Multi-User Digital Rights Access for Shared Media Viewing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current media systems require each household user to have individual subscriptions for accessing media content, even if other users present have the necessary digital rights, leading to unnecessary subscription duplication.
Innovation Solution
A media guidance application identifies and applies the digital rights of multiple users present to access media content, enabling access using the rights of another user with the required subscription.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single user account is used to access media content, then the system is simple to operate, but other users present cannot access content they have rights to
Solution Approach 1:
The media guidance application is designed to serve multiple users through a single interface, automatically detecting which users are present and applying their respective digital rights. This allows the system to be universally accessible to all users without requiring separate login procedures for each user.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically performs user identification and rights verification without manual intervention. The application detects which users are present at the computing device and autonomously determines which digital rights to apply, eliminating the need for users to manually switch accounts or log in.
2Reliability
If each household user subscribes to media services individually, then each user has guaranteed access to content, but subscription costs are duplicated
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges multiple users' digital rights into a unified access mechanism. Instead of requiring separate subscription instances for each user, the application combines the rights information from multiple users and applies the appropriate rights from any of them to access the same content.
Solution Approach 2:
A single subscription can serve multiple users through the media guidance application, which automatically applies the digital rights of any present user. This makes the subscription system universal, allowing one subscription to fulfill the access needs of multiple users with different rights.
3Productivity
If the system checks only the logged-in user's rights, then the access verification is fast, but it prevents access when other users have the necessary rights
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of which users are present at the computing device before attempting to access content. This advance identification allows the application to proactively check multiple users' rights rather than sequentially checking each user, improving both speed and flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the access verification process automatically expands to include other users if the initial user's rights are insufficient. The application receives feedback from the rights check and dynamically adjusts which users' rights to verify, maintaining fast access while ensuring flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed herein for enabling multiple users'digital rights to be applied as needed to access media while those users are present to consume media. In particular, a media guidance application may receive a selection of a media asset and determine that the user equipment device does not allow access to the media asset. In response, the media guidance application may identify all the users consuming content from that user equipment device and retrieve digital rights for each user. The media guidance application may compare the digital rights of each user with digital rights required to access the media asset. The media guidance application may, based on the comparison, identify a set of digital rights (e.g., for another user present) that enable access to the media asset, and use those digital rights to access the media asset for consumption.