Method and System for Managing Item Distributions

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for granting a permission. A similarity score is calculated for each of a plurality of items and a particular item. A score is determined for each person in a pool for each of the plurality of items, wherein prescience scores are calculated based on an earliness of interaction metric and a number of interactions metric. For each person, a permission score is calculated for the particular item based on similarity scores for items and that person's score for items. A permission is granted to one or more people based on said permission scores.

It is claimed: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 calculating a similarity score for each of a plurality of items and a particular item;   determining a score for each person in a pool for each of the plurality of items, wherein prescience scores are calculated based on an earliness of interaction metric and a number of interactions metric;   for each person, calculating a permission score for the particular item based on similarity scores for items and that person's score for items;   wherein a permission to one or more people based on said permission scores.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the permission scores are further based on an amount of time of interaction metric. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the amount of time of interaction metric for a particular person is relative to other people in the pool of people. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the amount of time of interaction metric is based on viewing or listening times. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the amount of time of interaction metric is based on website or advertisement viewing times. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the earliness of interaction metric is based on conversions of items. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein conversions comprise purchases or rentals of items. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the permission has an associated type that identifies whether the permission is an exclusive permission or a non-exclusive permission. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the permission is limited to a particular geographic area. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the particular item is accessible as a video download, streaming video, a physical video copy, an audio download, streaming audio, a physical audio copy, an image, a game, a physical book, or an electronic book. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented system, comprising:
 one or more data processors;   a computer-readable medium encoded with instructions for commanding the one or more data processors to execute steps of a method that include:
 calculating a similarity score for each of a plurality of items and a particular item; 
 determining a score for each person in a pool for each of the plurality of items, wherein prescience scores are calculated based on an earliness of interaction metric and a number of interactions metric; 
 for each person, calculating a permission score for the particular item based on similarity scores for items and that person's score for items; 
 wherein a permission to one or more people based on said permission scores. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the permission scores are further based on an amount of time of interaction metric. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the earliness of interaction metric is based on conversions of items. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the permission has an associated type that identifies whether the permission is an exclusive permission or a non-exclusive permission. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the permission is limited to a particular geographic area. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the particular item is accessible as a video download, streaming video, a physical video copy, an audio download, streaming audio, a physical audio copy, an image, a game, a physical book, or an electronic book. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions for commanding one or more data processors to execute steps of a method, the steps comprising:
 calculating a similarity score for each of a plurality of items and a particular item;   determining a score for each person in a pool for each of the plurality of items, wherein prescience scores are calculated based on an earliness of interaction metric and a number of interactions metric;   for each person, calculating a permission score for the particular item based on similarity scores for items and that person's score for items;   wherein a permission to one or more people based on said permission scores.