Protection for multimedia files pre-downloaded to a mobile device

• US 9,443,088 B1
• Filed: 04/15/2013
• Issued: 09/13/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Bye, Stephen James, Paczkowski, Lyle W., Schlesener, Matthew C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Mary
• Application Number:
  US13/863,376
• Time in Patent Office: 1,247 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/57 Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to methods and systems for pre-downloading at least a portion of a media event to a mobile device and the protection of the media content once it is downloaded to the device. Media content may be pre-downloaded to a mobile device before the official release of the media event and/or before a user has purchased the media event. The pre-downloaded media may be protected by one or more disruption to the presentation of the media content and/or by storing the pre-downloaded media in a trusted security zone of a mobile device. After the media event is released and purchased, the remaining media may be downloaded and a user may gain access to the full media content on the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method for protecting a media event that is pre-downloaded to a mobile device comprising:

pre-downloading a portion of a media event content embedded in an executable file to the mobile device prior to a release date of a media event associated with the media event content, wherein the mobile device comprises a trusted security zone implemented by partitioning hardware and software resources of the mobile device into a secure partition of a non-transitory memory of the mobile device that is not accessible to components in a normal partition of the non-transitory memory;

storing the pre-downloaded portion of the executable file in the trusted security zone of the mobile device, wherein the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content comprises a disruption that renders the portion of the media event content one or more of degraded, distorted, or disrupted;

downloading a remaining portion of the media event content to the mobile device after a purchase decision by a user associated with the mobile device and the release date of the media event;

downloading, with the remaining portion of the media event content, one or more keys configured to remove the disruption of the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content and allow user access to the remaining portion of the media event content, wherein the one or more keys are stored in the trusted security zone; and

removing, via the one or more keys stored in the trusted security zone, the disruption of the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content and allowing user access to the remaining portion of the media event content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the disruption comprises stitching the remaining portion of the media event content with the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the disruption comprises removing or turning off an active disruption of the media event content provided by the executable file.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, when the one or more keys are stored in the trusted security zone, a notification is sent to a media provider that the one or more keys are safely stored.

5. A method for protecting a media event and associated files that are pre-downloaded to a mobile device comprising:

pre-downloading a portion of a media event content embedded in an executable file to a mobile device prior to a release date of a media event associated with the media event content, wherein the mobile device comprises a trusted security zone implemented by partitioning hardware and software resources of the mobile device into a secure partition of a non-transitory memory of the mobile device that is not accessible to components in a normal partition of the non-transitory memory;

storing the executable file in the normal partition of the non-transitory memory, wherein the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content comprises a disruption that renders the portion of the media event content one or more of degraded, distorted, or disrupted;

downloading a remaining portion of the media event content after a purchase decision by a user associated with the mobile device and the release date of the media event;

downloading, with the remaining portion of the media event content, one or more keys configured to remove the disruption of the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content and allow access to the remaining portion of the media event content, wherein the one or more keys are stored in the trusted security zone; and

removing, via the one or more keys stored in the trusted security zone, the disruption of the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content and allowing access to the remaining portion of the media event content.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, when the one or more keys are stored in the trusted security zone, a notification is sent to a media provider that the keys are safely stored.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein removing the disruption comprises one of:

stitching the remaining portion of the media event content with the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content, or removing an active disruption of the media event content provided by the executable file.

8. A method for pre-downloading a portion of a media event to a mobile device comprising:

monitoring at least one of a plurality of searches conducted and a plurality of purchases made by a user using a mobile device associated with the user, wherein the mobile device comprises a trusted security zone implemented by partitioning hardware and software resources of the mobile device into a secure partition of a non-transitory memory of the mobile device that is not accessible to components in a normal partition of the non-transitory memory;

predicting user preferences for purchasing a media event based on the monitoring, wherein the media event is associated with a release date of media event content;

prior to the release date, pre-downloading, from a media provider, a portion of the media event content embedded in an executable file to the mobile device, wherein the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content comprises a disruption to make the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content one or more of degraded, distorted, or disrupted;

storing at least some of the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content in the trusted security zone;

downloading a remaining portion of the media event content after the release date of the media event;

removing, via one or more keys stored in the trusted security zone, the disruption of the pre-downloaded portion of the media event; and

subsequently playing, by the mobile device, the media event content.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising, after a purchase is made by a user associated with the mobile device, downloading a remaining portion of the media event content to the mobile device, wherein the disruption is removed after downloading the remaining portion of the media event content.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein at least some of the pre-downloaded portion of the media event content is available for a user to access while the remaining portion is being downloaded.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the disruption comprises a passive disruption and the download of the remaining media removes the disruption.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the passive disruption comprises one or more of:

missing sections of video, missing sections of audio, missing complete audio, missing pixels from the video, and/or mixed pixels between frames of video.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising, after the media event release date, downloading a remaining portion of the media event content to the mobile device, wherein the disruption is removed after downloading the remaining portion of the media event content.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the media event content is purchased before the release date.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the disruption comprises an active disruption by the executable file, wherein a key downloaded after the release date of the media event content and stored in the trusted security zone deactivates the disruption.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein the pre-downloaded media event content comprises previews available to a user before the release date.

17. The method of claim 8, wherein the user is registered or has an account with the media provider of the media event content.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein predicting user preferences is further based on preferences input by the user and associated with the account of the user.

19. The method of claim 8, wherein predicting user preferences is further based on the capabilities of the mobile device to support the media event.