Patent ID: 8291083

Claim:
A content delivery network (CDN) having a plurality of points of presence (POPs) geographically distant from each other, the CDN comprising: a first landing pad application program interface (API), accessible from a first POP of the plurality of POPs, and configured to receive a first content object; a second landing pad API, accessible from a second POP of the plurality of POPs, and configured to receive a second content object; a content directory configured to identify a first resource to store the first content object and a second resource to store the second content object, the content directory comprising: stored metadata characterizing the first and second content objects, requesters of the first and second content objects and/or providers of the first and second content objects; and a plurality of stored tags, each stored tag being associated with one or more resources configured to store a content object in accordance with a policy; a policy store comprising a first jurisdictional policy and a second jurisdictional policy, wherein the first jurisdictional policy applies to content objects received within a first initial jurisdictional zone comprising the first POP and identifies a storage disposition in a first storage jurisdictional zone comprising a geographical location of the first resource, and wherein the second jurisdictional policy applies to content objects received within a second initial jurisdictional zone comprising the second POP and identifies a storage disposition in a second storage jurisdictional zone comprising a geographical location of the second resource; and a policy manager coupled to the policy store, wherein the policy manager identifies the first jurisdictional policy as being applicable to the first content object based on stored metadata in the content directory associated with the first content object, and wherein the policy manager identifies the second jurisdictional policy as being applicable to the second content object based on stored metadata in the content directory associated with the second content object, wherein the first resource is geographically distinct from the second resource, and wherein the first and second content objects are stored in a consistent file structure despite being on different resources.