Digital content storage process

This Application is a Divisional of and claims priority to application Ser. No. 10/734,991, filed 11 Dec. 2003, entitled Digital Content Store System; which claims priority to prior U.S. provisional application No. 60/433,734, filed 13 Dec. 2002, entitled Music Net. Each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference thereto.

The invention relates to the transfer, processing, sale, distribution, and usage of digital content in a network environment. More particularly, the invention relates to secure sale, distribution, and usage of digital content in a network environment.

The Internet comprises a web of computers and networks, which are widely spread throughout the world. The Internet currently comprises millions of network connections, and is used by millions of people, such as for business, education, entertainment, and/or basic communication.

Digital content, such as sound recordings, e.g. songs, are often transferred across the Internet. In addition to the basic transfer of song files, numerous network enabled radio stations have been introduced, which provide content to listeners at computers across the Internet. Network enabled radio has significantly increased the magnitude and variety of content to recipients, as compared to conventional over-the-air radio broadcasts.

There are also several music stores on which are accessible across the Internet, by which songs and/or albums may be purchased, wherein digital content files are transferred to a user terminal upon purchase.

Several structures and methods have been described for the distribution of digital content in a network environment.

V. Shear, D. Van Wie, and R. Weber, Systems and Methods for Matching, Selecting, Narrowcasting, and/or Classifying Based on Rights Management and/or Other Information, U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,181, 29 Aug. 2000, describe that “[r]ights management information is used at least in part in a matching, narrowcasting, classifying and/or selecting process. A matching and classification utility system comprising a kind of Commerce Utility System is used to perform the matching, narrowcasting, classifying and/or selecting. The matching and classification utility system may match, narrowcast, classify and/or select people and/or things, non-limiting examples of which include software objects. The Matching and Classification Utility system may use any pre-existing classification schemes, including at least some rights management information and/or other qualitative and/or parameter data indicating and/or defining classes, classification systems, class hierarchies, category schemes, class assignments, category assignments, and/or class membership. The Matching and Classification Utility may also use at least some rights management information together with any artificial intelligence, expert system, statistical, computational, manual, or any other means to define new classes, class hierarchies, classification systems, category schemes, and/or assign persons, things, and/or groups of persons and/or things to at least one class.”

T. Reussner and M. Britting, Multi-Channel Device Having Storage Modules in a Loop Configuration with Main Control Unit for Controlling Data Rates and Modifying Data Selectively and Independently Therein, U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,672, 14 May 1996, describe “a multi-channel device for the digital recording and playback of audio signals, with a plurality of digital or analogue inputs and outputs and with one or more digital stores. For providing, with a not limited number of channels for recording and playback, possibilities for recording and playback over an unlimited period of time, with instantaneous access to any desired position of the recording, and carrying out overdubbing and editing without risk and freely selecting the time duration of the cross-fading, a bidirectional interface circuit with inputs and outputs is connected via a system-bus which conducts groups of parallel data, to one or more parallel connected storage modules, wherein a main control circuit driven by an operating unit is coupled to the system-bus and to the storage module or modules, and wherein each storage module comprises at least one digital store, containing an exchangeable storage medium, and at least one digital buffer store such that the audio signals which are to be stored are kept available in the buffer store for their processing or during the exchange of the storage medium.”

G. Lau, Method and System for Subscription Digital Rights Management, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20020198846, filed 6 Jun. 2002, describes “[a] system and method for managing use of items having usage rights associated therewith. The system includes an activation device adapted to issue a software package having a public and private key pair, the public key being associated with a user, a license device adapted to issue a license, a usage device adapted to receive the software package, receive the license and allow the user to access the item in accordance with the license, and a subscription managing device adapted to maintain a subscription list including the public key associated with the user. License\'s is issued by the license device upon verifying presence of the public key in the subscription list corresponding to requested content.”

T. Akashi, System for Delivering Music and Apparatus for Receiving Music Data, U.S. Patent Application 20020152878, filed Japan 23 Apr. 2001, JP 2001-124342, filed U.S. 19 Apr. 2002, Published 24 Oct. 2002, describes a music data receiving apparatus, wherein “the music data receiver receives the music data broadcast by the broadcasting station, and then the reproducer reproduces the music data while the related information storage stores the related information for the music. The user, who is listening to the reproduced music, may give a download instruction, which orders to download the air, to the user\'s input receiver, if the user is pleased with the air. The download instruction is transmitted to the server accessor. The server accessor accesses the music delivery server, takes out the information for specifying the air to be downloaded from the related information storage, and then notifies it to the music delivery server. The music delivery server confirms the user or charges a fee executes, and then sends the specified air data.”

D. Hughes, M. Carpenter, M. Massiha, and P. Nguyen, Media Player for Distribution of Music Samples, U.S. Patent Publication No. US 20020152876, filed 20 Apr. 2001, published 24 Oct. 2002, describe a “method and apparatus of music distribution from a media player. A media player is provided with a “send to friend” icon. In one embodiment, when the icon is selected, a clipping of the currently playing music selection is taken from a predetermined location in the music selection and compressed using a fidelity reducing compression technique to produce a sample of the current selection suitable for distribution. The compressed clipping is sent to a selected recipient or recipients by email in the background while the music selection continues to play. The recipient(s) can be either a default recipient(s) or a recipient(s) selected from a list as in an address book application.”

J. Dunn, P. Lee, E. Stern, and B. Willner, Broadcast Data Radio System and Receiver Apparatus Therefore, U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,683, 19 Dec. 2000, describe a “radio broadcasting system for a virtual radio program broadcasting station uses a divided regional approach to broadcast digital and analog signals over a large geographic region divided into multiple overlapping but separate areas constituting small portions of the region. The small areas are served by separate transmission sources/towers supplied from a common source central to the station. The system supports reuse of allocated transmission parameters within non-neighboring small areas in the region. The station is “virtual” because its central source need not be in any of the small areas, and because it uses different transmission parameters in neighboring small areas in a manner that previously would be used by plural different stations. System transmissions include information signals sent in both analog and digital forms. The analog signals representing audibly reproducible programs, and the digital signals include instructions for controlling operations of receiver devices operating in the region. The digital signals also may include audibly reproducible program matter and instructions for controlling insertion of that matter into a program stream defined by analog transmissions. These transmissions are particularly useful for varying tuning parameters of mobile receiver devices disclosed herein to automatically and seamlessly maintain the devices tuned to the respective virtual station throughout the region, while the devices are transported across virtual boundaries between the small areas within the region. The system enables the virtual station to alternately present audible matter of general interest throughout the region and audible matter relevant exclusively to a small area within the region (e.g. advertisements specifying locations and services offered by commercial establishments within a respective area, and announcements specifying locations of public facilities such as libraries, hospitals, etc.). Transmitted digital information is retained in mass storage units associated with receiver devices and is used for adjusting tuning parameters as a device is transported across the small areas of the region, as well as for providing a portion of the program content that is played at the device during such movement.”

M. Gell, M. Manning, and J. L. Martin, System for Selective Communication Connection Based on Transaction Pricing Signals, U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,502, 01 Sep. 1998, describe a “communications network in which user equipment is provided with a selecting device which communicates with a pricing device in service provider equipment. When communications or other services are required, the selection circuit polls a plurality of service providers, and the pricing circuit of each service provider generates a price signal indicating the level of price for its services. The selection circuit then selects a service provider, based on price (and also other factors such as quality of service).”

D. Stebbings and J. Kadin, Method and Apparatus for High Speed Duplication of Audio or Digital Signals, U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,238, describe a “method of and apparatus for recording information from a master medium onto a slave medium. In one embodiment, digital information on a master medium is reproduced and stored at a first rate, typically at real time, in a first high speed digital storage device such as a magnetic disk drive. The digital information stored in the first storage device, when needed, is transferred at a second rate, much higher than the first, to a second digital storage device in which it is stored until it is scheduled for duplication, at which time the digital information is repeatedly played back at a third rate, much higher than the first rate and slower than the second rate, is converted from digital information into analog information and applied to a duplicating device for recording the analog information onto a slave medium. Because the information stored in the first digital storage device is not directly used in production, the duplicating device can be duplicating information previously transferred from the first storage device to the second at the same time information is being reproduced from a master medium and loaded, in real time, into the first storage device.”

D. Spencer, W. Lutton, M. Hsu, G. Anderson, D. McMahon, and A. Schaller, Closed-Loop Delivery to Integrated Download Manager; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 20030014436, filed 27 Jun. 2001, Publication 16 Jan. 2003, describe “[m]ethods, apparatus and system, including computer program products, implementing and using techniques for delivery of media files to a particular digital media playback device. The system comprises a content server and a download manager located in the digital media playback device. The content server receives device-identifying information obtained from the digital media playback device, and distributes media files in response to the received device-identifying information. The download manager forwards device-identifying information to the content server over a public communication network and receives media files over the public communication network from the content server for playback on the particular digital media playback device.”

Other structures and methods have been described for the distribution of content in a network environment, such as: Method and System for Downloading Digital Music, Taiwan Patent No. TW 497055; Network-Based Published Works Reproduction System, Japanese Patent No. JP 2003069768; Digital Music Data Reproduction Device Consists of Decoding and Expanding Circuits Connected Through Internal Path of Computing Element; Japanese Patent No. JP 2002108395; Web-Based Protection and Secure Distribution for Digital Music; International Conference on WEB delivering of 23-24 Nov. 2001, Changseng Xu, Yongwei Zhu, and David Dagan Feng, Florence Italy; IP Data Over Satellite to Cable Headends and a New Operation Model with Digital Store and Forward Multi-Media Systems; Conference Paper.

An iTUNES™ internet music store has been introduced by Apple Computer, Inc., of Cupertino, Calif., as seen at http://www.apple.com/music/store/, which provides for the browsing and purchase of digital music files, which are associated with usage rights, such as for playing or burning onto media.

It would be advantageous to provide a digital content store system and an associated methodology which provides acquisition and distribution of secure digital content, e.g. such as but not limited to music, video, games and software, and controlled usage of the secure digital content. The development of such a digital music store system would constitute a major technological advance.