Video and multimedia distribution system

1. A digital content distribution system comprising

(a) a central content warehouse for storing digital content;

(b) a distributed architecture of decentralized content hosting and delivery clusters and content users in each cluster coupled to said central content warehouse and able to receive digital content therefrom; the decentralized content hosting and delivery clusters in said distributed architecture comprising a distribution content warehouse coupled to said central content warehouse; said distribution content warehouse storing content received from said central content warehouse; one or more client servers coupled to said distribution content warehouse; said one or more client servers receiving digital content from said distribution content warehouse; and at least one set top box coupled to said one or more client servers; said at least one set top box receiving digital content from said one or more client servers; said at least one set top box being operative to play said received digital content for a user;

(c) each cluster incorporates a user information and tracking system serving all the users associated with the cluster for generating user information and tracking data;

(d) said user information and tracking system being coupled to said central content warehouse, and providing said user information and tracking data; said user information and tracking system receiving user profiles obtained from end user data and providing content control information to said central content warehouse and content distribution information to said distribution content warehouse in order to provide a content library to said distribution content warehouse; said content library being tailored to the needs of a group of users served by said distribution content warehouse; and

(e) the distributed content host and users of each cluster having complementary software for usage information delivery and content delivery.

2. The distribution system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the user information and tracking system includes user data gathered from said set top box and stored in a user data base coupled to said information and tracking system, wherein said user data is provided to said information and tracking system by said user database.

3. The distribution system in accordance with claim 1 further including an encoding system, wherein said encoding system converts digital content from a first format into a second format suitable for use by said complementary software in each cluster.

4. The distribution system in accordance with claim 1 further comprising load balancing receiver in each cluster.

5. The distribution system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said central content host is connected to multiple clusters and configured to route usage information and content among clusters.

6. A method of digital content distribution comprising the steps of

(a receiving, at distribution content warehouse, digital content from a central content warehouse; said received digital content being stored in said distribution content warehouse;

(b) providing at least some of said digital content to one or more client servers; said one or more client servers providing said at least some of said digital content to at least one set top box; said distribution content warehouse, said one or more client servers and said at least one set top box comprising a cluster;

(c) receiving, at said distribution content warehouse, content distribution information for the cluster; said content distribution information derived from user profiles obtained from end user data from a group of users associated with the cluster; and

(d) receiving, at said distribution content warehouse and from said central content warehouse, content tailored to the needs of the group of users associated with the cluster.

7. The method in accordance with claim 6 wherein said tailored content is adjusted on the basis of collected user data.

8. The method in accordance with claim 6 further comprising-the steps of gathering user data from said at least one set top box, storing said user data in a user data base, providing said user data via said user database to an information and tracking system.

9. The method in accordance with claim 6 further including the steps of converting digital content in a first format into a second format suitable for use by said complementary software in each cluster.

10. The method in accordance with claim 6 further comprising the step of load balancing in each cluster.

11. The method in accordance with claim 6 further including the steps of routing usage information and content among clusters.

12. The method in accordance with claim 6 further comprising the steps of:

receiving selections of the content from at least one of the users;

continuously updating the user information associated with said at least one user;

calculating time required for downloading the selected content for smooth play based on available internet speed;

identifying pre-content based on the calculated time and the continuously updated user information; said pre-content being other content different from said selected content; whereby a silent waiting period during downloading of selected content is eliminated;

playing the identified pre-content until a pre-selected percentage of the identified pre-content is played;

requesting the selected content from a streaming module;

testing rights associated with the content and the user information for validity; and

streaming the selected content if the rights are valid.

13. The method in accordance with claim 6 further comprising the steps of:

receiving content profiles;

receiving diverse content from content providers based on the content profiles;

encoding the diverse content into a common digital format;

effecting receipt of revenue for the diverse content;

effecting payment of the at least part of the revenue to the content providers;

providing at least a part of the diverse content to the distributed data warehouses based on a group of users associated with the distributed data warehouses and the content profiles; and

adjusting the content and content diffusion based on changes in the content profiles.