Patent ID: 8396970

Claim:
A content delivery network (CDN) having a plurality of points of presence (POPs) in different defined jurisdictions for processing content objects, the CDN comprising: the plurality of POPs, the plurality of POPs each including a physical server to store or process content objects, each of the plurality of POPs being in a different jurisdiction of the defined jurisdictions; a landing pad, the landing pad configured to receive a content object from a client for storage in the CDN, the landing pad being in a POP of the plurality of POPs; a policy reconciliation service (PRS) for maintaining and processing policies, the PRS comprising: a policy store comprising a plurality of policies, wherein: the policy store is stored in the CDN, each policy defines specific processing of content objects, the plurality of policies includes a policy comprising a jurisdictional restriction indicating that the defined specific processing may only be performed if a first resource performing the defined specific processing is within a first jurisdictional zone of the defined jurisdictions, the policy is specified by the client at the landing pad, each of the defined jurisdictions is a region defined by a legal, geographical or political boundary, and the plurality of policies includes a same or different policy configured to cause the content object to be transported to a second resource within the first jurisdictional zone, based upon a determination the first resource is not within the first jurisdictional zone, such that the second resource can then perform the defined specific processing to produce a processed content object; and a policy manager configured to determine whether the policy is applicable to the content object received at the landing pad; and a metadata directory comprising a list of resources and a tag associated with each of the resources, the metadata directory being configured to identify resources complying with the policy's jurisdictional restriction based on the tags, wherein the PRS is configured to select the second resource from amongst the metadata-directory-identified resources for processing the content object, wherein the second resource is selected based on a random or round-robin selection among the metadata-directory-identified resources for processing the content object.