Flexible licensing architecture for licensing digital application

A computing device that processes an application in accordance with a use license for using the application of a publisher, the use license authorized by a publisher and associated with a corresponding publishing license that includes the set of publisher-specified license rules and additional rules applicable to a licensor regarding issuance of the use license by the licensor, the application having a plurality of features, the computing device storing the use license on a storage device, said computing device comprising:

• a processor that;
• and
• a computer storage storing executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to perform the steps of:
• obtaining a product license from a retailer, the product license corresponding to the application of a publisher, the product license defining at least one feature of the application that has been requested by a user, a distributor from which to obtain a base copy of the application, and a licensor from which to obtain a use license;
• obtaining a base copy of the application from the distributor via a network transaction, wherein the base copy of the application includes all of the plurality of features of the application and wherein at least a portion of the base copy of the application is encrypted with an encryption key of the publisher;
• acquiring the use license corresponding to the product license obtained from the retailer by way of the actuated application sending the product license to the licensor via a network transaction along with an identification of at least one of a user, the computing device, a public key of the computing device, and a trusted component operating on the computing device, the use license including a decryption key of the publisher for decrypting the portion of the base copy of the application that is encrypted with said encryption key, the decryption key being encrypted with the public key of the computing device, and the use license including a set of publisher specified rules and requirements that establish the user's right to actuate the application and use each requested feature as defined by the product license;
• installing the application;
• receiving a request by the user to use a feature of the plurality of features;
• and
• a trusted component;
• and
• computer storage storing executable instructions that when executed by the trusted component, cause the trusted component to perform the steps of:
• actuating the application;
• validating the use license using a license evaluator;
• based on the validation, determining that the validated use license permits the use of the requested feature based on the publisher specified rules and requirements included in the acquired use license;
• and
• based on the determination that the use of the requested feature is permitted, decrypting the decryption key received in the acquired use license using a private key of the computing device and decrypting at least a portion of the base copy of the application including the requested feature using the decryption key.

A computer readable storage medium containing computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor of a computing device cause the processor to perform the steps of:

• obtaining a product license from a retailer by engaging in a transaction with the retailer, the product license corresponding to the application of a publisher, the product license defining at least one feature of the application that has been requested by a user, a distributor from which to obtain a base copy of the application, and a licensor from which to obtain a use license;
• obtaining a base copy of the application from the distributor via a network transaction, wherein the base copy of the application includes the plurality of features of the application and wherein at least a portion of the base copy of the application is encrypted with an encryption key of the publisher;
• acquiring the use license corresponding to the product license obtained from the retailer by way of the actuated application sending the product license to the licensor via a network transaction along with an identification of at least one of a user, the computing device, a public key of the computing device, and a trusted component operating on the computing device, the use license including a decryption key of the publisher for decrypting the portion of the base copy of the application that is encrypted with said encryption key, the decryption key being encrypted with the public key of the computing device, and the use license including a set of publisher specified rules and requirements that establish the user's right to actuate the application and use each requested feature as defined by the product license;
• installing the application;
• receiving a request by the user to use a feature of the plurality of features;
• and
• computer executable instructions that when executed by a trusted component cause the trusted component to perform the steps of:
• actuating the application
• validating the use license using a license evaluator;
• based on the validation, determining that the validated use license permits the use of the requested feature based on the publisher specified rules and requirements included in the acquired use license;
• and
• based on the determination that the use of the requested feature is permitted, decrypting the decryption key received in the acquired use license using a private key of the computing device and decrypting at least a portion of the base copy of the application including the requested feature using the decryption key.