A system, method and computer readable medium for providing secure IP-based streaming in a format independent manner is disclosed. The method on a content mastering system begins with an encoded media file consisting of content data and associated metadata. First, the metadata is read from the encoded media file. Next, the encoded media file including the content data and the associated metadata is encrypted. Then, in a streaming server system, the encoded/encrypted media file is divided into more than one data packet, streamed in accordance with one or more parameters in the metadata. Each data packet includes a portion of the encoded/encrypted media file and an offset value corresponding to a location within the encoded/encrypted media file. The data packets are then streamed to a client information processing system (i.e., the client) over a network.