Decentralized DRM Key Management via Blockchain Smart Contracts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional Digital Rights Management (DRM) systems face challenges with key management, as they often rely on untrusted parties and require centralized authorities, compromising data privacy and integrity.
Innovation Solution
A decentralized key management system using public/private key encryption and smart contracts on a blockchain, where a data provider generates and encrypts a session key, and the data demander decrypts it using their private key, ensuring access control and data integrity without a central authenticator.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional DRM systems use centralized key management, then access control can be implemented, but data privacy and integrity are compromised due to reliance on untrusted parties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the key management function from the centralized DRM authority and places it on the decentralized blockchain network. Session keys are encrypted with user public keys and stored on-chain, eliminating the need for a trusted central key manager while maintaining secure access control.
Solution Approach 2:
The smart contract acts as an intermediary between content providers and users, automatically managing key distribution and access verification. The blockchain serves as a neutral mediator that both parties trust, replacing the traditional untrusted centralized authority.
2Reliability
If a centralized authority manages DRM keys, then access authorization can be verified, but the system requires untrusted third parties that compromise security
Solution Approach 1:
Users independently verify their own access rights by decrypting session keys with their private keys and checking smart contract conditions. The system enables self-service authentication without requiring trust in a central authority, as users control their own cryptographic keys.
Solution Approach 2:
The DRM system is segmented into independent components: content encryption keys, session keys, user private keys, and smart contract logic. This segmentation distributes trust across multiple independent elements rather than concentrating it in a single untrusted authority.
3Adaptability or versatility
If session keys are encrypted with user public keys and stored on blockchain, then decentralized access control is achieved, but smart contract access data must be continuously updated
Solution Approach 1:
Access rights and encrypted session keys are pre-configured in the smart contract before content access is needed. When a user purchases content, their public key and corresponding encrypted session key are already in place, allowing immediate decryption without real-time key generation or distribution.
Data Source
AI summary
One embodiment disclosed relates to a system for digital data distribution with decentralized key management. The system utilizes a data provider, a data demander, cloud storage, a blockchain, and a smart contract registered with the blockchain. The data provider encrypts the digital data using a session key and puts the encrypted digital data to the cloud storage, which returns a URL for the stored digital data. In addition, the session key is itself encrypted using the public key of the data demander. The access data at the smart contract is updated with the encrypted session key and the URL. The data demander uses its own private key to decrypt the session key and then uses the session key to decrypt the digital data. Other embodiments and features are also disclosed.