Content distribution system, license distribution method and terminal device

• US 20070112681A1
• Filed: 12/16/2004
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Tokuda, Katsumi, Murakami, Hiroki, Okamoto, Ryuichi, Niwano, Satoshi
• Application Number:
  US10/581,881
• Publication Number:
  US 20070112681A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1073 Conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/60 Digital content management, e.g. content distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures

Abstract

The transmission format A license conversion unit (430) of the terminal device (120) converts the transmission format license (710), which is obtained from the license relay server (110), described in a transmission format into a processing format license (510) to be specified by the conversion format specification information (711) and detects modifications on the license whose format has already been converted by performing a signature verification on the after-conversion processing format license (510) using a processing format signature (712).

Claims

1-23. -23. (canceled)

24. A content distribution system comprising a license management server, a relay server and a terminal device,

wherein the license management server includes:

a first license generation unit operable to generate, in a first format, a first license for controlling content use in the terminal device;

a modification detection information generation unit operable to generate a digital signature for detecting a modification of the first license and send the generated digital signature to the relay server, depending on a transmission path to the terminal device;

a specification information receiving unit operable to receive an input of format specification information that is an instruction, to the terminal device, for converting a format of a second license to the first format; and

a specification information sending unit operable to send the received format specification information to the relay server, the relay server includes

a second license generation unit operable to generate, in a second format, a second license by adding, to the first license, the digital signature for detecting a modification of the first license, the second format being different from the first format, and add, to the generated second license, the format specification information received by the license management server,

the terminal device includes;

a format conversion unit operable to obtain the second license from the relay server and convert the format of the second license into the first format, according to the format specification information added to the second license;

a judgment unit operable to judge presence or absence of the modification of the first license whose format is converted by the format conversion unit based on the digital signature; and

a use unit operable to use the content according to the first license in the case where the judgment unit judges that no modification is made.

25. The content distribution system according to claim 24,

wherein, in the case where a frequency band of the transmission path is narrower than a predetermined frequency band or a communication speed of the transmission path is slower than a predetermined communication speed, the modification detection information generation unit sends the digital signature to the relay server and instructs the relay server to generate the second license.

26. The content distribution system according to claim 25,

wherein the second license generation unit generates the second license whose data size is smaller than a data size of the first license generated in the first format.

27. The content distribution system according to claim 24,

wherein the license management server includes a first sending unit operable to send the first license to the terminal device,

the relay server includes a second sending unit operable to send the second license to the terminal device via the transmission path different from the transmission path in the case of using the license management server, and

the terminal device obtains the second license from the second sending unit.

28. The content distribution system according to claim 24, further comprising a plurality of servers, one of which is the relay server,

wherein each of the relay servers includes an “

n”

th license generation unit operable to generate an “

n”

th (“

n”

is a natural number that is 2 or greater) license, in an “

n”

th format, generated by adding, to the first license, the digital signature for detecting the modification of the first license, the “

n”

th format different from the first format, and

the format conversion unit obtains the “

n”

th license from one of the relay servers and converts the format of the “

n”

th license into the first format.

29. A license management server in a content distribution system comprising:

the license management server;

a relay server; and

a terminal device,

wherein the license management server distributes a first license for controlling content use in a terminal device,

the relay server generates, in a second format, a second license by adding, to the first license, a digital signature for detecting a modification of the first license, the second format being different from a format used when the first license is generated, and distributes the second license, and

the terminal device generates the first license by format transformation by obtaining the second license, detects presence or absence of the modification of the generated first license based on the digital signature, and, in the case where no modification is detected, uses the content according to the first license,

the license management server includes;

a first license generation unit operable to generate, in a first format, the first license; and

a modification detection information generation unit operable to generate the digital signature of the first license, send the generated digital signature to the relay server, depending on a transmission path to the terminal device, and instruct the relay server to generate the second license;

a specification information receiving unit operable to receive an input of format specification information that is an instruction, to the terminal device, for converting the format of the second license into the first format;

a specification information sending unit operable to send the received format specification information to the relay server.

30. The license management server according to claim 29,

wherein, in the case where a frequency band of the transmission path is narrower than a predetermined frequency band or a communication speed of the transmission path is lower than a predetermined communication speed, the modification detection information generation unit sends the digital signature to the relay server and instructs the relay server to generate the second license.

31. The license management server according to claim 30,

wherein the relay server generates the second license whose data size is smaller than a data size of the first license generated in the first format.

32. A relay server in a content distribution system comprising:

a license management server;

the relay server; and

a terminal device,

wherein the license management server distributes a first license for controlling content use in a terminal device,

the relay server generates, in a second format, a second license generated by adding, to the first license, a digital signature for detecting a modification of the first license, the second format being different from a format used when the first license is generated, and distributes the second license, and

the terminal device generates the first license by format transformation by obtaining the second license, detects presence or absence of the modification of the generated first license based on the digital signature, and, in the case where no modification is detected, uses the content according to the first license,

the relay server includes;

a second license generation unit operable to generate, in the second format different from the first format, the second license by adding, to the first license generated in the first format, the digital signature of the first license received from the license management server, receive an input of format specification information from the license management server, the format specification information that is an instruction, to the terminal device, for converting the format of the second license to the first format, and add the received format specification information to the generated second license; and

a second sending unit operable to send the generated second license to the terminal device.

33. The relay server according to claim 32,

wherein the second sending unit sends the second license to the terminal device via a transmission path different from the license management server.

34. A terminal device in a content distribution system comprising:

a license management server;

a relay server; and

the terminal device,

wherein the license management server distributes a first license for controlling content use in the terminal device,

the relay server generates a second license generated, in a second format, by adding, to the first license, a digital signature for detecting a modification of the first license, the second format being different from a format used when the first license is generated, and distributes the second license, and

the terminal device uses the content according to the first license by obtaining the second license and generates the first license using format conversion,

the terminal device includes;

a format conversion unit operable to obtain the second license generated in the second format from the relay server, and convert a format of the obtained second license into a first format different from the second format so as to generate the first license according to format specification information that is an instruction to the terminal device for converting the format of the second license to the first format, and that is added to the second license;

a judging unit operable to judge presence or absence of the modification of the generated first license based on the digital signature added to the second license; and

a use unit operable to use the content according to the first license in the case where the judgment unit judges that no modification is made.

35. A license distribution method for use in a content distribution system including a license management server, a relay server and a terminal device, the method comprising:

generating, in a first format, a first license for controlling content use in the terminal device, the generation being executed by the license management server;

generating a digital signature for detecting a modification of the first license and sending the generated digital signature to the relay server, depending on a transmission path to the terminal device, the generating and sending being executed by the license management server;

receiving an input of format specification information that is an instruction, to the terminal device, for converting a format of a second license to the first format, the receiving being executed by the license management server;

sending the received format specification information to the relay server, the sending being executed by the license management server;

generating a second license in a second format different from the first format by adding, to the first license, a digital signature for detecting a modification of the first license, and adding the format specification information received by the license management server to the generated second license, the generation and adding being executed by the relay server;

converting the format of the second license into the first format by obtaining the second license from the relay server, according to the format specification information added to the second license, the conversion being executed by the terminal device;

judging presence or absence of the modification of the first license whose format is converted into the first format based on the digital signature, the judgment being executed by the terminal device; and

using the content according to the first license in the case where it is judged that no modification is made, the use being executed by the terminal device.