Secure electronic content distribution on CDS and DVDs

A method to receive encrypted digital content on an end user system for rendering the content, the method on the end user system comprising the steps of:

• receiving from a computer readable medium, metadata which has previously associated with encrypted content, wherein the computer readable medium is coupled to an end user system;
• selecting from the metadata the encrypted content to decrypt;
• receiving, from the computer readable medium, a content decrypting key for decrypting at least part of the encrypted content, wherein the content decrypting key has been encrypted with an encrypting key from a clearing house;
• transferring, from the end user system, an end user system encrypting key and the content decrypting key, which is encrypted, to the clearing house for authentication of permission to decrypt at least part of the content;
• receiving from the clearing house, the content decrypting key which has been decrypted by the clearing house and reencrypted by the clearing house with the end user system encrypting key;
• and
• rendering at least part of the encrypted content by decrypting the content decrypting key using an end user system decrypting key corresponding to the end user system encrypting key so as to permit access to the content decrypting key which is now decrypted and is usable for decrypting at least part of the encrypted content.

A computer readable medium for delivering encrypted digital content to a system for rendering the content, the computer readable medium comprising programming instructions which execute on the end user system for:

• reading from a computer readable medium metadata which has previously associated with encrypted content, wherein the computer readable medium is coupled to the end user system;
• selecting from the metadata the encrypted content to decrypt;
• establishing a secure transmission between the end user system and an authorization authority for decrypting the content;
• transferring, from the end user system, an end user system encrypting key and a content decrypting key stored on the computer readable medium which is encrypted, to the clearing house for authentication of permission to decrypt at least part of the content;
• and
• receiving from a clearing house an encrypted content decrypting key which has been encrypted with an end user system encrypting key, so that when the encrypted content decrypting key is decrypted with the an end user system decrypting key corresponding to the end user system encrypting key, the content decrypting key is no longer encrypted and is usable for decrypting at least part of the encrypted content stored on the computer readable medium, wherein the decrypting of the encrypted content is performed in a tamper-resistant environment for deterring unauthorized access to the content decrypting key.

A computer readable medium for receiving encrypted digital content on a end user system, the computer readable medium comprising programming instructions which execute on the end user system for:

• receiving from a computer readable medium metadata which has previously associated with the content, wherein the computer readable medium is coupled to an end user system;
• selecting from the metadata associated content to decrypt;
• receiving, from the computer readable medium, a content decrypting key for decrypting at least part of the encrypted content, wherein the content decrypting key has been encrypted with an encrypting key from a clearing house;
• transferring, from the end user system, an end user system encrypting key and the content decrypting key, which is encrypted, to the clearing house for authentication of permission to decrypt at least part of the content;
• receiving from the clearing house, the content decrypting key which has been decrypted by the clearing house and reencrypted by the clearing house with the end user system encrypting key;
• and
• rendering at least part of the previously encrypted content by decrypting the content decrypting key using an end user system decrypting key corresponding to the end user system encrypting key so as to permit access to the content decrypting key which was previously encrypted and is now decrypted and is usable for decrypting at least part of the encrypted content.

An end user system for playing encrypted content delivered on a removable computer readable storage medium, the system comprising:

• a reader for reading the contents of a removable computer readable storage medium;
• a display for displaying one or more pieces of metadata previously associated with encrypted content stored on a computer readable storage medium which has been loaded in the reader;
• a pointing device for receiving a user selection of at least some of the metadata previously associated with the encrypted content;
• means for establishing a secure connection with an authorization authority for receiving authorization to retrieve from the removable computer readable storage medium a content decrypting key for decrypting at least part of the encrypted content, wherein the content decrypting key is encrypted with an encrypting key from a clearing house;
• a player application including a tamper-resistant environment including a means for transferring, from the end user system, an end user system encrypting key and the content decrypting key which has been encrypted, to the clearing house for authentication of permission to decrypt at least part of the content, the player application receiving a reencrypted content decrypting key received from the clearing house, wherein the reencrypted content decrypting is reencrypted at the clearing house using the end user system encrypting key;
• and
• wherein the player application includes a media player for playing at least part of the encrypted content by decrypting the reencrypted content decrypting key using an end user system decrypting key corresponding to the end user system encrypting key so as to permit access to the content decrypting key which was previously encrypted and is now decrypted and is usable for decrypting at least part of the encrypted content.