Port-Level Flow Modification for Copyright Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network systems struggle to differentiate and manage communication flows between source and destination ports, particularly in preventing unauthorized sharing of copyright-protected content while allowing legitimate content sharing within media provider networks, without disrupting other network streams.
Innovation Solution
A flow management system that monitors and modifies communication flows by analyzing content and determining the participation of source and destination IP addresses in media provider services, issuing commands to block or modify specific flows independently of other communication flows, using a network device capable of load balancing and filtering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the ISP cuts off the subscriber from the network by assigning zero bandwidth to prevent unauthorized sharing, then copyright-protected material sharing is prevented, but all network transfers including legitimate content are blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments network traffic into individual communication flows, each identified by source IP, destination IP, source port, and destination port. This allows the system to apply different bandwidth policies to different flows from the same subscriber - blocking unauthorized P2P flows while permitting legitimate web browsing, email, and media provider flows.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by treating each communication flow with differentiated quality characteristics. Instead of applying a uniform zero-bandwidth penalty to all flows from a subscriber engaged in unauthorized sharing, the system selectively blocks only the harmful P2P flows while maintaining full bandwidth for legitimate flows, thus locally addressing the harmful behavior without globally punishing the user.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the ISP blocks all content streams from a subscriber to prevent copyright infringement, then unauthorized sharing is stopped, but legitimate content sharing within media provider networks is also disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the subscriber's network traffic into distinct communication flows based on four-tuple identification (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port). This enables selective application of blocking policies - only flows matching unauthorized P2P patterns are blocked, while flows to media provider networks are permitted to proceed uninterrupted, maintaining productivity for legitimate operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality by assigning different quality characteristics to different flows. Flows directed to media provider networks receive full bandwidth allocation and no blocking, while only the specific flows engaged in unauthorized copyright sharing receive zero bandwidth. This localized differentiation preserves legitimate content transfer efficiency while stopping infringement.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the system monitors and blocks specific communication flows at IP address level, then unauthorized sharing is prevented, but other communication flows from the same IP address are unnecessarily disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments traffic management from coarse-grained IP address level to fine-grained communication flow level using four-tuple identification. This segmentation enables precise control where each flow can be independently monitored and blocked or permitted based on its specific characteristics, preventing over-blocking of legitimate traffic while maintaining manageable complexity through automated flow identification and policy application.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If the ISP applies blanket blocking policies to prevent copyright infringement, then unauthorized sharing is stopped, but the ability to differentiate between authorized and unauthorized content streams is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments content stream identification from coarse IP address matching to precise four-tuple flow identification. By examining source IP, destination IP, source port, and destination port together, the system can accurately distinguish between unauthorized P2P flows and authorized media provider flows even when they originate from the same subscriber IP, thereby maintaining high measurement precision in content stream identification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies local quality by implementing differentiated identification and treatment for different flow types. Instead of uniform blocking, the system precisely identifies flow characteristics and applies appropriate quality characteristics - blocking unauthorized flows while permitting authorized flows to media provider networks, thereby achieving accurate differentiation between authorized and unauthorized content streams.
Data Source
AI summary
A flow management system for modifying a communication flow from a port at a source IP address to a port at a destination IP address, the modifying being independent of communication flows at other ports at the source IP address and communication flows at other ports at the destination IP address. The system monitors a communication flow between a source port at a source IP address to a destination port at a destination IP address and determines whether a source IP address and destination IP address are participating in a media provider service. The system analyzes the communication flow content and modifies the communication flow from a specific source port to a specific destination port based on the content and whether the source and destination IP addresses are part of a media provider service.