Content transaction system and method, and program providing medium therefor

• US 7,184,986 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2001
• Issued: 02/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ishibashi, Yoshihito, Watanabe, Hideaki, Matsuyama, Shinako, Futamura, Ichiro, Kon, Masashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Barron; Gilberto
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ho; Thomas
• Application Number:
  US09/803,869
• Publication Number:
  US 20010053223A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,178 Days
• Field of Search: 705/53, 705/50, 705/69, 705/77, 705/79, 709/226
• US Class Current: 705/52
• 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 2221/2135 Metering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/60 Digital content management, e.g. content distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3273 for mutual authentication network architectures or network communication protocols for achieving mutual authentication in a packet data network H04L63/0869
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4185 for payment
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42684 Client identification by a unique number or address, e.g. serial number, MAC address, socket ID network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming H04L61/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4784 receiving rewards
• 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 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/835 Generation of protective data, e.g. certificates protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10
• 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

Abstract

A user device receives the content, and pays a content fee, based on the usage control policy of the content, by electronic money up to the allowable amount of money set in an issue log. The user device then creates a usage log including a content identifier and sends it to a service provider. The service provider creates a receive log based on the usage log, and sends it to a clearing center. The clearing center performs settlement processing for the electronic money based on the receive log, and sends a transfer request to an account management institution. By performing the above-described series of processing by using encrypted data, the settlement of the content usage fee is safely performed.

Claims

1. A content transaction system for settling a transaction of content, comprising:

a user device configured for

(1) receiving and storing an issue log including issue information indicating an allowable amount of electronic money and an electronic money balance, for creating a usage log of usage of said content,

(2) for receiving, storing and using the content, said content being stored independently of said issue log,

(3) for deducting a content usage fee from the electronic money balance up to the allowable amount of electronic money set in the issue log based on information of a usage control policy of the content, and

(4) for creating the usage log including information on the deducted usage fee;

a service provider, which receives said usage log from said user device, for creating a receive log including the information of the content usage fee based on said usage log;

a clearing center, which creates said issue log and receives said receive log from said service provider, for performing settlement processing for the electronic money spent for the use of the content based on said receive log, and for making a transfer request to transfer the usage fee; and

an account management institution, which receives the transfer request from said clearing center, for performing transfer processing according to the transfer request,

wherein,

said clearing center manages the allowable amount of electronic money by preliminarily creating said issue log and then issuing said issue log to the user device independently of said content.

2. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein each of said user device and said service provider comprises an encryption processing unit, and, when said usage log is sent from said user device to said service provider, mutual authentication processing is performed between said user device and said service provider, and said user device attaches a digital signature to said usage log, and, upon receiving said usage log, said service provider verifies the integrity of the digital signature.

3. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein each of said service provider and said clearing center comprises an encryption processing unit, and, when said receive log is sent from said service provider to said clearing center, mutual authentication processing is performed between said service provider and said clearing center, and said service provider attaches a digital signature to said receive log, and, upon receiving said receive log, said clearing center verifies the integrity of the digital signature.

4. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein said clearing center comprises a user balance database for managing the electronic money balance of said user device, and said clearing center creates said issue log according to the electronic money balance registered in said user balance database and sends said issue log to said user device.

5. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein each of said clearing center and said user device comprises an encryption processing unit, and, when said issue log is sent from said clearing center to said user device, mutual authentication processing is performed between said clearing center and said user device, and said clearing center attaches a digital signature to said issue log, and, upon receiving said issue log, said user device verifies the integrity of the digital signature.

6. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein the usage control policy information includes profit distribution information of the content usage fee paid by said user device, and wherein said usage log and said receive log include the profit distribution information, and said clearing center performs the settlement processing for the electronic money of the content usage fee and sends the transfer request to said account management institution according to the profit distribution information.

7. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein the content provided for said user device is encrypted and is contained in a secure container in which the encrypted content and the usage control policy information are stored with a digital signature of a content provider, and said user device verifies the digital signature of said secure container so as to determine whether the secure container is tampered with.

8. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein data of said issue log, said usage log, and said receive log are sent and received among said user device, said service provider, and said clearing center by attaching a public key certificate issued by a pubic key certificate issuing authority to the data to be sent.

9. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein said issue log comprises at least one of a user device identifier and a user identifier and also comprises issue information indicating the allowable amount of electronic money.

10. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein said usage log comprises information of said issue log and also comprises usage information indicating the content usage fee and a receiver of the content usage fee.

11. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein said receive log comprises information of said usage log and also comprises receive information indicating a payer of the content usage fee.

12. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein said issue log is created by said clearing center in response to a request to create said issue log from said user device, and said clearing center sends said user device said issue log in which the allowable amount of money spent by said user device is set up to an amount of money transferred to a clearing-center management account in said account management institution from a user of said user device.

13. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein said issue log is created by said clearing center in response to a request to create said issue log from said user device, and, upon receiving a request to create an additional issue log from said user device which has an issue log sent from said clearing center, said clearing center requests said user device to send information of the electronic money balance of said user device, and sends said user device a new issue log in which the allowable amount of money spent by said user device is set up to a total amount consisting of an amount of money transferred to a clearing-center management account in said account management institution from a user of said user device and the electronic money balance of said user device.

14. A content transaction system according to claim 1, wherein said issue log is created by said clearing center in response to a request to create said issue log from said user device, and, upon receiving a request to create an additional issue log from said user device which has an old issue log sent from said clearing center, when it is determined based on the electronic money balance received from said user device that a payment based on the old issue log remains unsettled, said clearing center sends said user device a new issue log having a serial number different from the serial number of the old issue log in which the allowable amount of money spent by said user device is set up to a total amount consisting of an amount of money transferred to a clearing-center management account in said account management institution and the electronic money balance of said user device.

15. A content transaction method for settling a transaction of content which is usable by a user device, comprising the steps of:

a clearing center creating an issue log with issue information indicating an allowable amount of electronic money, which allowable amount of electronic money is based on a usage control policy, said issue log being stored independently of said content;

said clearing center transmitting said issue log to said user device independently of said content;

creating a usage log with said user device by deducting a content usage fee from an electronic money balance up to said allowable amount of electronic money, said usage log including information regarding the deducted usage fee, and sending said usage log to a service provider;

said service provider creating a receive log including information regarding the content usage fee based on said usage log received from said user device, and sending said receive log to said clearing center;

said clearing center performing settlement processing for the electronic money spent by said user device based on said receive log received from said service provider, and sending a transfer request to an account management institution to transfer the usage fee; and

said account management institution performing usage fee transfer processing according to the transfer request.

16. A content transaction method according to claim 15, wherein each of said user device and said service provider comprises an encryption processing unit, and, when said usage log is sent from said user device to said service provider, mutual authentication processing is performed between said user device and said service provider, and said user device attaches a digital signature to said usage log, and, upon receiving said usage log, said service provider verifies the integrity of the digital signature.

17. A content transaction method according to claim 15, wherein each of said service provider and said clearing center comprises an encryption processing unit, and, when said receive log is sent from said service provider to said clearing center, mutual authentication processing is performed between said service provider and said clearing center, and said service provider attaches a digital signature to said receive log, and, upon receiving said receive log, said clearing center verifies the integrity of the digital signature.

18. A content transaction method according to claim 15, wherein said clearing center comprises a user balance database for managing the electronic money balance of said user device, and said clearing center creates said issue log according to the electronic money balance registered in said user balance database and sends said issue log to said user device.

19. A content transaction method according to claim 15, wherein each of said clearing center and said user device comprises an encryption processing unit, and, when said issue log is sent from said clearing center to said user device, mutual authentication processing is performed between said clearing center and said user device, and said clearing center attaches a digital signature to said issue log, and, upon receiving said issue log, said user device verifies the integrity of the digital signature.

20. A content transaction method according to claim 15, wherein the usage control policy information includes profit distribution information of the content usage fee paid by said user device, and wherein said usage log and said receive log include the profit distribution information, and said clearing center performs the settlement processing for the electronic money of the content usage fee and sends the transfer request to said account management institution according to the profit distribution information.

21. A content transaction method according to claim 15, wherein the content provided for said user device is encrypted and is contained in a secure container in which the encrypted content and the usage control policy information are stored with a digital signature of a content provider, and said user device verifies the digital signature of said secure container so as to determine whether the secure container is tampered with.

22. A content transaction method according to claim 15, wherein data of said issue log, said usage log, and said receive log are sent and received among said user device, said service provider, and said clearing center by attaching a public key certificate issued by a pubic key certificate issuing authority to the data to be sent.

23. A content transaction method according to claim 15, wherein said issue log is created by said clearing center in response to a request to create said issue log from said user device, and said clearing center sends said user device said issue log in which the allowable amount of money spent by said user device is set up to an amount of money transferred to a clearing-center management account in said account management institution from a user of said user device.

24. A content transaction method according to claim 15, wherein said issue log is created by said clearing center in response to a request to create said issue log from said user device, and, upon receiving a request to create an additional issue log from said user device which has an issue log sent from said clearing center, said clearing center requests said user device to send information of the electronic money balance of said user device, and sends said user device a new issue log in which the allowable amount of money spent by said user device is set up to a total amount consisting of an amount of money transferred to a clearing-center management account in said account management institution from a user of said user device and the electronic money balance of said user device.

25. A content transaction method according to claim 15, wherein said issue log is created by said clearing center in response to a request to create said issue log from said user device, and, upon receiving a request to create an additional issue log from said user device which has an old issue log sent from said clearing center, when it is determined based on the electronic money balance received from said user device that a payment based on the old issue log remains unsettled, said clearing center sends said user device a new issue log having a serial number different from the serial number of the old issue log in which the allowable amount of money spent by said user device is set up to a total amount consisting of an amount of money transferred to a clearing-center management account in said account management institution and the electronic money balance of said user device.