Icecast Streaming Media Server

[displague]

I'm thinking about how (in an HTML5 video world) a straight HTTP implementation can support pay-per-minute.

In a DRM-lite sort of way, I can't let the user download the entire video without paying the full minute rate * minutes in video, so buffering and HTTP caching strategies would have to be prevented.

The current solution is implemented in Windows Media Streaming Server and therefor limits clients to WMPlayer and codecs to WMx.

I'm looking for a way to do this without a browser plug-in based on the sort of features that the next generation of browsers seek to support (WebM/h264/ogg).

I can imagine solutions that involve splitting a video into separate 1 minute segments, but I assume the transition would not be transparent to the user. I would actually like a more time-granular system - based on seconds, not minutes. I can give some leeway to buffering, but no more than a few minutes.

If partial HTTP requests were to be used, and the received pieces played in HTML5 video elements, then the question would be how do you determine the byte range for the segment to play and would that segment play in a video element without all the meta data that preceded it - could this be reassembled in javascript?

As for Icecast, is it possible now or is there any expectation for Icecast to handle video streams like this, that:
- permit hooks to fire on user plays/pauses/stops/seeks ?
- throttle users to prevent pulling ahead faster than realtime (but still permit seeks) ?


I'm thinking this would involve:
- an HTTP session
- a PHP script (or anything else / better - Icecast module?) that would send the client the byte range requested from the video file if the session is active
- HTML5 video tag pointing to the file to fetch
- the HTML5/Javascript client must report back events http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/video.html#mediaevents or the session's ability to play would time out (which should trigger another javascript event from the player - 'waiting')
- possibly keeping a database (or cached index files) of minutes to byte ranges for each video file to confirm accuracy (that the client is reporting play / seek times that match the data they are fetching)

Once a user has played and paid their way through the entire video, it would be possible for them to have downloaded/saved the content, but this is no different than current WMSS implementations or screen casting technologies.

Does Icecast have hooks to allow this sort of report back (truthfully) or die functionality?

[Brutish]

Can Icecast do this? Yes, and HTML 5 would have nothing to do with it.

Now, stock, no. But like all scripts, if you want stuff to work exactly how you want, you need to build on it.

If your expecting to make a good ammount of take from this adventure, I would recommend a Flash media server or red5 intigrated in with the output. Reason being? If you offer the on demand in H264/AVC and an AAC LC audio, you could compress the video to hell and back, and the viewer probably wouldnt be too disapointed with the results. As well, Select the output container as flash, and serve it in a flash player; Improper codec for the viewer solved. Plus you can skin a flash player however you like using something like SM2 (SwishMax? been a while since I heard that flash designer programs name) and add your personal (yet expensive looking) touch.

for the FTP side, and I would load the premium Lightspeed vs. Apache onto your server. That way you can offer decent looking compressed videos that people would feel like they didnt get ripped, and this would increase the speed/quality connections to kill buffer issues. Then again, that all depends on the amount of traffic you are expecting.

If you dont know anything of what Im talking about, but are pretty sure your idea will fly? Their are paid third party services like.... Jetcast. They might not allow you to get involved with their advertisers depending on your content ( they might avoid you like the plague) But its worth a shot, and they have been doing some amazing things as a third party host/ streaming support. Just food for thought.
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