Napster is also based on a distributed model, where individuals agree to share information--in this case, pilfered music files.

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The new distributed model has had some problems, as the delays to the 787 show, but neither Boeing nor Airbus would dream of going back to the old way of making planes.

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Robin joined RIM in the beginning of 2007 with the mandate to take RIM's BlackBerry data services infrastructure from a single presence in Canada to a distributed model connecting to over 650 carrier partners worldwide.

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It was such a disaster that the Founding Fathers decided to move to a distributed, free-banking model for the new United States.

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Importantly, Nissan will provide this expanded coverage to all model year 2011 and 2012 Nissan LEAFs sold and distributed by Nissan in the United States to date, effective upon a date to be announced but which is anticipated to be in the Spring of 2013.

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It is based on more than 22, 000 financial statements (including those of businesses and their owners) from over 6, 600 businesses distributed across industries and sales ranges in the U.S. The predictive model is aimed at helping banks quantify and standardize their credit risk assessments, helping companies perform risk exposure due diligence on partner companies, and helping private businesses evaluate their own creditworthiness.

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The model was pure from the beginning: The idea was that with a distributed workforce, an individual could only handle so much work.

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