Electronic book security and copyright protection system

Abstract

The invention, electronic book security and copyright protection system, provides for secure distribution of electronic text and graphics to subscribers and secure storage. The method may be executed at a content provider's site, at an operations center, over a video distribution system or over a variety of alternative distribution systems, at a home subsystem, and at a billing and collection system. The content provider or operations center and / or other distribution points perform the functions of manipulation and secure storage of text data, security encryption and coding of text, cataloging of books, message center, and secure delivery functions. The home subsystem connects to a secure video distribution system or variety of alternative secure distribution systems, generates menus and stores text, and transacts through communicating mechanisms. A portable book-shaped viewer is used for secure viewing of the text. A billing system performs the transaction, management, authorization, collection and payments utilizing the telephone system or a variety of alternative communication systems using secure techniques.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07 / 991,074 entitled TELEVISION PROGRAM PACKAGING AND DELIVERY SYSTEM WITH MENU DRIVEN SUBSCRIBER ACCESS, filed Dec. 9, 1992, and U.S. application Ser. No. 08 / 336,247 entitled ELECTRONIC BOOK SELECTION AND DELIVERY SYSTEM, filed Nov. 7, 1994, and U.S. application Ser. No. 08 / 160,194 and PCT / US93 / 11606 entitled ADVANCED SET-TOP TERMINAL FOR CABLE TELEVISION DELIVERY SYSTEMS, filed Dec. 2, 1993, and U.S. application Ser. No. 08 / 906,469 entitled REPROGRAMMABLE TERMINAL FOR SUGGESTING PROGRAMS OFFERED ON A TELEVISION PROGRAM DELIVERY SYSTEM, filed Aug. 5, 1997, and U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 191,520 entitled DIGITAL BROADCAST PROGRAM ORDERING, filed Nov. 13, 1998. These applications are incorporated by reference herein. Also incorporated by reference are co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 237,827 entitled ELECTRONIC BOOK HAVING LIBRARY CATALOG MENU AND SEARCHING FEATURES, filed Jan....

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0003] The electronic book selection and delivery system is a new way to distribute books to bookstores, public libraries, schools and consumers. The technological breakthroughs of this invention provide a secure electronic system for both delivering selected books and receiving payments. The system has an unusual combination of features that provides the consumer with a daily use household appliance that has a high tech aura while being very practical, portable, and easy to use.

[0004] An advantage of the system is that it eliminates the distribution of any physical object such as a paper book or computer memory device from any book or text distribution system. The purchase of a book becomes a PAY-PER-READ event avoiding the overhead, middle-men, printing costs, and time delay associated with the current book distribution system. Published material and text such as the President's speech, a new law, a court decision on abortion, or O.J. Simpson's testimony can be made immediately available to the consumer at a nominal fee. Alternatively, books may be made available free to the end use consumer, subsidized by advertisers who sponsor books or embed advertising within the books.

[0005] The system is a novel combination of new technology involving the television, cable, telephone, and computer industries. It utilizes high bandwidth data transmissions, strong security measures, sophisticated digital switching, high resolution visual displays, novel controls, and user friendly interface software.

[0007] The operations center performs several primary functions: manipulating text data (including receiving, formatting and storing of text data), security encoding of text, cataloging of books, providing a messaging center capability, and performing uplink and secure delivery functions. In one embodiment, the system delivers the text from the operations center to consumer homes by inserting text data within analog video signals. The insertion of text is generally performed with an encoder at an uplink site that is within or near the operations center. The system can use several lines of the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI), all the lines of the analog video signal, a digital video signal or unused portions of bandwidth to transmit text data. Using the VBI delivery method, the top ten or twenty book titles may be transmitted with video during normal programming utilizing existing cable or broadcast transmission capability without disruption to the subscriber's video reception. Using the entire video signal, thousands of books may be transmitted within just one hour of air time. Nearly any analog or digital video or data distribution system may be used to deliver the text data. The text data may also be transmitted over other low and high speed signal paths including a telephone network (e.g., a public switched telephone network) having a high speed connection such as an asynchronous digital subscriber line (ADSL) connection and the Internet, for example. The text data is delivered in a secure fashion over the distribution systems.

Problems solved by technology

Due to reasons such as security, convenience, cost, and other technical problems, book and magazine publishers are currently only able to distribute their products in paper form.

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