US 7,549,060 B2Granted

Using a rights template to obtain a signed rights label (SRL) for digital content in a digital rights management system

AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation

InventorsSteven Bourne, Chandramouli Venkatesh, Vinay Krishnaswamy

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Abstract

Content is encrypted according to a content key (CK) ((CK(content))), (CK) is protected according to a license server public key (PU-DRM), and rights data associated with the content is retrieved from a rights template and protected according to (PU-DRM). The protected items and a digital signature from the rights template are submitted as a rights label to the license server for signing. The license server verifies the rights template signature, and if such signature verifies signs the rights label to result in a signed rights label (SRL), and returns same. The SRL is concatenated with (CK(content)) and both are distributed to a user. To render the content, the user submits the SRL to the license server to request a license.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A method of providing a signed rights label for publishing digital content in connection with a digital rights management (DRM) server where the digital content is encrypted and is renderable consistent with the signed rights label and where the DRM server is associated with a public key (PU-DRM) and a private key (PR-DRM), the method comprising:

providing a rights template comprising a pre-defined set of users or classes of users, a pre-defined set of rights that specify a permissible set of actions that is carried out upon the digital content by each pre-defined user or class of users, and a pre-defined set of use conditions that must be met by each predefined user or class of users in order to carry out an action defined in the pre-defined set of rights, the rights template thereby adapted for repetitive use in defining multiple rights labels that are useable on different pieces of content that are directed to the pre-defined set of users or classes of users;
submitting the rights template to the DRM server for signing in order to produce an official rights template;
sending the official rights template to the user amongst the pre-defined set of users or classes of users, the official rights template comprising rights data, a first digital signature, and a unique identifying indicia, where the first digital signature is the result of signing the rights data with PR-DRM and wherein the rights data comprises (i) an identifier associated with an entity that has a right in the digital content and (ii) the right associated with the entity;
receiving a rights label from the user, where the rights label comprises content information, the rights data, and the first digital signature;
validating the rights data consistent with the first digital signature;
if valid then, signing the fights label, and sending the signed rights label to the user where the signed rights label comprises the content information, the rights data, and a second digital signature, where the second digital signature results from signing the content information and the rights data with PR-DRM, and wherein the signed rights label when verified permits access to the content information;
wherein the official rights template comprises a rule that permits modifying the rights data, where the rule is protected according to PU-DRM and wherein the validating the rights data further comprises verifying the rights data consistent with the rule;
and
wherein the rule allows for selection among a set of alternative rights data.

6 more elements

A method of providing a signed rights label for publishing digital content in connection with a digital rights management sewer where the digital content is encrypted and is renderable consistent with the signed rights label and where the digital rights management server is associated with a public key (PU-DRM) and a private key (PR-DRM), the method comprising:

receiving an official rights template from the digital rights management server, where the official rights template comprises rights data and a first digital signature, wherein the first digital signature is the result of signing the rights data with PR-DRM and wherein the rights data comprises (i) an identifier associated with an entity with a right in the digital content and (ii) the right associated with the entity;
sending a rights label to be validated to the digital rights management server responsive to the official rights template, where the rights label comprises content information, the rights data, and the first digital signature;
validating the rights data consistent with the first digital signature;
replacing the rights data contained in the rights label with a replacement rights data that is resident in the digital rights management server, the replacement rights data comprising a pre-defined set of rights that specify a permissible set of actions that is carried out upon the digital content by each of a pre-defined set of users, thereby limiting at least one amongst the pre-defined set of users to a) always publish content to a first class of user or b) never publish content to a second class of user;
signing with a PR-DRM, the rights label containing the replaced rights data;
and
receiving the signed rights label from the digital rights management server where the signed rights label comprises the content information, the replaced rights data, and a second digital signature, where the replaced rights data is consistent with the first digital signature and where the second digital signature results from signing the content information and the rights data with PR-DRM, and wherein the signed rights label when verified permits access to the content information;
wherein the official rights template comprises a rule that permits modifying the rights data, where the rule is protected according to PU-DRM and wherein the validating the rights data further comprises verifying the rights data consistent with the rule;
and
wherein the rule allows for selection among a set of alternative rights data.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.