Methods and apparatus for persistent control and protection of content

• US 20040107356A1
• Filed: 11/19/2003
• Published: 06/03/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intertrust Technologies Corporation (Fidelio Acquisition Co LLC)
• Original Assignee: Intertrust Technologies Corporation (Fidelio Acquisition Co LLC)
• Inventors: Sibert, W. Olin, Van Wie, David M., Shamoon, Talal G., Hwa, John P., Hill, Ralph D., Radcliffe, Chris D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,809,138 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/193
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/603 Digital right managament [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/605 Copy protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/64 Self-signed certificates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management data processing systems or methods, specially adapted for commerce, e.g. marketing, shopping, billing, auctions or e-commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/14 using a plurality of keys or algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23476 by partially encrypting, e.g. encrypting the ending portion of a movie
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23605 Creation or processing of packetized elementary streams [PES]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26613 for generating or managing keys in general key distribution for secret or secure communication involving central third party, e.g. key distribution center [KDC] or trusted third party [TTP] H04L9/083; network support of key management H04L63/06; key management for network security in communication control or processing H04W12/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4343 Extraction or processing of packetized elementary streams [PES]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43853 involving multiplex stream decryption arrangements using cryptography for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/23
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4405 involving video stream decryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44055 by partially decrypting, e.g. decrypting a video stream that has been partially encrypted
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4627 Rights management associated to the content security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8193 dedicated tools, e.g. video decoder software or IPMP tool
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/835 Generation of protective data, e.g. certificates protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8352 : involving content or source identification data, e.g. Unique Material Identifier [UMID]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8355 : involving usage data, e.g. number of copies or viewings allowed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8358 : involving watermark protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/167 : Systems rendering the television signal unintelligible and subsequently intelligible
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/1675 : Providing digital key or authorisation information for generation or regeneration of the scrambling sequence pseudo-random number generators in general G06F7/58

Abstract

A novel method and apparatus for protection of streamed media content is disclosed. In one aspect, the apparatus includes control means for governance of content streams or content objects, decryption means for decrypting content streams or content objects under control of the control means, and feedback means for tracking actual use of content streams or content objects. The control means may operate in accordance with rules received as part of the streamed content, or through a side-band channel. The rules may specify allowed uses of the content, including whether or not the content can be copied or transferred, and whether and under what circumstances received content may be “checked out” of one device and used in a second device. The rules may also include or specify budgets, and a requirement that audit information be collected and/or transmitted to an external server. In a different aspect, the apparatus may include a media player designed to call plugins to assist in rendering content. A “trust plugin” is disclosed, along with a method of using the trust plugin so that a media player designed for use with unprotected content may render protected content without the necessity of requiring any changes to the media player. In one aspect, the streamed content may be in a number of different formats, including MPEG-4, MP3, and the RMFF format.

Claims

1. A streaming media player providing content protection and digital rights management, including:

a port configured to receive a digital bit stream, the digital bit stream including;

content which is encrypted at least in part, and

a secure container including control information for controlling use of the content, including at least one key suitable for decryption of at least a portion of the content; and

a control arrangement including;

means for opening secure containers and extracting cryptographic keys, and

means for decrypting the encrypted portion of the content.

2. The player of claim 1 in which the digital bit stream includes at least two sub-streams which have been muxed together, at least one of the sub-streams including compressed information, and

wherein the player further includes:

a demux designed to separate and route the sub-streams;

a decompression unit configured to decompress at least one of the sub-streams, the decompression unit and the demux being connected by a pathway for the transmission of information; and

a rendering unit designed to process decompressed content information for rendering.

3. The player of claim 2, further including:

a stream controller operatively connected to the decompression unit, the stream controller including decryption functionality configured to decrypt at least a portion of a sub-stream and pass the decrypted sub-stream to the decompression unit.

4. The player of claim 3, further including:

a path between the control arrangement and the stream controller to enable the control arrangement to pass at least one key to the stream controller for use with the stream controller'"'"'s decryption functionality.

5. The player of claim 4, further including:

a feedback path from the rendering unit to the control arrangement to allow the control arrangement to receive information from the rendering unit regarding the identification of objects which are to be rendered or have been rendered.

6. The player of claim 1, wherein the digital bit stream is encoded in MPEG-4 format.

7. The player of claim 1, wherein the digital bit stream is encoded in MP3 format.

8. The player of claim 4, wherein the control arrangement contains a rule or rule set associated with governance of at least one sub-stream or object.

9. The player of claim 8, wherein the rule or rule set is delivered from an external source.

10. The player of claim 9, wherein the rule or rule set is delivered as part of the digital bit stream.

11. The player of claim 8, wherein the rule or rule set specifies conditions under which the governed sub-stream or object may be decrypted.

12. The player of claim 8, wherein the rule or rule set governs at least one aspect of access to or use of the governed sub-stream or object.

13. The player of claim 12, wherein the governed aspect includes making copies of the governed sub-stream or object.

14. The player of claim 12, wherein the governed aspect includes transmitting the governed sub-stream or object through a digital output port.

15. The player of claim 14, wherein the rule or rule set specifies that the governed sub-stream or object can be transferred to a second device, but rendering of the governed sub-stream or object must be disabled in the first device prior to or during the transfer.

16. The player of claim 15, wherein the second device includes rendering capability, lacks at least one feature present in the streaming media player, and is at least somewhat more portable than the streaming media player.

17. The player of claim 11, wherein the control arrangement contains at least two rules governing access to or use of the same governed sub-stream or object.

18. The player of claim 17, wherein a first of the two rules was supplied by a first entity, and the second of the two rules was supplied by a second entity.

19. The player of claim 18, wherein the first rule controls at least one aspect of operation of the second rule.

20. The player of claim 12, wherein the governed aspect includes use of at least one budget.

21. The player of claim 12, wherein the governed aspect includes a requirement that audit information be provided.

22. The player of claim 1, wherein the control arrangement includes tamper resistance.

23. A digital bit stream including:

content information that is compressed and at least in part encrypted; and

a secure container including

governance information for the governance of at least one aspect of access to or use of at least a portion of the content information; and

a key for decryption of at least a portion of the encrypted content information.

24. The digital bit stream of claim 23, wherein the content information is encoded in MPEG-4 format.

25. The digital bit stream of claim 23, wherein the content information is encoded in MP3 format.

26. A method of rendering a protected digital bit stream including:

receiving the protected digital bit stream,

passing the protected digital bit stream to a media player,

the media player reading first header information identifying a plugin used to process the protected digital bit stream, the first header information indicating that a first plugin is required;

the media player calling the first plugin;

the media player passing the protected digital bit stream to the first plugin;

the first plugin decrypting at least a portion of the protected digital bit stream;

the first plugin reading second header information identifying a second plugin necessary in order to render the decrypted digital bit stream;

the first plugin calling the second plugin;

the first plugin passing the decrypted digital bit stream to the second plugin;

the second plugin processing the decrypted digital bit stream, the processing including decompressing at least a portion of the decrypted digital bit stream;

the second plugin passing the decrypted and processed digital bit stream to the media player; and

the media player enabling rendering of the decrypted and processed digital bit stream,

whereby the first plugin may be used in an architecture not designed for multiple stages of plugin processing.