Importance

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Abstract

A service for delivering locally accessed video to client stations on demand includes a plurality of client stations used by a client and adapted to receive and play digital video entities. A plurality of file servers remote from the client stations are connected on a wide area network (WAN), the file servers also have connections to video input apparatus and receive and store digital video entities including newly downloaded locally accessed video entities and are also connected to at least one of the plurality of client stations by a digital communication link. The file servers automatically transmit in bursts the newly downloaded locally accessed video entities to each of the plurality of file servers on the network through the WAN connections, store details of connected clients' interests provided by the client, notify the connected clients of new video entities available conforming to the stored details of the clients interests, and transmit selected video entities to at least one of the client stations on demand. The file servers in most embodiments have all of the functions of the other file servers on the WAN including a local client base. In some embodiments the the file servers are located in or near population centers in a global network and the locally accessed video entities are news programs from in or near the population centers related to the file servers.

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First Claim