Format-Agnostic Digital Rights Management System
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Digital content providers face challenges in allowing users to access content across different formats without requiring multiple purchases, as existing systems tie content access to specific file formats, limiting compatibility with various media players and forcing users to buy content multiple times when new formats are released.
Innovation Solution
A digital rights management system that decouples user rights from specific file formats, allowing users to access content based on their rights independent of the format, by identifying content and user identity, and associating rights with the content itself, enabling playback across different formats without additional purchases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If users purchase content in multiple formats to ensure compatibility across different media players, then accessibility and compatibility are improved, but cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal rights management system where a single license grants access to content across multiple formats and devices. The rights management server maintains format-agnostic authorization records that validate content access regardless of the specific file format or playback device, allowing one purchase to enable universal access.
Solution Approach 2:
The rights management server acts as an intermediary between the content and various playback devices. Instead of requiring separate licenses for each format, the server receives format information from different content sources and validates against a single user authorization record, mediating the access control to enable cross-format compatibility.
2Reliability
If users are required to purchase content again when new formats are released, then content protection and licensing control are maintained, but user convenience and satisfaction deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authorization when the user first purchases content, creating a format-agnostic license record that anticipates future format variations. When new format content is encountered, the system checks this pre-existing authorization rather than requiring repurchase, thus maintaining licensing control while improving convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
The rights management system dynamically adapts to new content formats without requiring changes to the underlying license structure. The authorization records and validation processes are designed to be format-agnostic, allowing the system to accommodate new formats automatically while maintaining the same licensing control mechanisms.
3Measurement precision
If the system checks central databases for every content access request, then rights verification accuracy is improved, but system performance and response time worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authorization by validating user rights against the central rights database when the user first accesses content or during periodic updates. Once authorized, the playback device caches the authorization information locally, enabling rapid subsequent accesses without repeated central database queries, thus maintaining accuracy while improving speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates local copies of authorization records and content metadata on the playback device. These cached copies enable fast local verification of content access rights without requiring continuous communication with the central rights database, significantly reducing access response time while maintaining verification accuracy through periodic synchronization.
Data Source
AI summary
A digital content management system is provided in which a user's rights to access content are independent of the format in which the content is stored. A user receives a file containing electronic content, such as music or a ring tone, encoded in a particular format. The system determines the identity of that content, independent of the format in which the content is encoded. The system then determines whether the user has rights to that content. If so, the user is permitted to play the content. If the user later receives a different file that contains the same content but in a different format, the system determines that the different file encodes content that the user already has the right to play, and it allows the user to play the content in the second format.