An Event-Based Platform-Independent Verification Method for OTT Content Usage History
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13052/jwe1540-9589.2564Keywords:
OTT, usage history, copyright protection, event-based verification, platform independenceAbstract
In OTT (Over-The-Top) service environments, reliable recording and verification of content usage history are becoming increasingly important for copyright protection, royalty settlement, and dispute resolution. However, conventional platform-specific log management methods have limitations in interoperability, integrity assurance, and external verifiability. In addition, simple indicators such as the number of views or total playback time are insufficient to accurately reflect actual OTT viewing behavior, which often includes nonlinear interactions such as pause, seek, replay, and early stop.
This paper proposes a platform-independent event-based verification method for OTT content usage history. The proposed method defines usage history metadata consisting of content information, session information, playback event information, and usage result information, and derives valid usage intervals from playback events such as play, pause, seek, replay, and stop. In addition, hash-based verification information and linked recording structures are applied to the generated usage history to enhance integrity and traceability.
To examine the applicability of the proposed method, processing latency in the usage history aggregation stage was measured according to changes in the number of sessions and platforms. The experimental results show that the processing time increased in a stable manner as the session scale increased, indicating that the proposed method can be applied to large-scale OTT usage environments. This study is meaningful in that it presents a platform-independent and verifiable method for organizing OTT content usage history, and it can be further extended through future performance evaluation of blockchain recording and verification processes in diverse service environments.
Downloads
References
S. Nakamoto, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” 2008..
E. Androulaki et al., “Hyperledger Fabric: A Distributed Operating System for Permissioned Blockchains,” in Proceedings of the Thirteenth EuroSys Conference, 2018.
R. Iannella and S. Villata, ODRL Information Model 2.2, W3C Recommendation, 2018.
Sandvine, Global Internet Phenomena Report 2024. Sandvine Inc., 2024.
Nielsen, “Time Spent Streaming Surges to Over 40% in June 2024,” The Gauge, 2024.
Nielsen, “What’s the Difference between OTT, CTV and Streaming?,” Nielsen Insights, 2024.
A. González-Neira and C. Quintas-Froufe, “Television Audience Measurement: the Challenge Posed by the Rise of Streaming and OTT Platforms,” Comunicación y Sociedad, vol. 17, e7284, 2020.
J. P. Kelly, “Television by the Numbers: The Challenges of Audience Measurement in the Age of Big Data,” Convergence, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 113–132, 2019.
A. Papathanasopoulos and A. Stavrianea, “The Evolution of Subscription Services in Greece: From Satellite TV to Over-The-Top (OTT) Streaming Models,” in Strategic Innovative Marketing and Tourism, Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, pp. 739–747, 2024.
O. Budzinski, S. Gaenssle, and N. Lindstädt-Dreusicke, “The Battle of YouTube, TV and Netflix: an Empirical Analysis of Competition in Audiovisual Media Markets,” SN Business & Economics, vol. 1, no. 9, art. 116, 2021.
G. Anselmi, Y. Vekaria, A. D’Souza, P. Callejo, A. M. Mandalari, and Z. Shafiq, “Watching TV with the Second-Party: A First Look at Automatic Content Recognition Tracking in Smart TVs,” in Proceedings of the ACM Internet Measurement Conference (IMC), 2024.
W. Robitza, A. Ahmad, P. A. Kara, L. Atzori, M. G. Martini, A. Raake, and L. Sun, “Challenges of Future Multimedia QoE Monitoring for Internet Service Providers,” Multimedia Tools and Applications, vol. 76, pp. 22243–22266, 2017.
U. Bulkan and A. Dagiuklas, “Predicting Quality of Experience for Online Video Service Provisioning,” Multimedia Tools and Applications, vol. 78, pp. 18787–18811, 2019.
N. Jing, Q. Liu, and Z. Yong, “A Blockchain-Based Code Copyright Management System,” Information Processing & Management, vol. 58, no. 3, 102518, 2021.
R. F. Ciriello, A. C. G. Torbensen, M. R. P. Hansen, and C. Müller-Bloch, “Blockchain-Based Digital Rights Management Systems: Design Principles for the Music Industry,” Electronic Markets, vol. 33, art. 5, 2023.
Z. Ma, W. Huang, and H. Gao, “A New Blockchain-Based Trusted DRM Scheme for Built-In Content Protection,” EURASIP Journal on Image and Video Processing, vol. 2018, art. 91, 2018.
W. Tan, X. Zhang, and X. Cai, “Digital Rights Management Platform Based on Blockchain Technology,” in Human Centered Computing: 6th International Conference (HCC 2020), Revised Selected Papers, pp. 173–183, 2021.
Y. Yang, D. Yu, R. Zhang, and Y. Yan, “A Video Copyright Transaction Traceability Method Based on the Parent-Child Chain,” in Proceedings of the 2020 3rd International Conference on Blockchain Technology and Applications (ICBTA), pp. 1–6, 2020.
H. Guan, Y. Huang, J. Liu, and W. S. Zhang, “Digital Media Copyright Confirmation Service System Based on Block-Chain Registration and Identifier Tracking,” in Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Communication and Information Processing (ICCIP 2023), pp. 273–278, 2024.
W. Son, S. Kwon, S. Oh, and J.-H. Lee, “OTT Service Copyright Management Framework Using ODRL Based on Hyperledger Fabric,” in Proceedings of ICEA 2023, pp. 84–89, 2024.
