Automated accounts for media playback

#A conventional user request to enable or access media content may require transmitting the request along with certain credentials related to the request and/or a user remote device to a local or remote content server. Such a transmission may be capable of interception by a third party with or without the knowledge or permission of the user. As a specific example, the third party may be a hacker attempting to retrieve user credentials related to the user remote device.

#For security purposes, it may be beneficial to prohibit any user credentials from being transmitted to and/or from the central device. Restricting the transmission of user credentials may be beneficial in the event of a security breach, leak of data during transmission, misplaced data, or the like.

#According to implementations of the disclosed subject matter, a media request from a user phone may be received at a central device. An email address of a robot account corresponding to the central device may be sent to the user phone. A media identifier (ID) and the email address may be sent to a media provider from the user phone, wherein the media ID can correspond to the media request. The share token and the media ID can be received at the central device and a media playback request may be sent from the central device to the music provider. The media play back request may comprise sending the share token, email address, and the media ID. The email address may be compared to the share token at the music provider. The media corresponding to the media ID may be received from the music provider at the central device and the media may be played.

#The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosed subject matter, are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings also illustrate implementations of the disclosed subject matter and together with the detailed description serve to explain the principles of implementations of the disclosed subject matter. No attempt is made to show structural details in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamental understanding of the disclosed subject matter and various ways in which it may be practiced.

#FIG. 1 shows a computer according to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter.

#FIG. 2 shows a network configuration according to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter.

#Communication between user devices, servers, or other components generally often requires an exchange of credentials to authorize the communication. However, for security considerations, it may be undesirable to communicate with a central device using information related to a user credentials or a remote device when requesting content from a server. According to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter, such transfer of credentials may be avoided, for example, when a user selects a media item on one device to be enabled on a central device.

#For example, a user can select a song on her mobile phone to be played on a speaker located in the user's living room that is not physically connected to the user's mobile phone. The song may not be stored on the user's mobile phone; rather, it may be stored on a remote server. According to implementations of the disclosed subject matter, when the user selects a song from her mobile phone to be played on an external speaker, the speaker can send robot account information to the mobile phone. The robot account can be an account corresponding to the speaker and can include identification information associated with the speaker. No user specific information is transmitted during this interaction. The mobile phone can then transmit the robot account information and the requested song information to a media server that stores the song. For example, the mobile phone may transmit the robot account ID and the name of the song to the remote server. The remote server can then verify the user's identity and access rights to the song. If verified, the remote server can package the received information into an encrypted share token and send the share token to the user's mobile phone. The speaker can receive the encrypted share token from the user's mobile phone, without transmission of any user credentials, and transmit the encrypted share token to the remote server along with speaker identifying information. The remote server can authenticate the speaker by matching the information within the share token with the speaker identifying information. If authenticated, the remote server can send the song to the speaker and the speaker can play the song. Thus, according to implementations of the disclosed subject matter, authorization suitable to allow playback of media items may be obtained, without requiring a potentially undesirable transmission of user credentials.

#According to an implementation of the disclosed subject matter, user credentials may include identifying information regarding a user account, a user, a remote device, an account associated with the remote device, or the like. The user credentials may be in the form of numbers, usernames, IDs, alphanumeric code, symbols, or any other identifying designators and may enable access to public, restricted, private, identifying, or compromising user information. The content request can include selecting content from a remote device, such as a mobile phone, and subsequent content activation at the central device, such as a device capable of content playback in the user's living room. Instead of using user credentials or remote device information, identifying information specific to the central device can be used to authorize the content delivery and activation. For example, as discussed herein, a central device may have a dedicated email account or other similar account assigned to it. Accordingly, if a user uses a remote device to select the content for activation on a central device, then it may be preferable to transmit identifying information related to only that central device, without requiring user- or device-specific information to be sent to the central device. By limiting the exposure of information specific to the user or the remote device, the security risk of mishandling such information may be significantly diminished.