CONTENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, METHOD AND DEVICE

• US 20120079610A1
• Filed: 12/01/2011
• Published: 03/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Client Computing Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Yamashima, Masaki, Kawai, Osamu
• Granted Patent: US 8,527,424 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/30
• 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: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00492 wherein content or user data is encrypted
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00543 wherein external data is encrypted, e.g. for secure communication with an external device or for encrypting content on a separate record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00768 wherein copy control information is used, e.g. for indicating whether a content may be copied freely, no more, once, or never, by setting CGMS, SCMS, or CCI flags
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00789 wherein the usage restriction limits the number of functional copies, which can be accessed at a time, e.g. electronic bookshelf concept, virtual library, video rentals or check-in/check out
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/0084 wherein the usage restriction can be expressed as a specific time or date
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91328 the copy protection signal being a copy management signal, e.g. a copy generation management signal [CGMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91364 the video signal being scrambled
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4398 involving reformatting operations of audio signals details of audio signal transcoding G10L19/173
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440218 by transcoding between formats or standards, e.g. from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion of standards in analogue television systems H04N7/01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4405 involving video stream decryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4508 Management of client data or end-user data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4542 Blocking scenes or portions of the received content, e.g. censoring scenes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/63345 by transmitting keys key distribution for secret or secure communication H04L9/08; network support of key management H04L63/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8355 involving usage data, e.g. number of copies or viewings allowed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/765 Interface circuits between an apparatus for recording and another apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 : on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 : on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 : using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/913 : for scrambling ; for copy protection
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17336 : Handling of requests in head-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/7921 : for more than one processing mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 : involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8227 : the additional signal being at least another television signal
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 705/908 : Software or content usage protection
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 705/911 : Copy protection or prevention

Abstract

An encrypted content and its encryption key under a copy right use condition of prohibiting a copy by the device having received a content are stored, and the encrypted content is copy-transferred with another device through the network, and at the same time, the encryption key is transferred through the network, so that it is stored in either one of the devices.

Even when a high definition television broadcast signal received with a copy-once taken as a copy right use condition is recorded, an access flag that controls the presence or absence of the reproduction of the broadcast content for each broadcast content is provided. When an original broadcast content is transcoded into a low resolution, and is transfer to another device, its access flag is turned on, thereby making the reproduction possible.

Claims

1. A content management program, allowing a computer to execute:

an access information setting step of setting the access information that controls whether or not the reproduction of the content should be made for each content stored in the content storage unit;

a content reproducing step of reproducing said content when said access information is shown as reproducible and prohibiting the reproduction of said content when said access information is shown as not reproducible;

a content transfer step of converting a resolution of the content stored in said content storage unit and transferring the content after the conversion to another device; and

an access information control step of setting said access information to be reproducible when the content is stored in said content storage unit, and setting said accessing information to be not reproducible, thereby prohibiting the reproduction when the content after said conversion is transferred to another device, and moreover, setting said access information to be reproducible, thereby making it reproducible when the content after the conversion and transferred to said another device becomes not reproducible.

2. The content management program according to claim 1, characterized by allowing the computer to further execute:

a dummy content limiting step that provides a dummy content number showing the number of dummy contents stored in another device in a reproduction prohibiting state to set said access information not reproducible and prohibiting the transfer processing to another device when the value of said dummy content counter reaches a predetermined threshold value.

3. The content management program according to claim 1, characterized in that said content transfer step converts the content stored in said content storage unit into a content of a low resolution corresponding to the device of the transfer destination, and transfers the content after the conversion.

4. A content management program, characterized by allowing a computer to execute:

an access information setting step of setting an access information that controls the presence or absence of the reproduction of a content for each content stored in a content storage unit;

a content reproducing step of reproducing said content when said access information is shown as reproducible and prohibiting the reproduction of said content when said access information is shown as not reproducible;

a content transfer step of converting the resolution of the content stored in said content storage unit and transferring the content after the conversion to another device; and

an access information control step of setting said access information to be reproducible, thereby making it reproducible when the content is stored in said content storage unit, and setting said accessing information to be not reproducible, thereby prohibiting the reproduction when said content is transferred to another separate device.

5. The content management program according to claim 4, characterized by allowing the computer to further execute:

a dummy content limiting step of providing a dummy content number showing the number of contents stored in another device in a reproduction prohibiting state that sets the access information to be not reproducible and prohibiting the transfer processing of the content to another device when the value of dummy content counter reaches a predetermined threshold value.

6. The content management program according to claim 4, characterized in that said content transfer step converts the resolution of the content stored in said content storage unit into the content of a low resolution corresponding to the device of the transfer destination and transfers the same, and executes a transfer processing not including the content when the content stored in said content storage unit is returned to the device of the transfer source storing the content of a high resolution.

7. The content management program according to claim 4, characterized in that said content transfer step leaves the stored content alone as it is or deletes it when the content stored in said content storage unit is returned to the device of the transfer source storing the content of a high resolution.

8. The content management program according to claim 4, characterized in that said content transfer step transfers said content to another device through a network connection or a detachably attachable storage medium.

9. The content management program according to claim 4, characterized in that when the content after the conversion is not reproducible by another device, the content after conversion is returned.

10. A content management program, characterized by allowing a computer to execute:

a content storing step of storing a plurality of CODEC steps reproducing the same content in parallel by receiving signals and a plurality of same contents reproduced in parallel by the plurality of CODEC steps in a content storage unit;

a flag control step of turning on any one of the access information set for each same content stored in said content storage unit and setting the corresponding content to be reproducible, and at the same time, turning off all the remaining access information and prohibiting the reproduction of the corresponding content; and

a content reproduction step of selecting said content with the access information turned on from among the plurality of same contents and reproducing the same.

11. The content management program according to claim 10, characterized in that said content is a television broadcast signal received with a copy of one time only taken as a copy right use condition.

12. A content management method, characterized by comprising:

an access information setting step of setting access information that controls whether or not the reproduction of the content should be reproduced for each content stored in a content storage unit;

a content reproducing step of reproducing the content when said accessing information is shown as reproducible, and prohibiting the reproduction of the content when said access information is shown as not reproducible;

a content transfer step of converting resolution of the content stored in said content storage unit and transferring the content after conversion to another device; and

an access information control step of setting said access information to be reproducible when the content is stored in said content storage unit, and setting said access information to be not reproducible, thereby prohibiting the reproduction when said content after conversion is transferred to another device, and moreover, setting said access information to be reproducible, thereby making the reproduction possible when the content transferred to another device and converted thereafter is not reproducible.

13. The content management method according to claim 12, characterized by providing a dummy content number showing the number of contents stored another device in a reproduction prohibiting state which sets the access information to be not reproducible, and executing the dummy content limiting step of prohibiting the transfer processing to another device when the value of said dummy content counter reaches a predetermined threshold value.

14. The content management method according to claim 12, characterized in that said content transfer step converts the content stored in said content storage unit into the content of a low resolution corresponding to the device of the transfer destination, and transfers the content after the conversion.

15. A content management method, characterized by comprising:

an access information setting step of setting the access information that control the presence or absence of the reproduction of the content for each content stored in the content storage unit;

a content reproducing step of reproducing the content when the access information is shown as reproducible and prohibiting the reproduction of the content when the access information is shown as not reproducible;

a content transfer step of converting the resolution of the content stored in the content storage unit and transferring the content after the conversion to another device; and

an access information control step of setting the access information to be reproducible, thereby making it reproducible when the content is stored in the content storage unit, and setting the accessing information to be not reproducible, thereby prohibiting the reproduction when the content is transferred to another separate device.

16. The content management method according to claim 15, characterized by providing a dummy content number showing the number of contents stored another de vice in a reproduction prohibiting state which sets the access information to be not reproducible, and executing the dummy content limiting step of prohibiting the transfer processing to another device when the value of said dummy content counter reaches a predetermined threshold value.

17. The content management method according to claim 15, characterized in that said content transfer step converts the resolution of the content stored in said content storage unit into the content of a low resolution corresponding to the device of the transfer destination and transfers the same, and executes a transfer processing not including the content when the content stored in said content storage unit is returned to the device of the transfer source storing the content of a high resolution.

18. The content management program according to claim 15, characterized in that said content transfer step leaves the stored content alone as it is or deletes it when the content stored in said content storage unit is returned to the device of the transfer source storing the content of a high resolution.

19. The content management program according to claim 15, characterized in that said content transfer step transfers said content to another device through a network connection or a detachably attachable storage medium.

20. The content management program according to claim 15, characterized in that when the content after the conversion is not reproducible by another device, the content after conversion is returned.

21. A content management method, characterized by comprising:

a content storing step of storing a plurality of CODEC steps reproducing the same content in parallel by receiving signals and a plurality of same contents reproduced in parallel by the plurality of CODEC steps in a content storage unit;

a flag control step of turning on any one of the access information set for each same content stored in said content storage unit and setting the corresponding content to be reproducible, and at the same time, turning off all the remaining access information and prohibiting the reproduction of the corresponding content; and

a content reproduction step of selecting said content with the access information turned on from among the plurality of same contents and reproducing the same.

22. The content management method according to claim 21, characterized in that said content is a television broadcast signal received with a copy of one time only taken as a copy right use condition.

23. A content management device, characterized by comprising:

an access information setting step of setting the access information that controls whether or not the reproduction of the content should be made for each content stored in the content storage unit;

a content reproducing step of reproducing said content when said access information is shown as reproducible and prohibiting the reproduction of said content when said access information is shown as not reproducible;

a content transfer step of converting a resolution of the content stored in said content storage unit and transferring the content after the conversion to another device; and

an access information control step of setting said access information to be reproducible when the content is stored in said content storage unit, and setting said accessing information to be not reproducible, thereby prohibiting the reproduction when the content after said conversion is transferred to another device, and moreover, setting said access information to be reproducible, thereby making it reproducible when the content after the conversion having been transferred to said another device becomes not reproducible.

24. The content management device according to claim 23,

characterized by providing a dummy content limiting unit that provides a dummy content number showing the number of dummy contents stored in another device in a reproduction prohibiting state to set said access information not reproducible and prohibits the transfer processing to another device.

25. The content management device according to claim 23, characterized in that said content transfer step converts the content stored in said content storage unit into the content of a low resolution corresponding to the device of the transfer destination, and transfers the content after the conversion.

26. A content management device, characterized by comprising:

an access information setting unit that sets the access information controlling whether or not the reproduction of the content should be made for each content stored in the content storage unit;

a content reproducing unit that reproduces said content when said access information is shown as reproducible and prohibits the reproduction of said content when said access information is shown as not reproducible;

a content transfer unit that converts a resolution of the content stored in said content storage unit and transfers the content after the conversion to another device; and

an access information control step of setting said access information to be reproducible when the content transferred from another device is stored in said content storage unit, and setting said accessing information to be not reproducible, thereby prohibiting the reproduction when the content after said conversion is transferred to another device, and moreover, setting said access information to be reproducible, thereby making it reproducible when the content after the conversion and transferred to said another device becomes not reproducible.

27. The content management device according to claim 26, characterized by comprising a dummy content limiting units that provides a dummy content number showing the number of contents stored in another device in a reproduction prohibiting state that sets the access information to be not reproducible, and prohibits the transfer processing to another device when the value of said dummy content counter reaches a predetermined threshold value.

28. The content management device according to claim 26, characterized in that said content transfer step converts the resolution of the content stored in said content storage unit into the content of a low resolution corresponding to the device of the transfer destination and transfers the same, and executes a transfer processing not including the content when the content stored in said content storage unit is returned to the device of the transfer source storing the content of a high resolution.

29. The content management device according to claim 26, characterized in that said content transfer unit leaves alone the stored content as it is or deleted when the content stored in said content storage unit is returned to the device of the transfer destination storing a high resolution content.

30. The content management device according to claim 26, characterized in that said content transfer unit transfers said content to another device through a network connection or a detachably attachable medium.

31. The content management device according to claim 26, characterized in that the content after the conversion becomes not reproducible by another device, the content after the conversion is returned.

32. A content management device, comprising:

a content storage unit that stores a plurality of CODEC steps reproducing the same content in parallel by receiving signals and a plurality of same contents reproduced in parallel by the plurality of CODEC steps in a content storage unit;

a flag control unit that turns on any one of the access information set for each same content stored in said content storage unit and sets the corresponding content to be reproducible, and at the same time, turns off all the remaining access information and prohibits the reproduction of the corresponding content; and

a content reproduction unit that selects said content with the access information turned on from among the plurality of same contents and reproduces the same.

33. The content management device according to claim 32, characterized in that said content is a television broadcast signal received with a copy of one time only taken as a copy right use condition.