Patent ID: 8756333
Filing Date: 2014-06-17
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for supporting an online multicast media service that is implemented using a media server that multicasts media files to users at user computing equipment over a communications network, comprising: maintaining at least one playlist of media files at the media server; multicasting each media file in the playlist to multiple users in a viewer group simultaneously over the communications network, wherein each user has a respective media player that is implemented on the user computing equipment of that user and wherein each respective media player plays the media file that is being multicasted in synchronization; displaying the playlist on the user computing equipment of each of the users in the viewer group while the media file is being multicasted to the users in the viewer group; and at the media server, receiving user-uploaded content from the user computing equipment of at least some of the users in the viewer group, wherein the user-uploaded content is associated with the playlist and with the media file that is being multicasted and is received at the media server in real time as the media file is being multicasted.