System for data management and on-demand rental and purchase of digital data products
DCFirst Claim
1. A system for receiving, processing, and playback of limited-use digital data, comprising:
- circuitry for receiving limited-use digital data;
memory circuitry for storing the limited-use digital data as stored limited-use digital data;
playback circuitry that reads the stored limited-use digital data from said memory circuitry and converts the stored limited-use digital data to electronic signals for driving a playback device;
processing circuitry comprising software to control operations of said memory circuitry and said playback circuitry and to control at least one operation performed upon the stored limited-use digital data as permitted by at least one restriction on the use of the limited-use digital data;
a user interface operatively connected to said processing circuitry for programming one or more processing functions to be performed by said processing circuitry; and
at least one digital output operatively connected to said processing circuitry that communicates with a data supplier to allow monitoring by the data supplier of the at least one operation performed upon the stored limited-use digital data as permitted by the at least one restriction on the use of the limited-use digital data,wherein said processing circuitry further comprises a program for transferring to a portable playback device the stored limited-use digital data and control data for use by the portable playback device for performing a virtual return of the limited-use digital data that has been transferred to the portable playback device.
1 Assignment
Litigations
3 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for handling data and transactions involving data through the use of a virtual transaction zone, which virtual transaction zone removes the dependency of such transaction on the delivery medium of the product. The invention may reside and operate on a variety of electronic devices such as televisions, VCRs, DVDs, personal computers, WebTV, any other known electronic recorder/player, or as a stand alone unit. The transaction zone also provides a mechanism for combining mediums, data feeds, and manipulation of those feeds. The transaction zone also provides a mechanism for controlling the content, delivery, and timing of delivery of the end consumer'"'"'s product.
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Citations
98 Claims
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1. A system for receiving, processing, and playback of limited-use digital data, comprising:
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circuitry for receiving limited-use digital data; memory circuitry for storing the limited-use digital data as stored limited-use digital data; playback circuitry that reads the stored limited-use digital data from said memory circuitry and converts the stored limited-use digital data to electronic signals for driving a playback device; processing circuitry comprising software to control operations of said memory circuitry and said playback circuitry and to control at least one operation performed upon the stored limited-use digital data as permitted by at least one restriction on the use of the limited-use digital data; a user interface operatively connected to said processing circuitry for programming one or more processing functions to be performed by said processing circuitry; and at least one digital output operatively connected to said processing circuitry that communicates with a data supplier to allow monitoring by the data supplier of the at least one operation performed upon the stored limited-use digital data as permitted by the at least one restriction on the use of the limited-use digital data, wherein said processing circuitry further comprises a program for transferring to a portable playback device the stored limited-use digital data and control data for use by the portable playback device for performing a virtual return of the limited-use digital data that has been transferred to the portable playback device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A system for receiving, processing, and storing of rented digital data, comprising:
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circuitry for receiving rented digital data; memory circuitry comprising at least one storage device for storing the rented digital data as stored rented digital data; playback circuitry that reads the stored rented digital data from said at least one storage device and converts the stored rented digital data to electronic signals for driving a playback device; processing circuitry comprising software to control operations of said memory circuitry and said playback circuitry and to control at least one operation performed upon the stored rented digital data as permitted by at least one restriction on the use of the rented digital data and to enact a virtual return of the stored rented digital data; and a user interface operatively connected to said processing circuitry for programming one or more processing functions to be performed by said processing circuitry, wherein the at least one operation performed upon the stored rented digital data is a transfer of the stored rented digital data along with control data to a portable playback device wherein said control data is used by the portable playback device for performing a virtual return of the stored rented digital data that has been transferred to said portable playback device. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. A system for receiving, processing, and playback of rented digital data, comprising:
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circuitry for receiving rented digital data; a memory comprising at least one storage device for storing the rented digital data as stored rented digital data; playback circuitry that reads the stored rented digital data from said memory and converts the stored rented digital data to electronic signals for driving a playback device; processing circuitry comprising software to apply at least one processing function to the rented digital data and to control at least one operation performed upon the stored rented digital data as permitted by at least one restriction on the use of the rented digital data; a user interface operatively connected to said processing circuitry for programming the at least one processing function; and a digital output operatively connected to said processing circuitry that communicates with a data supplier to allow monitoring by the data supplier of the at least one operation performed upon the stored rented digital data as permitted by the at least one restriction; wherein the at least one restriction on use of the rented digital data comprises a first restriction that defines a time period during which an end user must first access the rented digital data and a second restriction that defines a second time period during which the rented digital data may be used by the end user subsequent to the first access of the rented digital data by the end user, and wherein said processing circuitry further comprises a program for transferring to a portable playback device the stored limited-use digital data and control data for use by the portable playback device for performing a virtual return of the limited-use digital data that has been transferred to the portable playback device. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85)
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86. A system for receiving and storing limited-use digital data and for recording at least one limited-use digital data product onto a portable digital storage device for rental or purchase by an end user comprising:
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a digital data receiving apparatus for receiving a limited-use digital data product from at least one data source and data comprising at least one restriction on use of the limited-use digital data product; memory circuitry comprising at least one storage device for storing the limited-use digital data product; recording circuitry for recording to a portable digital storage device the limited-use digital data product and data for controlling at least one restriction on use of the limited-use digital data product and for enabling a virtual return of the limited-use digital data product recorded on the portable digital storage device; processing circuitry comprising software to control operations of said memory circuitry and said recording circuitry; and a user interface for programming at least one processing function to be performed by said processing circuitry. - View Dependent Claims (87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98)
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Specification