Techniques for managing the storing of a digital asset by a first computer in a computer system that further comprises a second computer. The first computer receives a communication from the second computer including the digital asset, determines whether the digital asset has been stored by the first computer, and when it has not, stores a copy of the digital asset. The digital asset is identified by a first identifier based, at least in part, on its content. In one embodiment, the first identifier is the only identifier that can be used to identify the digital asset in communication between the first and second computers. In another embodiment, the computer system further stores a unit of data comprising the first identifier and metadata relating to the digital asset.