This invention discloses a novel system and method and system for sharing a data item among a plurality of computers connected in an arbitrary network topology. In the preferred embodiment, each of the plurality of computers has a local copy of the data item, but can only edit the copy by obtaining a token from the current token owner, thereby becoming a new current token owner. When the token owner makes a change to the data item, the change is broadcast to the other computers, along with the identity of the new current token owner. Routing of token requests and broadcasts is accomplished by means of each computer calculating a routing table based on information it receives from those computers to which it is directly connected on the network.