WATERMARKING SYSTEM FOR TRACKING DIGITAL CONTENT

• US 20080172747A1
• Filed: 10/31/2007
• Published: 07/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/1998
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sandpiper CDN, LLC (Theseus LF Asset Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: HURTADO, MARCO M., Nguyen, Kha D., Milsted, Kenneth L.
• Application Number:
  US11/932,316
• Publication Number:
  US 20080172747A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3829 involving key management
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0021 Image watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2201/0064 for copy protection or copy management, e.g. CGMS, copy only once, one-time copy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/30 Compression, e.g. Merkle-Damgard construction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/608 Watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0464 using hop-by-hop encryption, i.e. wherein an intermediate entity decrypts the information and re-encrypts it before forwarding it
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/302 involving the integer factorization problem, e.g. RSA or quadratic sieve [QS] schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3249 using RSA or related signature schemes, e.g. Rabin scheme
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823

Abstract

A method is provided for tracking digital content received at a first device. According to the method, a first watermark is embedded in the digital content. The first watermark includes information for identifying a user of the first device and/or information for identifying a licensee of the digital content. The digital content is received from a content provider at the first device. In some embodiments, the first device is an end user device and the embedding is performed by this end user device. In other embodiments, the embedding is performed a source of the digital content, a copyright owner of the digital content, or the content provider.

Claims

1. A computer readable medium encoded with a program for tracking digital content received at a first device, the program comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

embedding a first watermark in the digital content, the first watermark including at least one of information for identifying a user of the first device and information for identifying a licensee of the digital content; and

receiving from a content provider the digital content at the first device.

2. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 1, wherein in the receiving step, the digital content received at the first device includes a second watermark for identifying at least one of a source of the digital content, a copyright owner of the digital content, and the content provider.

3. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 1, wherein the first watermark includes information for identifying the user of the first device comprising at least one of a user ID, a name of the user, and a transaction ID.

4. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 1, wherein the embedding step includes the sub-steps of:

receiving watermarking instructions at the first device; and

executing the watermarking instructions on the first device so as to embed the first watermark in the digital content.

5. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 1, wherein the embedding step is performed by one of a source of the digital content, a copyright owner of the digital content, and the content provider.

6. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 1, wherein the program further comprises instructions for performing the step of sending from the first device a request to download the digital content or a purchase request to purchase or license the digital content.

7. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 1, wherein the first watermark further includes usage conditions for the digital content.

8. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 7, wherein the program further comprises instructions for performing the step of reading the first watermark each time the digital content is used in order to enforce the usage conditions.

9. A computer readable medium encoded with a program for tracking digital content received at a first device, the program comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

causing a first watermark to be embedded in the digital content, the first watermark including at least one of information for identifying a user of the first device and information for identifying a licensee of the digital content; and

sending the digital content from a content provider to the first device.

10. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 9, wherein in the sending step, the digital content sent to the first device includes a second watermark for identifying at least one of a source of the digital content, a copyright owner of the digital content, and the content provider.

11. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 9, wherein the first watermark includes information for identifying the user of the first device comprising at least one of a user ID, a name of the user, and a transaction ID.

12. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 9, wherein the causing step comprises sending watermarking instructions to the first device for execution by the first device to embed the first watermark in the digital content.

13. The computer readable medium as defined in claim 9, wherein the embedding step is performed by one of a source of the digital content, a copyright owner of the digital content, and the content provider.

14. A method for tracking digital content received at a first device, said method comprising the steps of:

embedding a first watermark in the digital content, the first watermark including at least one of information for identifying a user of the first device and information for identifying a licensee of the digital content; and

receiving from a content provider the digital content at the first device.

15. The method as defined in claim 14, wherein in the receiving step, the digital content received at the first device includes a second watermark for identifying at least one of a source of the digital content, a copyright owner of the digital content, and the content provider.

16. The method as defined in claim 14, wherein the first watermark includes information for identifying the user of the first device comprising at least one of a user ID, a name of the user, and a transaction ID.

17. The method as defined in claim 14,

wherein the first device is an end user device, and

the embedding step is performed by the end user device.

18. The method as defined in claim 14, wherein the embedding step is performed by one of a source of the digital content, a copyright owner of the digital content, and the content provider.

19. An apparatus comprising:

a watermarker for embedding a first watermark in digital content, the first watermark including at least one of information for identifying a receiver of the digital content and information for identifying a licensee of the digital content; and

a transmitter for one of receiving the digital content from a content provider and sending the digital content to the receiver of the digital content.

20. The apparatus as defined in claim 19, wherein the digital content received by the receiver of the digital content includes a second watermark for identifying at least one of a source of the digital content, a copyright owner of the digital content, and the content provider.

21. The apparatus as defined in claim 19, wherein the first watermark includes information for identifying the receiver of the digital content comprising at least one of a user ID, a name of the receiver, and a transaction ID.

22. The apparatus as defined in claim 19,

wherein the transmitter receives the digital content from the content provider,

the transmitter also receives watermarking instructions, and

the watermarker executes the watermarking instructions so as to embed the first watermark in the digital content.

23. The apparatus as defined in claim 19,

wherein the watermarker embeds the first watermark in the digital content and then the transmitter sends the digital content to the receiver of the digital content.