Peer-to-peer live streaming

1. A method for distributing content in a peer-to-peer network according to a protocol, the method comprising:

dividing, by a source computer system, content into a plurality of data blocks;

assigning, by the source computer system, each of the plurality of data blocks to one of a plurality of clubs in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peers, each of the plurality of peers part of at least two clubs from the plurality of clubs;

transmitting, by the source computer system, each of the plurality of data blocks to at least one peer that is part of the club to which the data block is assigned;

wherein an authentication signature is attached to each of the plurality of data blocks;

wherein a peer in a club of the plurality of clubs transmits a notification to other peers in the club with which it has download connections, when the peer receives a particular data block assigned to the club and successfully authenticates the particular data block using the authentication signature of the particular data block, the notification preventing the other peers from transmitting the particular data block to the peer;

wherein the peer, upon authenticating the particular data block, transmits the particular data block to at least one receiving peer in the club with which the peer has an upload connection, in response to not having yet received a notification from the at least one receiving peer indicating that the at least one receiving peer has already received the particular data block; and

wherein the peer has download connections with a first subset of peers in the club and upload connections with a second subset of peers in the club.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a data block from the plurality of data blocks is assigned to a club based on a sequence number of the data block and a number of clubs of the peer-to-peer network.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein assigning the data block to a club comprises:

determining a result of an operation including the sequence number of the data block modulo the number of clubs of the peer-to-peer network; and

assigning the data block to a club associated with the result of the operation.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the source has an upload connection with a peer in each of the plurality of clubs.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the content is live content captured by the source computer system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of data blocks is transmitted via a unidirectional UDP connection.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the authentication signature is a root hash of a hash tree, a hash of each of the plurality of data blocks part of the hash tree.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of clubs includes the source computer system and a set of peers.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of peers has at least two download connections and at least two upload connections with peers in each club that the peer is a part of.

10. A computer system for distributing content in a peer-to-peer network according to a protocol, the computer system comprising:

one or more computer processors; and

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer program instructions executed by the one or more computer processors for:

dividing content into a plurality of data blocks;

assigning each of the plurality of data blocks to one of a plurality of clubs in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peers, each of the plurality of peers part of at least two clubs from the plurality of clubs;

transmitting each of the plurality of data blocks to at least one peer that is part of the club to which the data block is assigned;

wherein an authentication signature is attached to each of the plurality of data blocks;

wherein a peer in a club of the plurality of clubs transmits a notification to other peers in the club with which it has download connections, when the peer receives a particular data block assigned to the club and successfully authenticates the particular data block using the authentication signature of the particular data block, the notification preventing the other peers from transmitting the particular data block to the peer;

wherein the peer, upon authenticating the particular data block transmits the particular data block to at least one receiving peer in the club with which the peer has an upload connection, in response to not having yet received a notification from the at least one receiving peer indicating that the at least one receiving peer has already received the particular data block; and

wherein the peer has download connections with a first subset of peers in the club and upload connections with a second subset of peers in the club.

11. A computer program product for distributing content in a peer-to-peer network according to a protocol, the computer program product having a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer program instructions for:

dividing, by a source computer system, content into a plurality of data blocks;

assigning, by the source computer system, each of the plurality of data blocks to one of a plurality of clubs in a peer-to-peer network, the peer-to-peer network including a plurality of peers, each of the plurality of peers part of at least two clubs from the plurality of clubs;

transmitting, by the source computer system, each of the plurality of data blocks to at least one peer that is part of the club to which the data block is assigned;

wherein an authentication signature is attached to each of the plurality of data blocks;

wherein a peer in a club of the plurality of clubs transmits a notification to other peers in the club with which it has download connections, when the peer receives a particular data block assigned to the club and successfully authenticates the particular data block using the authentication signature of the particular data block, the notification preventing the other peers from transmitting the particular data block to the peer;

wherein the peer, upon authenticating the particular data block, transmits the particular data block to at least one receiving peer in the club with which the peer has an upload connection, in response to not having yet received a notification from the at least one receiving peer indicating that the at least one receiving peer has already received the particular data block; and

wherein the peer has download connections with a first subset of peers in the club and upload connections with a second subset of peers in the club.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein a data block from the plurality of data blocks is assigned to a club based on a sequence number of the data block and a number of clubs of the peer-to-peer network.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein assigning the data block to a club comprises:

determining a result of an operation including the sequence number of the data block modulo the number of clubs of the peer-to-peer network; and

assigning the data block to a club associated with the result of the operation.

14. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the source has an upload connection with a peer in each of the plurality of clubs.

15. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the content is live content captured by the source computer system.

16. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of data blocks is transmitted via a unidirectional UDP connection.

17. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the authentication signature is a root hash of a hash tree, a hash of each of the plurality of data blocks part of the hash tree.

18. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of clubs includes the source computer system and a set of peers.