Method, systems, and apparatus for fragmented file sharing

• US 10,019,557 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2016
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intertrust Technologies Corporation (Fidelio Acquisition Co LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intertrust Technologies Corporation (Fidelio Acquisition Co LLC)
• Inventors: Bradley, William Benjamin
• Primary Examiner(s): Gergiso, Techane
• Application Number:
  US15/143,895
• Publication Number:
  US 20160342773A1
• Time in Patent Office: 799 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/105 Arrangements for software license management or administration, e.g. for managing licenses at corporate level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1083 Partial license transfers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1085 Content sharing, e.g. peer-to-peer [P2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management data processing systems or methods, specially adapted for commerce, e.g. marketing, shopping, billing, auctions or e-commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks

Abstract

Systems, methods, software, and apparatus are described for facilitating the distribution and management of fragmented content. In one embodiment, a packager packages content into fragments and generates a manifest including policies and metadata associated with the content. A downloader obtains the manifest, and uses it to obtain the content from one or more uploaders. For example, a downloader might forward a search request to one or more trackers, which, in turn, are operable to locate one or more uploaders that can meet the request, subject to any relevant policy limitations. The uploaders forward fragments to the downloader, subject to any relevant policy. The downloader assembles the content from the fragments. The operations and interactions of the entities can be subject to policy limitations associated with the fragments, the content as a whole, or the like.

Claims

1. A method performed by a system comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the method, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of content fragments, each of the plurality of content fragments comprising at least a portion of a piece of digital content;

accessing a manifest securely associated with the piece of digital content, the manifest comprising a reference to the plurality of content fragments, policy information associated with each content fragment of the plurality of content fragments, and policy information associated with the piece of digital content, wherein the policy information associated with each content fragment of the plurality of content fragments articulates at least one requirement for validating an associated content fragment;

constructing at least part of the piece of digital content by combining the plurality of content fragments based, at least in part, on the reference, the policy information associated with each content fragment of the plurality of content fragments, and the policy information associated with the piece of digital content included in the manifest, wherein constructing the at least part of the piece of the digital content comprises validating each content fragment of the plurality of content fragments in accordance with the at least one requirement of the policy information associated with the content fragment; and

rendering the at least part of the piece of digital content in accordance with the policy information associated with the piece of digital content included in the manifest.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the plurality of content fragments comprises receiving the plurality of content fragments from an uploader.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

requesting the plurality of content fragments from the uploader; and

presenting authorization information to the uploader to determine if the system is authorized to receive the plurality of content fragments.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the authorization information comprises an identity of an entity associated with the system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy information associated with the piece of digital content includes information related to a license associated with the piece of digital content.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the manifest comprises receiving the manifest from a tracker.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the manifest further comprises a unique identifier associated with the piece of digital content.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the manifest further comprises metadata associated with the piece of digital content.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the manifest further comprises metadata associated with the plurality of content fragments.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the manifest further comprises distribution policy information associated with the piece of digital content.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the manifest further comprises integrity policy information associated with the piece of digital content.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy information associated with the piece of digital content comprises a condition requiring that the system possess a valid license prior to rendering the at least part of the piece of digital content.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy information associated with the piece of digital content comprises a condition relating to an order in which the plurality of content fragments should be obtained.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy information associated with the piece of digital content comprises a condition relating to the distribution of the piece of digital content.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy information associated with the piece of digital content comprises a condition relating to a file type of the piece of digital content.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein receiving the plurality of content fragments comprises receiving the plurality of content fragments from an uploader.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further configured to cause the processor to:

request the plurality of content fragments from the uploader; and

present authorization information to the uploader to determine if the system is authorized to receive the plurality of content fragments.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor of a system, cause the processor to:

receive a plurality of content fragments, each of the plurality of content fragments comprising at least a portion of a piece of digital content;

access a manifest securely associated with the piece of digital content, the manifest comprising a reference to the plurality of content fragments, policy information associated with each content fragment of the plurality of content fragments, and policy information associated with the piece of digital content, wherein the policy information associated with each content fragment of the plurality of content fragments articulates at least one requirement for validating an associated content fragment;

construct at least part of the piece of digital content by combining the plurality of content fragments based, at least in part, on the reference, the policy information associated with each content fragment of the plurality of content fragments, and the policy information associated with the piece of digital content included in the manifest, wherein constructing the at least part of the piece of the digital content comprises validating each content fragment of the plurality of content fragments in accordance with the at least one requirement of the policy information associated with the content fragment; and

render the at least part of the piece of digital content in accordance with the policy information associated with the piece of digital content included in the manifest.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the policy information associated with the piece of digital content includes information related to a license associated with the piece of digital content.