Secure streaming container

• US 7,251,832 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2004
• Issued: 07/31/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Digital Reg of Texas, LLC (DRM Technologies LLC)
• Original Assignee: DRM Technologies LLC
• Inventors: Venters, III, Carl Vernon, PHILLIPS, II, Eugene B., Ornstein, Seth
• Primary Examiner(s): REVAK, CHRISTOPHER A
• Application Number:
  US10/798,371
• Publication Number:
  US 20040181667A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,236 Days
• Field of Search: 713/150, 713/168, 713/175, 713/176, 713182-186, 713/189, 713/193, 713/194, 713200-202, 705 50- 59, 709223-229, 380/255, 380/269, 380/36, 380/37
• US Class Current: 726/26
• 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 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2143 Clearing memory, e.g. to prevent the data from being stolen
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0866 involving user or device identifiers, e.g. serial number, physical or biometrical information, DNA, hand-signature or measurable physical characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0891 Revocation or update of secret information, e.g. encryption key update or rekeying

Abstract

A system and method for securely streaming encrypted digital media content out of a digital container to a user'"'"'s media player. This streaming occurs after the digital container has been delivered to the user'"'"'s machine and after the user has been authorized to access the encrypted content. The user'"'"'s operating system and media player treat the data stream as if it were a being delivered over the Internet (or other network) from a streaming web server. However, no Internet connection is required after the container has been delivered to the user and the data stream suffers no quality loss due to network traffic or web server access problems. In this process of the invention, the encrypted content files are decrypted and fed to the user'"'"'s media player in real time and are never written to the user'"'"'s hard drive or storage device. This process makes unauthorized copying of the digital content contained in the digital container virtually impossible.

Claims

1. A method of providing streaming content, comprising the steps of:

creating a digital container that includes contents comprising streaming media content and digital rights management (DRM);

selecting one or more executable modules for inclusion in the digital container, the selection of the modules being based on at least one of a type of streaming media content and the DRM;

encrypting the streaming media content of the digital container to produce a secured streaming container (SSC); and

transmitting the SSC containing the encrypted streaming media, DRM and the one or more executable modules to a target device for access of the SSC from the target device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step for transmitting includes transmitting the SSC over at least one of a local area network, a wide-area network, a wireless network, and the Internet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the target device includes one of a cell phone, a personal data assistant (PDA), a personal computer, a computing device, a portable music player, a tablet computer, a cable modem, satellite receiver, a television, and a cable television tuner.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital container is created by receiving input of at least one of the target device, one or more media files to be included in the digital container, a transaction option type, a digital rights management (DRM) option, a digital container graphic, and a search descriptor data.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the transaction option type includes a financial transaction type, a transaction update type, a transaction update address, a server address, demographics type, or a subscription type;

the financial transaction type includes at least a credit card type; and

the subscription type includes at least a financial transaction defining a period of time.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of selecting includes selecting one or more executable modules based on a type of the one or more media files, which control the streaming of the one or more media files in the environment of the target device.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the digital container graphic is either a static image and an animated image and is at least one of informational and promotional graphics that appears on a viewable electronic digital container cover before and after the digital container is opened.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising encoding the streaming media content for playback by one of a media player resident on the target device and a media player included with the digital container.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the streaming media content includes at least one of video, audio, animation, and text content.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the streaming media content is one or more streaming media files.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of creating one or more secondary files for inclusion in the digital container, the one or more secondary files include at least one of a hypertext markup language (html) file, an image file, and a segment of the one or more media files.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the segment is at least one of:

(i) viewable prior to executing a purchase transaction for the media content, and

(ii) unencrypted for previewing.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one of an html file and image file are viewable during playing of the one or more streaming files.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of providing an execution batch file in the digital container for controlling presentation of the streaming media content in at least one of a preset sequence, a relative sequence, and a timing interval.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of establishing limits on access to the streaming media content based on at least one of a period of time and a number of access instances.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the establishing limits includes limiting at least one of copying the streaming media content and transferring the streaming media content.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of producing informational and search metadata tag sets wherein the tag sets are included in the SSC.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the tag sets are unencrypted extensible markup language (XML) tags.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the tag sets are used by search engines to discover at least one of the digital container and the streaming media content.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the XML tags are manually created.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the XML tags describe at least a portion of the streaming media content and provides at least one of a file size and a file type.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the XML tags provide access rights data to the target device.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the XML tags provide at least one of a content file title, a key word data, and a key phrase data as search descriptors for search engines.

24. The method of claim 18, wherein the XML tags are substantially compliant with one of Open Mobile Alliance standard (OMA) and Open Data Rights language (ODRL) standard.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of registering the SSC with a digital container verification database including one of identifying the SSC and providing date information about the SSC.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the registering the SSC occurs automatically when the SSC is created.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting step is via email, file transfer protocol (FTP), download from a web-site, peer-to-peer file sharing, instant messaging, or physical transport.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of encoding the digital container for transmission as a hypertext markup (HTML) file.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of establishing a transaction type that is to be executed for a user to gain permission to open the SSC, and when executed, the transaction type includes at least one of a password, demographic information, device information, financial data, credit card data, and personal user data.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the personal identification includes at least one of a user identification number, a company identification number, and a biometric identification.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the biometric information includes at least one of a voice data, a fingerprint data, a retina data, and a physical attribute scan data.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein the device information includes gathering data from a removable storage media.

33. The method of claim 29, wherein the transaction type includes a subscription transaction type that, when executed, gathers subscription data enabling a user to purchase multiple digital containers.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the subscription transaction type gathers subscription data enabling a user to purchase the multiple digital containers related to a pre-determined time period.

35. The method of claim 1, wherein the encrypting step includes compressing the contents of the digital container.

36. The method of claim 1, wherein in the encrypting step a hidden key is incorporated into the digital container.

37. The method of claim 1, wherein the streaming media content comprises a file of streaming media content.

38. A method of creating and accessing streaming content, comprising the steps of:

creating a digital container that includes contents comprising at least streaming media content and digital rights management (DRM);

selecting one or more executable modules for inclusion in the digital container based on one at least one of a type of streaming media content and the DRM;

encrypting the streaming media content and optionally the DRM to produce a secured streaming container (SSC); and

transmitting the SSC to a target device accessing the secured streaming container (SSC) using the one or more executable modules contained in the SSC to control playback of the streaming media content.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the target device includes one of a cell phone, a personal data assistant (PDA), a personal computer, a computing device, a portable music player, a tablet computer, a cable modem, and a cable television tuner.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the digital container is created by receiving input of at least one of a target device type, one or more media files to be included in the digital container, transaction option type, digital rights management (DRM) options, digital container graphics, and search descriptor data.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein:

the transaction option type includes a financial transaction type, a transaction update type, a transaction update address, a server address, demographics type, a subscription type,

the financial transaction type includes at least a credit card type, and

the subscription type includes at least a financial transaction defining a period of time.

42. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of selecting one or more modules based on the type of one or more media files and associated with the streaming media content, the one or more modules controlling the streaming of the one or more media files in the environment of the target device type.

43. The method of claim 38, further comprising encoding the streaming media content which is encoded for playback by one of a media player resident on a target device and a media player included with the digital container.

44. The method of claim 38, wherein the streaming media content includes at least one of video, audio, animation, and text.

45. The method of claim 38, further comprising providing an execution batch file in the digital container for controlling the presentation of the streaming media content in at least one of a preset sequence, a relative sequence, and a timing interval.

46. The method of claim 38, further comprising controlling access to the streaming media content using the DRM on subsequent accesses.

47. The method of claim 38, further including the steps of:

decrypting the streaming media content; and

playing the streaming media content using a media player.

48. The method of claim 38, wherein the accessing step further includes:

detecting an access attempt to the SSC;

determining if permission has been previously granted to open the SSC and, if not,

supplying transaction information;

sending the transaction information to a digital container verification server in an encrypted session;

sending a permission token back to the SSC; and

granting permission to open the SSC.

49. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of playing the streaming media content such that one or more segments of the streaming media content are sequentially played from the digital container while remaining portions of the streaming media content remain secure in the digital container until sequentially played.

50. The method of claim 38, wherein the step for accessing occurs after all portions of the streaming media are present at a client device.

51. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer program product includes at least one component to:

create a digital container that includes contents comprising streaming media content and digital rights management (DRM);

select one or more executable modules for inclusion in the digital container wherein the selection of the one or more executable modules is based on at least one of a type of streaming media content and the DRM;

encrypt the streaming media content of the digital container to produce a secured streaming container (SSC); and

transmit the SSC containing the encrypted streaming media, DRM and one or more executable modules to a target device for access of the SSC from the target device.

52. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component transmits the SSC over at least one of a local area network, a wide-area network, a wireless network, and the Internet.

53. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component transmits to the device, the device being one of a cell phone, a personal data assistant (PDA), a personal computer, a computing device, a portable music player, a tablet computer, a cable modem, a satellite receiver, a television, and a cable television tuner.

54. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component creates the digital container by receiving input of at least one of a target device type, one or more media files to be included in the digital container, a transaction option type, a digital rights management (DRM) option, a digital container graphic, and a search descriptor data.

55. The computer program product of claim 54, wherein:

the transaction option type includes a financial transaction type, a transaction update type, a transaction update address, a server address, demographics type, a subscription type,

the financial transaction type includes at least a credit card type, and

the subscription type includes at least a financial transaction defining a period of time.

56. The computer program product of claim 54, wherein the digital container graphic is either a static image and an animated image and is at least one of informational and promotional graphics that appears on a viewable electronic digital container cover before and after the digital container is opened.

57. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component selects one or more executable modules based on the type of the one or more media files, the one or more executable modules adapted to control the streaming of the one or more media files in the environment of the target device type.

58. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component encodes the streaming media content and is encoded for playback by one of a media player resident on the target device and a media player included with the digital container.

59. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the streaming media content includes at least one of video, audio, animation, and text content.

60. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the streaming media content is one or more streaming media files.

61. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component creates one or more secondary files for inclusion in the SSC, the one or more secondary files include at least one of a hypertext markup language (html) file, an image file, and a segment of the one or more media files.

62. The computer program product of claim 61, wherein the segment is at least one of:

(i) viewable prior to executing a purchase transaction for the media content, and

(ii) unencrypted for previewing.

63. The computer program product of claim 61, wherein the at least one of an html file and image file are viewable during playing of the one or more streaming files.

64. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component provides an execution batch file in the digital container for controlling the presentation of the media content in at least one of a preset sequence, a relative sequence, and a timing interval.

65. The computer program product of claim 64, wherein the at least one component establishes limits on access to the media content based on at least one of a period of time and a number of access instances.

66. The computer program product of claim 65, wherein the establishing limits includes limiting at least one of copying the media content and transferring the media content.

67. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component produces informational and search metadata tag sets and includes the tag sets in the SSC.

68. The computer program product of claim 67, wherein the tag sets are unencrypted extensible markup language (XML) tags.

69. The computer program product of claim 68, wherein the tag sets are used by search engines to discover at least one of the digital container and the streaming media content.

70. The computer program product of claim 68, wherein the XML tags are manually created.

71. The computer program product of claim 68, wherein the XML tags describe a least a portion of the streaming media content and provides at least one of a file size and a file type.

72. The computer program product of claim 68, wherein the XML tags provide access rights data to the device.

73. The computer program product of claim 68, wherein the XML tags provide at least one of a content file title, a key word data, and a key phrase data as search descriptors for search engines.

74. The computer program product of claim 73, wherein the XML tags are substantially compliant with one of Open Mobile Alliance standard (OMA) and Open Data Rights language (ODRL) standard.

75. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component registers the SSC with a digital container verification database including at least one of identifying the SSC and providing date information about the SSC.

76. The computer program product of claim 75, wherein the registering the SSC automatically occurs when the SSC is created.

77. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component transmits using email, file transfer protocol (FTP), download from a web-site, peer-to-peer file sharing, instant messaging, or physical transport.

78. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component encodes the digital container for transmission as a hypertext markup (HTML) file.

79. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component establishes a transaction type that is to be executed for a user to gain permission to open the SSC, and when executed, the transaction type includes at least one of a password, demographic information, device information, gathering financial data, credit card data, and personal user data.

80. The computer program product of claim 79, wherein the personal identification includes at least one of a user identification number, a company identification number, and a biometric identification.

81. The computer program product of claim 80, wherein the biometric information includes at least one of a voice data, a fingerprint data, a retina data, and a physical attribute scan data.

82. The computer program product of claim 79, wherein the device information includes gathered data from a removable storage media.

83. The computer program product of claim 79, wherein the transaction type includes a subscription transaction type that, when executed, gathers subscription data enabling a user to purchase multiple digital containers.

84. The computer program product of claim 83, wherein the subscription transaction type, that when executed, gathers subscription data enabling a user to purchase the multiple digital containers related to a pre-determined time period.

85. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component compresses the contents of the digital container.

86. The computer program product of claim 51, wherein the at least one component incorporates a hidden key into the digital.