File system operation and digital rights management (DRM)

• US 20040143736A1
• Filed: 01/17/2003
• Published: 07/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Leach, Paul J., Cross, David B.
• Granted Patent: US 7,383,586 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/165
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers

Abstract

File system interaction with digital rights management (DRM) is facilitated by enabling one or more file system components to be DRM-aware. These one or more file system components may be part of a computer operating system. An exemplary system implementation includes: one or more processors; and one or more media in operative communication therewith, the media storing one or more file system components that are configured to provide content having DRM controls to a requesting program in either a raw form or a decrypted form in dependence on whether the DRM controls comprise simple DRM content controls or complex DRM content controls. In another exemplary system implementation, the one or more file system components are configured to provide files with simple DRM content controls to requesting applications in a decrypted form and to provide files with complex DRM content controls to requesting applications in an unaltered form.

Claims

1. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform actions comprising:

inspecting one or more digital rights management (DRM) controls from a tag of DRM-controlled content;

determining that the one or more DRM controls are simple DRM controls; and

providing the DRM-controlled content in a decrypted form when the one or more DRM controls are determined to be simple DRM controls;

wherein the actions of inspecting, determining, and providing are performed, at least partly, by one or more file system components.

2. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 1, wherein the simple DRM controls comprise read, write, and/or modify.

3. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more file system components comprise at least part of an operating system for a computer.

4. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more file system components comprise at least part of at least one middleware component for a computer.

5. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 1, wherein the actions of inspecting, determining, and providing are performed responsive to an action of receiving a request for the DRM-controlled content from a program.

6. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 5, wherein the action of providing comprises the action of providing the DRM-controlled content in the decrypted form to the program.

7. A system for file operations and digital rights management (DRM), the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more media in operative communication with the one or more processors, the one or more media storing one or more file system components that are adapted to execute on the one or more processors and that are configured to provide content having DRM controls to a requesting program in either a raw form or a decrypted form in dependence on whether the DRM controls comprise simple DRM content controls or complex DRM content controls.

8. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein the one or more file system components are further configured to provide the content having the complex DRM content controls to the requesting program in the raw form.

9. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein the one or more file system components are further configured to provide the content having the simple DRM content controls to the requesting program in the decrypted form.

10. The system as recited in claim 9, wherein the one or more file system components are further configured to enforce the simple DRM content controls for the requesting program.

11. The system as recited in claim 7, wherein the simple DRM content controls comprise read, write, and/or modify;

and wherein the complex DRM content controls comprise no forwarding, no printing, allow read “

X”

times, allow play for “

Y”

days, and/or allow read with no modifying.

12. A system for file system operations and digital rights management (DRM), the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more media in operative communication with the one or more processors, the one or more media storing one or more file system components i that are adapted to execute on the one or more processors and that are configured to;

provide files with simple DRM content controls to requesting applications in a decrypted form; and

provide files with complex DRM content controls to requesting applications in an unaltered form.

13. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the one or more media further store the requesting applications, the requesting applications comprising at least one non-DRM-aware application and at least one DRM-aware application.

14. The system as recited in claim 13, wherein the at least one DRM-aware application is capable of causing the files with the complex DRM content controls to be decrypted;

and wherein the at least one non-DRM-aware application is incapable of causing the files with the complex DRM content controls to be decrypted.

15. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the one or more media further store a DRM client, the DRM client capable of communicating with a license server to verify access rights to files with the simple DRM content controls and/or to files with the complex DRM content controls.

16. The system as recited in claim 15, wherein the DRM client comprises part of the one or more file system components, or the one or more file system components are further configured to interact with the DRM client.

17. The system as recited in claim 12, wherein the system comprises a user computer and/or the one or more file system components comprise at least part of an operating system of the system.

18. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform actions comprising:

determining whether a requested file is protected;

if the requested file is protected, determining whether the requested file is protected with one or more simple digital rights management (DRM) controls;

if so, decrypting the requested file and providing the decrypted requested file to a requesting application; and

if not, providing the requested file unaltered to the requesting application.

19. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 18, wherein the electronically-executable instructions comprise at least one file system component of an operating system.

20. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 18, wherein the action of determining whether a requested file is protected comprises the action of determining whether the requested file is protected with at least one DRM content control.

21. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 18, wherein the action of determining whether the requested file is protected with one or more simple DRM controls comprises the action of determining whether the requested file is protected with the one or more simple DRM controls and no complex DRM controls.

22. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 18, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform a further action comprising:

if the requested file is not protected, providing the requested file unaltered to the requesting application.

23. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 18, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform, if the requested file is determined to be protected with the one or more simple DRM controls and prior to the action of decrypting, a further action comprising:

verifying that a current user context possesses a license to access the requested file.

24. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 23, wherein the action of verifying is initiated by at least one DRM client component.

25. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 23, wherein the current user context corresponds to at least one of a human user and the requesting application.

26. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising at least one file system component that, when electronically-executed, directs an electronic apparatus to return content to requesting applications in a decrypted form if the content is protected by digital rights management (DRM) controls that the at least one file system component can enforce and to return content to requesting applications in an unaltered form if the content is protected by DRM controls that the at least one file system component cannot enforce.

27. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the at least one file system component as recited in claim 26, wherein the at least one file system component comprises at least part of a protected portion of an operating system.

28. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform actions comprising:

examining a requested file for digital rights management (DRM) controls;

ascertaining whether the requested file is associated with at least one complex DRM content control;

if the requested file is not associated with at least one complex DRM content control, performing actions comprising;

calling on DRM functionality;

determining whether a user has access to the requested file using the DRM functionality; and

if the user is determined to have access to the requested file, decrypting the requested file;

wherein at least the actions of examining, ascertaining, and calling are performed by one or more file system components.

29. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 28, wherein the one or more file system components comprise at least one encryption component of an operating system.

30. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 28, wherein the user corresponds to at least one of a human user and an application.

31. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 28, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform a further action comprising:

if the user is determined to have access to the requested file, providing the decrypted requested file to a requesting application responsive to a create file or an open file operation.

32. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 28, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform, if the user is determined to have access to the requested file and prior to the action of decrypting, a further action comprising:

retrieving a license corresponding to a current user context from a DRM license server.

33. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited -in claim 32, wherein the action of retrieving comprises the action of:

checking a group for membership or other authorization data with respect to the current user context.

34. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 28, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform a further action comprising:

if the user is not determined to have access to the requested file, logging a failed access attempt in an application or security log.

35. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 28, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform further actions comprising:

if the requested file is associated with at least one complex DRM content control, performing actions comprising;

attempting to validate a requesting application from a DRM perspective; and

if the requesting application fails to be validated, denying access to the requesting application to the requested file.

36. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 35, wherein the requesting application comprises a DRM-aware application.

37. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 28, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform further actions comprising:

if the requested file is associated with at least one complex DRM content control, performing actions comprising;

attempting to validate a requesting application from a DRM perspective; and

if the requesting application is successfully validated, providing the requested file in an unaltered form to the requesting application.

38. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 28, wherein the one or more electronically-accessible media comprise at least one electronically-accessible storage media and/or at least one electronically-accessible transmission media.

39. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform actions comprising:

ascertaining whether a requested file has a digital rights management (DRM) attribute associated therewith;

if the requested file does have a DRM attribute associated therewith, performing actions comprising;

calling on DRM functionality;

determining whether a user has saving/modifying access rights to the requested file using the DRM functionality; and

if the user is determined to have saving/modifying access rights to the requested file, encrypting the requested file;

wherein at least the actions of ascertaining and calling are performed by one or more file system components.

40. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 39, wherein the DRM functionality comprises at least part of a DRM client.

41. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 39, wherein the user corresponds to at least one of a human user and an application.

42. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 39, wherein the requested file has been requested by an application based on at least one of a create operation and a save/modify operation.

43. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 39, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform, if the user is determined to have saving/modifying access rights to the requested file, further actions comprising:

retrieving a license corresponding to the user from a DRM authorization provider; and

using the license to protect the requested file.

44. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 39, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform a further action comprising:

if the user is determined to have saving/modifying access rights to the requested file, returning at least the content of the requested file to a requesting application.

45. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 39, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform a further action comprising:

if the user is not determined to have saving/modifying access rights to the requested file, logging a failed access attempt on the requested file in an application or security log.

46. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform actions comprising:

receiving a request from a client operating system for a file that is protected by one or more digital rights management (DRM) controls;

determining whether the client operating system is adapted to handle content that is protected by the one or more DRM controls; and

if not, returning the file to the client operating system in a decrypted form.

47. The one or more electronically-accessible media as recited in claim 46, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform a further action comprising:

if so, returning the file to the client operating system in an unaltered form.

48. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 46, wherein the action of receiving comprises the action of:

receiving the request through an application programming interface ( )(API ( )) from the client operating system.

49. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 46, wherein the action of determining comprises the action of:

interrogating and verifying the client operating system to determine whether the client operating system is adapted to handle content that is protected by the one or more DRM controls.

50. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 46, wherein the action of determining comprises the action of:

receiving a verifiable DRM-capable indicator from the client operating system to determine that the client operating system is adapted to handle content that is protected by the one or more DRM controls.

51. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 46, wherein the electronically-executable instructions comprise at least part of a server operating system.

52. A system for file operations and digital rights management (DRM), the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more media in operative communication with the one or more processors, the one or more media storing electronically-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to interact with a non-DRM-aware client operating system on a remote computer such that DRM-controlled content is provided thereto in a decrypted form when DRM content controls on the DRM-controlled content are not complex DRM content controls.

53. The system as recited in claim 52, wherein the electronically-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the system to interact with a DRM-aware client operating system on a different remote computer such that DRM-controlled content is provided thereto in an encrypted, unaltered form.

54. The system as recited in claim 52, wherein the system comprises a server computer.

55. The system as recited in claim 52, wherein the electronically-executable instructions comprise at least part of a server operating system.

56. The system as recited in claim 52, wherein the electronically-executable instructions enable the system to enforce simple DRM content controls for the non-DRM-aware client operating system.

57. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising an operating system that includes instructions that are capable of being executed on an electronic apparatus, the operating system comprising:

a file encryption component that is configured to interact with a digital rights management (DRM) client so that the file encryption component can decrypt content having simple DRM content controls but no complex DRM content controls.

58. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the operating system as recited in claim 57, wherein the simple DRM content controls comprise DRM content controls that are enforceable by one or more file system components of the operating system, the one or more file system components including the file encryption component.

59. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the operating system as recited in claim 57, wherein the simple DRM content controls comprise read, write, and/or modify controls.

60. An arrangement for file system operation with digital rights management (DRM), the arrangement comprising:

determining means for determining whether a requested file that is associated with DRM content controls is protected with one or more complex DRM content controls; and

decrypting means for decrypting the requested file if the determining means determines that the requested file is not protected with one or more complex DRM content controls.

61. The arrangement as recited in claim 60, further comprising:

providing means for providing the requested file in decrypted form to a requesting application if the determining means determines that the requested file is not protected with one or more complex DRM content controls and for providing the requested file in unaltered form to the requesting application if the determining means determines that the requested file is protected with one or more complex DRM content controls.

62. The arrangement as recited in claim 60, wherein the arrangement comprises at least one of (i) one or more electronically-accessible media and (ii) one or more computers.

63. An arrangement for file system operation with digital rights management (DRM), the arrangement comprising:

DRM means for implementing DRM functionality; and

file handling means for handling file requests from applications, the file handling-means adapted to interact with the DRM means so as to cause a subset of DRM-protected files to be decrypted for the applications.

64. The arrangement as recited in claim 63, wherein the DRM means comprises DRM client means for implementing DRM client functionality, the DRM client means (i) adapted to interact with a licensing authorization provider and (ii) capable of decrypting files.

65. The arrangement as recited in claim 63, wherein the subset of DRM-protected files comprises DRM-protected files that are protected with DRM content controls that are not complex.

66. A system for file operations and digital rights management (DRM), the system comprising:

a first application that is capable of requesting one or more files that are protected by at least one DRM content control;

a second application that is also capable of requesting the one or more files that are protected by at least one DRM content control; and

one or more file system components that are capable of responding to requests from the first and second applications for the one or more files, the one or more file system components adapted to interact with DRM functionality to cause files of the one or more files with no complex DRM content controls to be decrypted and to provide the decrypted files to the first and second applications, the one or more file system components configured to create an identity-context-based cache of DRM-protected files so that a file that has been decrypted on behalf of and provided to the first application may be provided to the second application without additional interaction with the DRM functionality on behalf of the second application if the first and second applications each correspond to a joint user context.

67. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform actions comprising:

providing content with digital rights management (DRM) content controls to requesting applications in a decrypted form when the DRM content controls only comprise one or more of reading, writing, and/or modifying controls; and

providing content with DRM content controls to requesting applications in an unaltered form when the DRM content controls include at least one control that does not comprise a reading, a writing, and/or a modifying control.

68. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 67, wherein the electronically-executable instructions comprise at least part of a file system.

69. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 67, wherein the electronically-executable instructions comprise at least part of a middleware component.

70. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 67, wherein the action of providing content with DRM content controls to requesting applications in an unaltered form comprises the action of:

providing the content with DRM content controls to the requesting applications in the unaltered form only after the requesting applications have been verified as trusted and DRM-aware.

71. One or more electronically-accessible media comprising electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform actions comprising:

inspecting one or more digital rights management (DRM) controls from a tag of DRM-controlled content;

determining whether the one or more DRM controls are simple DRM controls or complex DRM controls;

if the one or more DRM controls are determined to be simple DRM controls, providing the DRM-controlled content in a decrypted form; and

if the one or more DRM controls are determined to be complex DRM controls, providing the DRM-controlled content in an unaltered form.

72. The one or more electronically-accessible media comprising the electronically-executable instructions that, when executed, direct an electronic apparatus to perform the actions as recited in claim 71, wherein the electronically-executable instructions comprise at least one of (i) at least part of a file system and (ii) at least part of a middleware component.