Patent ID: 9736539
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: H04N

Claim:
1. A method comprising: determining, by a processing system including a processor, a geographical location of a requestor device requesting a first item of video content; searching, by the processing system, an index of equipment of a plurality of viewers to identify equipment of a viewer storing a first portion of the first item of video content, wherein a transfer of the first portion of the first item of video content from a video distribution system to the equipment of the viewer is not based on a request from the requestor device, and wherein the index of the equipment of the plurality of viewers comprises indications of geographical locations of the equipment of the plurality of viewers and indications of a plurality of items of video content stored thereon; determining, by the processing system, a distance between the geographical location of the requestor device and a geographical location of the equipment of the viewer storing the first portion of the first item of video content; comparing, by the processing system, the distance to a distance threshold to obtain a distance comparison; facilitating, by the processing system, access by the requestor device to the first portion of the first item of video content from the equipment of the viewer storing the first portion of the first item of video content based on a presentation of an access key by the requestor device and on the distance comparison; facilitating, by the processing system, access by the requestor device to a second portion of the first item of video content from the video distribution system; and facilitating, by the processing system, removal of the first item of video content, in response to a policy evaluation, from the equipment of the viewer storing the first item of video content.