Content usage device and network system, and license information acquisition method

• US 7,725,399 B2
• Filed: 07/15/2002
• Issued: 05/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Higashi, Akio, Uesaka, Yasushi, Nakahara, Tohru, Miura, Kouji, Nakanishi, Masanori, Namba, Takaaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca, Pierre E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kamal, Shahid
• Application Number:
  US10/195,108
• Publication Number:
  US 20030018491A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,871 Days
• Field of Search: 705/57, 705/59, 705/23, 705/40, 705/51, 705/64, 380/49, 380/239
• US Class Current: 705/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/109 by using specially-adapted hardware at the client
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2005/91364 the video signal being scrambled
• 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 21/4112 having fewer capabilities than the client, e.g. thin client having less processing power or no tuning capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4627 Rights management associated to the content 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 21/8355 involving usage data, e.g. number of copies or viewings allowed
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/162 Authorising the user terminal, e.g. by paying; Registering the use of a subscription channel, e.g. billing

Abstract

A content usage device includes (i) a license management unit that holds license information and (ii) a content output unit that uses a content in compliance with license information and outputs the content in at least one manner of a sound, video and data. The license management unit, upon receiving a request of license information from the content output unit, requests a license management unit of another content usage device to transfer the license information and acquires the license information, and passes the acquired license information to the content output unit. The content output unit uses a content in compliance with the license information passed from the license management unit.

Claims

1. A content usage device connected to (i) a server that is located outside a defined network in which a gateway apparatus is located and (ii) a plurality of other content usage devices within the defined network, each of the other content usage devices being for using content, and each of the other content usage devices and the content usage device being connected, from within the defined network, to the gateway apparatus that provides a connection to the server located outside the defined network, the server storing license information of a content, the content usage device comprising:

a license management device configured to manage the license information of the content, the license information of the content enabling usage of the content; and

an output device configured to output the content in compliance with the license information of the content, wherein the license management device of the content usage device receives a request for the license information of the content from the output device,

wherein, upon receipt of the request for the license information from the output device and when the license management device of the content usage device does not contain the license information requested by the output device, the license management device of the content usage device (i) searches, from within the defined network, for and identifies a first content device of the plurality of other content usage devices that includes a license management device containing the license information of the content requested by the output device, (ii) requests, from within the defined network, the license management device of the identified first content usage device to transfer the license information of the content to the content usage device, (iii) receives, from the identified first content usage device having the license information of the content and being within the defined network, the license information of the content without receiving the license information of the content from the server, the license information of the content being received by the identified first content usage device from the server via the gateway apparatus, and (iv) passes the received license information of the content to the output device, and wherein the output device outputs the content in compliance with the license information passed from the license management device of the content usage device.

2. The content usage device according to claim 1, wherein the license management device of the content usage device, upon receiving a request for license information of the content from a license management device of a second content usage device of the plurality of other content usage devices, authenticates the second content usage device that transmitted the request for the license information of the content, and wherein, when the license management device of the content usage device judges that the second content usage device is unauthorized, the license management device of the content usage device prohibits the second content usage device from receiving the license information from the content usage device.

3. The content usage device according to claim 2, wherein the license management device authenticates the second content usage device that transmitted the request for the license information to the content usage device by determining whether or not the second content usage device belongs to a user domain that (i) is set as a movable range of the license information of the content and (ii) the content usage device belongs to.

4. The content usage device according to claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of other content usage devices is identified by respective identification information, wherein the license management device of the content usage device stores a domain list, the domain list registering predetermined identification information identifying a content usage device of the plurality of other content usage devices that is permitted to move the license information of the content from the content usage device, and wherein the license management device of the content usage device refers to the domain list, and determines that the second content usage device belongs to the user domain when the identification information identifying the second content usage device is registered in the domain list.

5. The content usage device according to claim 3, wherein the license management device of the content usage device determines whether or not the second content usage device belongs to the user domain to which the content usage device belongs, and wherein the license management device of the content usage device authenticates the second content usage device by determining whether or not the second content usage device is permitted to receive the license information of the content from the content usage device under a predetermined usage restriction, the predetermined usage restriction restricting a content usage device, of the plurality of other content usage devices that belong to the user domain, that is permitted to receive the license information of the content from the content usage device.

6. The content usage device according to claim 1, wherein the license management device of the content usage device (i) broadcasts, to the plurality of other content usage devices, an inquiry for inquiring whether or not the license information of the content is contained therein, and (ii) searches for license management devices of the other content usage devices that contain the license information of the content based on a response to the inquiry.

7. The content usage device according to claim 1, wherein the license management device of the content usage device, upon receiving a request for license information from a license management device of a second content usage device of the plurality of other content usage devices, searches for the license information of the content requested by the second content usage device from among license information contained therein, and wherein, when the license management device of the content usage device does not contain the license information requested by the second content usage device, the license management device of the content usage device requests a third content usage device of the plurality of other content usage devices to search for the license information requested by the second content usage device,

and wherein, when the third content usage device does not contain the requested license information requested by the second content usage device, the third content usage device requests a fourth content usage device of the plurality of content usage devices to search for the requested license information.

8. The content usage device according to claim 1, wherein the license management device of the content usage device, upon receiving a reservation for a request for the license information from the output device, reserves the license management device of the first content usage device for receiving the license information to secure the license information contained in the license management device of the first content usage device from being released.

11. The content usage device according to claim 1, wherein the first content usage device contains the license information of the content, and the first content usage device receives the license information of the content from the server via the gateway apparatus.

12. The content usage device according to claim 1, wherein the first content usage device contains the license information of the content, the first content usage device receives the license information of the content from a second content usage device of the plurality of content usage devices located within the defined network, and the second content usage device receives the license information of the content from the server via the gateway apparatus.

9. A content usage device connected to (i) a server that is located outside a defined network in which a gateway apparatus is located and (ii) a plurality of other content usage devices within the defined network, each of the other content usage devices being for using content, and each of the other content usage devices and the content usage device being connected, from within the defined network, to the gateway apparatus that provides a connection to the server located outside the defined network, the server storing license information of a content, the content usage device comprising:

a license management device configured to manage the license information of the content, the license information of the content enabling usage of the content; and

an output device configured to output the content in compliance with the license information of the content,

wherein the license management device of the content usage device receives a request for the license information of the content from the output device,

wherein, upon the license management device of the content usage device receiving the request for the license information from the output device and when the license management device of the content usage device does not contain the license information requested by the output device receipt of the request for the license information from the output device, the output device (i) searches, from within the defined network, for and identifies a first content device of the plurality of other content usage devices that contains the license information of the content requested by the output device, (ii) requests, from within the defined network, the identified first content usage device to transfer the license information of the content to the content usage device, (iii) receives, from the identified first content usage device the license information of the content and being within the defined network, the license information of the content without receiving the license information of the content from the server, the license information of the content being received by the identified first content usage device from the server via the gateway apparatus, and (iv) outputs the content in compliance with the received license information.

10. A network system comprising a first content usage device and a second content usage device,

wherein the first content usage device and the second content usage device are connected, from within a defined network of the network system, to a server that is located outside the defined network of the network system in which the gateway apparatus is located, the first and the second content usage devices being connected, from within the defined network, to the gateway apparatus that provides a connection to the server located outside the defined network,

wherein the first content usage device is connected to the second content usage device within the defined network,

wherein the server stores license information of a content, wherein the first content usage device includes:

a license management device configured to manage the license information of the content, the license information of the content enabling usage of the content; and

an output device configured to output the content in compliance with the license information of the content, wherein the second content usage device includes a license management device configured to manage the license information of the content, the license information of the content being received from the server,

wherein the license management device of the first content usage device receives a request for the license information of the content from the output device, and

wherein, upon receipt of the request for the license information from the output device and when the license management device of the first content usage device does not contain the license information of the content, (i) the license management device of the first content usage device searches, from within the defined network, for and identifies the second content device that includes the license management device containing the license information of the content, (ii) the output device of first content usage device requests the identified second content usage device to transfer the license information of the content to the first content usage device, (iii) the license management device of the identified second content usage device receives the request to transfer the license information from the output device of the first content usage device, (iv) the first content usage device receives, from the identified second content usage device, the license information of the content without receiving the license information of the content from the server via the gateway, and (v) the first content usage device outputs the content in compliance with the license information received from the identified second content usage device.

13. A method for receiving license information of a content by a content usage device, the content usage device being connected to (i) a server that is located outside a defined network in which a gateway apparatus is located and (ii) a plurality of other content usage devices within the defined network, each of the other content usage devices being for using content, and each of the other content usage devices and the content usage device being connected, from within the defined network, to the gateway apparatus that provides a connection to the server located outside the defined network, the server storing the license information of the content, the method comprising:

searching, using the content usage device and from within the defined network, for and identifying a first content device of the plurality of other content usage devices that includes a license management device containing the license information of the content;

requesting the license management device of the identified first content usage device to transfer the license information of the content to the content usage device;

in response to the license management device of the identified first content usage device receiving the request to transfer the license information to the content usage device the content usage device receiving, from the identified first content usage device having the license information of the content, the license information of the content without receiving the license information of the content from the server, the license information of the content being received by the identified first content usage device from the server via the gateway apparatus; and

outputting, from the content usage device, the content in compliance with the license information received from the identified first content usage device.