Secure content distribution

A method of subscribing to content from one or more publishers, the method comprising:

• registering a client device with a secure publishing system in response to a client renderer being installed on the client device, including:
• providing a hardware fingerprint of the client device to the secure publishing system;
• creating a private key and a corresponding public key at the client device and sending the public key to the secure publishing system, the public key utilized by the secure publishing system for encrypting communications to the client device;
• and
• receiving a license number from the secure publishing system at the client device, wherein the license number is generated by the secure publishing system and is configured to uniquely identify the client device in place of the hardware fingerprint;
• subscribing to a content channel served by the secure publishing system, including providing the license number and a channel identifier corresponding to the content channel to the secure publishing system;
• forwarding to the secure publishing system content consumption information for at least one of detecting fraud, detecting piracy, and generating information for marketing;
• and
• subsequently, the client renderer requesting renewed access from the publisher to content distributed by the secure publishing system through the content channel in response to expiration of time-dependent rendering rights for the content, wherein the client renderer requesting renewed access to the content comprises:
• the client renderer requesting, from the secure publishing system, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the publisher;
• the client renderer receiving the URL from the secure publishing system;
• the client renderer constructing a modified URL that includes the URL, the license number, a first identifier associated with the content channel through which the content was distributed, and a second identifier associated with the content;
• and
• the client renderer launching a browser to the modified URL such that the license number and first and second identifiers are provided to the publisher.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that when executed by a processing device perform operations comprising:

• registering a client device with a secure publishing system in response to a client renderer being installed on the client device, including:
• providing a hardware fingerprint of the client device to the secure publishing system;
• creating a private key and a corresponding public key at the client device and sending the public key to the secure publishing system, the public key utilized by the secure publishing system for encrypting communications to the client device;
• and
• receiving a license number from the secure publishing system at the client device, wherein the license number is generated by the secure publishing system and is configured to uniquely identify the client device in place of the hardware fingerprint;
• subscribing to a content channel served by the secure publishing system, including providing the license number and a channel identifier corresponding to the content channel to the secure publishing system;
• and
• subsequently, executing the client renderer to request renewed access from the publisher to content distributed by the secure publishing system through the content channel in response to expiration of time-dependent rendering rights for the content, wherein executing the client renderer to request renewed access to the content comprises:
• the client renderer requesting, from the secure publishing system, a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the publisher;
• the client renderer receiving the URL from the secure publishing system;
• the client renderer constructing a modified URL that includes the URL, the license number, a first identifier associated with the content channel through which the content was distributed, and a second identifier associated with the content;
• and
• the client renderer launching a browser to the modified URL such that the license number and first and second identifiers are provided to the publisher.