A method and system for the secure distribution of content over a
communications network such as the Internet where a content owner
distributes content broken down into blocks to one or more content
sources, the content sources serving as distribution points to
subscribers, with the content owner retaining control over the
distribution transaction. A subscriber requesting a content item from a
content owner receives a list of content sources with available blocks of
the content item in addition to the subscriber determining blocks
available from peers on available peer-to-peer networks, and uses this
information to determine a more optimal distribution of blocks of the
content.