the streaming video format into a second
streaming video file comprising a second streaming
video format; and
step (b2) further comprises generating a second identification tag identifying the second streaming video file and
comprising a second video frame image selected from
the second streaming video file, the second video frame
image representing a subject matter of the second
streaming video file.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving computer
comprises a plurality of computing devices.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the video file is a
streaming video file in a streaming video format.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the web page for
serving the streaming video file is accessible to an affinity
group of the video.
14. A system for sharing a video over a network, the system
comprising:
a receiving computer;
a format conversion module of the receiving computer;
an identification module of the receiving computer;
the receiving computer receiving, via a first web page, a
video file sent by a user on a second computer on a

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EQUIVALENTS
While the invention has been particularly shown and
described with reference to specific preferred embodiments,
it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various
changes in form and detail may be made therein without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined
by the appended claims.
What is claimed is:
1. A method of streaming a video to users over a network,
the method comprising the steps of:

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and executing, in response to receiving the
v1deo file, an automated function automatically performing each one of:
converting, by the format conversion module, the video file
into a streaming video file comprising a streaming video
format, the video file converted independent from
receiving a command to perform such conversion from
the user;
generating, by the identification module, an identification
tag comprising a video frame image representing a subject matter of the streaming video file and identifYing the
streaming video file; and
embedding, by the receiving computer, the identification
tag comprising the video frame image into a web page
for serving the streaming video file to one or more users
on one or more computers on the network.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the streaming video
file comprises an advertisement.
16. The system of claim 14, wherein the user on the second
computer uploads onto the receiving computer the video file
using an upload form residing on the first web page.
17. The system of claim 14, wherein the receiving computer receives the video file along with information supplied
by the user, and
a sharing module of the receiving computer transmits, via
the second web page, the information to the one or more
users on the one or more computers.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the information comprises one or more of: an identification of the user, a usemame
of the user and a title of the video file.
19. The system of claim 17, wherein the information comprises one or more of: a subject relating to the video file, a date
the video segment was produced, or a comment about the
video file.
20. The system of claim 14, wherein the identification tag
further comprises a uniform resource locator (URL).
21. The system of claim 14, wherein the network comprises
one or more of: a cellular communication connection a wire
connection and a wireless networking connection. '
22. The system of claim 14, wherein the format conversion
module converts the video file into multiple video formats.
23. The system of claim 14, wherein:
the format conversion module converts the streaming video
file comprising the streaming video format into a second
streaming video file comprising a second streaming
video format; and
the identification module generates a second identification
tag identifYing the second streaming video file and comprises a second video frame image selected from the
second streaming video file, the second video frame
image representing a subject matter of the second
streaming video file.

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