Scalable peer-to-peer streaming internet broadcast content

A tracking computing system comprising:

• a memory;
• encoder logic, stored in the memory, and configured when executed on a computer processor to communicate with one or more encoders to direct transmission of an encoded encrypted audio and/or video signal from the one or more encoders to be stored as encoded encrypted data on one or more seeder computing systems;
• and
• player device logic, stored in the memory, and configured when executed on a computer processor to communicate with one or more player devices to receive from one of the one or more seeder computing systems a buffer of an initial portion of the stored encoded encrypted data and to receive subsequent portions of the stored data from one or more peer player devices or from the one of the one or more seeder computing systems.

A computer-readable memory medium containing instructions configured, when executed, to control a computing system propagate a broadcast signal containing secure streamed audio and/or video content by performing a method comprising:

• receiving in near real-time signal data from encoded encrypted audio and/or video broadcast signal data from one or more encoders;
• storing the received near real-time signal data in encoded encrypted form in a computing memory;
• receiving electronic instructions from a second computing system regarding distribution of portions of the received near real-time signal data;
• and
• distributing in encoded encrypted form portions of the stored data in near real-time to one or more player computing systems in accordance with the received electronic instructions.

A seeder computing system comprising:

• a memory;
• broadcast stream receiver logic, stored in the memory and configured, when executed on a computer processor, to receive from one or more encoders near real-time signal data from one or more encoded encrypted audio and/or video broadcast signals and to store the received near real-time signal data in encoded encrypted form in a computing memory;
• and
• tracker interface logic, stored in the memory and configured, when executed on a computer processor, to communicate with one or more tracker devices to receive electronic instructions regarding distribution of portions of the received near real-time signal data;
• and
• propagation logic, stored in the memory, and configured when executed on a computer processor to distribute in encoded encrypted form portions of the stored data in near real-time to one or more player computing systems in accordance with the received electronic instructions.

A computing environment, comprising:

• an encoder that is configured to receive broadcast signal from one or more television channels or from archived audio and/or visual content, to encode and encrypt the signal according to a received set of parameters, and to forward the encoded and encrypted signal;
• a seeder computing system that is configured to receive the encoded and encrypted signal from the encoder and to store the signal as encoded encrypted data;
• and
• a tracker computing system that is configured to send a set of encoding and encrypting parameters to the encoder, to send an indication of a designated seeder computing system to a network-ready player device to enable the player device to receive a first portion of audio and/or video content from the stored encoded encrypted data from the designated seeder and to receive a subsequent portion of the stored encoded encrypted data from the designated seeder and/or a network-ready peer player device.