Individualized digital tracers

• US 7,917,484 B1
• Filed: 03/31/2005
• Issued: 03/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Khanuja, Satbir S., Vermeulen, Allan H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleurantin; Jean B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jami; Hares
• Application Number:
  US11/096,223
• Time in Patent Office: 2,189 Days
• Field of Search: 713/176, 707700-789, 707/802, 707/923, 707/930
• US Class Current: 707/705
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/105 Arrangements for software license management or administration, e.g. for managing licenses at corporate level

Abstract

Method and apparatus for inserting digital tracers in data that allow particular copies of the data to be traced to particular entities. Embodiments of a tracer mechanism may programmatically insert individualized tracers into data copies provided to third parties, for example via a Web service interface. A tracer may appear as normal data to the reader, and does not interfere with the typical use of the data copy. Tracers may serve as unique identifiers for particular data copies provided to particular Web service clients, allowing instances of the data copies to be associated with particular Web service clients. Embodiments may, for example, allow an enterprise to programmatically and systematically track copies of data distributed to third parties to help insure that the terms and conditions of licensing agreements are not violated. In one embodiment, the tracer mechanism may be implemented as a Web service.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the processor to perform;

receiving a request for particular data of a data collection from a Web service client via a network;

extracting a copy of the requested particular data from the data collection as an original data copy of the particular data;

determining a tracer identifier for the original data copy, wherein the tracer identifier identifies at least one location within the original data copy and further identifies one or more tracer elements to be positioned at the identified at least one location;

wherein determining the tracer identifier further comprising determining the tracer identifier as a permutation of a tracer template, wherein the permutation includes digits and said digits representing the at least one location of the tracer elements;

marking the original data copy as identified by the tracer identifier, wherein said marking comprises positioning the one or more tracer elements at the identified at least one location within the original data copy, and wherein;

the one or more tracer elements are perceptible to a user during normal presentation of the marked data copy; and

the marked data copy appears to the user to be an unmarked copy of the requested particular data;

storing the tracer identifier for the marked data copy, wherein the stored tracer identifier links the marked data copy to the Web service client;

returning the marked data copy to the Web service client; and

repeating said receiving, said determining, said marking, said storing, and said returning for the same particular data for a different Web service client, wherein the tracer identifier for the Web service client and the tracer identifier for the different Web service client are different;

wherein said receiving, said extracting, said determining, said marking, said storing, said returning, and said repeating are all performed by a same Web service provider separate from the Web service client.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the tracer identifier is unique to the Web service client to which the marked data copy of the particular data is returned.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the tracer identifier further links the marked data copy of the particular data with the request for the particular data received from the Web service client.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to:

periodically or aperiodically search the network for instances of at least a portion of the one or more tracer elements to generate a list of possible hits on instances of the marked data copy that was returned to the Web service client;

determine from the list of possible hits a subset of the hits that are on instances of the marked data copy on the network; and

determine if any of the hits from the subset of the hits are on unauthorized instances of the marked data copy.

5. The system as recited in claim 4, wherein, to determine if any of the hits from the subset of the hits are on unauthorized instances of the marked data copy, the Web service client is associated with the instances of the marked data copy according to the tracer identifier.

6. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to:

receive a request for the particular data of the data collection from another Web service client via the network;

extract another copy of the requested particular data from the data collection as the original data copy of the particular data;

determine another tracer identifier for the original data copy, wherein the other tracer identifier identifies at least one location within the original data copy and further identifies one or more tracer elements to be positioned at the identified at least one location;

mark the original data copy as identified by the other tracer identifier to produce another marked data copy, wherein said marking comprises positioning the one or more tracer elements at the identified at least one location within the original data copy, and wherein the tracer elements are perceptible to a user during normal presentation of the other marked data copy, and the other marked data copy appears to the user to be an unmarked copy of the requested particular data; and

return the other marked data copy to the other Web service client.

7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to:

receive requests for particular data of the data collection from a plurality of Web service clients via a network;

for each request;

extract a copy of the requested particular data from the data collection as a particular data copy of the particular data;

determine an individualized tracer identifier for the particular data copy;

mark the particular data copy as identified by the individualized tracer identifier, wherein one or more tracer elements identified by the individualized tracer are perceptible in a normal presentation of the marked particular data copy, and the marked particular data copy appears to a user to be an unmarked copy of the requested particular data; and

return the marked particular data copy to the particular Web service client that sent the request.

8. The system a recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more tracer elements comprise a fictitious product review.

9. The system a recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more tracer elements comprise fictitious content inserted into one of textual data, graphical data, audio data, or video data.

10. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more tracer elements comprise one of textual data, graphical data, audio data, or video data.

11. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the one or more tracer elements do not interfere with a typical use of the data copy into which they are inserted.

12. A method, comprising:

receiving a request for particular data of a data collection from a Web service client via a network;

extracting a copy of the requested particular data from the data collection as an original data copy of the particular data;

programmatically determining a tracer identifier for the original data copy, wherein the tracer identifier identifies at least one location within the original data copy and further identifies one or more tracer elements to be positioned at the identified at least one location;

wherein determining the tracer identifier further comprising determining the tracer identifier as a permutation of a tracer template, wherein the permutation includes digits and said digits representing the at least one location of the tracer elements;

marking the original data copy as identified by the tracer identifier, wherein said marking comprises positioning the one or more tracer elements at the identified at least one location within the original data copy, and wherein;

the one or more tracer elements are perceptible to a user during normal presentation of the marked data copy; and

the marked data copy appears to the user to be an unmarked copy of the requested particular data;

storing the tracer identifier for the marked data copy, wherein the stored tracer identifier links the marked data copy to the Web service client;

returning the marked data copy to the Web service client; and

repeating said receiving, said programmatically determining, said marking, said storing, and said returning for the same particular data for a different Web service client, wherein the tracer identifier for the Web service client and the tracer identifier for the different Web service client are different;

wherein said receiving, said extracting, said determining, said marking, said storing, said returning, and said repeating are all performed by a same Web service provider separate from the Web service client.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the tracer identifier is unique to the client to which the marked data copy of the particular data is returned.

14. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the tracer identifier further links the marked data copy of the particular data with the request for the particular data received from the client.

15. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising:

periodically or aperiodically searching the network for instances of at least a portion of the one or more tracer elements to generate a list of possible hits on instances of the marked data copy that was returned to the client;

determining from the list of possible hits a subset of the hits that are on instances of the marked data copy on the network; and

determining if any of the hits from the subset of the hits are on unauthorized instances of the marked data copy.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein said determining if any of the hits from the subset of the hits are on unauthorized instances of the marked data copy comprises associating the client with the instances of the marked data copy according to the tracer identifier.

17. The method as recited in claim 12, further comprising:

receiving another request for the particular data of the data collection from another client via the network;

extracting another copy of the requested particular data from the data collection as the original data copy of the particular data;

programmatically determining another tracer identifier for the original data copy, wherein the other tracer identifier identifies at least one location within the original data copy and further identifies one or more tracer elements to be positioned at the identified at least one location;

marking the original data copy as identified by the other tracer identifier to produce another marked data copy, wherein said marking comprises positioning the one or more tracer elements at the identified at least one location within the original data copy, and wherein the tracer elements are perceptible to a user during normal presentation of the other marked data copy, and the other marked data copy appears to the user to be an unmarked copy of the requested particular data; and

returning the other marked data copy to the other client.

18. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the one or more tracer elements comprise one of textual data, graphical data, audio data, or video data.

19. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein the one or more tracer elements do not interfere with a typical use of the data copy into which they are inserted.

20. A computer-accessible storage medium, comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are computer-executable to implement:

determining a tracer identifier for an original data copy of particular data extracted from a data collection, wherein the tracer identifier identifies at least one location within the original data copy and further identifies one or more tracer elements to be positioned at the identified at least one location;

wherein determining the tracer identifier further comprising determining the tracer identifier as a permutation of a tracer template, wherein the permutation includes digits and said digits representing the at least one location of the tracer elements;

marking the original data copy as identified by the tracer identifier, wherein said marking comprises positioning the one or more tracer elements at the identified at least one location within the original data copy, and wherein;

the one or more tracer elements are perceptible to a user during normal presentation of the marked data copy; and

the marked data copy appears to the user to be an unmarked copy of the requested particular data;

storing the tracer identifier for the marked data copy, wherein the stored tracer identifier links the marked data copy to a Web service client on a network that requested the data copy via a Web service interface to the data collection;

wherein the marked data copy is provided to the Web service client; and

repeating said determining, said marking, and said storing for the same particular data for a different Web service client, wherein the tracer identifier for the Web service client and the tracer identifier for the different Web service client are different;

wherein said determining, said marking, said storing, and said repeating are all performed by a same Web service provider separate from the Web service client.

21. The computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the tracer identifier is unique to the Web service client to which the marked data copy of the particular data is provided.

22. The computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the tracer identifier further links the marked data copy of the particular data with the request for the particular data received from the Web service client.

23. The computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

periodically or aperiodically searching the network for instances of at least a portion of the one or more tracer elements to generate a list of possible hits on instances of the marked data copy including the tracer that was provided to the Web service client;

determining from the list of possible hits a subset of the hits that are on instances of the marked data copy on the network; and

determining if any of the hits from the subset of the hits are on unauthorized instances of the marked data copy.

24. The computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 23, wherein, in said determining if any of the hits from the subset of the hits are on unauthorized instances of the marked data copy, the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement associating the Web service client with the instances of the marked data copy according to the tracer identifier.

25. The computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the program instructions are further computer-executable to implement:

determining another tracer identifier for an original data copy of the particular data extracted from the data collection, wherein the other tracer identifier identifies at least one location within the original data copy and further identifies one or more tracer elements to be positioned at the identified at least one location;

marking the original data copy as identified by the other tracer identifier to produce another marked data copy, wherein said marking comprises positioning the one or more tracer elements at the identified at least one location within the original data copy, and wherein the tracer elements are perceptible to a user during normal presentation of the other marked data copy, and the other marked data copy appears to the user to be an unmarked copy of the requested particular data; and

wherein the other marked data copy is provided to another Web service client that requested the data copy via the Web service interface.

26. The computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the one or more tracer elements comprise one of textual data, graphical data, audio data, or video data.

27. The computer-accessible storage medium as recited in claim 20, wherein the one or more tracer elements do not interfere with a typical use of the data copy into which they are inserted.

28. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable by the processor to implement a tracer service configured to implement;

receiving an original data copy of particular data from a client application of the tracer service via a network;

determining a tracer identifier for the original data copy, wherein the tracer identifier identifies at least one location within the original data copy and further identifies one or more tracer elements to be positioned at the identified at least one location;

wherein determining the tracer identifier further comprising determining the tracer identifier as a permutation of a tracer template, wherein the permutation includes digits and said digits representing the at least one location of the tracer elements;

marking the original data copy as identified by the tracer identifier, wherein said marking comprises positioning the one or more tracer elements at the identified at least one location within the original data copy, and wherein;

the one or more tracer elements are perceptible to a user during normal presentation of the marked data copy; and

the marked data copy appears to the user to be an unmarked copy of the requested particular data;

storing the tracer identifier for the marked data copy, wherein the stored tracer identifier links the marked data copy to a client of the client application;

returning the marked data copy to the client application via the network; and

repeating said receiving, said determining, said marking, said storing, and said returning for the same particular data for a different Web service client, wherein the tracer identifier for the client of the client application and the tracer identifier for the different client of the client application are different;

wherein said tracer service is separate from the client of the client application.

29. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the tracer identifier is unique to the client of the client application.

30. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the tracer identifier further links the marked data copy with a request for the data copy received by the client application from the client of the client application.

31. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the tracer service is further configured to:

search the network for instances of at least a portion of the one or more tracer elements to generate a list of possible hits on instances of the marked data copy that was returned to the client application;

determine from the list of possible hits a subset of the hits that are on instances of the marked data copy on the network; and

determine if any of the hits from the subset of the hits are on unauthorized instances of the marked data copy.

32. The system as recited in claim 31, wherein, to determine if any of the hits from the subset of the hits are on unauthorized instances of the marked data copy, the client of the client application is associated with the instances of the marked data copy according to the tracer identifier.

33. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the tracer service is implemented as a Web service that provides a Web service interface to functions of the tracer service, and wherein said receiving an original data copy of particular data from a client application and said returning the marked data copy to the client application are performed according to the Web service interface.

34. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the one or more tracer elements comprise one of textual data, graphical data, audio data, or video data.

35. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the one or more tracer elements do not interfere with a typical use of the data copy into which they are inserted.