CONTENT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, P2P TERMINAL, VIEWING START ASSISTANCE SERVER, AND CONTENT DISTRIBUTION METHOD

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make viewing of a content using a P2P (peer-to-peer) terminal start quickly.SOLUTION: A P2P terminal 1 comprises: a P2P communication unit 11 for performing P2P communication with another P2P terminal; and a HTTP distribution reproduction unit 12 for receiving segmented data and reproducing it. The HTTP distribution reproduction unit 12 transmits a request for information including an acquisition destination URL for the segmented data to a viewing start assistance server 2; the viewing start assistance server 2 transmits a response including the acquisition destination URL for the segmented data to the HTTP distribution reproduction unit 12 in response to the request. The HTTP distribution reproduction unit 12 receives the segmented data from the acquisition destination URL and reproduces it. The P2P communication unit 11 performs participation processing to a P2P network; the HTTP distribution reproduction unit 12 changes its acquisition destination for segmented data to the P2P communication unit 11 when the participation processing by the P2P communication unit 11 is completed.