Systems and methods for managing and protecting electronic content and applications
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A method for managing the use of electronic content at a computing device, the method including:
- executing a rendering application on the computing device, the rendering application being associated with at least a first digital certificate generated by a first entity if the first entity determined that the rendering application will handle the electronic content with at least a predefined level of security;
requesting, through a rights management engine executing on the computing device, permission for the rendering application to render a piece of electronic content comprising an authorizing document, the piece of electronic content being encrypted and associated with at least a second digital certificate generated by a second entity and at least a first electronic rule,wherein the second entity associates the second digital certificate with the authorizing document if the authorizing document originated from a certified entity, andwherein the first electronic rule includes data specifying one or more conditions associated with rendering the piece of electronic content, the one or more conditions including a condition that the piece of electronic content be rendered by a rendering application associated with the first digital certificate;
determining, using the rights management engine, whether the one or more conditions specified in at least the first electronic rule have been satisfied;
decrypting the piece of electronic content; and
rendering the decrypted piece of electronic content using the rendering application.
4 Assignments
Litigations
1 Petition
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed for managing and protecting electronic content and applications. Applications, content, and/or users can be given credentials by one or more credentialing authorities upon satisfaction of a set of requirements. Rights management software/hardware is used to attach and detect these credentials, and to enforce rules that indicate how content and applications may be used if certain credentials are present or absent. In one embodiment an application may condition access to a piece of electronic content upon the content'"'"'s possession of a credential from a first entity, while the content may condition access upon the application'"'"'s possession of a credential from a second entity and/or the user'"'"'s possession of a credential from a third entity. Use of credentials in this manner enables a wide variety of relatively complex and flexible control arrangements to be put in place and enforced with relatively simple rights management technology.
78 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for managing the use of electronic content at a computing device, the method including:
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executing a rendering application on the computing device, the rendering application being associated with at least a first digital certificate generated by a first entity if the first entity determined that the rendering application will handle the electronic content with at least a predefined level of security; requesting, through a rights management engine executing on the computing device, permission for the rendering application to render a piece of electronic content comprising an authorizing document, the piece of electronic content being encrypted and associated with at least a second digital certificate generated by a second entity and at least a first electronic rule, wherein the second entity associates the second digital certificate with the authorizing document if the authorizing document originated from a certified entity, and wherein the first electronic rule includes data specifying one or more conditions associated with rendering the piece of electronic content, the one or more conditions including a condition that the piece of electronic content be rendered by a rendering application associated with the first digital certificate; determining, using the rights management engine, whether the one or more conditions specified in at least the first electronic rule have been satisfied; decrypting the piece of electronic content; and rendering the decrypted piece of electronic content using the rendering application. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising:
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executing a rendering application on the computing device, the rendering application being associated with at least a first digital certificate generated by a first entity if the first entity determined that the rendering application will handle the electronic content with at least a predefined level of security; requesting, through a rights management engine executing on the computing device, permission for the rendering application to render a piece of electronic content comprising an authorizing document, the piece of electronic content being encrypted and associated with at least a second digital certificate generated by a second entity and at least a first electronic rule, wherein the second entity associates the second digital certificate with the authorizing document if the authorizing document originated from a certified entity, and wherein the first electronic rule includes data specifying one or more conditions associated with rendering the piece of electronic content, the one or more conditions including a condition that the piece of electronic content be rendered by a rendering application associated with the first digital certificate; determining whether the one or more conditions specified in the at least first electronic rule have been satisfied; decrypting the piece of electronic content; and rendering the decrypted piece of electronic content using the rendering application. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for managing the use of electronic content at a computing device, the method including:
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receiving a piece of electronic content; receiving, separately from the piece of electronic content, data specifying one or more conditions associated with rendering the piece of electronic content, the one or more conditions including a condition that the piece of electronic content be rendered by a rendering application associated with a first digital certificate; executing a rendering application on the computing device, the rendering application being associated with at least the first digital certificate, the first digital certificate having been generated by a first entity based at least in part on a determination that the rendering application will handle electronic content with at least a predefined level of security; requesting, through a rights management engine executing on the computing device, permission for the rendering application to render the piece of electronic content; determining, using the rights management engine, whether the one or more conditions specified by the data have been satisfied; decrypting the piece of electronic content; and rendering the decrypted piece of electronic content using the rendering application. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification