DISTRIBUTED DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT NODE MODULE AND METHODS FOR USE THEREWITH

• US 20090063314A1
• Filed: 11/03/2008
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Morega Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Poulidis, Philip, Wang, Feng Chi
• Granted Patent: US 8,019,687 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/30
• 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 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

A digital rights management (DRM) node module for use in a node of a public data includes a node data module that stores DRM data associated with a plurality of digital files, the DRM data including a plurality of DRM identifiers. A packet monitoring module receives the plurality of DRM identifiers from the node data module, that receives packets containing incoming content and compares the incoming content to the DRM identifier, and generates event data when the incoming content matches at least one of the DRM identifiers. A node reporting module receives the event data, and generates node report data based on the event data.

Claims

1. A digital rights management (DRM) node module for use in a node of a public data network comprising:

a node data module that stores DRM data associated with a plurality of digital files, the DRM data including a plurality of DRM identifiers;

a packet monitoring module, coupled to the node data module, that receives the plurality of DRM identifiers from the node data module, that receives packets containing incoming content and compares the incoming content to the DRM identifier, and that generates event data when the incoming content matches at least one of the DRM identifiers; and

a node reporting module, coupled to the packet monitoring module, that receives the event data, and that generates node report data based on the event data.

2. The DRM node module of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of DRM identifiers includes a digital watermark.

3. The DRM node module of claim 1 wherein the event data includes at least one of one of, a originator of the incoming content and a destination of the incoming content.

4. The DRM node module of claim 1 wherein the packet monitoring module halts transmission of the incoming content when the incoming content matches the at least one of the DRM identifiers.

5. The DRM node module of claim 1 wherein the DRM data includes a protection key associated with the at least one of the plurality of DRM identifiers, and wherein the packet monitoring module passes transmission of the incoming content when the incoming content matches at least one of the DRM identifiers, but also the protection key matches a received key from the incoming content.

6. The DRM node module of claim 1 wherein the DRM data includes a billing indicator associated with the at least one of the plurality of DRM identifiers, and wherein the packet monitoring module passes transmission of the incoming content when the incoming content matches at least one of the DRM identifiers, and the billing indicator indicates that billing is allowed.

7. A method for use in a node of a public data network, the method comprising:

storing digital rights management (DRM) data associated with a plurality of digital files, the DRM data including a plurality of DRM identifiers;

receiving packets containing incoming content;

comparing the incoming content to the DRM identifier;

generating event data when the incoming content matches at least one of the DRM identifiers; and

generating node report data based on the event data.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein at least one of the plurality of DRM identifiers includes a digital watermark.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the event data includes at least one of one of, a originator of the incoming content and a destination of the incoming content.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

halting transmission of the incoming content when the incoming content matches the at least one of the DRM identifiers.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the DRM data includes a protection key associated with the at least one of the plurality of DRM identifiers, and wherein the method further comprises:

passing transmission of the incoming content when the incoming content matches at least one of the DRM identifiers, but also the protection key matches a received key from the incoming content.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein the DRM data includes a billing indicator associated with the at least one of the plurality of DRM identifiers, and wherein the method further comprises:

passing transmission of the incoming content when the incoming content matches at least one of the DRM identifiers, and the billing indicator indicates that billing is allowed.