DRM Content Keys With End-to-End Protection and Low-Latency Messaging

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing digital rights management (DRM) protocols expose content keys in the clear, creating a potential attack surface and reducing the willingness of content creators and providers to share keys, and they introduce high latency in license request and provisioning processes.

Innovation Solution

Implementing DRM systems that provide end-to-end protection of content keys from origin to user devices using efficient messaging architectures, reducing message exchanges, and employing session state information to minimize network traversals and latency.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If content keys are revealed in the clear to DRM service, then DRM service can process license requests, but security is compromised and content creators are less willing to share keys

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveDRM license processing reliabilityVSAvoidsecurity vulnerability

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the content key protection by encrypting it with the user device's public key before sending to DRM service. This allows the DRM service to handle license requests without having access to the plaintext content key, thus maintaining security while enabling processing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an intermediary encryption mechanism where the user device's public key acts as a mediator between the content key and the DRM service. The content key is encrypted by this intermediary before reaching the DRM service, allowing the service to operate without direct exposure to sensitive keys.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Loss of information

If traditional DRM messaging protocols are used, then complete information exchange is achieved, but latency is high due to multiple message exchanges

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinformation completenessVSAvoidlicense request latency

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple separate message exchanges into a single consolidated license request message. By combining content identification, encrypted content key, and session state information into one message, the system reduces the number of network traversals while maintaining complete information exchange.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs preliminary action by including session state information (such as pre-established communication channels) in the license request message. This allows the DRM service to process the request immediately without needing to establish additional communication contexts, reducing latency.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS20250252160A1Digital rights management systems and methods using efficient messaging architectures

Publication Date: 2025.08.07 INTERTRUST TECH CORP

AI summary

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for managing protected electronic content that employ relatively efficient messaging schemes. Rights management architectures are described that may, among other things, provide end-to-end protection of content keys from their point of origination at a content creator and/or content service to end user devices. Certain embodiments may further provide for message protocols where fewer messages are sent in connection with a protected content license request process, thereby reducing latency associated with license request and provisioning processes.