iLounge

A recently published Apple patent filing titled “Managing Access to Digital Content Items” reveals details about the possible user-to-user transfer of digital content, such as books, music or movies found in iTunes. The most recent of three patent applications involving such transfers, filed in June, describes a system that would allow one user at a time to access a digital content item. A user who purchases a digital content item can loan the item or resell it, with part of the proceeds from the “resale” going to the original digital publisher or creator. In either case, the digital rights to access the content are also transferred. It’s also possible that the loaned or resold content could be stored remotely, in the cloud, removing the need for a seller or lender to send digital content directly to a buyer. [via Apple Insider]