Method and Apparatus for Enabling Secure Distribution of Digital Content

Abstract

A digital content management system includes a host machine and a delivery machine remote from the host machine. The host machine sends validation agent software to the delivery machine, which executes the validation agent. The validation agent performs one or more tests or observations to determine whether the delivery machine has been compromised, and communicates the results of the tests or observations to the host machine. If the host machine determines that the delivery machine has not been compromised, the host machine sends digital content to the delivery machine, and a player module at the delivery machine delivers the content to the user according to an appropriate set of access rights. After delivering the content, the delivery machine deletes the content to prevent unwanted access to the content. The content can contain signals indicative that the content is legitimate, such as watermarks or bad code segments or sectors.

The invention is claimed as follows: 
     
         1 . A digital content access control system comprising:
 at least one processor;   at least one network interface device;   at least one memory device which stores a plurality of instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one network interface device to:   (a) cause a validation agent to be sent to a remote delivery machine over a data network, said validation agent configured to determine, based on a result of at least one test performed upon arrival of the validation agent at the remote delivery machine, whether said remote delivery machine has been compromised,   (b) receive, over the data network, a signal indicative of whether to send content to the remote delivery machine, said signal based, at least in part, on the determination by the validation of whether the remote delivery machine has been compromised,   (c) determine whether to send the content to the remote delivery machine based on the received signal,   (d) if the determination is to send the content to the remote delivery machine:
 (i) send at least a portion of the content, over the data network, to the remote delivery machine for delivery by the remote delivery machine to the remote user, wherein after delivery by the remote delivery machine, the remote delivery machine deletes at least the portion of the content, and 
 (ii) store an indication that at least the portion of the content has been sent to the remote delivery machine for delivery to the remote user, and 
   (e) if the determination is to not send the content to the remote delivery machine, store an indication that the remote delivery machine has been compromised.   
     
     
         2 . The digital content access control system of  claim 1 , wherein the validation agent includes stand-alone software executable by the remote delivery machine. 
     
     
         3 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the remote delivery machine includes a player configured to play at least the portion of the delivered content. 
     
     
         4 . The digital content access system of  claim 3 , wherein the player executes the validation agent upon receipt of the validation agent by the remote delivery machine. 
     
     
         5 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one test is at least one selected from the group consisting of:
 (a) a test to determine that a correct player is present on the remote delivery machine,   (b) a test to determine that at least one correct usage tracking feature is present on the remote delivery machine,   (c) a test to determine that a correct secure payment system is present on the remote delivery machine,   (d) a test to determine that installed software of the remote delivery machine has not been tampered with,   (e) a test to determine that pernicious software is not impacting the remote delivery machine,   (f) an observation of at least one hardware device of the remote delivery machine, and   (g) a timing test to determine that the validation agent is operating properly in the remote delivery machine.   
     
     
         6 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one network interface device to send the validation agent and at least the portion of the content to the remote delivery machine over a non-secure network connection and to receive the signal indicative of whether to send the content to the remote delivery machine over a secure network connection. 
     
     
         7 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the content is at least one selected from the group consisting of: audio content, video content, application software, and digital data. 
     
     
         8 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the remote delivery machine includes at least one selected from the group consisting of: a personal computer, a set-top box associated with a monitor, a game console, and a handheld device. 
     
     
         9 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is located in a facility not physically accessible by the remote user. 
     
     
         10 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the content is encrypted, and wherein the remote delivery machine includes player software which, when executed by at least one processor of the remote delivery machine, causes the remote delivery machine to decrypt at least the portion of the content, and output an indication of the content for consumption by the remote user. 
     
     
         11 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the content is encrypted, and wherein, if the determination is to send the content to the remote delivery machine, the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one network interface device to send at least one decryptor in addition to at least the portion of the content, the decryptor enabling the remote delivery machine to decrypt the content prior to delivering the content to the remote user. 
     
     
         12 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the decryptor is included in a kernel module executable by the remote delivery machine. 
     
     
         13 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the content includes at least one digital watermark, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to confirm that the digital watermark is present in the content. 
     
     
         14 . The digital content access system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of instructions cause the at least one processor to operate with the at least one network interface device to, prior to causing the validation agent to be sent to a remote delivery machine over the data network, receive data indicative of the content over the data network from a user device remote from the at least one processor. 
     
     
         15 . A tangible computer readable medium which stores a plurality of instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause at least one processor to:
 (a) store a validation agent, said validation agent configured to determine at least one result of at least one test performed upon arrival of the validation agent at a remote delivery machine;   (b) cause at least one network interface device to send the validation agent to the remote delivery machine;   (c) determine whether the remote delivery machine has been compromised based on the at least one result of the at least one test performed upon arrival of the validation agent at the remote delivery machine; and   (d) if the determination is that the remote delivery machine has note been compromised, cause digital content to be sent to the remote delivery machine for output to a remote user.   
     
     
         16 . The tangible computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the digital content includes encrypted content, and wherein the plurality of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause at least one processor to cause at least one player software module to be sent to the remote delivery machine, the at least one player software module being executable by the remote delivery machine to decrypt and output the digital content.