Protection of content stored on portable memory from unauthorized usage

• US 7,062,622 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2001
• Issued: 06/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Peinado, Marcus
• Primary Examiner(s): PORTKA, GARY J
• Application Number:
  US09/896,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20030005246A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,810 Days
• Field of Search: 710/200, 711/111, 711/115, 711/163, 711/164, 711/200, 713/200
• US Class Current: 711/163
• 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]

Abstract

A device for securely recording protected content to a portable memory, and for reading the protected content therefrom. The device includes a feature that makes it adapted to read or write specially-configured portable memories that are incompatible with standard read/write devices. For example, the device may be designed to work with memories having an unusual shape or size, or may manipulate the data in a non-standard way before storing it on the memory. The read/write devices are trusted components that will only handle the protected content in accordance with rules governing the content. The feature included in the device is preferably a proprietary and/or hardware feature, so that counterfeit devices incorporating the feature cannot be built without overcoming economic and/or legal hurdles. Because of the hurdles to building devices compatible with the specially-configured portable memory, protected content can be transferred to such a memory with reasonable assurance that the content will not be widely copied.

Claims

1. A method of recording data comprising the acts of:

receiving protected content at a data processing device;

determining that a portable memory recording device is trustworthy based on a proprietary physical hardware interface between said data processing device and said portable memory recording device, wherein determining that said portable memory recording device is trustworthy includes determining that said portable memory recording device will not record said protected content onto portable memories falling outside of a class ; and

using said portable memory recording device to record said protected content onto a portable memory.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination that said portable memory recording device will not record said protected content onto portable memories falling outside of a class is made with less than absolute certainty.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a characteristic of said class is that portable memories falling inside said class are not readable by portable memory reading devices lacking a defined feature.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said defined feature comprises a physical feature.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said physical feature is a proprietary physical feature.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein said defined feature comprises a proprietary data handling algorithm.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the act of:

determining that recording of said protected content onto said portable memory is permitted by the terms of a license governing said protected content.

8. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions to perform the method of claim 1.

9. A method of recording protected data comprising the acts of:

receiving protected content at a data processing device;

determining that a portable memory recording device will not record said protected content onto portable memories falling outside of a class, wherein a characteristic of said class is that portable memories falling inside said class are not readable by portable memory reading devices lacking a physical proprietary hardware interface with said data processing device; and

using said portable memory recording device to record said protected content onto a portable memory.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the determination that said portable memory recording device will not record said protected content onto portable memories falling outside of a class is made with less than absolute certainty.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein a characteristic of said class is that portable memories falling inside said class are not readable by portable memory reading devices lacking a proprietary data handling algorithm.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein said act of determining that said portable memory recording device will not record said protected content onto portable memories falling outside of a class comprises engaging in an authentication protocol between said data processing device and said portable memory recording device.

13. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions to perform the method of claim 9.