Permissions using blockchain

Abstract

A network device receives a smart contract for permissions to access a service, wherein the smart contract is in an initial block for authorizations in a shared ledger. The network device receives, from an authorization server device, an update to the shared ledger, wherein the update is a proposed block in the shared ledger requiring validation. The network device stores, in a local memory, a copy of the shared ledger with the update, when the update is validated by the distributed consensus network. The network device receives, from a client device, an item request for an item associated with the service, wherein the item request includes a client identifier. The network device identifies if there is match of the client identifier and the item in the copy of the shared ledger and sends, to the client device, the item when there is match of the client identifier and the item.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 storing, by a network device in a distributed consensus network, a local copy of a shared ledger that has been validated by the distributed consensus network, wherein the local copy includes permissions for an item associated with a service, and wherein the permissions include a validity time period for access by the user device;   receiving, by the network device and from a user device, an item request for the item, wherein the item request includes a user identifier and a content identifier pair;   identifying, by the network device, if the user identifier and the content identifier pair matches the permissions in the local copy of the shared ledger; and   sending, by the network device and to the user device, the item, when the user identifier and the content identifier pair matches the permissions in the local copy of the shared ledger.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 rejecting the item request when the item request is received outside the validity time period.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving the shared ledger from an authorization server, wherein the network device and the authorization server device are computing devices within different private domains.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 rejecting, by the network device, the item request when there is not a match of the user identifier and the content identifier pair in the local copy of the shared ledger.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying includes:
 performing a lookup for the user identifier and the content identifier pair using an application binary interface (ABI).   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the distributed consensus network includes a combination of nodes in a private domain and other nodes in a different private domain. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein an initial block in the shared ledger includes a smart contract with the permissions to access the item. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the item includes a content chunk of multiple different content chunks for a content item stored at different network devices throughout the distributed consensus network. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 validating, by the network device, the local copy of the shared ledger with other network devices in the distributed consensus network.   
     
     
         10 . One or more network devices in a distributed consensus network, comprising:
 one or more memory devices for storing instructions; and   one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to:
 store a local copy of a shared ledger that has been validated by the distributed consensus network, wherein the local copy includes permissions for an item associated with a service and wherein the permissions include a validity time period for access by the user device; 
 receive, from a user device, an item request for the item, wherein the item request includes a user identifier and a content identifier pair; 
 identify if the user identifier and the content identifier pair matches the permissions in the local copy of the shared ledger; and 
 send, to the user device, the item, when the user identifier and the content identifier pair matches the permissions in the local copy of the shared ledger. 
   
     
     
         11 . The one or more network devices of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:
 reject the item request when the item request is received outside the validity time period.   
     
     
         12 . The one or more network devices of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more network devices are in a separate domain from the distributed consensus network. 
     
     
         13 . The one or more network devices of  claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:
 reject the item request when there is not a match of the user identifier and the content identifier pair in the local copy of the shared ledger.   
     
     
         14 . The one or more network devices of  claim 10 , wherein, when identifying, the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to:
 perform a lookup for the user identifier and the content identifier pair using an application binary interface (ABI).   
     
     
         15 . The one or more network devices of  claim 10 , wherein the distributed consensus network includes a combination of nodes in a private domain and other nodes in a different private domain. 
     
     
         16 . The one or more network devices of  claim 10 , wherein an initial block in the shared ledger includes a smart contract with the permissions to access the item. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions executable by at least one processor, the computer-readable medium comprising one or more instructions to:
 store a local copy of a shared ledger that has been validated by the distributed consensus network, wherein the local copy includes permissions for an item associated with a service, and wherein the permissions include a validity time period for access by the user device;   receive, from a user device, an item request for the item, wherein the item request includes a user identifier and a content identifier pair;   identify if the user identifier and the content identifier pair matches the permissions in the local copy of the shared ledger; and   send, to the user device, the item, when the user identifier and the content identifier pair matches the permissions in the local copy of the shared ledger.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , further comprising one or more instructions to:
 reject the item request when the item request is received outside the validity time period.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , further comprising one or more instructions to:
 receive the shared ledger from an authorization server, wherein the network device and the authorization server device are computing devices within different private domains.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , further comprising one or more instructions to:
 validate the local copy of the shared ledger with other network devices in the distributed consensus network.