The design and implementation of a security and containment platform for peer-to-peer media distribution

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The way in which people consume video is changing with the adoption ofnew technologies such as tablet computers and smart televisions. These newtechnologies, along with the Internet, are moving video distribution away fromsatellite and terrestrial broadcast to distribution over the Internet. Servicesonline now offer the same content that originally was only available on satellitebroadcast television. However, these services are only viable in countries withhigh speed, inexpensive Internet bandwidth. The need therefore exists foralternative services to deliver content in countries where bandwidth is stillexpensive and slow. These include many of the developing nations of Africa.In this thesis we design and develop a video distribution platform thatrelies on peer-to-peer networking to deliver high quality video content. We usean existing video streaming peer-to-peer protocol as the primary distributionmechanism, but allow users to share video over other protocols and services.These can include BitTorrent, DC++ and users sharing hard drives with oneanother. In order to protect the video content, we design and implement asecurity scheme that prevents users from pirating video content, while allowing easy distribution of video data. The core of the security scheme requires a lowbandwidth Internet connection to a server that streams keys to unlock thevideo content. The project also includes the development of a custom videoplayer application to integrate with the security scheme.The platform is not limited to, but is aimed at high speed local area networkswhere bandwidth is free. In order for the platform to support feasiblebusiness models, we provision additional services, such as video catalogingand search, video usage monitoring and platform administration. The thesisincludes a literature study on techniques and solutions to secure video entertainment,specifically in a peer-to-peer environment.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University