CDN Entitlement Tag Validation for Pirate Stream Blocking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital content streaming systems are vulnerable to hacking, allowing pirates to share DRM keys illegitimately, leading to unauthorized access and increased network load without requiring users to subscribe to the legitimate service.
Innovation Solution
A content delivery network (CDN) method that includes generating and checking entitlement tags within tokens, analyzing token usage patterns, and maintaining a blacklist to detect and block illegitimate traffic, without modifying user devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If DRM key sharing is allowed for legitimate users, then content access is enabled, but pirates can extract and share keys illegally
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the DRM license into two independent parts: a content key for decryption and an entitlement tag for access control. The content key can be legally obtained, but the entitlement tag must be validated by the CDN before content delivery. This segmentation allows legitimate content access while preventing pirate distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The entitlement tag acts as an intermediary between the DRM license and the content delivery process. Instead of trusting the DRM key alone, the CDN validates the entitlement tag as an additional intermediary control layer. This mediator prevents unauthorized content access even when pirates have obtained DRM keys through key extraction.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple users share the same DRM key, then content accessibility increases, but network load increases without subscription
Solution Approach 1:
The CDN continuously monitors entitlement tag usage patterns and provides feedback to detect abnormal behavior. When an entitlement tag shows signs of pirate distribution (multiple concurrent requests from different devices), the system responds by blocking further content delivery for that tag. This feedback mechanism allows the system to adapt to legitimate multi-device usage while preventing pirate network load.
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If entitlement tags are monitored for piracy detection, then pirate traffic can be identified, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The CDN's existing content delivery infrastructure performs piracy detection as a self-service function without requiring separate complex monitoring systems. The entitlement tag validation and usage analysis are integrated into the standard content delivery workflow, using the same servers and processing resources that handle legitimate content requests. This self-service approach eliminates additional hardware or system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method that is performed by a content delivery network and includes receiving a content segment request containing a token containing an entitlement tag for restricted use, and in response, checking the token, and, upon a successful check of the token, transmitting the requested content segment to a requestor. The method further includes, for each of a plurality of received content segment requests, extracting the entitlement tag from the token of the content segment request and storing a record including at least the extracted entitlement tag, analyzing the stored records to detect if a number of instances of a same entitlement tag within a predetermined time period exceeds a threshold, and in case of a positive detection, storing the entitlement tag in a list of non-trusted tags.