Patent ID: 8848969

Claim:
A content distribution method, the method comprising: receiving N watermarked versions of a first content segment, each of the N watermarked versions of the first content segment including a different watermark, N being a positive integer greater than 1; receiving M watermarked versions of a second content segment, each of the M watermarked versions of the second content segment including a different watermark, M being a positive integer greater than 1; receiving a session set up request from a customer premise device requesting content, said session set up request being a request for content; generating a multi-bit session identifier in response to said session set up request; generating a playlist of watermarked content segments corresponding to the requested content as a function of said multi-bit session identifier, said watermarked content segments in said playlist communicating at least said multi-bit session identifier; and operating a video on demand server to generate a sequence of watermarked content segments in accordance with said playlist, said sequence of watermarked content segments including one of said N watermarked versions of the first content segment and one of said M watermarked versions of the second content segment, the sequence of watermarked content segments communicating said multi-bit session identifier with the requested content.