Year
2001
Authors
CAVARRETTA Fabrice, DE CHANGY Alec
Abstract
A method and system for making inquiries to a large community via Internet. A requester at his system defines a request for an action or information, and it is propagated by electronic mails through a recursive process. On a Web page, the requester describes his request and specifies a reward for those acting or participating in finding those who acted successfully. Then the requester submits his request and provides the electronic mail addresses of the first persons to propagate to. In response to the submission, the server system generates electronic messages containing the request to the electronic mails identifiers given. The user system receiving one of the electronic message displays an HTML document proposing whether to act on the request or to propagate it to a list of his acquaintances creating a new level below him in the tree. By fulfilling successfully the request, a user may receive a reward. By propagating, the user can earn a reward if a respondent who fulfills successfully the request appears below him in the tree. The propagation may finish when the requester has found his answer or when the requester has decided to stop the propagation or when the propagation has reached a predetermined branch sub level. The server system then generates electronic messages to the requester, respondents and simple intermediaries in order to close the request and to distribute the rewards earned.
CAVARRETTA, F. et DE CHANGY, A. (2001). “Method and system for enlisting the help of other people via a communications network” Patent Filed 09/988,435, USPTO. Washington, DC: États-Unis.