Statutory license restricted digital media playback on portable devices

• US 8,763,157 B2
• Filed: 03/03/2010
• Issued: 06/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Navar, Murgesh, Yruski, Andrey, Puranik, Rajiv, Hsu, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shepperd, Eric W.
• Application Number:
  US12/717,108
• Publication Number:
  US 20110004669A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,574 Days
• Field of Search: 726 2- 4, 726 26- 27, 726/29, 726/33, 705/26, 705 51- 52, 705/57, 713193-194
• US Class Current: 726/29
• 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: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3827 Portable transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0457 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply dynamic encryption, e.g. stream encryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for stream encryption H04L9/065
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1059 End-user terminal functionalities specially adapted for real-time communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0894 Escrow, recovery or storing of secret information, e.g. secret key escrow or cryptographic key storage

Abstract

Systems and methods are described for, e.g., providing a statutory audio content service on a portable device that complies with the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The user can select a playlist subject to DMCA restrictions but cannot access individual items. Content playback, including skipping of content, is restricted to enforce relevant DMCA provisions. Encryption used to implement digital rights management (DRM) may be modified to enforce such content play rules or, alternatively, an additional layer of encryption may be imposed. Limitations on playback are stored along with the playlist structure in a form that is protected against modification. Information logging content playback is maintained in protected form to be uploaded and relayed to the service provider for the purpose of calculating royalty payments.

Claims

1. A method for controlling content on a portable media device, the method comprising:

receiving a playlist at the portable media device, the playlist including information associating content items with rule information setting geographic location-based constraints on playback of the content items, wherein the playlist is encrypted upon receipt at the portable media device;

receiving the content items at the portable media device; and

subsequent to receiving the content items, allowing playback of a selected content item on the portable media device only when the portable media device is discovered to be located within one or more predefined geographic locations in accordance with the rule information setting geographic location-based constraints on the playback of the content items.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the rule information further includes a limitation on looping of the content items.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the rule information further includes a limitation on skips of the content items.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the limitation on skips is a ratio with respect to time.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the limitation on skips is relative to a total number of skips.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the rule information further includes a limitation that deletes the playlist and associated content items after an elapsed period of time since the portable media device was synchronized with an ancillary computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the rule information further includes a limitation that deletes the playlist and associated content items after a total number of looped playback events.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the rule information further includes a limitation that requires that the content items on the playlist be shuffled after a predetermined number of playback events.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the playlist is decrypted in real-time and during playback of associated content items to allow for identification of rule information setting geographic location-based constraints on playback of the content items on the playlist.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein decryption of the playlist requires access to a key table burned into memory of the portable media device having a key unique to a type of the portable media device.

11. the method of claim 9, wherein decryption requires execution of firmware embedded in the portable media device, the firmware not accessible to a user of the portable media device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the content items are encrypted prior to receipt at the portable media device and decrypted during playback.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the rule information setting geographic location-based constraints on the playback of the content items is set by publisher of the content items.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the rule information setting geographic location-based constraints on the playback of the content items is set by an owner of the content items.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for controlling content on a portable media device, the method comprising:

receiving a playlist at the portable media device, the playlist including information associating content items with rule information setting geographic location-based constraints on playback of the content items, wherein the playlist is encrypted upon receipt at the portable media device;

receiving the content items at the portable media device; and

subsequent to receiving the content items, allowing playback of a selected content item on the portable media device only when the portable media device is discovered to be located within one or more predefined geographic locations in accordance with the rule information setting geographic location-based constraints on the playback of the content items.