GB2520953A - Methods of distributing media and corresponding clients and servers for the same - Google Patents

Methods of distributing media and corresponding clients and servers for the same Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2520953A
GB2520953A GB1321377.2A GB201321377A GB2520953A GB 2520953 A GB2520953 A GB 2520953A GB 201321377 A GB201321377 A GB 201321377A GB 2520953 A GB2520953 A GB 2520953A
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United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
media file
corrupted
file
original
client
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
GB1321377.2A
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GB201321377D0 (en
Inventor
James Peter Mason
Andrew Vincent James Chatterley
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
MUSO Ltd
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MUSO Ltd
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by MUSO Ltd filed Critical MUSO Ltd
Priority to GB1321377.2A priority Critical patent/GB2520953A/en
Publication of GB201321377D0 publication Critical patent/GB201321377D0/en
Publication of GB2520953A publication Critical patent/GB2520953A/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06FELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F21/00Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
    • G06F21/10Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material ; Digital rights management [DRM]
    • G06F21/106Enforcing content protection by specific content processing
    • G06F21/1062Editing
    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06FELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F21/00Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
    • G06F21/10Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material ; Digital rights management [DRM]

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Software Systems (AREA)
  • Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Technology Law (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Information Transfer Between Computers (AREA)

Abstract

A method of distributing an original media file by downloading at a client a corrupted media file. The media is corrupted by omitting some data from the original media file, storing the corrupted media file and the data left out separately. The excluded data may be selected to maximise corruption. The method then involves after entering into a financial transaction connecting to a server and receiving the omitted data which is used to recreate the original media file. The recreated media file may be the subject of DRM. Instead of corrupting the original media file a dummy media file may be used for download or the media may be downloaded in a different format with different aspect ratio or sound quality. The object is to entice the illegal downloader to purchase a legitimate copy of the media by leveraging the time take to acquire a illegal copy. Promotional material may be inserted into the original media before download.

Description

DESCRIPTION
Title of Invention
METHODS OF DISTRIBUTING MEDIA AND
CORRESPONDING CLIENTS AND SERVERS FOR THE SAME.
Field of Invention
This invention relates to methods of distributing media and corresponding clients and servers for the same.
Backaround to the Invention
At present, media content providers are susceptible to large scale, Internet based, illegal downloading and copying of their media. Of particular threat are file sharing sites (cyberlockers), peer-to-peer file sharing using the BitTorrent protocol and other popular peer-to-peer protocols and other tools such as Usenet.
It has been widely reported that illegal distribution of copyrighted media continues to grow year on year, with these download channels being the preferred choice for an unfortunately significant percentage of the global population, many of whom are unlikely to use official purchase and download channels.
Obiection of the Invention The present invention seeks to provide a novel approach to the way in which media content providers can distribute and monetize their media content.
Summary of the Invention
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of corrupting an original media for distribution comprising the steps of: providing an original media file; creating a corrupted media file from the original media file by omitting some data from the original media file whereby the corrupted media file is at least partially corrupted when replayed compared to the original media file; storing the corrupted media file; and storing the data omitted from the media file separately.
Such a method enables a corrupted media file to be created for distribution and be subsequently repaired, as described below, by inserting the removed data upon, for example, a user obtaining a requisite licence and I or paying a royalty for doing so.
Furthermore, such a method facilitates the controlled distribution and monetising of media through distribution channels that are primarily used for distributing pirated content (e.g. file sharing sites and P2P), thereby targeting the typical illegal downloader who would avoid official online purchase and download channels.
A further benefit of the present invention is whilst DRM to prevent illegal copying can be hacked, one can hack data that is omitted. As such, there is not threat from hackers to the proposed method of distribution.
Ideally, the data omitted from the original media file is selected based on the encoding scheme of the original media file so as to maximise corruption. For example, by targeting vulnerable aspects of a system stream in MPEG video and I or audio rather than just the video and audio payload. Also, the targeting may be specifically configured to defeat error correction, noting that many audio and video streaming protocols are robust in respect of data outages. There is a trade off in that one would ideally omit as little data as possible in order to minimise the amount of data that has to be provided for repairing the corrupted media file and also to simplify repair; but equally, one has to ensure that the degree of corruption is sufficient to affect a viewer and I or listeners enjoyment of the media file.
Files for illegal download are typically packaged in archive file formats which support data compression such as zip' and.rar'. As such, one would ideally package the corrupted media file in such an archive file format and this provides the option of inserting other data such as promotional material (typically as a separate file in the package though conceivably as a part of the corrupted media file itself). Such promotional material may include a preview of the media file.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, which concerns the subsequent repair of a corrupted media file as mentioned above, there is provided a method of distributing an original media file comprising the steps of: at a client: downloading a corrupted media file which has been corrupted from an original media file by a method as previously described, connecting to a server and transmitting information to the server (e.g. as unique query string in an URL or as a hash of the original media file) which identifies the original media file; at the server: receiving the information from the client which identifies the original media file and transmitting to the client the data removed from the original media file to create the corrupted media file (e.g. after a financial transaction has been concluded); and at the client: receiving from the server the data removed from the original media file to create the corrupted media file and combining the corrupted media file with the data removed from the original media file to substantially recreate the original media file.
Collectively, the above methods facilitate the controlled distribution and monetising of media through distribution channels that are primarily used for distributing pirated content (e.g. file sharing sites and P2P), thereby targeting the typical illegal downloader who would avoid official online purchase and download channels.
In accordance with a yet further aspect of the present invention, which concerns the use of a dummy file rather than corrupted media file, there is provided a method of distributing a media file comprising the steps of: at a client: downloading either a dummy file purporting to be a particular media file, connecting to a server and transmitting information to the server which identifies the dummy file and! or the media file the dummy file is purporting to be; and at the server: receiving information from the client which identifies the dummy file and! or the media file the dummy file is purporting to be and transmitting to the client the media file (e.g. after a financial transaction has been concluded).
Lastly, in accordance with a yet further aspect of the present invention, which concerns the distributing media files of various formats, there is provided a method of distributing a media file comprising the steps of: at a client: downloading a media file in a first format, connecting to a server and transmitting information to the server which identifies the downloaded media file; at the server: receiving information from the client which identifies the downloaded media file and transmitting to the client a media file corresponding to the downloaded media file but in an alternative format (e.g. after a financial transaction has been concluded).
Brief Descriotion of the Drawings The present invention will now be illustrated, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a flow chart illustrating a method of creating a media file in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention; and Figure 2 to 4 are message sequence diagrams illustrating methods of distributing corrupted media files in accordance with further aspects of the present invention.
Detailed Descriøtion Referring to figure 1, there is illustrated in its most basic form a method of creating a media file, in this case a music video, for subsequent distribution through typically illegal download channels. In particular, it illustrates a method in which a corrupted music video file is created from an original music video file by omitting certain data whereby the corrupted music video file in so far as the original content is concerned is of limited utility in that it's replay is significantly compromised.
The corrupted music video file and the omitted data are then stored separately to facilitate the subsequent repair of downloads of the corrupted music video to recreate the original music video, as will be described later. Optionally, to facilitate subsequent identification of the corrupted media file for repairing, the corrupted media file may be hashed and its hash stored with both the corrupted media file and the omitted data.
In so far as omitting selected data is concerned, test have showed that omitting lO% of data from 10,000 positions across all portions of an audio and video file results in a file that is corrupted to the point of making the file unlistenable (i.e. playable but not enjoyable to listen to) and a video file virtually unrecognisable due to constant skipping' causing by the missing data. If one reduces the number of positions to 1000, the video becomes recognisable but generally unwatchable and the audio is still unlistenable. Reducing further to 100 positions removed makes it very easy to recognise the track, with large sections being skipped every few seconds. Furthermore, this is not targeted data omission. If one omits data selected based on the encoding scheme of the original media file so as to maximise corruption as mentioned above, it is contemplated that the amount of data that would need to be omitted to cause an equivalent amount of corruption would be much less.
As mentioned above, it is essential that one ensures that the degree of corruption is sufficient to significantly affect a viewer! listeners enjoyment whilst replaying the corrupted music video. But, it should also be noted that it may also be desirable to provide a corrupted music video that is to some extent recognisable so as to convey to a potential downloader the message that the corrupted music video has been substantially downloaded and that a repair download is going to be relatively small. In addition, one might wish to avoid corrupting an initial portion of the music video, say the first 30 seconds, to grab a potentially downloader's attention.
Files for illegal download are typically packaged in archive file formats which support data compression such as zip' and.rar'. As such, one would ideally package the corrupted media file in such an archive file format and this provides the option of inserting other data such as promotional material (typically as a separate file in the package though conceivably as a part of the corrupted media file itself). Such promotional material may including a preview of the media file and other information pertaining to the authors I performers associated with the media file which may be of interest to a downloader. Such promotional material may also contain a website url which directs users to a rights holder's server for the purpose of recovering the original media file from the corrupted media file.
Referring to figure 2, there is provided a message sequence diagram illustrating a method of distributing a music video in accordance with the present invention.
First, there is illustrated a rights holder's posting of a corrupted music video on a file sharing site and a subsequent illegal download. Now, whilst corrupted intentionally as mentioned above, such a corrupted music video need not and ideally will not appear corrupted to a prospective downloader. For example, the size and ostensible content (e.g. file names of constituent files) of the music video ZIP may suggest to a prospective downloader that this is a working albeit illegal copy of the genuine article.
Ideally, the corruption would only manifest itself to the downloader after a typically substantial download and subsequent attempt to play the music video. In this regard, one should note that a download of HD video can take from minutes to hours (including overnight) at presently available download speeds. Furthermore, it is this investiture of time that a rights holder would hope to leverage to convince an illegal downloader to legitimise the download by entering in to a corresponding financial transaction with the rights holder.
Thus, having downloaded and unzipped the corrupted music video, the downloader will realise that the music video is corrupted and may instead play (or be played) corresponding promotional material which may contain a preview of the original music video and an invitation to legitimise the download (ideally with an explanation that the corrupted music video already downloaded can be readily repaired rather than the downloader having to find an alternate, working albeit illegal download and having to download the same).
As illustrated, pursuant to such an invitation, the downloader having decided to legitimise the download is directed to the right holder's server to conclude a financial transaction to legitimise the download. Ideally, the direction would originate from the corrupted music video ZIP and could, for example, take the form of a hyperlink embedded in the aforementioned preview of the original music video. Furthermore, such a hyperlink link need not only identify the right holder's server to the downloader but could also identify the corrupted music video ZIP originally distributed by the right's holder (e.g. with a unique query string forming part of the URL). This would enable the rights holder's server to readily retrieve an appropriate data package containing at least the omitted data from the original music video which once received by the downloader enables the downloader to recreate the original music video from the already downloaded but corrupted music video ZIP.
Many alternatives will exist for the downloader identifying the corrupted music video ZIP originally distributed by the right's holder. For example, where the corrupted music video ZIP contains a hash (discussed above), the downloader transmitting the hash to the rights holder's server would also enable the corrupted music video ZIP originally distributed by the right's holder and / or the original music video to be identified.
Based on the nature of the corruption as described above, the repair process is essentially the opposite. Such repair may be effected by an executable received from the right's holder's server including the relevant omitted data. Alternatively, repair may be effected by an executable downloaded as part of the original illegal download. Furthermore, it is conceivable that in the future, should this technique become widespread, media player software may have integral capability for such repairs (analogous to updating of a media player's support for new codecs).
Also, repair might also entail removing any additional matter inserted in to the original corrupted music video such as the promotional material (as identified by the downloaded data package). However, the original music video need not be precisely recreated providing what is recreated substantially corresponds to the original music video and functions as the downloader would expect. For example, the promotional material may remain in the recreated music video. Also, the recreated music video may be the subject of DRM, reflecting the transaction entered in to legitimise the a original download. This may be particularly important to ensure that the recreated music video is not itself posted on illegal file sharing sites for subsequent download.
Referring to figure 3, there is provided a further message sequence diagram illustrating an alternative method of distributing a music video, utilising several of the principles of the method illustrated in figure 2. The primary difference is that the rights holder, rather than post a repairable but corrupted music video file, posts a entirely dummy file, i.e. contains substantial none of the music video it is purporting to be. Ideally, the size and ostensible content (e.g. file names of constituent files) of the dummy music video ZIP may corresponding to the genuine article, thereby masking to a prospective downloader its dummy nature.
As with the method of figure 2, a hyperlink contained in promotional material contained in the dummy music video ZIP could be used to identify the authentic music video to the rights holder's server, i.e. the music video which the dummy music video is purporting to represent. Also, as with the method illustrated in figure 2, the aim of the rights holder is to entice the downloader to enter in to a financial transaction with the right holder's in order to receive a legimate download. However, in contrast to the method illustrated in figure 2, there is no repair activity which means the authentic music video must be downloaded in its entirety from the rights holder's server.
Referring to figure 4, there is provided a yet further message sequence diagram illustrating an alternative method of repairing a music video, again utilising several of the principles of the method illustrated in figure 2. The primary difference is that the right holder, rather than post a repairable but corrupted music video file, posts an authentic music video in a particular format with an invitation to obtain the same in alternate format(s) if desired.
For example, the posted format may be a less preferred format such as 4:3 rather than widescreen, reduced scale, reduced resolution, stereo rather than surround, reduced quantization, etc. and the invention may be to acquire a high quality version of the music video. Alternatively, the posted format may be a perfectly adequate format for one form of media, e.g. a small form factor media such as a smart phone, but one not suited to another form factor such as PC (including by virtue of DRM). Again, the aim of the rights holder is to entice the downloader in to entering a financial transaction.
Whilst the specific embodiments are described primarily in the context of music videos, it will be appreciated that the methods and apparatus described could be used to create and distribute other forms of content. Similarly, whilst the server is stated to belong to the right's holder, it could equally belong to a third party operating on behalf of the right's holder. Furthermore, whilst the downloader's computer is illustrated as a PC, any of a number of alternative platforms may be supported, for example, Apple's Max OS & OS, Linux, Android, Symbian, etc. Other modifications would suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, all whilst not departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

Claims (22)

  1. CLAIMS1. A method of corrupting an original media comprising the steps of: -providing an original media file; -creating a corrupted media file from the original media file by omitting some data from the original media file whereby the corrupted media file is at least partially corrupted when replayed compared to the original media file; -storing the corrupted media file; and -storing the data omitted from the media file separately.
  2. 2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the data omitted from the original media file is selected based on the encoding scheme of the original media file so as to maximise corruption.
  3. 3. A method according to any preceding claim further comprising the steps of: -hashing the corrupted media file to create a corrupted media file hash; and -storing the hash.
  4. 4. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the amount of data omitted from the original media file is less that 40% of the original media file.
  5. 5. A method according to any of claims ito 3 wherein the amount of data omitted from the original media file is less that iS% of the original media file.
  6. 6. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the amount of data omitted from the original media file is greater than 5% of the original media file.
  7. 7. A method according to any preceding claim further comprising the step of: -inserting in to the corrupted media file data not originating from the original media file.
  8. 8 A method according to claim 7 wherein the inserted data includes a preview of the media file.
  9. 9. A method according to any preceding claim further comprising the step of packaging the corrupted media file in an archive file format.
  10. 10. A method according to claim 9 wherein the archive file format that supports data compression.
  11. 11. A method according to claim 9 wherein the corrupted media file is packaged in the archive file with a separate file which refers to a website url which directs users to a website for the purpose of recovering the original media file from the corrupted media file.
  12. 12. A computer configured to perform a method according to any of the preceding claims.
  13. 13. A method of distributing an original media file comprising the steps of: -at a client: -downloading a corrupted media file which has been corrupted from an original media file by a method according to any of claims 1 to 11; -connecting to a server; and -transmitting information to the server which identifies the corrupted media file; -at the server: -receiving information from the client which identifies the corrupted media file; and -transmitting to the client the data removed from the original media file to create the corrupted media file; -at the client: -receiving from the server the data removed from the original media file to create the corrupted media file; and -combining the corrupted media file with the data removed from the original media file to substantially recreate the original media file.
  14. 14. A method according to claim 14 further wherein the information transmitting to the server by the client which identifies the corrupted media file comprises a hash.
  15. 15. A method according to claim 14 or claim 15 wherein the corrupted media file either contains or is packaged with data not originating from the original media file, the method further comprising the step of: -at the client, extracting data from the corrupted media file not originating from the original media file and presenting this information at the client.
  16. 16. A method according to claim 15 wherein the presenting of information at the client which did not originate from the original media file is done prior to the combining step.
  17. 17. A method according to claim 15 or claim 16 wherein the original media file is recreated without the data in the corrupted media file which did not originate from the original media file.
  18. 18. A method according to any of claims 13 to 17 wherein the corrupted media file is packaged in an archive file of a format that supports data compression with a separate file which refers to a website url; and wherein, at the client, connecting to a server is to a server associated with the website url.
  19. 19. A method of distributing an media file comprising the steps of: -at a client: -downloading either a dummy file purporting to be a particular media file; -connecting to a server; and -transmitting information to the server which identifies the dummy file and I or the media file the dummy file is purporting to be; -at the server: -receiving information from the client which identifies the dummy file and I or the media file the dummy file is purporting to be; and -transmitting to the client the media file.
  20. 20. A method of distributing an media file comprising the steps of: -at a client: -downloading a media file in a first format; -connecting to a server; and -transmitting information to the server which identifies the downloaded media file; -at the server: -receiving information from the client which identifies the downloaded media file; and -transmitting to the client a media file corresponding to the downloaded media file but in an alternative format.
  21. 21. A client configured to perform the steps performed by the client in the method of any claims 13 to 20.
  22. 22. A server configured to perform the steps performed by the server in the method of any claims 13 to 20.
GB1321377.2A 2013-12-04 2013-12-04 Methods of distributing media and corresponding clients and servers for the same Withdrawn GB2520953A (en)

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GB1321377.2A GB2520953A (en) 2013-12-04 2013-12-04 Methods of distributing media and corresponding clients and servers for the same

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GB201321377D0 GB201321377D0 (en) 2014-01-15
GB2520953A true GB2520953A (en) 2015-06-10

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE202022106894U1 (en) 2022-12-08 2023-01-03 Ali Alferaidi System for improving cyber security by detecting and monitoring data corruption using artificial intelligence

Citations (5)

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EP1168329A2 (en) * 2000-06-28 2002-01-02 Pioneer Corporation Storage medium, apparatus for creating recordation data therefor and apparatus for restoring recorded data
US20020032747A1 (en) * 2000-09-11 2002-03-14 Nec Corporation System, method, device, and program for distributing data, and data reproduction device
US20020095582A1 (en) * 2000-10-17 2002-07-18 Ariel Peled Secure distribution of digital content
US20120198566A1 (en) * 2010-11-09 2012-08-02 International Business Machines Corporation Secure Distribution of Media Data
US20130232581A1 (en) * 2012-03-05 2013-09-05 Song1, Llc System and method for securely retrieving and playing digital media

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP1168329A2 (en) * 2000-06-28 2002-01-02 Pioneer Corporation Storage medium, apparatus for creating recordation data therefor and apparatus for restoring recorded data
US20020032747A1 (en) * 2000-09-11 2002-03-14 Nec Corporation System, method, device, and program for distributing data, and data reproduction device
US20020095582A1 (en) * 2000-10-17 2002-07-18 Ariel Peled Secure distribution of digital content
US20120198566A1 (en) * 2010-11-09 2012-08-02 International Business Machines Corporation Secure Distribution of Media Data
US20130232581A1 (en) * 2012-03-05 2013-09-05 Song1, Llc System and method for securely retrieving and playing digital media

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE202022106894U1 (en) 2022-12-08 2023-01-03 Ali Alferaidi System for improving cyber security by detecting and monitoring data corruption using artificial intelligence

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