Method and apparatus for accessing content protected media streams

Abstract

A method and apparatus for recovering a content signal from media stream protected by a digital rights management (DRM) system. A content access device includes a network interface configured to receive the protected media stream from a remote content provider via a network and a plurality of distinct DRM components corresponding to DRM systems supported by the content access device. A content extraction unit is operable to select a DRM component of the plurality of DRM components and execute the selected DRM component to recover a content signal from the protected media stream. When a search engine is used to discover available content, a list of references to available content is presented to the user, the presentation being dependent upon whether or not the content is protected by a DRM system supported by the content access device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A content access device for recovering a content signal from a media stream protected by a digital rights management (DRM) system, the content access device comprising:
 a plurality of distinct DRM components corresponding to a plurality of DRM systems supported by the content access device; and   a content extraction unit operable to select a DRM component of the plurality of DRM components dependent upon information carried in the protected media stream and execute the selected DRM component to recover the content signal from the protected media stream.   
     
     
         2 . The content access device of  claim 1 , further comprising a media presentation device operable to receive the content signal and render content in accordance with the content signal. 
     
     
         3 . The content access device of  claim 1 , further comprising a network interface configured to receive the protected media stream from a remote content provider via a network. 
     
     
         4 . The content access device of  claim 1 , where the network comprises the Internet and where the content access device further comprising a web browser operable to query a search engine via the Internet. 
     
     
         5 . The content access device of  claim 4 , wherein the content access device is configured to provide a list of supported DRM systems to the search engine to enable the search engine to return results to the content access device that are dependent upon the list of supported DRM systems. 
     
     
         6 . A content access device of  claim 4 , wherein the content access device is operable to present the results returned from the search engine to the user in a format that is dependent upon the list of supported DRM systems. 
     
     
         7 . A content access device in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein the content access device is operable to filter the results returned from the search engine to remove results relating to content protected by a DRM system that is not supported by the content access device. 
     
     
         8 . A method for a content access device to access protected content in a protected media stream, the method comprising:
 receiving the protected media stream;   identifying a digital right management (DRM) system of the protected content in the protected media stream dependent upon information carried in the protected media stream;   determining if the identified DRM system is supported by the content access device; and   recovering the protected content from the protected media stream dependent upon the identified DRM system if the identified DRM system is supported by the content access device.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , where determining if the identified DRM system is supported by the content access device comprises:
 determining if the identified DRM system is one of a plurality of DRM systems supported by the content access device.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising presenting the recovered protected content to a user of the content access device. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , where receiving the protected media stream comprises:
 receiving the protected media stream at a network interface of the content access device from a remote content provider.   
     
     
         12 . A method for a content access device to access protected content in a protected media stream, the method comprising:
 for each selected content source of a plurality of content sources:   receiving a protected media stream from the selected content source;   identifying a digital rights management (DRM) system of the protected content in the protected media stream dependent upon information carried in the protected media stream;   determining if the identified DRM system is supported by the content access device; and   presenting, to a user of the content access device, a reference to the selected content source in a list of references, if the identified DRM system is supported by the content access device.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 in response to user selection of a reference in the list of reference presenter to the user of the content access device:   receiving a protected media stream from a content source corresponding to the selected reference;   recovering the protected content from the protected media stream corresponding to the selected reference, dependent upon the identified DRM system of the selected reference; and   presenting the recovered protected content to the user of the content access device.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , where receiving the protected media stream from the content source corresponding to the selected reference comprises receiving the protected media stream at a network interface of the content access device from a remote content provider. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions that, when executed on a programmable processor of a content access device, provide a user with access to protected content in a protected media stream by:
 receiving the protected media stream;   identifying a digital rights management (DRM) system of the protected content in the protected media stream dependent upon information carried in the protected media stream;   determining if the identified DRM system is supported by the content access device; and   recovering the protected content from the protected media stream dependent upon the identified DRM system if the identified DRM system is supported by the content access device.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , containing further program instructions that, when executed on a programmable processor of a content access device, cause the recovered protected content to be presented to a user of the content access device. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 15 , where receiving the protected media stream comprises:
 receiving the protected media stream at a network interface of the content access device from a remote content provider.