Content blackout determinations for playback of video streams on portable devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9258587-B2
Application number	US-98478111-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 5, 2011
Priority date	Jan 5, 2011
Publication date	Feb 9, 2016
Grant date	Feb 9, 2016

Abstract

Content, such as audio or video content, is streamed to portable devices based on an entitlement determination that includes determining the location of the portable device and whether the content is subject to blackout restrictions. In one implementation, requests may be received for content that is to be streamed to a portable device and a location of the portable device may be determined. Entitlements may be determined, where the entitlements define whether the content is permitted to be viewed by the portable device, where the entitlements are determined based at least on the indication of the location of the portable device and based on blackout restrictions applicable to the content. The content may be selectively streamed to the portable device based on the applicable blackout restrictions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method implemented by one or more computing devices, the method comprising:
receiving, by the one or more computing devices, a request for content streamed over an Internet Protocol (IP) network to a portable device, wherein the request includes information identifying the portable device;
identifying a subscription plan or at least one account option associated with the portable device;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, whether a subscription requirement associated with the requested content allows the portable device to receive the content based on the subscription plan or the at least one account option that is associated with the portable device;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, an indication of a location of the portable device based at least on an IP address or media access control (MAC) address of an access point to which the portable device is connected;
determining, by the one or more computing devices and in response to determining that the IP address or MAC address corresponds to an IP address or a MAC address of a location other than a customer premises, whether the IP address or MAC address is allocated to the portable device in a particular city or geographical region;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, whether a location requirement associated with the content allows the portable device to receive the content, based on the IP address or MAC address corresponding to the indication of the location of the portable device;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, whether the portable device is entitled to receive the requested content when the portable device is not located at the customer premises that is associated with the subscription plan or the at least one account option, wherein the determining is based on the indication of the location of the portable device;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, whether blackout restrictions apply to viewing the requested content, wherein the blackout restrictions are based on at least the subscription plan or the at least one account option, and the indication of the location of the portable device;
transmitting, to the portable device and by the one or more computing devices, when it is determined that the portable device is entitled to receive the content and that blackout restrictions do not apply, a decryption key corresponding to the content;
streaming, by the one or more computing devices, an encrypted version of the content to the portable device, for decryption and playback of the content by the portable device, wherein the encrypted version of the content is encrypted using a different encryption key for each of a plurality of sections of the encrypted version of the content; and
receiving a plurality of requests, from the portable device, for decryption keys, corresponding to respective sections of the encrypted version of the content.

2. The method of claim 1 , where the blackout restrictions for the requested content include an indication of one or more geographical locations or regions to which the blackout restrictions apply.

3. The method of claim 2 , where the blackout restrictions for the requested content additionally include one or more rules that define accounts to which the blackout restrictions apply.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the portable device is not entitled to display the content when the blackout restrictions indicate that a blackout is in effect and the location of the portable device is within an area covered by the blackout restrictions.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the portable device is not entitled to receive the content, and
streaming substitute content to the portable device, in response to the request for content.

6. The method of claim 1 , where the blackout restrictions are imposed by or on behalf of an owner of the content.

7. The method of claim 1 , where the blackout restrictions include restrictions on video content relating to sporting events.

8. The method of claim 1 , where the indication of the location of the portable device includes an indication of whether the portable device is in a geographic location corresponding to a customer premise of an account associated with the portable device.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a session token to use during authentication of the portable device, the session token being based on:
an identifier associated with the portable device and an application key associated with a playback application executed by the portable device; and

authenticating, using the generated token, the portable device.

10. The method of claim 1 , where the portable device includes a tablet computer, a smart phone, or a laptop computer.

11. The method of claim 1 , where the content includes streaming video corresponding to a television channel.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores programming instructions for execution by one or more processors, the computer-readable medium comprising:
instructions to receive a request for content streamed over an Internet Protocol (IP) network to a portable device, wherein the request includes information identifying the portable device;
instructions to identify a subscription plan or at least one account option associated with the portable device;
instructions to determine whether a subscription requirement associated with the content allows the portable device to receive content, based on the subscription plan or the at least one account option that is associated with the portable device;
instructions to determine an indication of a location of the portable device based on an IP address or media access control (MAC) address of an access point which the portable device is connected;
instructions to determine, in response to determining that the IP address or MAC address corresponds to an IP or MAC address of a location other than a customer premises, the indication of the location based on whether the IP address or MAC address is allocated to the portable device in a particular city or geographical region;
instructions to determine whether a location requirement associated with the content allows the portable device to receive the content, based on the IP address or MAC address corresponding to the indication of the location of the information identifying the identified portable device;
instructions to determine whether the identified portable device is entitled to receive the requested content when the portable device is not located at the customer premises that is associated with the subscription plan or the at least one account option, wherein the determination is based on the indication of the location of the portable device;
instructions to determine whether blackout restrictions are applicable to viewing the requested content, wherein the blackout restrictions are determined based at least on the subscription plan or the at least one account option, and the indication of the location of the portable device;
instructions to transmit, when it is determined that the portable device is not entitled to receive the content due to a blackout restriction, a decryption key corresponding to substitute content to the portable device;
instructions to transmit, when it is determined that the portable device is entitled to receive the content and no blackout restrictions apply, a decryption key corresponding to the content;
instructions to stream an encrypted version of the content to the portable device, for decryption and playback of the content by the portable device, wherein the encrypted v

Assignees

• Reddy Sachinder D
• Ruiz-Velasco Enrique
• Arte Laxmi
• Beaver Bradley D
• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Reddy Sachinder D
• Ruiz-Velasco Enrique
• Arte Laxmi
• Beaver Bradley D

Classifications

• H04N21/25841 Primary

  involving the geographical location of the client (retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00) · CPC title

• H04N21/63345

  by transmitting keys (key distribution for secret or secure communication H04L9/08; network support of key management H04L63/06) · CPC title

• H04N21/41407

  embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop (constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57) · CPC title