Proximity based digital rights management

• US 8,943,605 B1
• Filed: 01/25/2012
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Martin, Geoffrey Scott, Dougan, Michael Philip
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Jung
• Assistant Examiner(s): De Jesus Lassaia, Carlos M
• Application Number:
  US13/358,279
• Time in Patent Office: 1,098 Days
• Field of Search: 726/27
• US Class Current: 726/27
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/73 Authorising game programs or game devices, e.g. checking authenticity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/80 Wireless network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/067 using one-time keys cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for generation of one-time passwords H04L9/0863
• 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 63/108 when the policy decisions are valid for a limited amount of time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/08 Key distribution or management, e.g. generation, sharing or updating, of cryptographic keys or passwords network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting key management in a packet data network H04L63/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/083 involving central third party, e.g. key distribution center [KDC] or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0872 using geo-location information, e.g. location data, time, relative position or proximity to other entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/64 using geofenced areas
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A method, system, and medium are provided for sharing content among network devices. The system includes at least one base station and network devices that are part of a wireless network. The base station is configured to receive a request for content from a network device. The content may be available on a second network device proximate to the first network device. The base station may generate a temporary key that allows the first network device to access the content available on the second network device while proximity between the first network device and the second network device is maintained. The base station, in turn, transmits the temporary key to the first network device.

Claims

1. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, perform a method of sharing protected content for a period of time, the method comprising:

receiving, at a first network device, a request to share content with at least one other network device;

identifying available content on the first network device;

generating a list of the available content;

transmitting, to the at least one other network device, the list of the available content;

receiving a selection of at least one of the available content on the list;

generating a temporary key for the at least one other network device, to interact with the at least one of the available content included in the selection; and

transmitting the at least one of the available content included in the selection and the temporary key to the at least one other network device, wherein the temporary key expires when the first network device and the other network device are outside of a proximity range and the temporary key includes an identifier of the access point shared by the first network device and the at least one other network device.

2. The media of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from the at least one other network device, another list having content available on the other network device that is different from the available content on the first network device.

3. The media of claim 1, wherein the at least one other network device is proximate to the first network device.

4. The media of claim 1, wherein the list of the available content from the first network device is displayed in a graphical user interface of the at least one other network device.

5. The media of claim 1, wherein the content includes, music, video games, literature, or software.

6. The media of claim 1, wherein expiration of the temporary key revokes access privileges to the at least one of the available content included in the selection.

7. The media of claim 1, wherein the temporary key limits a number of times a user can access the content.

8. The media of claim 1, wherein the temporary key limits a number of times a user can copy the content.

9. A computer-implemented method of providing content temporarily to a network device having a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) component, the method comprising:

receiving a request for content from a first network device, wherein the content is available on a second network device proximate to the first network device;

identifying a location of the first network device;

identifying a location of the second network device;

generating a temporary key that allows the first network device to unlock the content while the first network device is within a range of the location of the second network device; and

transmitting the temporary key and the content to the first network device, wherein the temporary key expires when the first network device and the second network device are not within a proximity range and the temporary key includes an identifier of the access point shared by the first network device and the second network device.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising periodically receiving an update of the location of the second network device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the proximity range is based on an access point shared by the first network device and second network device.

12. The method at claim 9, wherein the proximity range is based on a near field communication (NFC).

13. The method of claim 9, wherein more two network devices temporarily and simultaneously share content from the second network device or from the first network device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the content includes, music, video games, literature, or software.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the temporary key limits the number of network devices that receive the content.

16. A communication system, the system comprising:

a base station configured with storage and a processor that receive a request for content from a first network device, wherein the content is available on a second network device proximate to the first network device, identify a location of the first network device, identify a location of the second network device, generate a temporary key that allows the first network device to unlock the content while the first network device is within a range of the location of the first network device and the location of the second network device, and transmit the temporary key and the content to the first network device such that the content is inaccessible by the first network device when the first network device is outside of the range for the location of the first network device and the location of the second network device, wherein the temporary key includes an identifier of an access point shared by the first network device and the second network device and the temporary key expires when the first network device and the second network device are not within a proximity range.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the temporary key limits a number of a user can access the content, a number of times a user can copy the content, or a number of network devices that can receive the content.