Patent Application
20070300058
The foregoing summary of the invention, as well as the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are included by way of example, and not by way of limitation with regard to the claimed invention.
In the following description of the various embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Upon receipt of the protected content from content issuer 103, DRM agent 101 may utilize the protected content based upon the rights obtained from rights issuer 105. For example, DRM agent 101 may be allowed to distribute the protected content to other DRM agents 107, but may be restricted from sending to removable media or network store 109. A DRM architecture 100 defines, creates, and manages credentials for various types of DRM agents 101/107 in the system.
In accordance with aspects of the present invention, credentials may be installed during the manufacturing process of a client device without a player component being included in the client device when sold to consumers. The player component may then be distributed/sold separately after a customer has purchased the client device.
The process starts at step 201 a mobile communication device is manufactured with a credential store. Software within a mobile communication device, such as trusted software within the device, maintains the client device credentials. The software within the mobile communication device is configured to not include any feature licenses. Feature licenses are integrated into hardware or firmware components of the mobile communication device. As such, feature licenses and software are not provided together. A credential store and credentials are placed in the client device during the manufacturing process, i.e., they are pre-installed. At step 201, the mobile communication device is manufactured without a player component installed. Then, a player may be installed later, i.e., post manufacturing. In one example, the player may be installed by a user after purchasing the player. Having purchased the mobile communication device and proceeding to step 203, a determination is made as to whether a user desires to install a player component onto the mobile communication device. If not, the process ends. If the user does desire to install a player component, the process moves to step 205 where the player component is installed onto the mobile communication device. As should be understood by those skilled in the art, any number of methods may be utilized to install a player component, including downloading and installing from a web page or from a removable storage device.
At step 207, a determination is made as to whether the user requests content for use with the player component. If not, the process ends. If the user does request content for use with the player component, the process moves to step 209. At step 209, the content provider that receives the request for the user desired content confirms the credentials of the mobile communication device. At step 211, a determination is made as to whether the credentials are correct, i.e., whether the user is authorized to obtain the requested content. The confirmation of the credentials and determination as whether they are correct is specified by the DRM scheme being used. A content provider performs the algorithm on two parts of the credential using two different keys and compares the results to other parts of the credential. A digital signature part of the credential from the credential authority certifies that the provided credentials are valid for this credential domain. A digital signature from the user as part of the request verifies that the author of the request actually possesses these particular credentials. Then, the content provider may check from a credential revocation list, e.g., a black list, provided by the credential authority, to determine whether the particular credential is known to not be trusted.
If the credentials of the mobile communication device are not correct in step 211, the process moves to step 213 where the request for the content is denied before the process ends. A subsequent message may be sent to the mobile communication device reflecting such. As the process is specific to the DRM scheme utilized, the message may vary. In one example, a player application may provide an error message for the user. For example, if the trusted software determines that a player component is not allowed to be installed, the software may prevent the use of the credentials. In such a case, step 211 answers no and the process moves to step 213. If the credentials are determined to be correct in step 211, the process moves to step 215 where the requested content, such as an audio file, video file, text data, web page, video with audio, is sent to the mobile communication device. At step 217, the player component on the mobile communication device uses the content in accordance with the DRM scheme associated with the mobile terminals device, the player component, and/or the content itself.
In addition, a separate security mechanism may be used to determine whether the player may be installed, thus ensuring that modified players do not work unless authorized.
At step 303, a determination is made as to whether the player component to be installed has been modified, e.g., is an unauthorized copy that cannot be trusted. If not, the process moves to step 307. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that there are a number of manner in which this determination may be made. For example, code signing, or checksum data, may be used to determine if the player component has been modified.
At step 305, installation of the player component is denied before the process ends. If a player component is unmodified at step 303, the process moves to step 307 where installation of the player component is permitted. With respect to step 307, the credentials of an electronic device have no role.
In step 401 of
In accordance with others aspects of the present invention, generic, as opposed to specific, DRM scheme credentials may be utilized in a client device. As such, new DRM schemes may be later developed and client devices may be upgraded at a later time. Thus, a manufacturer of the client device may have a new after market sales opportunity.
The process starts at step 501 where a credential store in a mobile communication device maintains the credentials of the mobile communication device. At step 503, a new Digital Rights Management (DRM) player component is developed. For example, Company XYZ may develop a new video player for viewing video data on a mobile communication device. At step 505, a determination is made as to whether a user of the mobile communication device desires to install the new DRM player component. If not, the process ends. If the user does desire to install the new DRM player component, the process moves to step 507.
At step 507, a determination is made as to whether the credential store is a generic credential store, thus allowing later developed player components to be recognizable for installation purposes. If the credential store is generic, at step 509, installation of the new DRM player component is permitted before the process ends. Else, if the credential store is not generic, installation of the player component is denied in step 511 before the process ends. In operation, because the credentials are generic in configuration, new use cases may be defined for existing credentials. In accordance with one example of the present invention, OMA DRM2.0 may be a credential store. For an OMA DRM player in S60 SW, a common configuration certificate may be used to control if the player component may be installed.
Proceeding to step 603, a mobile device is configured with a control configuration of a default geographical variant to enable at least one DRM functionality. For example, a default device may have all DRM functionalities enabled with a geographical variant of default geographical location of a first country. At step 605, a determination is made as to whether the geographic location of the mobile device has changed. Any of a number of different methods may be used to determine a geographic location. For example, for a mobile telephone device, when activated and connecting to a local cell tower, a packet received from the cell tower may specify the country of operation. If the geographic location of the mobile device has not changed in step 605, the process ends. If the geographic location has changed, the process moves to step 607.
In step 607, the control configuration of the default geographical variant is changed to a new geographical variant corresponding to the new geographical location of the mobile device. For example, if the new geographical location of the mobile device is a country that prohibits the use of DRM technology in a mobile device, the control configuration of the mobile device is changed to have a geographical variant corresponding to the DRM prohibitive country. At step 609, another determination is made as to whether the mobile device is to be used in a DRM functionality restrictive geographical location. If the mobile device is not being used in a geographical location that restricts DRM technology in step 609, the process ends. If the mobile device is being used in a DRM functionality restrictive geographical location, the process moves to step 611 where the at least one DRM functionality is disabled before the process ends.
It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not so limited to geographical locations with respect to different countries. In addition, in accordance with aspects of the present invention, a geographical variant may alternatively be a user variant where the user variant defines who is using the mobile device. As such, if a mobile device is operated by a new user, such as in step 605 switching from “has geographic location of mobile device changed” to “has user of mobile device changed,” the control configuration with respect to DRM functionalities may be changed to reflect the new user. A first user may have certain allowed DRM functionalities enabled while a second user may have more, fewer, and/or different functionalities enabled for use.
In still another embodiment of the present invention, the geographical variant example with respect to
In another embodiment of the present invention, a certificate that enables/disables one or more DRM functionalities may be installed during manufacturing or maintenance. Such a certificate may be configured to prevent the ability to change DRM functionality within the mobile device. Such a certificate may be operator, such as Orange France, Vodafone France, Vodafone UK, and/or country specific. If such a certificate is residing in a Vodafone UK variant mobile device that enables DRM functionality and the mobile device is then used in another country, e.g., roaming in a Vodafone France network, DRM functionality may be configured to operate normally as if the mobile device was still in operation in a Vodafone UK network. Therefore, a certificate that disables DRM one or more functionalities prevents such use irrespective of the country and/or operator in which the mobile device is being used.
The following example provides an illustrative implementation of certain aspects of the present invention. Company A has invested a great deal of time and money in development of new content, such as a music album, and desires to ensure that the content is protected with respect to use and distribution in accordance with certain rules and procedures. Company B is a mobile communication device, such as a mobile telephone, manufacturer. Company B manufactures their mobile communication devices with a credential store pre-installed.
Company B and/or some other company sell(s) a player component for use on the mobile communication device of Company B. The player component is configured to be installed after manufacturing of the mobile communication device. A user of the mobile communication device requests content corresponding to the music album of Company A. If the credentials of the mobile communication device are correct with respect to the player component, the user receives the content and can use or distribute the content as permitted. With the pre-installed credentials, revocation of the rights of individual mobile communication devices may be revoked without use of a group key or other type of global identifier. For example, a content provider may prevent creation of content for a device by creation of a revocation list, e.g., a black list, or those devices not authorized to receive content. As such, there is no group key associated with the mobile communication device that may be reverse-engineered.
While illustrative systems and methods as described herein embodying various aspects of the present invention are shown, it will be understood by those skilled in the art, that the invention is not limited to these embodiments. Modifications may be made by those skilled in the art, particularly in light of the foregoing teachings. For example, each of the elements of the aforementioned embodiments may be utilized alone or in combination or subcombination with elements of the other embodiments. It will also be appreciated and understood that modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of restrictive on the present invention.
