Content Certification Mechanism for Secure Digital Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a risk in content publication on communication networks where users may inadvertently download bogus, harmful, or unauthorized data, as content suppliers may provide misleading or incorrect content, leading to unforeseen consequences for end users.
Innovation Solution
A mechanism for certified publication of content is introduced, involving a content-certifier that validates the content using digital signatures and ensures it meets expected characteristics, updating the catalog to indicate certification, thereby protecting users from downloading unfit content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If content is published on a communication network without certification, then content availability and accessibility are improved, but content reliability and safety deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
A content certifier is introduced as an intermediary between the content supplier and the content host. The certifier receives content from the supplier, validates it against predefined criteria, and only allows certified content to be published on the network. This mediator ensures content safety without blocking legitimate content distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
Content certification is performed as a preliminary action before content is made available on the network. The certifier validates content in advance, and only content that passes validation is allowed to be published. This preliminary verification ensures that unreliable content is prevented from entering the network ecosystem.
2Reliability
If content certification is implemented, then content reliability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The content publication system is segmented into distinct functional components: content suppliers, content certifiers, and content hosts. Each component has a specific role, and the certification process is modularized. This segmentation allows the system to handle complexity through division of labor rather than monolithic processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the content certifier provides verification status to the content host, which then indicates to users whether content has been certified. This feedback loop ensures that reliability information is communicated throughout the system, allowing users to make informed decisions without requiring them to understand the underlying certification complexity.
3Reliability
If content certification process is added, then user protection is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameter of content verification from absent to present by introducing certification. While this adds processing time, it fundamentally alters the trust parameter in the system, ensuring that only verified content is published. The time cost is justified by the significant improvement in user protection and content reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for certified publication of content. A content-supplier provides content and supplies an access-server with a content-description and digital signature. A content-certifier obtains an access-token from the access-server and submits the access-token to the content-supplier with a request to obtain the content to be certified. The content-supplier works with the access-server to validate the token and then provides the content to the content-certifier. After validating the digital signature, the content-certifier certifies the content and provides a certification-flag to the access-server, and the access-server updates a content-catalog entry for the content to indicate that the content is certified. An analogous process can be carried out to thereafter deliver the content to a third party. The invention is particularly useful to facilitate certification of test scripts, but the invention can be used in other contexts as well, such as to certify media in a peer-to-peer distribution system.