Systems and methods for serverless software licensing

• US 7,565,322 B1
• Filed: 03/29/2000
• Issued: 07/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Andreas Acquisitions, LLC
• Original Assignee: Enliven Marketing Technologies Corp. (Extreme Reach, Inc.)
• Inventors: Feldman, David N., Rice, Robert E., Kotay, Sreekant
• Primary Examiner(s): Hewitt, II; Calvin L
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHERR, CRISTINA O
• Application Number:
  US09/537,086
• Time in Patent Office: 3,401 Days
• Field of Search: 705 50- 59
• US Class Current: 705/50
• 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 21/33 using certificates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles

Abstract

A system and method for licensing the use of “plug-in” type software that plays audio, video, and three dimensional content which logs the network address from which content is downloaded and played by the plug-in client software, then sends this information to a billing system maintained by the plug-in software developer. This billing system can then bill the content provider that is associated with the network address based on the number of times the content is played by users of the plug-in software. The system and method can also employ a public key encryption scheme to ensure that the network address information received by the plug-in software is valid and to block the playing of content from content providers that are delinquent in their license payments.

Claims

1. A method for controlling the use of a data object using encrypted network address information, comprising the steps of:

receiving at an electronic information appliance, a data object and predetermined encrypted network address information from a server;

playing content from said data object at the electronic information appliance;

decrypting said predetermined encrypted network address information;

determining whether said decrypted network address information corresponds to a network address information of said server; and

based on said determining, ceasing to play content from said data object.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said network address information is a Uniform Resource Locator.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said network address information includes a domain name.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said network address information includes a directory name.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said network address information includes an Internet Protocol address.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said decrypting step employs the public key of a public/private key pair to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said decrypting step employs a digital signature scheme to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in said data object.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in a world wide web page residing on said server.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the encrypted network address information also includes license information.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the license information includes an expiration date.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

storing logging information about said data object; and

periodically sending said logging information to a remote network location.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said logging information includes the network address information.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein said logging information includes information about the individual who requested the data object.

15. A method for controlling the playing of content using encrypted network address information, comprising the steps of:

receiving at an electronic information appliance, a data object and predetermined encrypted network address information from a first server;

playing content from said data object at the electronic information appliance;

decrypting said predetermined encrypted network address information;

receiving a plurality of network addresses from a second server corresponding to said decrypted network address information;

searching said plurality of network addresses for a network address of said first server; and

based on said searching, ceasing to play content from said data object.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising the steps of:

storing logging information about said data object; and

periodically sending said logging information to a third server.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said logging information includes the network address information.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein said logging information includes information about the individual who requested the data object.

19. The method of claim 15 wherein said network address information is a Uniform Resource Locator.

20. The method of claim 15 wherein said network address information includes an Internet Protocol address.

21. The method of claim 15 wherein said decrypting step employs the public key of a public/private key pair to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

22. The method of claim 15 wherein said decrypting step employs a digital signature scheme to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

23. The method of claim 15 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in said data object.

24. The method of claim 15 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in a world wide web page residing on said server.

25. The method of claim 15 wherein the encrypted network address information also includes license information.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the license information includes an expiration date.

27. A method for controlling the playing of content using encrypted network address information, comprising the steps of:

receiving at an electronic information appliance, a data object and predetermined encrypted network address information from a server;

playing content from said data object at the electronic information appliance;

decrypting said predetermined encrypted network address information;

searching a plurality of network addresses for a network address corresponding to said decrypted network address information; and

based on said searching, ceasing to play the contents of said data object.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein said network address information is a Uniform Resource Locator.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein said network address information includes an Internet Protocol address.

30. The method of claim 27 wherein said decrypting step employs the public key of a public/private key pair to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein said decrypting step employs a digital signature scheme to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

32. The method of claim 27 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in said data object.

33. The method of claim 27 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in a world wide web page residing on said server.

34. A method for calculating license fees for client software based on the network address of the content provider, comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of records from a plurality of software clients wherein each record includes a network address;

determining the number of records of said plurality of records that include a particular network address; and

calculating a license fee for said particular network address based on said number of records.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising the step of:

selecting said particular network address from the plurality of network addresses included in said plurality of records.

36. The method of claim 35 further comprising the step of:

repeating said determining and said calculating steps until a license fee has been calculated for each unique network address that is included in said plurality of records.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein if said number of records that include said particular network address is less than a predesignated value, then the license fee is set to zero.

38. The method of claim 35 wherein if said number of records that include said particular network address is less than a predesignated value, then the license fee is set to zero.

39. A system for calculating software licensing fees, comprising:

a plurality of software clients;

a plurality of content servers; and

a billing server,

wherein each of said plurality of software clients downloads and plays content from said plurality of content servers, logs information about the content played, and sends said logged information to said billing server; and

said billing server uses the logged information received from said plurality of software clients to calculate the number of times that content from each content server was played and uses said number of times to calculate a license fee to be charged to the entity that operates the content server.

40. The system of claim 39 wherein said logged information includes a network address for the content server from which the content was downloaded.

41. The system of claim 39 wherein said logged information includes information about the user of the client software.

42. The system of claim 39 wherein said client software verifies that the content server from which the content has been downloaded has agreed to a set of licensing terms.

43. The system of claim 42 wherein a public key encryption scheme is used by said client software to perform the verification.

44. A method for controlling the playing of content using encrypted network address information, comprising the steps of:

receiving at an electronic information appliance, a data object and predetermined encrypted network address information from a server;

decrypting said predetermined encrypted network address information;

determining whether said decrypted network address information corresponds to a network address information of said server; and

based on said determining, playing content from said data object at the electronic information appliance.

45. The method of claim 44 further comprising the step of:

if said correspondence does not exist, playing contents from said data object in a diminished capacity.

46. The method of claim 44 further comprising the step of:

if said correspondence does not exist, playing contents from said data object with diminished quality.

47. The method of claim 44 further comprising the step of:

if said correspondence does not exist, playing contents from said data object with diminished functionality.

48. The method of claim 44 further comprising the steps of:

storing logging information about said data object; and

periodically sending said logging information to a second server.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein said logging information includes the network address information.

50. The method of claim 48 wherein said logging information includes information about the individual who requested the data object.

51. The method of claim 45 further comprising the steps of:

storing logging information about said data object; and

periodically sending said logging information to a second server.

52. The method of claim 51 wherein said logging information includes the network address information.

53. The method of claim 51 wherein said logging information includes information about the individual who requested the data object.

54. The method of claim 45 wherein said network address information is a Uniform Resource Locator.

55. The method of claim 45 wherein said network address information includes an Internet Protocol address.

56. The method of claim 45 wherein said decrypting step employs the public key of a public/private key pair to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

57. The method of claim 45 wherein said decrypting step employs a digital signature scheme to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

58. The method of claim 45 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in said data object.

59. The method of claim 45 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in a world wide web page residing on said server.

60. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps to be used to control the playing of the contents of a data object, said steps comprising:

receiving at an electronic information appliance, a data object and predetermined encrypted network address information from a server;

decrypting said predetermined encrypted network address information;

determining whether said decrypted network address information corresponds to a network address information of said server; and

based on said determining, playing contents from said data object at the electronic information appliance.

61. The article of manufacture of claim 60 further comprising the step of:

if said correspondence does not exist, playing contents from said data object with diminished quality.

62. The article of manufacture of claim 60 further comprising the step of:

if said correspondence does not exist, playing contents from said data object with diminished functionality.

63. The article of manufacture of claim 60 wherein said series of steps further comprise the steps of:

storing logging information about said data object; and

periodically sending said logging information to a second server.

64. The article of manufacture of claim 63 wherein said logging information includes the network address information.

65. The article of manufacture of claim 63 wherein said logging information includes information about the user of the article of manufacture.

66. The article of manufacture of claim 60 wherein said network address information is a Uniform Resource Locator.

67. The article of manufacture of claim 60 wherein said network address information includes an Internet Protocol address.

68. The article of manufacture of claim 60 wherein said decrypting step employs the public key of a public/private key pair to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

69. The article of manufacture of claim 60 wherein said decrypting step employs a digital signature scheme to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

70. The article of manufacture of claim 60 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in said data object.

71. The article of manufacture of claim 60 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in a world wide web page residing on said server.

72. The article of manufacture of claim 60 wherein the encrypted network address information also includes license information.

73. The article of manufacture of claim 72 wherein the license information includes an expiration date.

74. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps to be used to control the playing of the contents of a data object, said steps comprising:

receiving at an electronic information appliance, a data object and predetermined encrypted network address information from a server;

playing contents from said data object;

decrypting said predetermined encrypted network address information;

searching a plurality of network addresses for a network address corresponding to said decrypted network address information; and

based on said searching, ceasing to play the contents of said data object.

75. The article of manufacture of claim 74 wherein said network address information is a Uniform Resource Locator.

76. The article of manufacture of claim 74 wherein said network address information includes an Internet Protocol address.

77. The article of manufacture of claim 74 wherein said decrypting step employs the public key of a public/private key pair to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

78. The article of manufacture of claim 74 wherein said decrypting step employs a digital signature scheme to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

79. The article of manufacture of claim 74 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in said data object.

80. The article of manufacture of claim 74 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in a world wide web page residing on said server.

81. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps to be used to control the playing of the contents of a data object, said steps comprising:

receiving at an electronic information appliance, a data object and predetermined encrypted network address information from a first server;

playing contents from said data object;

decrypting said predetermined encrypted network address information;

receiving a plurality of network addresses from a second server corresponding to said decrypted network address information;

searching said plurality of network addresses for a network address of said first server; and

based on said searching, ceasing to play the contents of said data object.

82. The article of manufacture of claim 81 wherein said network address information is a Uniform Resource Locator.

83. The article of manufacture of claim 81 wherein said network address information includes an Internet Protocol address.

84. The article of manufacture of claim 81 wherein said decrypting step employs the public key of a public/private key pair to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

85. The article of manufacture of claim 81 wherein said decrypting step employs a digital signature scheme to decrypt said encrypted network address information.

86. The article of manufacture of claim 81 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in said data object.

87. The article of manufacture of claim 81 wherein said encrypted network address information is included in a world wide web page residing on said server.

88. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, define a series of steps to be used to calculate license fees for client software based on the network address of the content provider, said steps comprising:

receiving a plurality of records from a plurality of software clients wherein each record includes a network address;

determining the number of records of said plurality of records that include a particular network address; and

calculating a license fee for said particular network address based on said number of records.

89. The article of manufacture of claim 88, wherein said series of steps further comprise the steps of:

selecting said particular network address from the plurality of network addresses included in said plurality of records; and

repeating said determining and said calculating steps until a license fee has been calculated for each unique network address that is included in said plurality of records.

90. A method for controlling the use of a data object using network address information, comprising the steps of:

receiving at an electronic information appliance, a data object and network address information from a server;

playing contents from said data object;

sending a message to a verification server containing said network address information;

receiving a response from said verification server; and

based on said response, ceasing to play contents from said data object.

91. The method of claim 90 wherein said network address information is a Uniform Resource Locator.

92. The method of claim 90 wherein said network address information includes a domain name.

93. The method of claim 90 wherein said network address information includes a directory name.

94. The method of claim 90 wherein said network address information includes an Internet Protocol address.

95. The method of claim 90 further comprising the steps of:

storing logging information about said data object; and

periodically sending said logging information to a remote network location.

96. The method of claim 95 wherein said logging information includes the network address information.

97. The method of claim 95 wherein said logging information includes information about the individual who requested the data object.