URL Proxy Intermediary for Digital Rights Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital rights management techniques fail to ensure that only authorized users can access content, particularly in monetized content delivery scenarios, as they do not account for whether the content has been purchased or not.
Innovation Solution
A content delivery platform implements a digital rights management system at the service level, where an access device requests rights through a URL proxy, which determines entitlement, and if authorized, redirects the request to a digital rights server to provide the necessary rights, or prompts the user to purchase the content if not already owned.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing digital rights management techniques (public key encryption or digital certificates) are used, then content can be protected with basic encryption, but unauthorized users can still access content because purchase status is not verified
Solution Approach 1:
A URL proxy server is introduced as an intermediary between the content delivery platform and the digital rights server. The proxy intercepts rights requests, determines purchase status by examining content metadata and user information, and only forwards authenticated requests to the digital rights server. This mediator ensures that unauthorized users cannot obtain rights while maintaining a relatively simple overall system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary verification of purchase status before granting digital rights. The URL proxy checks whether the user has properly purchased the content by analyzing content metadata (such as silent headers) and user purchase records in advance. Only after confirming valid purchase status are rights requests forwarded to the digital rights server, preventing unauthorized access before it can occur.
2Reliability
If a URL proxy intercepts and redirects rights requests to verify purchase status, then only authorized users receive rights, but the system complexity increases due to additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The URL proxy server performs multiple functions within a single component: it intercepts rights requests, analyzes content metadata to determine purchase status, verifies user authentication, redirects authorized requests to the digital rights server, and blocks unauthorized requests. This multi-functionality consolidates what could be separate complex components into one unified proxy server, managing system complexity while ensuring reliable access control.
3Reliability
If digital rights are provided only after purchase verification, then content owners receive proper compensation, but the access process becomes more complex with additional verification steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs self-service mechanisms where the URL proxy automatically analyzes content metadata (such as silent headers) and user information to determine purchase status without requiring manual verification. The proxy autonomously decides whether to forward requests to the digital rights server or block them, ensuring content owners receive proper compensation while keeping the access process transparent and requiring minimal user effort.
Data Source
AI summary
Content may be provided to an access device by the content delivery platform. When the access device decides to access the content, a request may be received at the content delivery platform. The request is intercepted at a URL proxy, which determines if the content has been purchased or not. If the content has been purchased, the request is redirected to a digital rights server. The digital rights server processes the request and determines digital rights for the content using the address. The digital rights are then provided such that the access device can access the content. If a user of the access device has not already purchased the content, a message may be sent to the access device requesting that the user purchase the content. Once the content is purchased, the digital rights are then provided such that the access device can access the content.