Patent ID: 7155530

Claim:
A method of macro control of streaming digital content, the method implemented in conjunction with a networked system of computers including a content server through which the digital content is transcoded into streams of multimedia data, the streams communicated via network to client devices, the digital content selected for inclusion in streams in dependence upon remote director instructions, the remote director instructions comprising hyperlinked URLs invoked through a network-capable device, the remote director instructions further comprising for each of the URLs in the remote director instruction a computer program that is executed when the URL is invoked, the method comprising the steps of: recording in non-volatile, machine-readable storage, the digital content. storing in computer memory macros, each of the macros comprising a URL and a first time, the URL being a hyperlinked URL component of a remote director instruction, the first time being the time when the URL was first invoked through a hyperlink as part of the remote director instruction for control of streaming digital content, the macros being stored in the order in which the URLs are first invoked through hyperlinks; reading from computer memory the macros in the order in which the macros were stored; invoking each of the URLs of each of the macros as a hyperlink at a second time, the second time being dependent upon the first time, invoking each of the URLs further comprising formulating and issuing a remote director instruction; and retrieving from the non-volatile, machine-readable storage, transcoding, selecting for inclusion in output streams, and communicating to client devices, in dependence upon the remote director instructions, the digital content.