Method and system for detecting pirated content

• US 20020156743A1
• Filed: 04/24/2001
• Published: 10/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: DeTreville, John D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,424,747 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A content player can detect pirated content by storing a list of highly compressed content pieces that correspond to different pieces of content (e.g., audio content, video content, audio/video content, etc.). A piece of content to be played back by the content player is compared to the highly compressed content pieces stored at the content player. If the piece of content to be played back matches one of the highly compressed content pieces, then appropriate responsive action is taken. This responsive action can vary, and can include, for example, checking for a valid license, giving the user the option to notify the publisher if he or she has unknowingly acquired a pirated copy of the content, etc.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a source database storing a plurality of highly compressed content pieces; and

a content player, coupled to the source database, including, an interface to receive a subset of the plurality of highly compressed content pieces from the source database,

a storage device to store the subset,

a comparator to compare the subset to content and determine whether the content matches any of the plurality of highly compressed content pieces in the subset, and

a resolver to take particular action in response to the comparator indicating the content matches one of the plurality of highly compressed content pieces in the subset.

2. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the comparator is to compare the subset to content being played by the content player.

3. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the content player is coupled to the source database via the Internet.

4. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of highly compressed content pieces comprises a plurality of highly compressed audio pieces.

5. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of highly compressed content pieces comprises a plurality of highly compressed video pieces.

6. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of highly compressed content pieces comprises a plurality of highly compressed audio/video pieces.

7. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the interface is further to subsequently communicate with the source database, retrieve a new subset of the plurality of highly compressed content pieces from the source database, and replace the subset in the storage device with the new subset.

8. A system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a content source coupled to the content player, and wherein the content player further comprises a compressor to receive content from the content source, generate a highly compressed content piece based on the received content, and add the generated highly compressed content piece to the subset in the storage device.

9. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the storage device is further to store a plurality of licenses identifying content that a user of the content player is authorized to playback, and wherein the particular action comprises the resolver checking whether one of the plurality of licenses corresponds to the content.

10. A system as recited in claim 9, wherein each of the plurality of highly compressed content pieces in the subset further indicates whether one of the plurality of licenses is required for playback of the content.

11. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the storage device is further to store the content.

12. A system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a content source, coupled to the content player, from which the content is received.

13. A system as recited in claim 12, wherein the content player receives the content from the content source in its entirety before playback of the content begins.

14. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the comparator is to determine whether the content matches any of the plurality of highly compressed content pieces in the subset by comparing a first set of feature values associated with each of the plurality of highly compressed content pieces with a second set of feature values associated with the content, and checking whether at least a threshold number of the first set of feature values is within threshold distance of the second set of feature values.

15. A system as recited in claim 14, wherein the first set of feature values and the second set of feature values each comprises a set of audio energy features.

17. A system as recited in claim 16, wherein the content at the system comprises content being played by the system.

18. A system as recited in claim 16, further comprising a resolver, coupled to the comparator, to take a particular action in response to the comparator indicating the content matches one of the plurality of highly compressed content pieces in the subset.

19. A system as recited in claim 18, wherein the particular action comprises checking to see whether the system has a valid license for the content.

20. A system as recited in claim 16, wherein the memory is further to store the content.

21. A system as recited in claim 16, further comprising a playback controller, coupled to the memory, to receive the content from an external source.

22. A system as recited in claim 21, wherein the external source comprises a CD.

23. A system as recited in claim 16, further comprising an interface, coupled to the memory, to receive the one or more highly compressed content pieces from a compressed content source.

24. A system as recited in claim 16, further comprising a compressor, coupled to the memory, to receive content and generate the one or more highly compressed content pieces.

25. A system as recited in claim 16, wherein the comparator is to determine whether the content matches any of the plurality of highly compressed content pieces in the subset by comparing a first set of feature values associated with each of the plurality of highly compressed content pieces with a second set of feature values associated with the content, and checking whether at least a threshold number of the first set of feature values is within threshold distance of the second set of feature values.

26. A system as recited in claim 25, wherein the first set of feature values and the second set of feature values each comprises a set of audio energy features.

27. A system as recited in claim 16, wherein the system comprises a portable music player.

28. A system as recited in claim 16, wherein each of the one or more highly compressed content pieces further indicates whether a license is required for playback of the corresponding content.

30. A method as recited in claim 29, wherein the portion of media content comprises a song.

31. A method as recited in claim 29, wherein the portion of media content comprises a video clip.

32. A method as recited in claim 29, further comprising performing the comparing while the portion of media content is being played.

33. A method as recited in claim 29, further comprising performing the comparing while the portion of media content is being downloaded from a content source.

34. A method as recited in claim 29, further comprising receiving the set of highly compressed pieces from a highly compressed content piece source.

35. A method as recited in claim 34, further comprising subsequently receiving a new set of highly compressed pieces from the highly compressed content piece source, and replacing the set with the new subset.

36. A method as recited in claim 29, further comprising:

receiving content from a content source;

generating a highly compressed piece based on the received content; and

adding the generated highly compressed piece to the set of highly compressed pieces.

37. A method as recited in claim 29, wherein the programmed action comprises checking whether one of a plurality of licenses maintained at a content player performing the comparing corresponds to the portion of media content.

38. A method as recited in claim 29, wherein the determining comprises:

comparing a first set of feature values associated with each of the plurality of highly compressed pieces with a second set of feature values associated with the portion of media content; and

checking whether at least a threshold number of the first set of feature values is within threshold distance of the second set of feature values.

39. A method as recited in claim 38, wherein the first set of feature values and the second set of feature values each comprises a set of audio energy features.

16. A system comprising:

a memory to store one or more highly compressed content pieces; and

a comparator, coupled to the memory, to compare the one or more highly compressed content pieces to content at the system and to determine whether the content matches at least one of the one or more highly compressed content pieces.

29. A method comprising:

comparing a portion of media content to a set of one or more highly compressed pieces of content;

determining whether the portion of media content matches any of the set of highly compressed pieces; and

taking a programmed action if the portion of media content matches any of the set of highly compressed pieces.

40. One or more computer-readable memories containing a computer program that is executable by a processor to perform a method comprising:

comparing a portion of media content to a set of one or more highly compressed pieces of content;

determining whether the portion of media content matches any of the set of highly compressed pieces; and

taking a programmed action if the portion of media content matches any of the set of highly compressed pieces.

41. A system comprising:

means for storing a set of highly compressed content pieces;

means for determining whether the portion of media content matches any of the set of highly compressed content pieces; and

means for taking a particular action if the portion of media content matches any of the set of highly compressed content pieces.

42. A system as recited in claim 41, further comprising means for receiving an update set of highly compressed content pieces and replacing the set of highly compressed content pieces with the update set of highly compressed content pieces.

43. A system as recited in claim 41, further comprising means for receiving the set of highly compressed content pieces.

44. A system as recited in claim 41, further comprising means for generating the set of highly compressed content pieces.

45. A system as recited in claim 41, wherein the means for storing is further for storing the portion of media content.

47. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 46, wherein the portion of media content includes one or more of audio content and video content.

48. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 46, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform acts including receiving the piece of highly compressed content from a highly compressed content source.

49. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 48, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform acts including subsequently receiving a new piece of highly compressed content from the highly compressed content source, and replacing the piece with the new piece.

50. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 46, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform acts including:

receiving content from a content source; and

generating the piece of highly compressed content based on the received content.

51. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 46, wherein the checking comprises:

comparing a first set of feature values associated with the piece of highly compressed content with a second set of feature values associated with the portion of media content; and

checking whether at least a threshold number of the first set of feature values is within threshold distance of the second set of feature values.

52. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 51, wherein the first set of feature values and the second set of feature values each comprises a set of audio energy features.

46. One or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer, causes the one or more processors to perform acts including:

checking whether a portion of media content matches a piece of highly compressed content, wherein the piece of highly compressed content cannot be played back to a user in an intelligible form;

allowing the portion of media content to be played back if the portion of media content does not match the piece of highly compressed content; and

taking a particular action if the portion of media content does match the piece of highly compressed content.

53. One or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a plurality of instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer, causes the one or more processors to perform acts including:

receiving a portion of media content; and

generating a highly compressed content piece based on the portion of media content, wherein the piece of highly compressed content cannot be played back to a user in an intelligible form but can be compared to the portion of media content for equality with a high degree of accuracy.

54. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 53, wherein the generating comprises extracting a plurality of features from the media content and selecting groups of the extracted features as the highly compressed piece of content.

55. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 54, wherein the plurality of features comprise a plurality of energy features.

56. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 53, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform acts including communicating the highly compressed content piece to a content player.

57. One or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 53, wherein the plurality of instructions further cause the one or more processors to perform acts including saving the highly compressed content piece in a local storage device of a content player for subsequent comparisons to media content to be played back at the content player.