System and method for delivering licenses to a playback device

This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/203,357 filed on Aug. 12, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,464,058, issued Dec. 9, 2008, which is a Divisional of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/703,149 filed on Nov. 5, 2003, which is a CIP of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/360,827, filed on Feb. 7, 2003, which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. This application also relates to Ser. No. 11/203,358 filed Aug. 12, 2005, which is incorporated by reference.

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to assignment or modification of rights to content, such as for example in a closed-content distribution system, where those rights might be static or dynamic, and might be limited or permanent.

2. Related Art

Closed-content distribution systems include end-to-end systems, including publishing servers, content distribution servers and playback devices, where the content that is playable on playback devices can be controlled through appropriate security techniques, and those security techniques make it relatively difficult for any unauthorized third party to distribute content that would be playable on the playback devices. In some closed-content distribution systems, it might be possible to distribute unauthorized content, but the playback devices are restricted to only use that content subject to rights granted by authorized licenses. In such systems, security techniques might be applied to make it relatively difficult for any unauthorized third party to distribute licenses granting rights to use that content.

In known computing systems, rights to use current content (even when the content itself has already been delivered) are made substantially impossible to modify, with the effect that additions or upgrades to those rights that current content involve either replacing that current content with new content, or distributing licenses including rights to that new content, and possibly techniques for revoking outdated licenses. Distributing such new licenses might involve substantial resources, including communication with a license server or computation by that license server to determine whether a license with new rights should be granted. It would be advantageous to be able to dynamically change the interpretation of licenses already available to the playback device, with the effect that those rights can be conditionally modified, even at a time well after the license was delivered to the user.

For one example, not intended to be limiting in any way, it would be advantageous to provide additional or upgraded game programs, or to provide new game programs, or to provide rights to use such additional or upgraded or new game programs, as an incentive to frequent or successful play of the current content. Other examples, also not intended to be limiting in any way, include cases where it is advantageous to provide additional or upgraded game programs, to provide new game programs, to provide rights to use such additional or upgraded or new game programs, or to provide other benefits, contingent on circumstances testable at the game device, or relatively local thereto, such as for example game state information when that state information is recorded by the current content. This would have the effect that rights to use current content could be effectively altered, modified, or otherwise added to, or even deleted or degraded in capability, without any code changes or media changes to that current content, and possibly without any intervention by a license server or similar device.

In known computing systems, if the current content maintains state information on externally modifiable storage, that state information might be altered or appended to by another program or individual, with the effect that a player might be able to deceive the current content (such as for example a game program). While it is possible for the current content to encrypt or digitally sign that state information, it often occurs that the current content was not created with this capability in mind, with the effect that providing this capability would involve adding to or modifying that current content. As noted in the incorporated disclosure (as further described below), it is often not desirable to redesign or re-author the current content to provide this capability.

In some known systems, a game device does record a set of state information, such as for example a high score or a set of users who have achieved high scores, for the purpose of creating ranking lists and for the purpose of providing an initiative to the users to achieve rankings. In some such systems, the game device might allow the user to continue play for a duration of time, or might allow the user access to selected new portions of the game, in response to whether that user has achieved a specific objective. However, in such systems, there is no substantial provision for the game device to dynamically modify rights to content (except for such extensions) or to dynamically provide rights to additional or upgraded or new content, across multiple sessions or using saved state information.

Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide techniques with the effect that state information can be maintained on externally modifiable storage without the risk of a player being able to deceive the current content, and with the effect that rights can be dynamically altered to provide new or modified rights, in response to saved state information. In a closed-content distribution system, it would further be advantageous to provide techniques with the effect that a secondary program can use that game state information. That secondary program might be located logically relatively local to a secure processor used with the closed-content distribution system, or logically relatively distant from the secure processor. In a closed-content distribution system, it would further be advantageous to provide techniques with the effect that licenses can be dynamically reinterpreted (whether to add, modify, or remove rights) in response to that saved game state information.

Even in systems where rights might be static or dynamic, there is further advantage in being able to restrict the nature of the rights granted by the license. For one example, not intended to be limited in any way, at least one particular set of cases exists where it would be advantageous to make the rights granted by the license be limited in time, such as for example (1) by the amount of time the user is allowed to play the game, (2) by the number of times the user is allowed to play the game, or (3) by the duration of time during which the user is allowed to play the game. While these specific cases might be regarded as a special case of dynamic rights (that is, where the rights are dynamic in the sense that they are conditional on a measure of time), there is particular advantage to providing such limited rights, such as for example for testing, “free trials,” and rentals of application programs or games.

Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a technique involving either static or dynamic assignment of rights to content, and either limited or unlimited rights to content, such as for example in a closed distribution system.

The invention provides methods and systems capable of assignment or modification of rights to content, such as for example in a closed-content distribution system, where those rights might be static or dynamic, and might be limited or permanent. For a first example, not intended to be limiting in any way, the invention provides methods and systems capable of either static interpretation or dynamic reinterpretation or updating of licenses to provide new or modified rights to content, and either static assignment or dynamic assignment of rights to content, such as for example in a closed distribution system. For a second example, not intended to be limiting in any way, the invention provides methods and systems capable of either limited assignment or unlimited assignment of rights to content, such as for example limited rights that are governed by time limitations or otherwise limited for a marketing purpose, and such as for example unlimited rights, such as for example might be traditionally conferred by purchase of permanent license for content.

In a first aspect, the invention provides methods and systems capable of noting state information generated by an item of current content, and capable of providing new rights to content or new content (with the effect of adding to or updating the current content) in response thereto. In one embodiment, electronic or physical media might dynamically send new rights to content or new content to the owner of the current content, or that new content might be pre-loaded and available at the recipient device in response to new rights to that content. In response to the state information generated by an item of current content, the license server might dynamically send a license to the new content, either in response to a selected actual value of that state information or in response to a selected changed value therein.

In a second aspect, the invention provides methods and systems including conditional or dynamic licenses to new content. In one embodiment, a conditional license to new content includes a set of rights to content, those rights being associated with a class of possible sets of state information generated by an item of current content. For a first example, not intended to be limiting in any way, the user might obtain a set of current content C, a set of new content N, and a conditional license L, where the conditional license L provides:

License for C

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