Forensic watermarking

• US 8,165,343 B1
• Filed: 09/28/2011
• Issued: 04/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brightcove Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Unicorn Media, Inc. (Brightcove Incorporated)
• Inventors: McGowan, Albert John
• Primary Examiner(s): Johns, Andrew W
• Application Number:
  US13/247,109
• Time in Patent Office: 209 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 726/26, 725/20, 380/201, 380/202, 348/461
• US Class Current: 382/100
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8358 involving watermark protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8456 by decomposing the content in the time domain, e.g. in time segments

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed for watermarking a video file by watermarking a requested chunk of the video file, which can be done in real time after the request is made for the chunk, during playback of the video file. These techniques can include determining a unique identifier based on unique information of the request and encoding the unique identifier in the requested chunk before sending the requested chunk. Some embodiments can include joining the watermarked chunk with other chunks to reproduce the video file, and sending the reproduced video file having the watermarked chunk included therein.

Claims

1. A method for encoding a segment of a video file with a unique identifier, the method comprising:

receiving, via a data network, a request for the segment of the video file, wherein the segment of the video file includes video data and comprises one of a plurality of separately-addressable segments of the video file for use by a media player to individually stream each of the plurality of separately-addressable segments of the video file from one or more source files;

determining, using a computer processor, the unique identifier, wherein the unique identifier is based on unique information included in the request;

retrieving the requested segment of the video file from data storage;

encoding at least a portion of the video data of the requested segment with the unique identifier; and

sending, via the data network, the requested segment of the video file having the video data encoded with the unique identifier.

2. The method for encoding the segment of the video file with the unique identifier as recited in claim 1, wherein the request for the segment of the video file is received from the media player during playback of the video file.

3. The method for encoding the segment of the video file with the unique identifier as recited in claim 1, wherein the unique identifier further includes data indicative of at least one of:

a globally-unique identifier (GUID),

a source of the video file,

an entity related to the video file,

a location associated with the media player that generated the request,

a time of day,

a network type,

a device type,

a date,

an Internet Protocol (IP) address, or

a Media Access Control (MAC) address.

4. The method for encoding the segment of the video file with the unique identifier as recited in claim 1, further comprising choosing the request from a plurality of requests, wherein each of the plurality of requests is made by the media player for a different segment of the video file.

5. A server for encoding identification information into a requested segment of a video file, the server comprising:

a network interface;

a memory configured to store one or more segments of the video file; and

a processor communicatively coupled with the memory and the network interface and configured to cause the server to;

receive, using the network interface, a request for one of the one or more segments of the video file, wherein the requested segment of the video file includes video data and comprises one of a plurality of separately-addressable segments of the video file for use by a media player to individually stream each of the plurality of separately-addressable segments of the video file from one or more source files;

determine a unique identifier, wherein the unique identifier is based on unique information of the request;

retrieve the requested segment of the video file from the memory;

encode at least a portion of the video data of the requested segment with the unique identifier; and

send, using the network interface, the requested segment of the video file having the video data encoded with the unique identifier.

6. The server for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to cause the server to send the requested segment of the video file during playback of the video file by the media player communicatively connected with the server.

7. The server for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to cause the server to include, in the unique identifier, data indicative of at least one of:

a globally-unique identifier (GUID),

a source of the video file,

an entity related to the video file,

a location associated with the media player that generated the request,

a time of day,

a network type,

a device type,

a date,

an Internet Protocol (IP) address, or

a Media Access Control (MAC) address.

8. The server for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to cause the server to choose the request from a plurality of requests, wherein each of the plurality of requests is made by the media player for a different segment of the video file and received by the server.

9. A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium having instructions embedded thereon for encoding identification information into a requested segment of a video file, the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive a request for the segment of the video file, wherein the requested segment of the video file includes video data and comprises one of a plurality of separately-addressable segments of the video file for use by a media player to individually stream each of the plurality of separately-addressable segments of the video file from one or more source files;

determine the unique identifier, wherein the unique identifier is based on unique information included in the request;

retrieve the requested segment of the video file;

encode at least a portion of the video data of the requested segment with the unique identifier; and

send the requested segment of the video file having the video data encoded with the unique identifier.

10. The non-volatile computer-readable storage medium having the instructions embedded thereon for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim 9, wherein the request is received from the media player during playback of the video file.

11. The non-volatile computer-readable storage medium having the instructions embedded thereon for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim 9, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to choose the request from a plurality of requests, wherein each of the plurality of requests is made by the media player for a different segment of the video file.

12. The server for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to cause the server to determine the unique identifier on at least one of:

a session ID, or

a user ID.

16. The server for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to:

cause the server to join the requested segment with one or more additional segments to reproduce the video file; and

send the requested segment in the reproduced video file.

13. The server for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim Error! Reference source not found., wherein the processor is configured to cause the server to include, in the unique identifier, data indicative of at least one of:

a globally-unique identifier (GUID),

a source of the video file,

an entity related to the video file,

a location associated with the media player that generated the request,

a time of day,

a network type,

a device type,

a date,

an Internet Protocol (IP) address, or

a Media Access Control (MAC) address.

14. The server for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim Error! Reference source not found., wherein the processor is configured to cause the server to choose the request from a plurality of requests, wherein each of the plurality of requests is made by the media player for a different segment of the video file and received by the server.

15. The server for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to choose the request is based on a random number.

17. A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium having instructions embedded thereon for encoding identification information into a requested segment of a video file, the instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

receive a request for the segment of the video file, wherein the requested segment of the video file includes video data and comprises one of a plurality of separately-addressable segments of the video file for use by a media player to individually stream each of the plurality of separately-addressable segments of the video file from one or more source files;

determine the unique identifier, wherein the unique identifier is based on unique information included in the request;

retrieve the requested segment of the video file;

encode at least a portion of the video data of the requested segment with the unique identifier; and

send the requested segment of the video file having the video data encoded with the unique identifier.

19. The non-volatile computer-readable storage medium having the instructions embedded thereon for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim 17 further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to choose the request from a plurality of requests, wherein each of the plurality of requests is made by the media player for a different segment of the video file.

20. The non-volatile computer-readable storage medium having the instructions embedded thereon for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim 17, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to join the requested segment with one or more additional segments to reproduce the video file, wherein sending the requested segment comprises sending the reproduced video file.

18. The non-volatile computer-readable storage medium having the instructions embedded thereon for encoding the identification information into the requested segment of the video file as recited in claim Error! Reference source not found., wherein the request is received from the media player during playback of the video file.