Video distribution system

• US 20020112235A1
• Filed: 02/12/2001
• Published: 08/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ochoa Optics LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC), World Theatre, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ochoa Optics LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Sparks, Kelly C., Hebrank, John H., Ballou, Bernard L. Jr.
• Application Number:
  US09/781,680
• Publication Number:
  US 20020112235A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/25
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 10/00 Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/98 Physical distribution of media, e.g. postcards, CDs or DVDs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2543 Billing , e.g. for subscription services payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; e-commerce G06Q30/00; arrangements for billing for the use of broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/21
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4135 external recorder interface circuits between an apparatus for recording television signals and a television receiver H04N5/775
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42684 Client identification by a unique number or address, e.g. serial number, MAC address, socket ID network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming H04L61/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4405 involving video stream decryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Movies are distributed to customer households in a secure format on digital media such as optical disks for playback via proprietary set-top boxes. The movie disks preferably have a storage capacity enabling each disk to hold multiple movies, for example, ten, twenty, fifty or even one hundred or more movies. The movie disks are provided to customers at low cost or even no cost, and customers pay a viewing fee only when they choose to view a particular movie. A movie club model permits customers to obtain a disk each month with new release movies, and the option to order classic/older movie disks with compilations of related movies, for example, disks with twenty World War II movies or fifteen Julia Roberts movies.

Claims

1. A method of distributing movies to customer households comprising the steps of:

under authority of content providers who control the distribution rights to movies, on an ongoing periodic basis (e.g., monthly) producing digital movie disks that contain multiple new release movies recorded in accordance with a proprietary digital rights management protocol and also producing digital movie disks that contain multiple classic/older movies also recorded in accordance with a proprietary digital rights management protocol;

providing customer households with movie disk reader devices having means for playing back movies from the movie disks in accordance with the proprietary digital rights management protocol;

distributing the new release movie disks to movie customers on a periodic (e.g., monthly) basis and permitting customers to order selected ones of the classic/older movie disks; and

permitting customers to view desired movies from the new release disks or the classic/older movie disks through their movie disk reader devices with the customers paying a viewing fee only for movies that are actually viewed.