WATERMARKING AND TRANSFERRING MATERIAL

• US 20090022363A1
• Filed: 09/24/2008
• Published: 01/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony United Kingdom Limited (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony United Kingdom Limited (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: COLLINS, Andrew, FOSTER, Richard, DELACOUR, Isabel, PELLY, Jason Charles, GUGENHEIM, Paul, STONE, Jonathan James
• Granted Patent: US 7,962,964 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/100
• 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 21/16 Program or content traceability, e.g. by watermarking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/234 Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams or manipulating encoded video stream scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44 Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8352 involving content or source identification data, e.g. Unique Material Identifier [UMID]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8358 involving watermark protecting executable software by watermarking G06F21/16; image watermarking in general G06T1/0021; watermarks inserted in still images for transmission purposes H04N1/32144; inserting watermarks during video coding H04N19/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/1675 Providing digital key or authorisation information for generation or regeneration of the scrambling sequence pseudo-random number generators in general G06F7/58

Abstract

A client device for use in a system having a server, the client device including: a receiving device configured to receive information material from the server, the information material containing a reversible modification providing a perceptible disturbing effect to the information material, and to receive identifying information that distinguishes the information material from other information material available from the server and condition information which defines a predetermined condition that should be met in order for the reversible modification to be reversed; a transmission device which, in response to a user input providing enabling data which satisfies the predetermined condition, configured to transmit the identifying information and the enabling data to the server, wherein in response to the transmission of the enabling data and the identifying information, the receiving device is configured to receive a key and removing data defining an algorithm for removing the perceptible effect, the removing data being useable by a reversing device to reverse the perceptible effect; and a storage device configured to store the information material that has had the perceptible effect reversed.

Claims

1. A client device for use in a system having a server, the client device comprising:

a receiving device configured to receive information material from the server, the information material containing a reversible modification providing a perceptible disturbing effect to the information material, and to receive identifying information that distinguishes the information material from other information material available from the server and condition information which defines a predetermined condition that should be met in order for the reversible modification to be reversed;

a transmission device which, in response to a user input providing enabling data which satisfies the predetermined condition, configured to transmit the identifying information and the enabling data to the server, wherein

in response to the transmission of the enabling data and the identifying information, the receiving device is configured to receive a key and removing data defining an algorithm for removing the perceptible effect, the removing data being useable by a reversing device to reverse the perceptible effect; and

a storage device configured to store the information material that has had the perceptible effect reversed.

2. The client device according to claim 1, wherein the perceptible disturbing effect is a watermark.

3. The client device according to claim 1, wherein the perceptible disturbing effect is applied to the information material as part of a compression of the information material.

4. The client device according to claim 1, wherein the identifying information is metadata.

5. The client device according to claim 1, wherein the identifying information is universally unique.

6. The client device according to claim 5, wherein the identifying information is a unique material identifier.

7. The client device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is a condition of sale and the enabling data is data associated with a method of payment for the information material.

8. The client device according to claim 1, wherein the reversible perceptible effect is caused by an invertible algorithm.

9. The client device according to claim 1, wherein the information material comprises one or more images.

10. The client device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving device is configured to receive the information material transmitted by a push mode from the server.

11. The client device according to claims 1, wherein the key is stored on a data carrier and the data carrier is inserted into the client device by a user of the client device.

12. A system comprising:

the client device according to claim 1 configured to be in communication with the server;

the server configured to be in communication with a second client device,

wherein the information material having the perceptible impairment and the key both originating from the second client device.

13. A method of communicating with a client device in a system having a server, comprising:

receiving information material from the server, the information material containing a reversible modification providing a perceptible disturbing effect to the information material;

receiving identifying information that distinguishes the information material from other information material available from the server and condition information which defines a predetermined condition that should be met in order for the reversible modification to be reversed;

transmitting, in response to a user input providing enabling data which satisfies the predetermined condition, the identifying information and the enabling data to the server;

receiving, in response to the transmission of the enabling data and the identifying information, a key and removing data defining an algorithm for removing the perceptible effect, the removing data being useable by a reversing device to reverse the perceptible effect; and

storing the information material that has had the perceptible effect reversed.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the receiving the information material includes receiving the information material with a watermark as the perceptible disturbing effect.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the receiving the information material includes receiving compressed information material in which the perceptible disturbing effect is applied to the compressed information material as part of a compression of the information material.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the receiving the identifying information includes receiving metadata.

17. The method according to claim 13, wherein the receiving the identifying information includes receiving universally unique identifying information.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the receiving universally unique identifying information includes receiving a unique material identifier.

19. The method according to claim 13, wherein the receiving the condition information which defines the predetermined condition includes receiving a condition of sale as the predetermined condition and the transmitting the enabling data includes transmitting data associated with a method of payment for the information material.

20. The method according to claim 13, wherein the receiving the information material includes receiving the information material with the reversible perceptible effect caused by an invertible algorithm.

21. The method according to claim 13, wherein the receiving the information material includes receiving one or more images.

22. The method according to claim 13, wherein the receiving the information material includes receiving the information material transmitted by a push mode from the server.

23. The method according to claims 13, wherein the receiving the key includes receiving a data carrier in which the key is stored, the method further comprising inserting the data carrier into the client device by the user.

24. The method of claim 13, wherein the server is in communication with a second client device, and the receiving the information material includes receiving information material originating from the second client device.