Protecting content from illicit reproduction by proof of existence of a complete data set via a linked list

• US 6,865,676 B1
• Filed: 03/28/2000
• Issued: 03/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kioba Processing, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Staring, Antonius A. M., Epstein, Michael A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wright, Norman M.
• Application Number:
  US09/537,079
• Time in Patent Office: 1,806 Days
• Field of Search: 713/176, 713/177, 713/179, 713/181, 713/168, 707/101, 707/202
• US Class Current: 713/176
• 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 20/00166 involving measures which result in a restriction to authorised contents recorded on or reproduced from a record carrier, e.g. music or software
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00695 said measures preventing that data are read from the recording medium
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00884 involving a watermark, i.e. a barely perceptible transformation of the original data which can nevertheless be recognised by an algorithm
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability

Abstract

A sufficient number of data items are selected for inclusion in a data set so as to discourage a transmission of the entire set over a limited bandwidth communications path, such as the Internet. Each data item comprises one or more sections, which taken together constitute the complete data set. Each section of the data set is linked to another section of the data set, and each section'"'"'s link is bound to the section via the use of one or more watermarks. Upon presentation of material for rendering, the presence of the entirety of the data set is verified by ascertaining the presence of linked-to sections. For further security, the links between sections is formed by a random selection of each linked-to section. To verify that each linked-to section corresponds to the original section that was linked-to, each link contains an identifier of the linked-to section that can be used to determine that a retrieval of a linked-to section corresponds to the originally assigned linked-to section. If the identifier associated with the linked-to section does not properly match the presented linked-to section, a rendering of the data items of the data set is prevented. In a preferred embodiment, a closed linked list is formed, so that every section of the data set can be included in the verification process, if desired.

Claims

1. A method for discouraging a theft of content material comprising:

collecting a plurality of data items comprising the content material to form a data set that is sized to be sufficiently large so as to discourage a subsequent transmission of the data set via a limited bandwidth communications channel,

each data item of the data items including one or more sections, thereby forming a plurality of sections comprising the data set,

assigning a link address to each section of the plurality of sections, the link address being associated with an other section of the plurality of sections, to facilitate a subsequent detection of an absence of an entirety of the data set based on an absence of a linked-to section that corresponds to the link address of one or more select sections of the plurality of sections.

2. The method of claim 1, further including:

encoding the link address of each section as one or more watermarks that are embedded in the section.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein

the one or more watermarks include:

a robust watermark that is configured such that a removal of the robust watermark causes a corruption of data contained in the section, and

a fragile watermark that is configured such that a modification of the data contained in the section causes a corruption of the fragile watermark.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the plurality of data items includes a plurality of at least one of:

digitally encoded audio content, and digitally encoded video content.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein assigning the link address to each section includes

creating a closed linked list that links the entirety of the sections via the link address of each section.

6. The method of claim 1, further including:

assigning a verification parameter to each section of the plurality of sections, to facilitate a subsequent verification that each section corresponding to each link address is a valid section.

7. The method of claim 6, further including:

encoding the link address of each section and the verification parameter as one or more watermarks that are embedded in the section.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein

the one or more watermarks include:

a robust watermark that is configured such that a removal of the robust watermark causes a corruption of data contained in the section, and

a fragile watermark that is configured such that a modification of the data contained in the section causes a corruption of the fragile watermark.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of data items includes a plurality of at least one of:

digitally encoded audio content, and digitally encoded video content.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein assigning the link address to each section includes

creating a closed linked list that links the entirety of the sections via the link address of each section.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein creating the closed linked list includes a random selection.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the link address to each section includes

creating a closed linked list that links the entirety of the sections via the link address of each section.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein creating the closed linked list includes a random selection.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the link address to each section includes

selecting a random other section to link to the section via the link address.

15. A method of decoding content material from a source comprising:

reading one or more first entirety parameters associated with a first section of a data set,

the one or more first entirety parameters comprising a link address to a second section of the data set,

reading one or more second entirety parameters associated with the second section of the data set, and

decoding subsequent sections of the data set in dependence upon the reading of the one or more second entirety parameters.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein

the one or more second entirety parameters include a section verification parameter, and

the decoding of the subsequent sections is dependent upon the section verification parameter.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein

the section verification parameter comprises a random number that is associated with the second section when the data set is created.

18. The method of claim 15, further including

reading subsequent entirety parameters associated with other sections of the data set, based on the reading of the second entirety parameters,

wherein

the decoding of subsequent sections of the data set is in further dependence upon the reading of the subsequent entirety parameters.

19. The method of claim 18, further including

determining when the reading of the subsequent entirety parameters includes a completion of reading of all sections of the data set.

20. The method of claim 15, further including

rendering content material corresponding to the subsequent sections of the data set.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein

the one or more second entirety parameters are embedded in the second section as one or more watermarks.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein

the one or more watermarks include:

a robust watermark that is configured such that a removal of the robust watermark causes a corruption of data contained in the second section, and

a fragile watermark that is configured such that a modification of the data contained in the second section causes a corruption of the fragile watermark.

23. A storage medium that is configured to contain content material, the storage medium comprising

a data structure that includes:

a plurality of sections, and

one or more entirety parameters corresponding to each section of the plurality of sections,

wherein

the one or more entirety parameters include a link address that links the corresponding section to an other section of the plurality of sections to facilitate a determination of whether an entirety of the plurality of sections is present on a subsequent copy of at least a portion of the plurality of sections.

24. The storage medium of claim 23, wherein

the other section data is linked to the corresponding section data via a random selection of the link address for each entirety parameter.

25. The storage medium of claim 23, wherein

the plurality of sections includes a collection of at least one of:

digitally encoded audio content, and digitally encoded video content.

26. The storage medium of claim 23, wherein

at least one of the one or more entirety parameters is embedded in each section of the plurality of sections as one or more watermarks.

27. The storage medium of claim 26, wherein

the one or more watermarks include:

a robust watermark that is configured such that a removal of the robust watermark causes a corruption of data comprising the section, and

a fragile watermark that is configured such that a modification of data comprising the section causes a corruption of the fragile watermark.

28. An encoder comprising:

a selector that is configured to select data items comprising a data set so that an accumulated size of the data set is sufficient to discourage a transmission of the data set via a limited bandwidth communications channel,

each data item of the data items comprising one or more sections,

a binder that is configured to associate a link address to each section of the data items comprising the data set, the link address corresponding to an other section of the data items comprising the data set, and

a recorder that is configured to record each section and each associated link address to a medium to facilitate a subsequent rendering of the data items in dependence upon a presence of one or more of the other sections of the data items corresponding to the link address of one or more sections of the data set.

29. The encoder of claim 28, wherein

the binder is further configured to associate the link address to each section via a random process.

30. The encoder of claim 29, wherein

the recorder stores each link address as one or more watermarks that are embedded in the associated section.

31. The encoder of claim 30, wherein

the one or more watermarks include:

a robust watermark that is configured such that a removal of the robust watermark causes a corruption of data contained in the section, and

a fragile watermark that is configured such that a modification of the data contained in the section causes a corruption of the fragile watermark.

32. The encoder of claim 31, wherein

the binder is further configured to associate a section verification parameter to each section, and

the recorder is further configured to record the section verification parameter with each section to facilitate a verification that the section is present in the subsequent rendering of the data items.

33. The encoder of claim 32, wherein

the binder associates the section verification parameter to each section based on a random process.

34. The encoder of claim 32, wherein

the recorder stores each verification parameter and each link address as one or more watermarks that are embedded in the associated section.

35. The encoder of claim 34, wherein

the one or more watermarks include:

a robust watermark that is configured such that a removal of the robust watermark causes a corruption of data contained in the section, and

a fragile watermark that is configured such that a modification of the data contained in the section causes a corruption of the fragile watermark.

36. The encoder of claim 28, wherein the data items includes a plurality of at least one of:

digitally encoded audio content, and digitally encoded video content.

37. A decoder comprising:

a renderer that is configured to receive data items corresponding to a data set, and to produce therefrom a rendering corresponding to a select data item,

each data item of the data items including one or more sections, thereby forming a plurality of sections comprising the data set,

each section of the plurality of sections including a link address corresponding to an other section of the data set, and

an entirety checker, operably coupled to the renderer, that is configured to preclude the rendering corresponding to the select data item in dependence upon a presence of one or more of the other sections corresponding to the link address of one or more sections of the plurality of sections.

38. The decoder of claim 37, wherein

the entirety checker is further configured to determine the presence of all other sections corresponding to the link address of all sections of the plurality of sections.

39. The decoder of claim 37, wherein

the link address of each section is included in one or more watermarks that are associated with the section.

40. The decoder of claim 39, wherein

the one or more watermarks include:

a robust watermark that is configured such that a removal of the robust watermark causes a corruption of data contained in the section, and

a fragile watermark that is configured such that a modification of the data contained in the section causes a corruption of the fragile watermark.

41. The decoder of claim 37, wherein

the entirety checker is further configured to verify the presence of the one or more other sections based on a verification parameter that is associated with each section.

42. The decoder of claim 41, wherein

the verification parameter and the link address of each section are included as one or more watermarks that are embedded in the associated section.

43. The decoder of claim 42, wherein

the one or more watermarks include:

a robust watermark that is configured such that a removal of the robust watermark causes a corruption of data contained in the section, and

a fragile watermark that is configured such that a modification of the data contained in the section causes a corruption of the fragile watermark.

44. The decoder of claim 37, wherein the data items correspond to at least one of digitally encoded audio content, and digitally encoded video content.