Universal DRM support for devices

• US 20060095382A1
• Filed: 11/04/2004
• Published: 05/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Terrace Licensing LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mahlbacher, James M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,156,049 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/59
• 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]

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention allow a system or client device to process multiple Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems and formats using a universal DRM client. The universal DRM client can operate based on a universal license so that it may use the same DRM scheme or format used by the content provider. A DRM system may then build a universal license that includes information for gaining access to the content in the DRM package. In turn, a DRM package and the universal license may be provided to the universal client. Based on the information in the universal license, the client device can access the protected content even if it does not have the specific client program code for the DRM format used originally by the content provider.

Claims

1. A method of accessing protected content based on a digital rights format, said method comprising:

receiving a package of data that includes content protected based on the digital rights format;

receiving a license that includes information for gaining access to the protected content and a location within the data of the content; and

accessing the content based on the license.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the license comprises receiving information that indicates a cipher type used to encrypt the content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the license comprises receiving information that indicates a set of rights granted to a device that is authorized to access the content.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the license comprises receiving information that indicates a set of rights to be applied to the content.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the license comprises receiving information that identifies a device authorized to access the content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the package of data comprises receiving the content within a set of contiguous portions of the package.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving the license comprises receiving an offset that indicates the location of at least one of the set of contiguous portions in the package.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the license comprises receiving a pointer that indicates a location of at least one part of the content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the license comprises receiving an encryption key for decrypting the content.

10. A method of transferring protected content, wherein the content is protected based on a digital rights management format, said method comprising:

receiving the content;

packaging the content within a file that is protected based on the digital rights management format;

sending the file to a client;

determining a license that includes information for gaining access to the content and a location of the content within the file; and

sending the license to the client.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein packaging the content within the file that is protected based on the digital rights management format, comprises:

encrypting the content; and

storing the encrypted content into a set of contiguous portions of the file.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the license comprises:

identifying an encryption key and cipher type used to encrypt the content; and

determining an offset that indicates a location of at least one of the set of contiguous portions of the file that contains the encrypted content.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the determining the license comprises determining a length of at least one of the set of contiguous portions of the file that contains the encrypted content.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein packaging the content comprises:

determining whether the client supports the digital rights management format; and

determining a set of rights to be granted to the client when the client supports the digital rights management format.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

packaging the content into a file based on another digital rights management format when the client does not support the digital rights management format.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein determining whether the client supports the digital rights management format comprises sending a request to the client through a network for information indicating a configuration of the client.

17. A device configured to access content protected by a digital rights management format, said device comprising:

a memory for storing a file that includes content protected by a digital rights management format; and

a processor configured by a universal client to receive a license that includes information for gaining access to the content and a location of the content within the file and access the content based on the license, wherein the universal client supports a plurality of digital rights management formats.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the content is stored within a set of contiguous portions of the file.

19. The device of claim 17, wherein the universal client decrypts the content based on the information in the license.

20. The device of claim 17, wherein the universal client locates the content based on an offset value included within the license.

21. A system configured to distribute content that is protected by a digital rights management format and grant a license to the content, wherein the digital rights management format specifies a proprietary format for the license, and wherein the system can also use a universal format that is compatible with a plurality of digital rights management formats for the license, said system comprising:

a first server that is configured to package the content based on the digital rights management format, determine rights that are to be granted to the content, and distribute the content to a client; and

a second server that is configured to receive from the first server information indicating the rights to be granted to the content, identify at least one characteristic of the client, select either the proprietary format or the universal format for the license based on the identified characteristic of the client, determine the license to the content based on the rights to be granted and the selected format, and distribute the license to the client.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the first server is configured to distribute the content to the client in response to a request from the client.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the package includes an encrypted version of the content.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the second server is configured to receive a set of keys for decrypting the content and include the set of keys in the license.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the second server is configured to identify the at least one characteristic of the client based on sending a query to the client and determine whether the client includes software that is capable of interpreting the universal format based on a result of the query.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the second server is configure to select the proprietary format for the license when the result of the query indicates the client does not include the software that is capable of interpreting the universal format.

27. A computer program product for configuring a processor to access content that has been protected based on a digital rights management system and rights to the content are granted in a license, wherein the license is formed based on either a proprietary format specified by the digital rights management system, or a universal format that is compatible with a plurality of digital rights management systems, said computer program product comprising:

program code for receiving a package that includes content protected by the digital rights management system;

program code for receiving a license that includes information for gaining access to the protected content and a location within the data based on a format selected for the license;

program code for interpreting the selected format of the license;

program code for accessing the content based on the license.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the license includes a set of keys for decrypting the content from the data.

29. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the license includes an offset that indicates the location of the content within the data.

30. The computer program product of claim 27, wherein the data is stored in a set of contiguous portions of the data and the license includes information identifying the set of contiguous portions in the data.

31. An apparatus for accessing protected content based on a digital rights format, said apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a package of data that includes content protected based on the digital rights format;

means for receiving a license that includes information for gaining access to the protected content and a location within the data of the content; and

means for accessing the content based on the license.

32. An apparatus for transferring protected content, wherein the content is protected based on a digital rights management format, said apparatus comprising:

means for receiving the content;

means for packaging the content within a file that is protected based on the digital rights management format;

means for sending the file to a client;

means for determining a license that includes information for gaining access to the content and a location of the content within the file; and

means for sending the license to the client.

33. A method of forming a license to content protected by a digital rights management system, said method comprising:

receiving information indicating rights to be granted to the content;

identifying at least one characteristic of a destination of the content;

selecting either a proprietary format for the license that is used by the digital rights management system or a universal format for the license that is compatible with a plurality of digital rights management systems based on the at least one characteristic of the destination of the content; and

forming the license based on the rights to be granted and the selected format.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising distributing the license to the destination of the content in response to a request from a client of the digital rights management system.

35. The method of claim 33, further comprising distributing the license to the destination of the content in response to a request by the digital rights management system.

36. The method of claim 33, wherein forming the license comprises determining a set of keys used to encrypt the content and including the set of keys within the license.

37. The method of claim 33, wherein identifying the at least one characteristic of the destination of the content comprises testing the destination of the content for the presence of software that is capable of interpreting the universal format.

37-1. An apparatus for forming a license to content protected by a digital rights management system, said apparatus comprising:

means for receiving information indicating rights to be granted to the content;

means for identifying at least one characteristic of a destination of the content;

means for selecting either a proprietary format for the license that is used by the digital rights management system or a universal format for the license that is compatible with a plurality of digital rights management systems based on the at least one characteristic of the destination of the content; and

means for forming the license based on the rights to be granted and the selected format.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein selecting either the proprietary format or the universal format for the license comprises:

selecting the proprietary format for the license when the destination of the content fails to include the software that is capable of interpreting the universal format; and

selecting the universal format for the license when the destination of the content indicates that it includes the software that is capable of interpreting the universal.

39. The license server of claim 38, wherein the at least one processor is configured to test the client to determine whether the client includes software that is capable of interpreting the universal format.

40. The license server of claim 39, wherein the license server is configured to form the license based on the proprietary format when the client fails to include software that is capable of interpreting the universal format.

38-2. A license server configured to distribute a license to content protected by a digital rights management system, said license server comprising:

an interface configured to receive from the digital rights management system information indicating rights to be granted to the content and configured to distribute the license to a client of the digital rights management system; and

at least one processor configured by program code to identify at least one characteristic of client, select either a proprietary format for the license that is used by the digital rights management system or a universal format for the license that is compatible with a plurality of digital rights management systems based on the at least one characteristic of the client, and form the license based on the rights to be granted and the selected format.