| CPC H04L 9/3218 (2013.01) [G06F 21/64 (2013.01); H04L 9/3239 (2013.01); H04L 9/3247 (2013.01); H04L 63/1483 (2013.01); H04L 9/50 (2022.05)] | 20 Claims |

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1. A method of establishing integrity of digital content, the method comprising:
during a block accumulation period, receiving a plurality of records, each record of the plurality of records respectively comprising a record for a digital content file and including an integrity verification code (IVC) for the digital content file;
appending the plurality of records into a currently open block of a blockchain;
at an end of the block accumulation period, closing the currently open block to additional records, rendering the currently open block into a closed block;
opening a new current block into which a future plurality of records may be appended;
chaining the closed block to the blockchain, wherein chaining the closed block to the blockchain comprises inserting an IVC for an earlier block of the blockchain into the closed block;
iteratively opening, appending, and chaining multiple blocks across multiple block accumulation periods to generate the blockchain, wherein the blockchain does not contain content from the digital content files, and wherein each record of the plurality of records further comprises a digital signature of the digital content file by a data owner of the digital content file or a digital signature of the digital content file by an entity that generates the blockchain; and
submitting the IVC for the closed block to a printed publication, wherein publication of the IVC for the closed block in the printed publication comprises an out-of-band date proof for the closed block.
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