Cryptographic methods, apparatus and systems for storage media electronic rights management in closed and connected appliances

Abstract

A rights management arrangement for storage media such as optical digital video disks (DVDs, also called digital versatile disks) provides adequate copy protection in a limited, inexpensive mass-producible, low-capability platform such as a dedicated home consumer disk player and also provides enhanced, more flexible security techniques and methods when the same media are used with platforms having higher security capabilities. A control object (or set) defines plural rights management rules for instance, price for performance or rules governing redistribution. Low capability platforms may enable only a subset of the control rules such as controls on copying or marking of played material. Higher capability platforms may enable all (or different subsets) of the rules. Cryptographically strong security is provided by encrypting at least some of the information carried by the media and enabling decryption based on the control set and/or other limitations. A secure “software container” can be used to protectively encapsulate (e.g., by cryptographic techniques) various digital property content (e.g., audio, video, game, etc.) and control object (i.e., set of rules) information. A standardized container format is provided for general use on/with various mediums and platforms. In addition, a special purpose container may be provided for DVD medium and appliances (e.g., recorders, players, etc.) that contains DVD program content (digital property) and DVD medium specific rules. The techniques, systems and methods disclosed herein are capable of achieving compatibility with other protection standards, such as for example, CGMA and Matsushita data protection standards adopted for DVDs. Cooperative rights management may also be provided, where plural networked rights management arrangements collectively control a rights management event on one or more of such arrangements.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A storage medium comprising:
 a first property;   a second property;   a first metadata block, the first metadata block for assisting in usage of the first property;   a second metadata block, the second metadata block for assisting in usage of the second property;   a control set for governing use of at least the second property, the control set comprising a first subset of one or more controls for use by a first class of electronic appliances, and a second subset of one or more controls for use by a second class of electronic appliances; and   an encrypted key block comprising one or more cryptographic keys for use in decrypting at least the second property.   
     
     
         2 . The storage medium of  claim 1 , in which the first property and the first metadata block are in unprotected form, and the second property and the second metadata block are in protected form. 
     
     
         3 . The storage medium of  claim 1 , in which the first metadata block includes metadata adapted to enable usage of an abbreviated version of the second property. 
     
     
         4 . The storage medium of  claim 3 , in which the second metadata block includes metadata adapted to enable usage of a complete version of the second property. 
     
     
         5 . The storage medium of  claim 4 , in which the first metadata block and the second metadata block include frame playback sequence data. 
     
     
         6 . The storage medium of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more keys for decrypting the encrypted key block. 
     
     
         7 . The storage medium of  claim 1 , further comprising identification information of the second property. 
     
     
         8 . The storage medium of  claim 1 , in which the control set includes a control that prohibits copying of the second property. 
     
     
         9 . The storage medium of  claim 1 , in which the control set includes a control that allows the second property to be copied only once. 
     
     
         10 . The storage medium of  claim 1 , in which the control set includes a control that allows the second property to be copied multiple times. 
     
     
         11 . The storage medium of  claim 1 , in which the control set includes a control that allows a user or a class of users to play the second property. 
     
     
         12 . The storage medium of  claim 1 , in which the control set includes a control that allows a user or a class of users to extract or excerpt at least a part of the second property.