Abstract: A network, such as a computer network, is disclosed. The network has a plurality of nodes and includes a first node for storing pieces of a digital object and having a storage. A plurality of connections are present between the first node and the plurality of nodes. The first node has a requester for requesting one or more pieces of the digital object, a transmitter for transferring one or more pieces of the digital object to at least one further node among the plurality of nodes, a receiver for receiving content availability messages from at least some of the plurality of nodes, and a sender for sending a limited content availability message to at least one further node among the plurality of nodes. The limited content availability message indicates a subset but not all of the pieces of the digital object available through the first node.

Abstract: A network (10), such as a computer network, is disclosed. The network (10) has a plurality of nodes (20; 120) and includes a first node (30, 130) for storing pieces of a digital object and having a storage (40, 50; 140, 150). A plurality of connections are present between the first node (30, 130) and the plurality of nodes (20; 120). The first node (30, 130) has a requester for requesting one or more pieces of the digital object, a transmitter for transferring one or more pieces of the digital object to at least one further node among the plurality of nodes (20; 120), a receiver for receiving content availability messages from at least some of the plurality of nodes, and a sender for sending a limited content availability message to at least one further node (20; 120) among the plurality of nodes (20, 120). The limited content availability message indicates a subset but not all of the pieces of the digital object available through the first node (30; 130).