Managing Sharing of Media Content From a Server Computer to One or More of a Plurality of Client Computers Across the Computer Network
First Claim
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19. A computer implemented method for restricting sharing of media content from a server computer to one or more of a plurality of client computers across a computer network, said method comprising:
- (a) downloading media content to the server computer;
(b) storing media content in long-term storage in the server computer;
(c) determining whether at least one of a limited number of trust slots is available for use by a particular client computer;
(d) assigning an available one of the trust slots for use by the particular client computer when said determining (c) determines that at least one of the limited number of trust slots is available for use by the particular client computer;
(e) establishing a connection for the particular client computer using the assigned trust slot;
(f) sharing media content from the server computer with the particular client computer via the established connection; and
(g) reserving the assigned trust slot for the particular client computer for at least a predetermined period of time after an event.
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Abstract
Improved techniques to manage or restrict sharing of media assets over a network are disclosed. A server computer having media assets can permit one or more clients to receive access to such media assets over a computer network. However, the access to such media assets can be restricted based on numerical limits as well as temporal limits. The media assets can, for example, be digital media assets, such as audio items (e.g., audio files, including music or songs), videos (e.g., movies) or images (e.g., photos).
126 Citations
29 Claims
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19. A computer implemented method for restricting sharing of media content from a server computer to one or more of a plurality of client computers across a computer network, said method comprising:
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(a) downloading media content to the server computer; (b) storing media content in long-term storage in the server computer; (c) determining whether at least one of a limited number of trust slots is available for use by a particular client computer; (d) assigning an available one of the trust slots for use by the particular client computer when said determining (c) determines that at least one of the limited number of trust slots is available for use by the particular client computer; (e) establishing a connection for the particular client computer using the assigned trust slot; (f) sharing media content from the server computer with the particular client computer via the established connection; and (g) reserving the assigned trust slot for the particular client computer for at least a predetermined period of time after an event. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A context aware computer implemented method of managing sharing of media content from a Digital Rights Management (DRM) server computer to one or more of a plurality of client computers across a computer network, said method comprising:
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downloading media content to the DRM server computer; storing media content in long-term storage in the DRM server computer; discovering a plurality of time dependant and/or location dependent and/or event dependent attributes of a trust context of the DRM server and a particular one of the client computers; and determining whether the plurality of attributes of the trust context of the DRM server and the particular one of the client computers satisfy a trust criteria; and sharing media content from the DRM server computer with the particular client computer if the determining determines that the trust criteria is satisfied.
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24. A computer readable medium including at least computer program code stored thereon for managing sharing of media content from a Digital Rights Management (DRM) server computer to one or more client computers across a computer network, said computer readable medium comprising:
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computer program code for discovering a plurality of attributes of a trust context of the DRM server and a particular one of the client computers; and computer program code for sharing media content from the server computer with the particular client computer, upon determining that the plurality of attributes of the trust context of the DRM server and the particular one of the client computers satisfy a trust criteria.
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25. An electronic device comprising:
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a network interface for coupling said electronic device to a computer network; a memory for storing media content; digital rights management control logic configured to permit limited sharing of at least a portion of the media content stored in the memory to one or more other electronic devices coupled to the computer network; and trust attribute discovery logic configured to discover a plurality of attributes of a trust context of the electronic device and a particular one of the other electronic devices, wherein the digital rights management control logic is further configured to share at least a portion of the media content stored in the memory to the particular one of the other electronic devices, upon determining that the plurality of attributes of the trust context of the particular one of the other electronic devices satisfy a trust criteria.
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26. A computer implemented method for restricting sharing of digital media assets across one or more networks, said method comprising:
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establishing a limited group of computers permitted to share digital media assets across one or more networks; purchasing, via a first computer from the limited group of computers, a digital media asset from a media commerce service; permitting the purchased media asset to be provided to any of the other computers within the limited group of computers; and automatically providing the purchased media asset to any of the other computers within the limited group of computers when connected to the one or more networks. - View Dependent Claims (1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 27, 28, 29)
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28-1. A computer implemented method as recited in claim 26, wherein said providing comprises:
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sending, by the first computer, a notification to any of the other computers within the limited group of computers, the notification providing an indication that the first computer is available for sharing; and automatically initiating copying of the purchased media asset to at least one of the other computers within the limited group of computers.
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Specification