Claims
- 1. A method for a licensor to issue a digital license to a requestor to allow the requestor to render corresponding digital content, the licensor having access to a directory including a listing for the requester, the listing including an identifier of the requestor and an identifier of each group which the requestor is a member of, the method comprising:
receiving a request from the requestor, the request including an identifier identifying the requestor and rights data associated with the content, the rights data listing at least one identifier and rights associated therewith; locating the identifier of the requestor in the directory; locating in the directory, from the located requestor identifier in the directory, the identifier of each group which the requestor is a member of; comparing each of the located requestor identifier and each located group identifier to each identifier listed in the rights data to find a match; and issuing the license to the requestor with the rights associated with the matching identifier.
- 2. The method of claim 1 comprising receiving a request from the requester including a digital certificate with the identifier identifying the requestor.
- 3. The method of claim 1 comprising receiving a request from the requestor including the rights data with a digital signature based thereon.
- 4. The method of claim 3 further comprising verifying the digital signature.
- 5. The method of claim 1 comprising:
for each of the located requestor identifier and each located group identifier:
comparing such identifier to each identifier listed in the rights data; and noting whether the compared identifier is a matching identifier; to result in at least two matching identifiers; selecting one of the matching identifiers; and issuing the license to the requestor with the rights associated with the selected matching identifier.
- 6. The method of claim 5 comprising selecting the matching identifier that conveys a greatest amount of rights to the requester.
- 7. The method of claim 5 wherein each identifier in the rights data has a corresponding priority indicia, the method comprising selecting the matching identifier having the greatest priority indicia.
- 8. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing a method for a licensor to issue a digital license to a requester to allow the requestor to render corresponding digital content, the licensor having access to a directory including a listing for the requester, the listing including an identifier of the requestor and an identifier of each group which the requester is a member of, the method comprising:
receiving a request from the requester, the request including an identifier identifying the requestor and rights data associated with the content, the rights data listing at least one identifier and rights associated therewith; locating the identifier of the requester in the directory; locating in the directory, from the located requestor identifier in the directory, the identifier of each group which the requestor is a member of; comparing each of the located requester identifier and each located group identifier to each identifier listed in the rights data to find a match; and issuing the license to the requester with the rights associated with the matching identifier.
- 9. The medium of claim 8 wherein the method comprises receiving a request from the requestor including a digital certificate with the identifier identifying the requester.
- 10. The medium of claim 8 wherein the method comprises receiving a request from the requestor including the rights data with a digital signature based thereon.
- 11. The medium of claim 10 wherein the method further comprises verifying the digital signature.
- 12. The medium of claim 8 wherein the method comprises:
for each of the located requester identifier and each located group identifier:
comparing such identifier to each identifier listed in the rights data; and noting whether the compared identifier is a matching identifier; to result in at least two matching identifiers; selecting one of the matching identifiers; and issuing the license to the requestor with the rights associated with the selected matching identifier.
- 13. The medium of claim 12 wherein the method comprises selecting the matching identifier that conveys a greatest amount of rights to the requestor.
- 14. The medium of claim 12 wherein each identifier in the rights data has a corresponding priority indicia, the method comprising selecting the matching identifier having the greatest priority indicia.
- 15. A method for a licensor to issue a digital license to a requestor to allow the requestor to render corresponding digital content, the requestor being a member of a group, the method comprising:
receiving a request from the requestor, the request including an identifier identifying the group and rights data associated with the content, the rights data listing at least one identifier and rights associated therewith; comparing the group identifier from the request to each identifier listed in the rights data to find a match; and issuing the license to the requestor with the rights associated with the matching group identifier, the issued license including a content key corresponding to the content encrypted according to a public key of the group, whereby the requestor can obtain the content key with a private key of the group corresponding to the public key thereof.
- 16. The method of claim 15 comprising receiving a request from the requestor including a digital certificate with the identifier identifying the group.
- 17. The method of claim 15 comprising receiving a request from the requester including the rights data with a digital signature based thereon.
- 18. The method of claim 17 further comprising verifying the digital signature.
- 19. The method of claim 15 wherein the licensor has access to a directory including a listing for the group, the listing including an identifier of the group and an identifier of each member of the group including the requester, the method further comprising:
receiving from the requester the identifier thereof; locating the listing for the group in the directory based on the identifier of the group; and verifying that the located listing for the group in the directory includes the identifier of the requester.
- 20. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing a method for a licensor to issue a digital license to a requestor to allow the requestor to render corresponding digital content, the requester being a member of a group, the method comprising:
receiving a request from the requester, the request including an identifier identifying the group and rights data associated with the content, the rights data listing at least one identifier and rights associated therewith; comparing the group identifier from the request to each identifier listed in the rights data to find a match; and issuing the license to the requestor with the rights associated with the matching group identifier, the issued license including a content key corresponding to the content encrypted according to a public key of the group, whereby the requestor can obtain the content key with a private key of the group corresponding to the public key thereof.
- 21. The medium of claim 20 wherein the method comprises receiving a request from the requester including a digital certificate with the identifier identifying the group.
- 22. The medium of claim 20 wherein the method comprises receiving a request from the requester including the rights data with a digital signature based thereon.
- 23. The medium of claim 22 wherein the method further comprises verifying the digital signature.
- 24. The medium of claim 20 wherein the licensor has access to a directory including a listing for the group, the listing including an identifier of the group and an identifier of each member of the group including the requester, the method further comprising:
receiving from the requester the identifier thereof; locating the listing for the group in the directory based on the identifier of the group; and verifying that the located listing for the group in the directory includes the identifier of the requestor.
- 25. A method for a licensor to issue a digital license to a requestor to allow the requestor to render corresponding digital content, the requestor being a member of a group, the licensor having access to a directory including a listing for the group, the listing including an identifier of each member of the group including the requestor, the method comprising:
receiving a request from the requestor, the request including an identifier identifying the group, an identifier identifying the requester, and rights data associated with the content, the rights data listing at least one identifier and rights associated therewith; comparing the group identifier from the request to each identifier listed in the rights data to find a match; locating the listing for the group in the directory based on the identifier of the group; verifying from the located listing that the requestor identifier is included therein; and issuing the license to the requestor with the rights associated with the matching group identifier, the issued license including a content key corresponding to the content encrypted according to a public key of the requester, whereby the requestor can obtain the content key with a private key of the requestor corresponding to the public key thereof.
- 26. The method of claim 25 comprising receiving a request from the requestor including a digital certificate with the identifier identifying the group.
- 27. The method of claim 25 comprising receiving a request from the requestor including a digital certificate with the identifier identifying the requestor.
- 28. The method of claim 27 further comprising obtaining the public key of the requester from the digital certificate.
- 29. The method of claim 25 comprising receiving a request from the requestor including the rights data with a digital signature based thereon.
- 30. The method of claim 29 further comprising verifying the digital signature.
- 31. The method of claim 25 further comprising obtaining the public key of the requestor from a digital certificate on file, the digital certificate including the identifier of the requester.
- 32. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for performing a method for a licensor to issue a digital license to a requestor to allow the requestor to render corresponding digital content, the requestor being a member of a group, the licensor having access to a directory including a listing for the group, the listing including an identifier of each member of the group including the requester, the method comprising:
receiving a request from the requestor, the request including an identifier identifying the group, an identifier identifying the requester, and rights data associated with the content, the rights data listing at least one identifier and rights associated therewith; comparing the group identifier from the request to each identifier listed in the rights data to find a match; locating the listing for the group in the directory based on the identifier of the group; verifying from the located listing that the requestor identifier is included therein; and issuing the license to the requestor with the rights associated with the matching group identifier, the issued license including a content key corresponding to the content encrypted according to a public key of the requestor, whereby the requestor can obtain the content key with a private key of the requestor corresponding to the public key thereof.
- 33. The medium of claim 32 wherein the method comprises receiving a request from the requester including a digital certificate with the identifier identifying the group.
- 34. The medium of claim 32 wherein the method comprises receiving a request from the requester including a digital certificate with the identifier identifying the requestor.
- 35. The medium of claim 34 wherein the method further comprises obtaining the public key of the requestor from the digital certificate.
- 36. The medium of claim 32 wherein the method comprises receiving a request from the requestor including the rights data with a digital signature based thereon.
- 37. The medium of claim 36 wherein the method further comprises verifying the digital signature.
- 38. The medium of claim 32 wherein the method further comprises obtaining the public key of the requestor from a digital certificate on file, the digital certificate including the identifier of the requestor.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The following U.S. patent applications disclose subject matter that is related to the subject matter of the present application, and are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety:
[0002] U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, filed concurrently with the present application under attorney docket number MSFT-1569 and entitled “Publishing Digital Content Within a Defined Universe Such As an Organization in Accordance with a Digital Rights Management (DRM) System;
[0003] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/185,527, filed Jun. 28, 2002 under attorney docket number MSFT-1330 and entitled “Obtaining a Signed Rights Label (SRL) for Digital Content and Obtaining a Digital License Corresponding to the Content Based on the SRL in a Digital Rights Management System”;
[0004] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/185,278, filed Jun. 28, 2002 under attorney docket number MSFT-1333 and entitled “Using a Rights Template to Obtain a Signed Rights Label (SRL) for Digital Content in a Digital Rights Management System”; and
[0005] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/185,511, filed Jun. 28, 2002 under attorney docket number MSFT-1343 and entitled “Systems And Methods For Issuing Usage Licenses For Digital Content And Services”.