Apparatus, system and method for securing digital documents in a digital appliance

• US 8,595,488 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2011
• Issued: 11/26/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sandisk Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Elazar, Gidon, Harkabi, Dan, Weingarten, Nehemiah
• Primary Examiner(s): Reza, Mohammad W
• Application Number:
  US13/180,329
• Publication Number:
  US 20110271354A1
• Time in Patent Office: 869 Days
• Field of Search: 726/26, 726/2, 726/27, 713/1, 713/55, 713/165, 380/217, 348/558
• US Class Current: 713/165
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/109 by using specially-adapted hardware at the client

Abstract

Various embodiments include an apparatus and a method to secure protected digital document content from tampering by their user, such as unauthenticated use or use violating a policy of the digital document. The digital document file can be transferred from a network node such as a web site server to a digital appliance, such as a computer, in encrypted form. The digital document file can be resident already on a device, and/or be transferred into a device that is connected to the digital appliance. The device (hereafter a DRM device) can internally store the digital document or part of the document. The DRM device may decrypt the digital document when requested to do so. The device may further format the content for usage, for example, convert text into its graphic bitmap representation. Device formatting can include sending plain text data to the digital appliance. The device may further process degradation to the resulted file, for example, reduce the resolution of the graphic representation. The digital appliance uploads the result of the processing or sections of the result of the processing for user access via the digital appliance.

Claims

1. A storage device connectable to a digital appliance and adapted for digital content management, comprising:

nonvolatile memory configured to store digital content, the digital content comprising a first size;

an interface to the digital appliance; and

a controller configured to;

render the digital content into presentation equivalent format content, the presentation equivalent format content comprising less information than the digital content, the presentation equivalent format content comprising a second size; and

send the presentation equivalent format content to the digital appliance via the interface for reproduction on the digital appliance,

wherein the digital appliance has access to less than all of the digital content, and

wherein the second size of the presentation equivalent format content is greater than the first size of the digital content.

2. The storage device of claim 1, wherein the interface comprises a physical interface is further configured to:

receive the digital content from an external device in response to authentication of the storage device to the external device; and

selectively link with the digital appliance and communicate the presentation equivalent format content to the digital appliance.

3. The storage device of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the presentation equivalent format content is a bitmap image.

4. The storage device of claim 1, wherein the presentation equivalent format content appears in a format of a web page, at least a portion of which is a bitmap image.

5. The storage device of claim 1, wherein the presentation equivalent format content comprises a plurality of pages, each of which corresponds to less than all of the digital content.

6. The storage device of claim 1, wherein the presentation equivalent format content comprises a form in which the information is not directly accessible.

7. The storage device of claim 6, wherein the information in the presentation equivalent format content cannot be searched or otherwise manipulated.

8. The storage device of claim 1, wherein the digital content is stored in the nonvolatile memory in a compressed form;

and

wherein the controller is configured to decompress the digital content in order to generate the presentation equivalent format content.

9. The storage device of claim 8, wherein the digital content comprises video data;

and

wherein the controller is configured to send the decompressed presentation equivalent format content on a frame-by-frame basis.

10. The storage device of claim 1, wherein the storage device is configured to render the digital content but not to reproduce the digital content.

11. The storage device of claim 1, wherein the presentation equivalent format content includes information that cannot be directly accessed by the digital appliance;

and

wherein the controller is further configured to;

receive a request from the digital appliance to perform a search on the information that cannot be directly accessed by the digital appliance; and

in response to receiving the request from the digital appliance to perform a search on the information that cannot be directly accessed by the digital appliance, performing a search on the digital content.

12. A storage device connectable to a digital appliance and adapted for digital content management, comprising:

nonvolatile memory configured to store digital content, the digital content comprising a first size;

an interface to the digital appliance; and

a controller configured to;

send the digital content to the digital appliance via the interface, but only in a presentation equivalent format, the presentation equivalent format content comprising a second size,

wherein the digital appliance has access to only a part of the presentation equivalent format,

wherein the presentation equivalent format is a degraded version of the digital content, and

wherein the second size of the presentation equivalent format content is greater than the first size of the digital content.

13. A method of supplying a digital content from a storage device connectable to a digital appliance and adapted for digital content management, the method comprising:

in the storage device;

receiving a request for at least a part of the digital content, the digital content comprising a first size;

responsive to the request;

rendering the digital content into presentation equivalent format content, the presentation equivalent format content comprising less information than the digital content, the presentation equivalent format content comprising a second size;

sending the presentation equivalent format content to the digital appliance via the interface for reproduction on the digital appliance,

wherein the digital appliance has access to less than all of the digital content, and

wherein the second size of the presentation equivalent format content is greater than the first size of the digital content.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein at least a portion of the presentation equivalent format content is a bitmap image.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

sending authentication information to an external device in order authenticate the storage device;

in response to authentication of the storage device, receiving the digital content; and

storing, in the storage device, the digital content.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the external device comprises a server.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein sending authentication information to the external device in order authenticate the storage device includes sending the authentication information via the digital appliance to the server.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the presentation equivalent format content is sent to the digital appliance using a wireless protocol.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the presentation equivalent format content comprises a plurality of pages, each of which corresponds to less than all of the digital content.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein one or more of the pages are rendered prior to receiving the request therefor from the digital appliance.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the presentation equivalent format content is a degraded version of the digital content.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein the digital content is stored in the nonvolatile memory in a compressed form;

and

further comprising decompressing the digital content in order to generate the presentation equivalent format content.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the digital content comprises video data;

and

wherein the decompressed presentation equivalent format content is sent to the digital appliance on a frame-by-frame basis.

24. The method of claim 13, wherein the presentation equivalent format content includes information that cannot be directly accessed by the digital appliance;

and

further comprising;

receive a request from the digital appliance to perform a search on the information that cannot be directly accessed by the digital appliance; and

in response to receiving the request from the digital appliance to perform a search on the information that cannot be directly accessed by the digital appliance, performing a search on the digital content.