Digital Content Rights Management Method and System

• US 20100086130A1
• Filed: 12/11/2007
• Published: 04/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing Founder Apabi Technology Limited, New Founder Holdings Development Limited Liability Company, Peking University
• Original Assignee: Beijing Founder Apabi Technology Limited, Peking University Founder Group Company Limited (Beijing Peking University Asset Management Company Limited), Peking University
• Inventors: Yang, Xuefeng, Yuan, Dengsha, Wang, Yi, Tang, Zhi
• Granted Patent: US 8,887,299 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 380/46
• 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 21/57 Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2137 Time limited access, e.g. to a computer or data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2151 Time stamp

Abstract

A digital content rights management method and system belongs to the digital content rights management technique field. The method of the invention includes the steps: registering the system, generating the time stamp, verifying the time stamp when the system starts up, acquiring the certificate, verifying the time before accessing the digital content. The system of the invention comprises a device for accessing the digital content and a server, wherein the device for accessing the digital content comprises: a registering module, a time stamp generating module, a time stamp verification module, a certificate of authorization acquiring module, and a time verification module. The method and system have solved the problem that the digital content can still be used beyond the time limit.

Claims

1. A digital content rights management method, comprising:

a registration step, in which a device for accessing the digital content registers in a digital content rights management system and generates a system register code and a random key;

a time stamp generating step, in which the device for accessing the digital content generates a time stamp as a guide for verifying the time;

a time stamp verification step, when the device for accessing the digital content starts up, the validity of the time stamp is verified, if the verification passes, the next step is performed, and if the verification fails, the access of the digital content is not allowed;

a step of acquiring a certificate of authorization, in which the device for accessing the digital content acquires a certificate of authorization for accessing the digital content from a server, and the certificate of authorization specifies the starting time and the ending time of allowing to access the digital content; and

a time verification step, in which the time stamp is verified with the time in the certificate of authorization to determine whether or not the device for accessing the digital content is allowed to access the digital content.

2. The digital content rights management method controlled by time as claimed in claim 1, wherein in said registration step, said register code is encrypted by using the random key.

3. The digital content rights management method controlled by time as claimed in claim 1, wherein in said time stamp generating step, said time stamp is written in a memory of the device for accessing the digital content, said random key is positioned in said time stamp, and said time stamp further includes a version number of the device for accessing the digital content, starting time of the device for accessing the digital content, a verification code, and the latest time of acquiring the certificate of authorization.

4. The digital content rights management method controlled by time as claimed in claim 3, further including the step of encrypting the initial data before said time stamp is written into the memory of the device for accessing the digital content.

5. The digital content rights management method controlled by time as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the time stamp verification step, the time stamp is verified when the device for accessing the digital content starts up, and a time stamp is reconstructed if there are no time stamps;

the information in the time stamp is acquired before checking the time if the time stamp exists, and if the verification passes, the starting time portion in the time stamp is updated by the current system time, and if the verification fails, the access of the digital content is not allowed.

6. The digital content rights management method controlled by time as claimed in claim 5, further including the step of generating a new random key when the time stamp is reconstructed.

7. The digital content rights management method controlled by time as claimed in claim 5, further including the step of verifying the version number and the verification code when the information in the time stamp is acquired, thereby the validity of the time stamp is guaranteed.

8. The digital content rights management method controlled by time as claimed in claim 5, wherein the following steps are adopted when performing a time verification for the time stamp:

a. determining whether or not the current system time is earlier than the latest time for acquiring a certificate of authorization in the time stamp, and if the determination result is yes, the system time is determined as an error, otherwise, going to step b;

b. determining whether or not the current system time is earlier than the starting time in the time stamp, and if the determination result is yes, the system is determined as an error, and the starting time in the time stamp is updated by using a linear weighted average of both times, otherwise, going to step c; and

c. verifying whether or not the latest time of acquiring the certificate of authorization in the time stamp is valid by means of following ways;

randomly extracting starting time fields from a number of certificates of authorization, and if the latest time of acquiring the certificate of authorization in the time stamp is earlier than any starting time, it represents an error of the time stamp, otherwise, the time verification for the time stamp passes.

9. The digital content rights management method controlled by time as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the step of acquiring a certificate of authorization, the device for accessing the digital content writes the starting time field in the certificate of authorization into the time stamp after acquiring the certificate of authorization.

10. The digital content rights management method controlled by time as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the time verification step, the device for accessing the digital content verifies the time when accessing the digital content, firstly, the starting time in the time stamp is acquired, and if the current system time is earlier than the starting time, it is determined that the system time has been modified;

then, the device for accessing the digital content acquires the latest time for acquiring the certificate of authorization in the time stamp, and if the current system time is earlier than this time, it is determined that the system time has been modified;

finally, the device for accessing the digital content randomly extracts starting time fields from a number of certificates of authorization, and if the latest time for acquiring the certificate of authorization in the time stamp is earlier than any starting time, it represents an error of the time stamp.

11. A digital content rights management system including a device for accessing the digital content and a server, said device for accessing the digital content comprising:

a registering module by which the device for accessing the digital content performs system registration, and which generates a system register code and a random key;

a time stamp generating module for generating a time stamp, and said time stamp servers as a guide for time verification;

a time stamp verification module for verifying the validity of the time stamp when the device for accessing the digital content starts up, if the verification passes, the next step is performed, and if the verification fails, the access of the digital content is not allowed;

a certificate of authorization acquiring module for acquiring a certificate of authorization for accessing the digital content from the server; and

a time verification module for verifying the time stamp with the time in the certificate of authorization to determine whether or not the device for accessing the digital content is allowed to access the digital content.

12. The digital content rights management system controlled by time as claimed in claim 11, wherein, said device for accessing the digital content is a local device, and said server is a remote server.

13. The digital content rights management system controlled by time as claimed in claim 11, wherein said server includes a certificate server and a content server.

14. The digital content rights management system controlled by time as claimed in claim 11, wherein said device for accessing the digital content includes a common computer installed with reader software, a handset electronic equipment and a smart phone.

15. The digital content rights management system controlled by time as claimed in claim 12, wherein the device for accessing the digital content connects and communicates with the server through Internet.

17. The digital content rights management system controlled by time as claimed in claim 12, wherein said server includes a certificate server and a content server.

16. A device for accessing digital content, comprising:

a registering module for performing system registration, and generating a system register code and a random key;

a time stamp generating module for generating a time stamp, and said time stamp servers as a guide for time verification;

a time stamp verification module for verifying the validity of the time stamp when the device for accessing the digital content starts up, if the verification passes, the next step is performed, and if the verification fails, the access of the digital content is not allowed;

a certificate of authorization acquiring module for acquiring a certificate of authorization for accessing the digital content from a server; and

a time verification module for verifying the time stamp with the time in the certificate of authorization to determine whether or not the device for accessing the digital content is allowed to access the digital content.