Statutory license restricted digital media playback on portable devices

• US 10,042,987 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2016
• Issued: 08/07/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment America LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Navar, Murgesh, Yruski, Andrey, Puranik, Rajiv, Hsu, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Shepperd, Eric W
• Application Number:
  US15/391,522
• Publication Number:
  US 20170206341A1
• Time in Patent Office: 588 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3827 Portable transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0457 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply dynamic encryption, e.g. stream encryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for stream encryption H04L9/065
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1059 End-user terminal functionalities specially adapted for real-time communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0894 Escrow, recovery or storing of secret information, e.g. secret key escrow or cryptographic key storage

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for, e.g., providing a statutory audio content service on a portable device that complies with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The user can select a playlist subject to DMCA restrictions but cannot access individual items. Content playback, including skipping of content, is restricted to enforce relevant DMCA provisions. Encryption used to implement digital rights management (DRM) may be modified to enforce such content play rules or, alternatively, an additional layer of encryption may be imposed. Limitations on playback are stored along with the playlist structure in a form that is protected against modification. Information logging content playback is maintained in protected form to be uploaded and relayed to the service provider for the purpose of calculating royalty payments.

Claims

1. A method for controlling playback of digital content on a portable electronic device, the method comprising:

determining a geographic location of the portable electronic device;

storing one or more play rules in an encrypted file on the portable electronic device;

retrieving a list of encrypted digital content at the portable electronic device, the encrypted digital content comprising a first content type encrypted using a first encryption scheme and a second content type encrypted using a second encryption scheme;

identifying at least one of the stored play rules as associated with the encrypted digital content; and

permitting playback of the encrypted digital content based on the geographic location of the portable electronic device until a determination is made that the at least one associated play rule has been violated, wherein permitting playback of the encrypted digital content comprises;

decrypting the first content type using a first key, and

decrypting the second content type using a second key, wherein the first key and the second key are stored in an access-controlled memory structure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein permitting playback of the encrypted digital content further comprises authenticating a log information file, the log information file comprising data describing one or more user interactions or playback events associated with the portable electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more play rules comprises a statutory license restriction.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the encrypted file is configured to be updated by a content service provider to facilitate content rights management.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a selection of a playlist, wherein permitting playback of the encrypted digital content further comprises decrypting the playlist using a key table stored in a read only memory (ROM) of the portable electronic device.

6. A portable electronic device comprising:

a memory that stores one or more play rules in an encrypted file; and

a processor that executes instructions, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor;

determines a geographic location of the portable electronic device;

retrieves a list of encrypted digital content at the portable electronic device, the encrypted digital content comprising a first content type encrypted using a first encryption scheme and a second content type encrypted using a second encryption scheme;

identifies at least one of the stored play rules as associated with the encrypted digital content, and

permits playback of the encrypted digital content based on the geographic location of the portable electronic device until a determination is made that the at least one associated play rule has been violated, wherein permitting playback of the encrypted digital content comprises;

decrypting the first content type using a first key, and

decrypting the second content type using a second key, wherein the first key and the second key are stored in an access-controlled memory structure.

7. The portable electronic device of claim 6, wherein permitting playback of the encrypted digital content further comprises authenticating a log information file, wherein the log information file comprises information describing one or more user interactions or playback events associated with the portable electronic device.

8. The portable electronic device of claim 6, wherein the one or more play rules comprises one or more statutory license restrictions.

9. The portable electronic device of claim 6, wherein the encrypted file is configured to be updated by a content service provider to facilitate content rights management.

10. The portable electronic device of claim 6, further comprising an interface that receives a selection of a playlist, wherein the processor permits playback of the encrypted digital content by decrypting the playlist using a key table stored in a read only memory (ROM) of the portable electronic device.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for permitting playback of digital content, the method comprising:

determining a geographic location of a portable electronic device;

storing one or more play rules in an encrypted file on the portable electronic device;

retrieving a list of encrypted digital content at the portable electronic device, the encrypted digital content comprising a first content type encrypted using a first encryption scheme and a second content type encrypted using a second encryption scheme;

identifying at least one of the stored play rules as associated with the encrypted digital content; and

permitting playback of the encrypted digital content based on the geographic location of the portable electronic device until a determination is made that the at least one associated play rule has been violated, wherein permitting playback of the encrypted digital content comprises;

decrypting the first content type using a first key, and

decrypting the second content type using a second key, wherein the first key and the second key are stored in an access-controlled memory structure.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein permitting playback of the encrypted digital content further comprises authenticating a log information file, the log information file comprising data describing one or more user interactions or playback events associated with the portable electronic device.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more play rules comprises a statutory license restriction.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein permitting playback of the encrypted digital content further comprises decrypting the playlist using a key table stored in a read only memory (ROM) of the portable electronic device.