System and methods for managing the distribution of electronic content
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of distributing an electronic work comprising the steps of:
- (a) establishing communication between a sender and a receiver;
(b) exchanging authentication information between the receiver and the sender;
(c) moving a copy of the electronic work from the sender to the receiver, the copy of the electronic work having an attribute securely associated with it indicating that it is a copy;
(d) sending a first acknowledgement from the receiver to the sender, the first acknowledgement indicating the receipt of the copy of the electronic work by the receiver'"'"'s site;
(e) receiving, at the sender'"'"'s site, the first acknowledgement, and, responsive thereto, changing an attribute associated with the electronic work to indicate that it is a copy;
(f) sending an authorization from the sender to the receiver authorizing the receiver to change the attribute associated with the copy of the electronic work to indicate that it is an original; and
(g) receiving the authorization at the receiver'"'"'s site, and, responsive thereto, securely changing the attribute associated with the copy of the electronic work to indicate that it is an original, wherein an instance of the electronic work with an associated attribute indicating that it is a copy is prevented from being successfully passed off as an original.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides systems and methods for transfering electronic information from one location to another such that only one original work exists at a given time. The methods and systems of the present invention allow distribution of originals without requiring a registration authority or other entity to vouch for what constitutes an “original” piece of information, thus reducing (or eliminating entirely) the need to centrally record changes in ownership each time originals change hands.
-
Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A method of distributing an electronic work comprising the steps of:
-
(a) establishing communication between a sender and a receiver;
(b) exchanging authentication information between the receiver and the sender;
(c) moving a copy of the electronic work from the sender to the receiver, the copy of the electronic work having an attribute securely associated with it indicating that it is a copy;
(d) sending a first acknowledgement from the receiver to the sender, the first acknowledgement indicating the receipt of the copy of the electronic work by the receiver'"'"'s site;
(e) receiving, at the sender'"'"'s site, the first acknowledgement, and, responsive thereto, changing an attribute associated with the electronic work to indicate that it is a copy;
(f) sending an authorization from the sender to the receiver authorizing the receiver to change the attribute associated with the copy of the electronic work to indicate that it is an original; and
(g) receiving the authorization at the receiver'"'"'s site, and, responsive thereto, securely changing the attribute associated with the copy of the electronic work to indicate that it is an original, wherein an instance of the electronic work with an associated attribute indicating that it is a copy is prevented from being successfully passed off as an original. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A system for transferring an electronic work from a first location to a second location, the system comprising:
-
means for storing the electronic work at the first location, the electronic work having an attribute securely associated with it indicating whether the electronic work is an original or a copy;
means for sending a copy of the electronic work to a second location;
means for securely changing the attribute associated with the electronic work to indicate that the electronic work is a copy; and
means for securely sending an authorization to the second location, the authorization granting the second location the right to securely change an attribute associated with the second location'"'"'s copy of the electronic work to indicate that the second location'"'"'s copy of the electronic work is an original;
wherein at most one of said first location and said second location will possess the original electronic work at a given point in time. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
12. A method of transferring an original electronic work from a first protected computing environment to a second protected computing environment such that at most one instance of the electronic work is tagged as an original at a given point in time, the method comprising the steps of:
-
receiving, at the first protected computing environment, a request from the second protected computing environment to transfer the original electronic work;
determining, at the first protected computing environment, that the second protected computing environment possesses predetermined indicia of security;
securely making a copy of the original electronic work, the copy of the original electronic work having a tag securely associated with it indicating that it is a copy; and
securely sending the original electronic work, and a tag indicating that it is the original, from the first protected computing environment to the second protected computing environment.
-
Specification