Producing a new black box for a digital rights management (DRM) system

Abstract

A new ((n)th) black box is produced for a digital rights management (DRM) system. The (n)th black box is for being installed in and for performing decryption and encryption functions in the DRM system. The (n)th black box is produced and delivered to the DRM system upon request and includes a new ((n)th) executable and a new ((n)th) key file. The (n)th key file has a new ((n)th) set of black box keys and a number of old sets of black box keys. The request includes an old ((n-1)th) key file having the old sets of black box keys. A code optimizer / randomizer receives a master executable and randomized optimization parameters as inputs and produces the (n)th executable as an output. A key manager receives the (n-1)th key file and the (n)th set of black box keys as inputs, extracts the old sets of black box keys from the (n-1)th key file, and produces the (n)th key file including the (n)th set of black box keys and the old sets of black box keys as an output. The (n)th executable and the (n)th key file are forwarded to the requesting DRM system.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 525,509, filed Mar. 15, 2000, which is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 290,363, filed Apr. 12, 1999 and entitled “ENFORCEMENT ARCHITECTURE AND METHOD FOR DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT”, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 126,614, filed Mar. 27, 1999 and entitled “ENFORCEMENT ARCHITECTURE AND METHOD FOR DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT”, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference. This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 176,425, filed Jan. 14, 2000 under attorney docket number ‘MSFT-0143’ and entitled “ENFORCEMENT ARCHITECTURE AND METHOD FOR DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT”, hereby incorporated by reference.[0002]This application is related to and filed concurrently with: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / ______, Attorney Docket No. MSFT-0118 / 147327.1, entitled “ENCRYPTING A DIGITAL OBJECT BASED ON A KEY ID SELECTED THEREFOR”...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The patent describes an enforcement architecture and method for digital rights management, which allows for secure distribution and playback of protected digital content. The architecture includes a content server that encrypts the digital content using an encryption key and a public / private key technique, and a license server that issues a license to a trusted digital rights management system. The license includes a decryption key, a description of the rights and conditions, and a digital signature to ensure the integrity of the license. The user's computing device only obtains a license if it is trusted, and the license is only valid for a limited time. The method ensures that the digital content can only be played if the user has permission to do so, ensuring secure playback.

Problems solved by technology

The user cannot decrypt and render the encrypted digital content without obtaining such a license from the license server.

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