Abstract: A system and method for efficiently storing, distributing, and disposing of information assets in an information asset distribution system with a plurality of subscribers. The system stores a single copy of individual assets and distributes a means to access the information assets to interested subscribers. The system disposes of assets when predetermined events occur. Such events may include conditions which indicate some or all interested subscribers have accessed the assets or flagged them for deletion, or that a predetermined time period has elapsed.

Abstract: A system for associating a plurality of subscribers and a plurality of information assets with one another using a lexicon, each asset or subscriber containing or associated with one or more keywords or key phrases, wherein the subscribers attempt to access the information assets by inputting keywords or key phrases. The system has extractor which extracts words and phrases from information assets and subscriber input, and an analyzer selects keywords and key phrases from the words and phrases output by the extractor, which are in turn used to create a lexicon of keywords and key phrases. The system also has a fingerprint creator which creates a data fingerprint for each information asset and for each subscriber using, at least in part, keywords and key phrases contained in the lexicon. Lastly, the system has a clustering engine which clusters information assets and subscribers with other information assets or subscribers.