APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR DISTRIBUTING DIGITAL CONTENT

• US 20080235139A1
• Filed: 03/22/2007
• Published: 09/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Nero AG
• Original Assignee: Nero AG
• Inventors: MAGSCHOK, Georg
• Application Number:
  US11/690,060
• Publication Number:
  US 20080235139A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/603 Digital right managament [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/32 including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials

Abstract

An apparatus for distributing digital content, the digital content having associated therewith access information controlling access to the digital content depending on an action to be taken by a user, comprises an access controller for processing the access information; a digital content processor for using the digital content, the digital content processor being controllable by the access controller, wherein the access controller is operative to detect, whether the action has been taken by the user and to activate the digital content processor to process at least part of the digital content, when the user has taken the action, and wherein the action comprises one or more members of the group comprising copying the digital content at least one or more times, accessing a presentation material attached to a digital content, filling a questionnaire attached to the digital content, e-mailing the digital content to at least one or more e-mail addresses, putting the digital content on at least on or more websites or rendering an advertisement attached to the digital content.

Claims

1. Apparatus for distributing digital content, the digital content having associated therewith access information controlling access to the digital content depending on an action to be taken by a user, comprising:

an access controller for processing the access information;

a digital content processor for using the digital content, the digital content processor being controllable by the access controller,

wherein the access controller is operative to detect, whether the action has been taken by the user and to activate the digital content processor to process at least part of the digital content, when the user has taken the action,

wherein the action comprises one or more members of the group comprising copying the digital content at least one or more times, accessing a presentation material attached to a digital content, filling a questionnaire attached to the digital content, e-mailing the digital content to at least one or more e-mail addresses, putting the digital content on at least on or more websites or rendering an advertisement attached to the digital content.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the access controller is operative to receive action information from a local device regarding the action or to receive action information from a remote device regarding the action, and

wherein the access controller is operative to use the action information when verifying, whether the action has been taken by the user.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the digital content includes audio or video information, and

wherein the digital content processor is an audio processor or a video processor for rendering the digital content.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the access information comprises predefined values of a group of bits provided for copy control information, wherein the predefined values are different from values for the same group of bits allowing no copying or a restricted number of copies.

5. Apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims, in which the access controller is adapted:

to detect when a user wishes to access the digital content;

to control a user interface to prompt the user to perform the action;

to detect, whether the action has been taken by the user.

6. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the digital content is encrypted, and

in which the access controller is adapted to enable a decryption when the user has taken the action.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6, in which the access controller is operative to retrieve a decryption key and decrypt the digital content based on the decryption key.

8. Apparatus in accordance with one of the preceding claims, in which the access information includes a CCI expansion through CCI_and_author_info_type in an AACS format for Blu Ray.

9. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the access information includes a reserved combination of a PCCI portion in an AACS format for HD-DVD.

10. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the access information includes reserved bytes in a CCI Digest in a VCPS format.

11. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the access information includes an E-EMI of four bits in a DTCP-IP format.

12. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the access information includes CCI bits defined by ANSI SCTE 41 2004 in a cable, satellite, or terrestrial conditional access system.

13. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the action comprises sending one or more e-mails and wherein the apparatus further comprises an action conductor adapted to send the e-mail via a clearing house, and

wherein the access controller is operative to receive information from a clearing house relating to sending the one or more e-mails by the action conductor.

14. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the action comprises copying the digital content on an optical medium one or more times, and in which a software running on an optical drive is operative to count the number of copy processes involving the digital content.

15. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the action comprises putting the digital content on the at least one website, and

wherein the access controller is adapted to monitor whether an http-request has been issued.

16. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the at least one website is a public website, on which the digital content is available for the public.

17. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the digital content includes a plurality of portions,

wherein the action is copying the digital content at least twice, and

wherein the access controller is operative to activate a first portion in response to a first copy action taken by the user and to activate a second portion in response to a second action taken by the user,

wherein the second portion was not accessible for the digital content processor after the first copy action and before the second copy action.

18. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, in which the digital content has associated therewith an advertisement or a presentation material, which is different from the digital content, and which is suitable for a non-restricted access,

wherein the access controller is operative to activate the digital content processor in response to an access to the advertisement or to the presentation medium.

19. Apparatus in accordance with claim 18, in which the access controller is operative to detect, whether the access has taken place a predetermined number of times or in a certain time frame or a certain time period as indicated in the access information.

20. Apparatus in accordance with claim 18, in which the advertisement or the presentation medium is bound to the digital content using cryptographic methods.

21. Method of distributing digital content, the digital content having associated therewith access information controlling access to the digital content depending on an action to be taken by a user, comprising:

processing the access information;

using the digital content in response to processing the access information,

wherein, when processing the access information, it is detected, whether the action has been taken by the user and a usage of at least part of the digital content is allowed, when the user has taken the action,

wherein the action comprises one or more members of the group comprising copying the digital content at least one or more times, accessing a presentation material attached to a digital content, filling a questionnaire attached to the digital content, e-mailing the digital content to at least one or more e-mail addresses, putting the digital content on at least on or more websites or rendering an advertisement attached to the digital content.

22. Computer program for performing, when running on a computer, a method of distributing digital content, the digital content having associated therewith access information controlling access to the digital content depending on an action to be taken by a user, the method comprising:

processing the access information;

using the digital content in response to processing the access information,

wherein, when processing the access information, it is detected, whether the action has been taken by the user and a usage of at least part of the digital content is allowed, when the user has taken the action,

wherein the action comprises one or more members of the group comprising copying the digital content at least one or more times, accessing a presentation material attached to a digital content, filling a questionnaire attached to the digital content, e-mailing the digital content to at least one or more e-mail addresses, putting the digital content on at least on or more websites or rendering an advertisement attached to the digital content.