Patent ID: 8396980

Claim:
A method for transferring content across a content delivery network (CDN), the method comprising: generating a request for content, wherein the request specifies an origin server as a source of the content; and receiving in response an indication of a set of one or more eligible clients from which the content can be sourced, wherein the one or more eligible clients comprise sources identified by a dispatcher configured to: receive, at a server in a content data network, a notification of the request for content; identify a client associated with the request; identify one or more global policies related to the request, the one or more global policies controlling a behavior or activity the client and identifying circumstances under which the client is authorized to receive the content; evaluate the request for content, the evaluation being based at least partly on the identity of the client and the identified one or more global policies; and identify one or more authorized transfers of the content based on the evaluation, wherein each eligible client of the set of one or more eligible clients comprises a source associated with one of the one or more authorized transfers of the content.