Forensic mark insertion apparatus and method

A forensic mark insertion apparatus comprising:

• an original content storage hardware unit configured to store multiple original contents;
• and
• a service control hardware unit configured to:
• in response to a request for content from a user, retrieve an original content corresponding to the request from the original content storage hardware unit;
• segment the retrieved original content into a plurality of content segments, wherein the plurality of content segments comprises a first set of content segments and a second set of content segments;
• generate a group comprising a plurality of complete copies of the first set of content segments, the plurality of complete copies of the first set of content segments comprising a quantity of complete copies of the first set of content segments equal to a number of unique characters available to construct any given forensic mark;
• generate a copy of each segment in each complete copy of the first set of content segments for each actual character in a particular forensic mark corresponding to an identifier associated with the user;
• insert a unique character into each copy of each segment in each complete copy of the first set of content segments such that all segments in each complete copy of the first set of content segments are associated with a common unique character and each complete copy of the first set of content segments is associated with a different unique character;
• assemble a forensic mark inserted first set of content segments by selecting appropriate complete copies of the first set of segments based on an association between a given complete copy of the first set of segments and a given actual character and selecting a given copy of a given segment in the given complete copy of the first set of segments based on a position of the given actual character in the particular forensic mark to spell the particular forensic mark;
• and
• assemble the forensic mark inserted first set of content segments and the second set of content segments not having forensic marks to produce a forensic-mark inserted content.