Method and apparatus for delivering content in a communication system

A device for use with a credit managing device and a content providing device, said device comprising:

• a communication portion operable to communicate with the credit managing device and the content providing device;
• a registering portion operable to register with the credit managing device via said communication portion;
• a credit managing portion operable to receive a universal credit from the credit managing device via said communication portion;
• a secure content portion operable to receive encrypted content and a pre-rights generator from the content providing device, via said communication portion, at a first time without consuming the universal credit;
• and
• a decryption portion operable to generate a decryption key based the pre-rights generator,
• wherein said decryption portion is further operable to decrypt, via the decryption key, the encrypted content at a second time after the first time and consume a portion of the universal credit.

A computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions stored thereon, the computer-readable instructions being capable of being read by a computer to transfer content within a system having a credit managing device, a content providing device and a user device, the computer-readable instructions being capable of instructing the computer to perform the method comprising:

• registering the user device with the credit managing device;
• providing a universal credit to the user device from the credit managing device based on said registering the user device with the credit managing device;
• providing encrypted content and a pre-rights generator from the content providing device to the user device at a first time without consuming the universal credit;
• generating a decryption key from the pre-rights generator a second time after the first time;
• and
• decrypting, via the decryption key, the encrypted content at the user device and consuming a portion of the universal credit.