CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT SECURE MEDIA STREAMING SYSTEM
A Controlled Environment Secure Media Streaming System manages the delivery of content to Secured Devices. Cloud Services provide content to Integration Hub. The Integration Hub interfaces with various cloud services providers and prepares content for consumption by a resident of a secured facility. Integration Hub utilizes Content Filter to inspect content received from cloud service providers for suitability for use in a secured environment. Once content is retrieved, filtered, formatted, and packaged by Integration Hub, the content is stored in Data Warehouse. Secured Devices request content from the Distribution Hub, the Distribution Hub retrieves the content from the Data Warehouse, and then Distribution Hub manages the transfer of content to the Secured Devices. In some embodiments, Distribution Hub utilizes Content Filter to determine whether or not a particular Secured Device can access particular content.
1 . A controlled environment secure media streaming system, the system comprising:
an integration hub configured to receive content from a cloud service provider and to process the received content for distribution, the processing including formatting and packaging the received content;
a distribution hub configured to distribute the processed content to a content consumer;
a content filter configured to analyze content and selectively filter content not suitable for the content consumer in the controlled environment;
a reporting services module configured to receive content usage information from the distribution hub and report the usage information to the cloud service provider.
2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a data warehouse configured to store the processed content generated by the integration hub, the data warehouse.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the reporting services module is further configured to calculate a royalty to be paid to the cloud service provider based on the content usage information, and
wherein the reporting services module is further configured to report the royalty to the cloud service provider.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the distribution hub further comprises an access restriction manager to manage access to content by the content consumer,
wherein the access restriction manager implements rules-based restrictions on the distribution of content to the content consumer.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the rules-based restrictions include rules restricting access to content not suitable for the content consumer in the controlled environment by utilizing the content filter.
6 . The system of claim 4 , wherein the rules-based restrictions include rules restricting access to predetermined time periods.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the analysis performed by the content filter determines content not suitable for the content consumer in the controlled environment based on metadata of the content, the metadata including the title of the content, the industry standard censorship rating of the content, and the content type of the content.
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the analysis performed by the content filter determines content not suitable for the content consumer in the controlled environment by searching text associated with the content for words or word fragments listed in a keyword block list.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein, for content containing audio, the content filter performs speech recognition on the audio so as to generate searchable text associated with the content.
10 . A method for processing content from a cloud service provider for consumption in a secured facility, the method comprising:
receiving a request for a unit of content;
determining a cloud service provider from which the unit of content can be accessed;
transmitting a request for the unit of content to the cloud service provider;
receiving the unit of content from the cloud service provider;
determining that the unit of content is allowed to be consumed in the secured facility,
the determining utilizing a content filter;
receiving consumption rights information from the cloud service provider for the unit of content;
storing the consumption rights information in a data warehouse;
storing the unit of content in the data warehouse;
associating the consumption rights information with the unit of content in the data warehouse.
11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
comparing a format of the unit of content to a list of accepted formats;
determining that the format of the unit of content is not in the list of accepted formats;
converting the format of the unit of content to an accepted format in response to the determining; and
storing the converted unit of content in the data warehouse.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the consumption rights information includes digital rights management information;
further comprising adding a digital rights management layer to the content, and storing the unit of content with the digital rights management layer in the data warehouse.
13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the analysis performed by the content filter determines content not suitable for the content consumer in the secured facility by analyzing searchable text associated with the content, the analyzing including filtering content that contains words or word fragments from a keyword block list.
14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the content filter generates searchable text associated with the content from content types including audio content by processing the content through a content-independent voice recognition algorithm.
15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the data warehouse is local to the secured facility, and the unit of content can be served from the data warehouse to residents of the secured facility using only a private network.
16 . A cloud services delivery system, the system comprising:
a cloud services delivery kiosk configured to make available digital content from a cloud service, the cloud services delivery kiosk having a first hard-wired data connection port;
a secured device containing one or more processors configured to enable consumption of digital content, and having a second hard-wired data connection port;
wherein the secured device is configured to acquire digital content from the cloud services delivery kiosk only when the first hard wired data connection port is connected to the second hard wire data connection port.
17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the cloud services delivery kiosk includes a reporting services module, the reporting services module configured to maintain a record of digital content distributed to the secured device.
18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the cloud services delivery kiosk includes a data warehouse which stores digital content acquired from the cloud service, and the secured device acquires digital content from the data warehouse.
19 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the digital content includes a digital rights management layer, and the secured device is further configured to enable consumption of the digital content including the digital rights management layer.
20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the digital rights management layer is configured to limit the number of times the content may be accessed on the secured device.