System and method of authenticating licensed computer programs

• US 20060112019A1
• Filed: 10/25/2005
• Published: 05/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nalpeiron
• Original Assignee: Nalpeiron
• Inventors: Roberts, Henry J. Jr.
• Application Number:
  US11/260,031
• Publication Number:
  US 20060112019A1
• 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]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/121 Restricting unauthorised execution of programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/126 Interacting with the operating system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/80 in storage media based on magnetic or optical technology, e.g. disks with sectors preventing unauthorised reproduction or copying of disc-type recordable media G11B20/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2135 Metering
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2137 Time limited access, e.g. to a computer or data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2147 Locking files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2153 Using hardware token as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00847 wherein the usage restriction is defined by a licence file
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/605 Copy protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3236 using cryptographic hash functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3271 using challenge-response

Abstract

A system and method for authorizing access to programs and data on a computer system is disclosed. A license table contains entries for identifying programs that are authorized to be run on the computer system. The license table is stored in an area of the computer'"'"'s hard disk that is not affected by disk operations and can not be accessed or modified by computer users. The license table entries are encoded to contain verifying information which is not based on the hardware upon which the program is installed. The license entries also contain usage restriction information to be decoded upon license verification.

Claims

1. A method for protecting the use of a program on a computer system by determining if said program is an authorized licensed copy, said method comprising the steps of:

generating a license table for maintaining identification of authorized programs;

placing a license identifier in a first location in the license table;

placing a unique installation identifier in a second location in the license table;

placing a status code in a third location in the license table, said status code indicating if a license exists and if so a type of said license, and;

searching the license table for said license identifier to authenticate said authorized licensed copy.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the license table on a first track of a hard disk, the first track unused by an operating system or any program dependant thereon, the first track unaffected by re-formatting the hard disk.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating the license identifier by creating a dynamic link library comprising a customer identifier and a product identifier, the library encoding the customer identifier and the product identifier to form the license identifier.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing a status marker in the license table to reflect an authorization level of the license.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein, in the step of generating a license identifier, the license identifier comprises encoded usage limitations for the program.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the license table on a flash memory device.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the license table is stored on the first track of a hard disk, the first track unaffected by an operating system and any program dependant thereon.

7. A system for authentication of a protected computer program comprising:

a license table comprising a marker and a plurality of table entries, the marker signifying the location of the license table; and

a library comprising a customer identifier and product identifier, the library encrypting the customer identifier and the product identifier to form a license identifier, the library storing the license identifier as a table entry in the license table;

the library comparing a key transmitted by and end-user to the license identifier, the library allowing for the use of the program upon matching the license identifier to the key

9. The system of claim 7 wherein the license table is stored on a flash memory device.

10. The system of claim 7 wherein the license identifier comprises encoded usage limitations for the program.

11. A method for authorizing a protected computer program comprising:

storing a customer identifier and product identifier in a library;

encoding a customer identifier and a product identifier into a license identifier;

storing the license identifier in a license table;

receiving an authorization request to the library, the request comprising a first key;

retrieving an identifier associated with the program from the license table;

encrypting the identifier to form an second key;

comparing the first key and the second key;

authorizing use of the program upon matching the first key to the second key.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of storing the license table further comprises storing the license table on the first track of a hard disk, the first track unaffected by the operating system and any program dependent thereon.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of storing the license table further comprises storing the license table on a flash memory device.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of storing the license table further comprises storing the license table on a mass storage drive.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein in the step of storing a customer identifier and a product identifier, the library comprises a dynamic link library.

16. The method of claim 11 further comprising storing a status marker in the license table to reflect an authorization level of the license.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of generating a license identifier further comprises encrypting usage limitations into the license identifier.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the step of encrypting usage limitations further comprises encrypting a period of use limitation into the license identifier.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of generating a license identifier further comprises encrypting at least one checksum value into the license identifier.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein the steps of receiving an authorization request and granting access to the program are implemented over the World Wide Web.