Sharing media items with pass phrases

• US 8,799,658 B1
• Filed: 03/02/2010
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sellier, Laurent E., Berbessou, David, Gayles, Edward J., Lynch-Freshner, Lawrence Arnold, Rachabathuni, Sailesh, Zhou, Xuejin
• Primary Examiner(s): Thiaw, Catherine
• Assistant Examiner(s): ZHAO, DON GORDON
• Application Number:
  US12/715,780
• Time in Patent Office: 1,617 Days
• Field of Search: 370/395, 370/450, 370/909, 713150-186, 726 1- 21
• US Class Current: 713/172
• 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 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2137 Time limited access, e.g. to a computer or data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/00 Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity

Abstract

A sharing service receives a request to store a media item stored on an electronic book reader device for sharing with one or more other content rendering devices. In response, the sharing service associates a pass phrase with the request. The sharing service then provides the media item to those devices (e.g., eBook reader devices) that provide the pass phrase to the sharing service within a predetermined amount of time.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,

receiving, at a server, a request from a first user to store a media item for later access by an electronic book reader device associated with a second user, wherein the request from the first user does not include information identifying the second user or the electronic book reader device associated with the second user as an intended recipient of the media item;

in response to receiving the request at the server, associating a pass phrase with the request to store the media item;

sending the pass phrase from the server to a device of the first user or to another device associated with the first user;

after sending the pass phrase, receiving, at the server, the media item from the device of the first user;

after receiving the media item at the server, storing the media item in association with the pass phrase, the pass phrase being usable for the later access of the media item by the electronic book reader device associated with the second user;

receiving, at the server, the pass phrase from the electronic book reader device associated with the second user; and

sending the media item from the server to the electronic book reader device associated with the second user at least partly in response to the receiving of the pass phrase at the server.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the device of the first user comprises a first device of the first user, and wherein the request to store the media item for later access is received from a second device of the first user.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the first device is embodied as an electronic book reader device and the second device is embodied as a device other than an electronic book reader device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the device of the first user is embodied as an electronic book reader device, and wherein the request to store the media item for later access is received via a web-based user interface accessed from a device other than the electronic book reader device.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the device of the first user is embodied as an electronic book reader device, the request to store the media item for later access is received from the electronic book reader device of the first user, and the pass phrase is sent to the electronic book reader device of the first user.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the media item comprises one of a document, an audio file, a video file, a webpage, or a portion of an electronic book.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the pass phrase comprises a string of alphanumeric characters.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the pass phrase comprises two or more grammatically correct words.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the pass phrase is received from the electronic book reader device via a wireless network and the media item is sent to the electronic book reader device via the wireless network.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the wireless network comprises a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network or a cellular network.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the server, the pass phrase from each of multiple other electronic book reader devices; and

sending the media item from the server to each of the multiple other electronic book reader devices at least partly in response to the receiving of the pass phrase at the server from each respective electronic book reader device.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the media item for a predetermined amount of time at least partly in response to the receiving of the request and the media item; and

removing the media item from storage after the predetermined amount of time elapses.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the predetermined amount of time is between five minutes and two weeks.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising, after the predetermined amount of time elapses, removing the media item from the electronic book reader device associated with the second user that received the media item.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the media item for a predetermined amount of time at least partly in response to the receiving of the request and the media item;

receiving a request from the first user to remove the media item from storage before the predetermined amount of time elapses; and

removing the media item from storage at least partly in response to the receiving of the request to remove the media item from storage.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising converting the media item received from the device of the first user to a format compatible with the electronic book reader device associated with the second user, and wherein communicating the media item from the server to the electronic book reader device associated with the second user comprises providing the media item in the format compatible with the electronic book reader device associated with the second user.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the server, a desired level of security from the first user; and

generating, at the server, the pass phrase based at least in part on the desired level of security.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17, wherein:

the pass phrase comprises a string of alphanumeric characters;

the server generates a longer or more complex string of alphanumeric characters for a relatively higher desired level of security; and

the server generates a shorter or less complex string of alphanumeric characters for a relatively lower desired level of security.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a piece of information in addition to the pass phrase from the server to the device of the first user or to the other device associated with the first user, the piece of information also for accessing the media item by the electronic reader device associated with the second user;

in response to receiving the media item at the server, storing the media item in association with the piece of information;

receiving, at the server, in addition to the pass phrase, the piece of information from the electronic book reader device of the second user; and

wherein the sending of the media item to the electronic book reader device associated with the second user is also at least partly in response to the receiving of the piece of information at the server.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 19, wherein the pass phrase comprises two or more grammatically correct words and the piece of information comprises a numerical string.

21. A computer-implemented method comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,

receiving, at a server, a request from a user to share a media item stored on a device of the user with one or more content rendering devices associated with one or more other users, wherein the request from the user does not include information identifying the one or more other users, or the one or more content rendering devices associated with the one or more other users, as intended recipients of the media item;

in response to receiving the request at the server, associating a pass phrase with the request to share the media item;

sending the pass phrase from the server to the device of the user;

after sending the pass phrase, receiving, at the server, the media item stored on the device of the user;

after receiving the media item at the server, storing the media item in association with the pass phrase, the pass phrase being usable for later access of the media item by the one or more other content rendering devices associated with the one or more other users;

receiving, at the server, the pass phrase from individual content rendering devices of the one or more content rendering devices associated with the one or more other users; and

sending at least a portion of the media item from the server to the individual content rendering devices associated with the one or more other users at least partly in response to the receiving of the pass phrase at the server.

22. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, wherein at least one of the one or more content rendering devices associated with the one or more other users comprises an electronic book reader device.

23. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, wherein the device of the user is embodied as an electronic book reader device, and wherein the request is received from the electronic book reader device of the user or from another device operated by the user.

24. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, further comprising selecting the pass phrase at least partly in response to receiving the request at the server.

25. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, further comprising receiving the pass phrase from the user prior to the associating of the pass phrase with the request to share the media item.

26. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, wherein the pass phrase comprises a phrase consisting of two or more grammatically correct words.

27. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, wherein the media item comprises an electronic book stored on an electronic book reader device of the user, and the sending at least a portion of the media item from the server comprises sending a sample of the electronic book from the server to the individual content rendering devices.

28. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 27, wherein the sample of the electronic book comprises a predefined chapter of the electronic book.

29. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 27, wherein the user that requests to share the electronic book designates a location of the sample within the electronic book.

30. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, wherein the media item comprises an article from a periodical, and the sending at least a portion of the media item from the server comprises sending at least a portion of the article and a request to subscribe to the periodical from the server to the individual content rendering devices.

31. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 21, further comprising receiving, at the server, a copy of the portion of the media item from the device of the user prior to sending the portion of the media item from the server to the individual content rendering devices.

32. A computer-implemented method comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,

sending, from an electronic book reader device associated with a user, to a server, a request to share a media item stored on the electronic book reader device of the user with one or more other electronic book reader devices associated with one or more other users, wherein the request does not include information identifying the one or more other users, or the one or more other electronic book reader devices associated with the one or more other users, as intended recipients of the media item;

receiving, at the electronic book reader device associated with the user, from the server, a pass phrase that has been associated with the request at least partly in response to the sending of the request from the electronic book reader device associated with the user to the server; and

after receiving the pass phrase from the server, sending the media item from the electronic book reader device of the user to the server, wherein the server stores the media item in association with the pass phrase after receiving the media item, the pass phrase for granting access to at least a portion of the media item to the one or more other electronic book reader devices associated with the one or more other users.

33. The computer-implemented method of claim 32, further comprising sending, from the electronic book reader device associated with the user to the server, an identification of an amount of time that the server is to make the media item available to the one or more other electronic book reader devices associated with the one or more other users that provide the pass phrase associated with the media item.

34. The computer-implemented method of claim 32, wherein the server selects the pass phrase in response to receiving the request from the electronic book reader device.

35. The computer-implemented method of claim 32, wherein a length or complexity of the pass phrase is determined based at least in part on input from the user that sends the request to share the media item.

36. The computer-implemented method of claim 32, wherein a user associated with the electronic book reader device selects the pass phrase.

37. A computer-implemented method comprising:

under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,

receiving, at a server, a request from a first user to store a copy of a media item that is stored on a client device of the first user by an electronic book reader device associated with a second user, wherein the request from the first user does not include information identifying the second user or the electronic book reader device associated with the second user as an intended recipient of the media item;

in response to receiving the request at the server, associating a pass phrase with the request to store the copy of the media item;

sending the pass phrase from the server to the client device of the first user;

after sending the pass phrase, receiving, at the server, the copy of the media item from the client device of the first user;

after receiving the copy of the media item at the server, storing the copy of the media item at the server, storing the copy of the media item in association with the pass phrase; and

making the copy of the media item available to the electronic book reader device associated with the second user in response to receiving the pass phrase within a predetermined amount of time.

38. The computer-implemented method of claim 37, wherein the making the copy of the media item available to the electronic book reader device associated with the second user comprises streaming or downloading the copy of the media item from the server to the electronic book reader device associated with the second user.

39. The computer-implemented method of claim 37, further comprising converting the copy of the media item received from the client device of the first user to a format that is compatible with the electronic book reader associated with the second user.

40. The computer-implemented method of claim 37, further comprising erasing the copy of the media item from the server after the predetermined amount of time elapses.