Content usage tracking in superdistribution

Abstract

Content usage statistics from superdistribution users have great commercial values since they can be used for any number of purposes including marketing, accounting, and/or fraud prevention. However tracking content usage under the superdistribution model poses a great challenge since most content users have no explicit pre-established relationship with the content provider. In this paper, we present our technical design of a content usage tracking scheme in the superdistribution model. We explore the concept of Proof of Data Possession (PDP) to establish a post-relationship between users and the provider so that tracking content is possible. Our tracking scheme is format independent, provides accurate and finer-grained usage tracking while at the same time allows user anonymity and efficient distribution of digital contents to end users. Related issues such as user privacy and fraud reporting are also discussed. © 2011 IEEE.