Synchronizing for digital content access control

• US 20040054628A1
• Filed: 09/13/2002
• Published: 03/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: de Jong, Eduard, Bostrom, Jon, Cooley, Aaron
• Granted Patent: US 7,512,972 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/612 for unicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS

Abstract

A method and apparatus for digital content access control comprises determining the occurrence of a synchronization event that triggers synchronization of information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content with information used by one or more content repositories to validate the authenticated digital content request and to return the digital content based at least in part on the validation. The method also comprises determining the information in response to the sychronization event and sending the information to at least one of the group comprising the one or more content provisioners and the one or more content repositories.

Claims

1. A method for digital content access control, the method comprising:

determining the occurrence of a synchronization event, said event triggering synchronization of information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content with information used by one or more content repositories to validate said authenticated digital content request and to return said digital content based at least in part on said validation;

determining said information in response to said sychronization event; and

sending said information to at least one of the group comprising said one or more content provisioners and said one or more content repositories.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein

said digital content request comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL);

and

said authenticated digital content request comprises a tokenized URL.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said tokenized URL further comprises a token comprising a cryptogram based at least in part on an identifier that describes the location of said digital content.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said token is from a token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said information comprises a token pool comprising a plurality of tokens, said token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemable for access to said digital content.

8. A method for digital content access control, the method comprising:

determining whether the amount of time since a last synchronization exceeds a threshold;

determining token pool information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content with information used by one or more content repositories to validate said authenticated digital content request and to return said digital content based at least in part on said validation; and

sending said token pool information to at least one of a content provisioner and a content repository if said amount exceeds said threshold.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein

said digital content request comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL);

and

said authenticated digital content request comprises a tokenized URL.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said tokenized URL further comprises a token comprising a cryptogram based at least in part on an identifier that describes the location of said digital content.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said token is from a token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein said information comprises a token pool comprising a plurality of tokens, said token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

14. The method of claim 8 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemable for access to said digital content.

15. A method for distributing digital content access control information, the method comprising:

applying a cryptographic process to at least part of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) together with a secret key to create a token chain key, said URL identifying protected digital content, said token chain key for use in creating one or more tokens in a token chain, said one or more tokens redeemable for access to said protected digital content; and

sending said token chain key to an entity capable of applying said token chain key to validate said one or more tokens.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises a content domain indicator.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises:

a content domain indicator; and

a content directory indicator.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises:

a content domain indicator;

a content directory indicator; and

a content item indicator.

19. A method for distributing digital content access control information, the method comprising:

applying a cryptographic process to at least part of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) together with a secret key to create a token chain key, said URL identifying protected digital content, said token chain key for use in creating one or more tokens in a token chain, said one or more tokens redeemable for access to said protected digital content;

encrypting said token chain key and a chain length value with a shared transport key to create sealed token pool information, said chain length value indicating the length of said token chain; and

sending said sealed token pool information to an entity capable of applying said token chain key to validate said one or more tokens.

20. A method for digital content access control, the method comprising:

step for determining the occurrence of a synchronization event, said event triggering synchronization of information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content with information used by one or more content repositories to validate said authenticated digital content request and to return said digital content based at least in part on said validation;

step for determining said information in response to said sychronization event; and

step for sending said information to at least one of the group comprising said one or more content provisioners and said one or more content repositories.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein

said digital content request comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL);

and

said authenticated digital content request comprises a tokenized URL.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein said tokenized URL further comprises a token comprising a cryptogram based at least in part on an identifier that describes the location of said digital content.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein said token is from a token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

24. The method of claim 20 wherein said information comprises a token pool comprising a plurality of tokens, said token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

25. The method of claim 20 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

26. The method of claim 20 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemable for access to said digital content.

27. A method for digital content access control, the method comprising:

step for determining whether the amount of time since a last synchronization exceeds a threshold;

step for determining token pool information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content with information used by one or more content repositories to validate said authenticated digital content request and to return said digital content based at least in part on said validation; and

step for sending said token pool information to at least one of a content provisioner and a content repository if said amount exceeds said threshold.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein

said digital content request comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL);

and

said authenticated digital content request comprises a tokenized URL.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein said tokenized URL further comprises a token comprising a cryptogram based at least in part on an identifier that describes the location of said digital content.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein said token is from a token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein said information comprises a token pool comprising a plurality of tokens, said token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

32. The method of claim 27 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

33. The method of claim 27 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemable for access to said digital content.

34. A method for distributing digital content access control information, the method comprising:

step for applying a cryptographic process to at least part of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) together with a secret key to create a token chain key, said URL identifying protected digital content, said token chain key for use in creating one or more tokens in a token chain, said one or more tokens redeemable for access to said protected digital content; and

step for sending said token chain cryptogram to an entity capable of applying said token chain key to validate said one or more tokens.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises a content domain indicator.

36. The method of claim 34 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises:

a content domain indicator; and

a content directory indicator.

37. The method of claim 34 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises:

a content domain indicator;

a content directory indicator; and

a content item indicator.

38. A method for distributing digital content access control information, the method comprising:

step for applying a cryptographic process to at least part of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) together with a secret key to create a token chain key, said URL identifying protected digital content, said token chain key for use in creating one or more tokens in a token chain, said one or more tokens redeemable for access to said protected digital content;

step encrypting said token chain key and a chain length value with a shared transport key to create sealed token pool information, said chain length value indicating the length of said token chain; and

step for sending said sealed token pool information to an entity capable of applying said token chain key to validate said one or more tokens.

39. A program storage device readable by a machine, embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for digital content access control, the method comprising:

determining the occurrence of a synchronization event, said event triggering synchronization of information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content with information used by one or more content repositories to validate said authenticated digital content request and to return said digital content based at least in part on said validation;

determining said information in response to said sychronization event; and

sending said information to at least one of the group comprising said one or more content provisioners and said one or more content repositories.

40. The program storage device of claim 39 wherein

said digital content request comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL);

and

said authenticated digital content request comprises a tokenized URL.

41. The program storage device of claim 40 wherein said tokenized URL further comprises a token comprising a cryptogram based at least in part on an identifier that describes the location of said digital content.

42. The program storage device of claim 41 wherein said token is from a token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

43. The program storage device of claim 39 wherein said information comprises a token pool comprising a plurality of tokens, said token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

44. The program storage device of claim 39 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

45. The program storage device of claim 39 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemable for access to said digital content.

46. A program storage device readable by a machine, embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for digital content access control, the method comprising:

determining whether the amount of time since a last synchronization exceeds a threshold;

determining token pool information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content with information used by one or more content repositories to validate said authenticated digital content request and to return said digital content based at least in part on said validation; and

sending said token pool information to at least one of a content provisioner and a content repository if said amount exceeds said threshold.

47. The program storage device of claim 46 wherein

said digital content request comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL);

and

said authenticated digital content request comprises a tokenized URL.

48. The program storage device of claim 47 wherein said tokenized URL further comprises a token comprising a cryptogram based at least in part on an identifier that describes the location of said digital content.

49. The program storage device of claim 48 wherein said token is from a token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

50. The program storage device of claim 46 wherein said information comprises a token pool comprising a plurality of tokens, said token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

51. The program storage device of claim 46 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

52. The program storage device of claim 46 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemable for access to said digital content.

53. A program storage device readable by a machine, embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for distributing digital content access control information, the method comprising:

applying a cryptographic process to at least part of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) together with a secret key to create a token chain key, said URL identifying protected digital content, said token chain key for use in creating one or more tokens in a token chain, said one or more tokens redeemable for access to said protected digital content; and

sending said token chain key to an entity capable of applying said token chain key to validate said one or more tokens.

54. The program storage device of claim 53 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises a content domain indicator.

55. The program storage device of claim 53 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises:

a content domain indicator; and

a content directory indicator.

56. The program storage device of claim 53 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises:

a content domain indicator;

a content directory indicator; and

a content item indicator.

57. A program storage device readable by a machine, embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for distributing digital content access control information, the method comprising:

applying a cryptographic process to at least part of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) together with a secret key to create a token chain key, said URL identifying protected digital content, said token chain key for use in creating one or more tokens in a token chain, said one or more tokens redeemable for access to said protected digital content;

encrypting said token chain key and a chain length value with a shared transport key to create sealed token pool information, said chain length value indicating the length of said token chain; and

sending said sealed token pool information to an entity capable of applying said token chain key to validate said one or more tokens.

58. An apparatus for digital content access control, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining the occurrence of a synchronization event, said event triggering synchronization of information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content with information used by one or more content repositories to validate said authenticated digital content request and to return said digital content based at least in part on said validation;

means for determining said information in response to said sychronization event; and

means for sending said information to at least one of the group comprising said one or more content provisioners and said one or more content repositories.

59. The apparatus of claim 58 wherein

said digital content request comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL);

and

said authenticated digital content request comprises a tokenized URL.

60. The apparatus of claim 59 wherein said tokenized URL further comprises a token comprising a cryptogram based at least in part on an identifier that describes the location of said digital content.

61. The apparatus of claim 60 wherein said token is from a token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

62. The apparatus of claim 58 wherein said information comprises a token pool comprising a plurality of tokens, said token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

63. The apparatus of claim 58 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

64. The apparatus of claim 58 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemable for access to said digital content.

65. An apparatus for digital content access control, the apparatus comprising:

means for determining whether the amount of time since a last synchronization exceeds a threshold;

means for determining token pool information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content with information used by one or more content repositories to validate said authenticated digital content request and to return said digital content based at least in part on said validation; and

means for sending said token pool information to at least one of a content provisioner and a content repository if said amount exceeds said threshold.

66. The apparatus of claim 65 wherein

said digital content request comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL);

and

said authenticated digital content request comprises a tokenized URL.

67. The apparatus of claim 66 wherein said tokenized URL further comprises a token comprising a cryptogram based at least in part on an identifier that describes the location of said digital content.

68. The apparatus of claim 67 wherein said token is from a token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

69. The apparatus of claim 65 wherein said information comprises a token pool comprising a plurality of tokens, said token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

70. The apparatus of claim 65 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

71. The apparatus of claim 65 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

72. An apparatus for distributing digital content access control information, the apparatus comprising:

means for applying a cryptographic process to at least part of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) together with a secret key to create a token chain key, said URL identifying protected digital content, said token chain key for use in creating one or more tokens in a token chain, said one or more tokens redeemable for access to said protected digital content; and

means for sending said token chain key to an entity capable of applying said token chain key to validate said one or more tokens.

73. The apparatus of claim 72 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises a content domain indicator.

74. The apparatus of claim 72 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises:

a content domain indicator; and

a content directory indicator.

75. The apparatus of claim 72 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises:

a content domain indicator;

a content directory indicator; and

a content item indicator.

76. An apparatus for distributing digital content access control information, the apparatus comprising:

means for applying a cryptographic process to at least part of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) together with a secret key to create a token chain key, said URL identifying protected digital content, said token chain key for use in creating one or more tokens in a token chain, said one or more tokens redeemable for access to said protected digital content;

means for encrypting said token chain key and a chain length value with a shared transport key to create sealed token pool information, said chain length value indicating the length of said token chain; and

means for sending said sealed token pool information to an entity capable of applying said token chain key to validate said one or more tokens.

77. An apparatus for digital content access control, the apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing provisioning information and validation information, said provisioning information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content, said validation information used by one or more content repositories to validate an authenticated digital content request and return said digital content based at least in part on said validation; and

a synchronizer configured to;

determine the occurrence of a synchronization event, said event triggering synchronization of said provisioning information with said validation information;

determine at least one of said provisioning information and said validation information in response to said sychronization event; and

send at least one of said said provisioning information and said validation information.

78. The apparatus of claim 77 wherein

said digital content request comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL);

and

said authenticated digital content request comprises a tokenized URL.

79. The apparatus of claim 78 wherein said tokenized URL further comprises a token comprising a cryptogram based at least in part on an identifier that describes the location of said digital content.

80. The apparatus of claim 79 wherein said token is from a token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

81. The apparatus of claim 77 wherein said information comprises a token pool comprising a plurality of tokens, said token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

82. The apparatus of claim 77 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

83. The apparatus of claim 77 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemable for access to said digital content.

84. An apparatus for digital content access control, the apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing provisioning information and validation information, said provisioning information used by one or more content provisioners to create an authenticated digital content request that is based at least in part on a digital content request comprising a request for digital content, said validation information used by one or more content repositories to validate an authenticated digital content request and return said digital content based at least in part on said validation; and

a synchronizer configured to;

determine whether the amount of time since a last synchronization exceeds a threshold;

determine said provisioning information and said validation information;

send at least one of said said provisioning information and said validation information if said amount exceeds said threshold.

85. The apparatus of claim 84 wherein

said digital content request comprises a Universal Resource Locator (URL);

and

said authenticated digital content request comprises a tokenized URL.

86. The apparatus of claim 85 wherein said tokenized URL further comprises a token comprising a cryptogram based at least in part on an identifier that describes the location of said digital content.

87. The apparatus of claim 86 wherein said token is from a token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

88. The apparatus of claim 84 wherein said information comprises a token pool comprising a plurality of tokens, said token pool associated with the location of digital content for which access is authorized.

89. The apparatus of claim 84 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemed for access to said digital content.

90. The apparatus of claim 84 wherein said information comprises the number of tokens redeemable for access to said digital content.

91. An apparatus for distributing digital content access control information, the apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing a shared key; and

a synchronizer configured to;

apply a cryptographic process to at least part of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) together with said shared key to create a token chain key, said URL identifying protected digital content, said token chain key for use in creating one or more tokens in a token chain, said one or more tokens redeemable for access to said protected digital content; and

send said token chain key to an entity capable of applying said token chain key to validate said one or more tokens.

92. The apparatus of claim 91 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises a content domain indicator.

93. The apparatus of claim 91 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises:

a content domain indicator; and

a content directory indicator.

94. The apparatus of claim 91 wherein said at least part of a URL comprises:

a content domain indicator;

a content directory indicator; and

a content item indicator.

95. An apparatus for distributing digital content access control information, the apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing a shared key;

a synchronizer configured to;

apply a cryptographic process to at least part of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) together with said shared key to create a token chain key, said URL identifying protected digital content, said token chain key for use in creating one or more tokens in a token chain, said one or more tokens redeemable for access to said protected digital content;

encrypt said token chain key and a chain length value with a shared transport key to create sealed token pool information, said chain length value indicating the length of said token chain; and

send said sealed token pool information to an entity capable of applying said token chain key to validate said one or more tokens.