Assembly, distribution, and use of digital information
First Claim
1. A method for controlling access to a subset of items arbitrarily selected from among a larger set of items of digital information, comprisingencrypting said items belonging to said set using encryption keys, each of said items belonging to said set being encrypted using a corresponding one of said encryption keys, said corresponding one of said encryption keys being unique among said encryption keys used for encrypting said items belonging to said set, andproviding a decryption key which permits decryption of said items belonging to said arbitrarily selected subset of items.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Hierarchically organized graphical representations of items and groups of the items of digital information which are available to be ordered by a user are displayed. The user interactively explores the representations and selects items or groups to be ordered, using a pointer. While the graphical representations are being displayed, a list of items or groups which have been selected for inclusion in an order is also displayed. Software is executed which automatically determines the configuration of the computer, and matches the configuration with the stored configuration information prior to the user placing an order. A user may automatically be given access to items in a later revision of the medium if the user had access to the items in an earlier revision.
333 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for controlling access to a subset of items arbitrarily selected from among a larger set of items of digital information, comprising
encrypting said items belonging to said set using encryption keys, each of said items belonging to said set being encrypted using a corresponding one of said encryption keys, said corresponding one of said encryption keys being unique among said encryption keys used for encrypting said items belonging to said set, and providing a decryption key which permits decryption of said items belonging to said arbitrarily selected subset of items.
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10. A method for controlling access to a subset of items arbitrarily selected from among a larger set of items of digital information, comprising
recording said larger set of items on a high-capacity storage medium, and encrypting said items belonging to said set using encryption keys, each of said items belonging to said set being encrypted using an encryption key which is unique among said items belonging to said set, said encryption keys being associated with corresponding decryption keys, and encrypting said decryption keys using a single global encryption key, said global encryption key being associated with a corresponding global decryption key, said global decryption key permitting decryption of said items belonging to said arbitrarily selected subset of items, recording said decryption keys on said medium, generating a request for access to said items belonging to said subset, incorporating in said request a request encryption key based on information unique to said request, said request encryption key being associated with a corresponding request decryption key, encrypting said global decryption key in accordance with said request encryption key, and decrypting said global decryption key in accordance with said request decryption key.
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11. Apparatus for controlling access to a subset of items arbitrarily selected from among a larger set of items of digital information, comprising
an encryption mechanism for encrypting said items belonging to said set using encryption keys, each of said items belonging to said set being encrypted using an encryption key which is unique among said items belonging to said set, and a decryption key provider for providing a decryption key permitting decryption of said items belonging to said arbitrarily selected subset of items.
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12. A method for restricting use of decryption keys which are provided to a user for the purpose of allowing decryption of information stored on a high-capacity storage medium, comprising,
encrypting the respective decryption keys using respectively different encryption keys, providing the decryption keys to the user, and enabling the user to decrypt the respective decryption keys using the respective encryption keys.
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19. A method for enabling a publisher to control access to digital information items distributed to users in the form of successive revisions of a high-capacity random access storage medium, comprising
encrypting said digital information items as distributed on said high-capacity random access storage medium, giving a user access to selected ones of said items by providing decryption information for decrypting said selected items, storing information indicative of items to which users had been given access in earlier revisions of said medium, and enabling a user automatically to have access to items in a later revision of said medium if said user had access to said items in an earlier revision.
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20. A method for controlling access to items of digital information stored on a high capacity storage medium, comprising
encrypting one group of said items by a mechanism which enables decryption based on a single decryption key not recorded on said medium, and encrypting another group of said items by a mechanism which requires different decryption keys, not recorded on said medium, for each of said other items.
Specification