Access control

• US 20030177250A1
• Filed: 01/17/2003
• Published: 09/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Knapp Investment Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Brown, Sean, Oliver, Huw Edward, Cushnie, John, Daanen, Johannes Maria Victor
• Granted Patent: US 7,302,591 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• 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 21/33 using certificates
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/44 Program or device authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/73 by creating or determining hardware identification, e.g. serial numbers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2113 Multi-level security, e.g. mandatory access control
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2129 Authenticate client device independently of the user
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/103 applying security measure for protecting copyright
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles

Abstract

A method of controlling access to playable content, the method comprising the steps of

receiving a request to access playable content having a plurality of associated access criteria,

receiving a plurality of credentials,

performing a matching process to compare the credentials to the access criteria, and

allowing access to the playable content is permitted if the access criteria are met by a logical combination of the plurality of credentials.

Claims

1. A method of controlling access to playable content, the method comprising the steps of

receiving a request to access playable content having a plurality of associated access criteria,

receiving a plurality of credentials,

performing a matching process to compare the credentials to the access criteria, and

allowing access to the playable content is permitted if the access criteria are met by a logical combination of the plurality of credentials.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the associated access criteria each comprise an indication of a credential necessary to access the playable content.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the access criteria define a set of alternative credentials and the plurality of credentials provide at least one of said set of alternative credentials to allow access to the playable content.

4. A method according to claim 2 wherein the access criteria define a set of required credentials and the plurality of credentials provide each of said required credentials to allow access to the playable content.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the access criteria each comprise an indication of a user characteristic necessary to access the playable content and wherein a credential comprises an indication of the user characteristic.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the credentials are issued by at least one credential provider.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein the credential comprises credential provider information and the matching process includes the step of reading said credential provider information to very the source of the credential.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein the method is performed by a content provider system, the content provider system being further operable to transmit the playable content in response to the request if the access criteria are met by a logical combination of the plurality of credentials.

9. A method according to claim 1 wherein the playable content is to be played by a content player and wherein the content player performs the matching process before playing the playable content.

10. A method according to claim 1 wherein the playable content is to be a played using a content player, wherein the matching process is performed by a trusted software element and wherein the content player is operable to play the playable content when authorised by the trusted software element.

11. A content provider system operable to supply playable content to a user system, the content provider being operable to

receive a request from the user system to access playable content having a plurality of associated access criteria,

receive a plurality of credentials from the user system,

perform a matching process to compare the credentials to the access criteria, and

allow access to the playable content if the access criteria are Met by a logical combination of the plurality of credentials.

12. A method of controlling access to playable content by a user, the user performing the steps of;

acquiring a plurality of credentials from at least one credential provider,

requesting playable content from a content provider, the playable content having a plurality of associated access criteria,

and supplying the plurality of credentials to a matching process,

the matching process comprising the step of comparing the credentials to the access criteria,

the user being permitted to access the playable content if the access criteria are met by a logical combination of the plurality of credentials.

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein the step of acquiring a credential comprises the steps of;

the user transmitting a credential request to a credential provider and transmitting user information relating to a user characteristic,

the credential provider performing the steps of comparing the user information with a predetermined user characteristic criterion,

generating a credential if the user characteristic is in accordance with the predetermined user characteristic criterion, and

transmitting the credential to the user.

14. A method according to claim 13 wherein the user information comprises geographical information comprising cell information from a cellular telephone communication system.

15. A method according to claim 14 wherein the user information further comprises a unique identifier of a mobile communication device.