JP2005122386A - Method and device for managing license - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To guarantee how a license is used by causing a product for licensing to operate autonomously in accordance with license requirements even if the authority of the licensing side is restricted or if the licensed side could alter the product with malicious intent. <P>SOLUTION: Whether or not the product 20 for licensing such as a program is operating in accordance with the license requirements is stored as a history 26 of license uses by a license using device 2 every time the license is used. A license issuing device 1 has the stored history of license uses sent back and analyzes it to verify whether or not the license has been used normally. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a license management method and apparatus for signing a license condition of a license target product in a license issuing side apparatus, performing signature verification with a verification key in a license using side apparatus, and managing execution of the license condition of the license target product. .

In the field of selling licenses of software usage rights, there are methods for managing software so that sold licenses are used under appropriate usage conditions.
FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional license management method. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a license issuing side apparatus, and reference numeral 2 denotes a license using side apparatus.
Conventionally, in order to make the license target program 50 comply with license restrictions for its operation and the like, the license issuing device 1 uses a technique such as digital signature, and the signature device 51 uses the signature device 51 to set the license condition 53. On the other hand, in the license using side device 2, the signature verification device 56 performs signature verification using the signature verification key 55, and when it is confirmed that the license information 54 has not been falsified, a program that complies with the license condition 57 is provided. Operate. As a license management method, a technique for issuing a license each time a user starts software is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

By the way, whether or not the licensed product such as the above-described program is operating according to the license condition is based on the premise that the operating environment of the licensed product is not illegally operated from the outside. However, on the license issuer side, there was no way to verify whether the license conditions allowed were being implemented correctly.
JP 2002-297255 A

  According to the prior art described above, there is no problem as long as the license can be used indefinitely, but after issuing the license, there is no means for managing the performance status, and therefore, when licensing for a limited period, With licenses that limit the number of operations that can be performed, it has hitherto been impossible to confirm that the license is being executed correctly. For example, even after the license period has expired with a limited-time license, the computer's calendar function may operate if time is restored. Further, in the above-mentioned patent document, it is impossible to grasp whether the license condition of the software is normally observed at the user terminal.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in particular, when the software used is operated in a computer managed by the license destination, such as when the authority on the license side is limited, or in the license destination It is an object of the present invention to provide a license management method and apparatus in which a licensed product such as a program operates autonomously in accordance with the license conditions even when there is a malicious intention such as tampering, and the execution status of the license can be verified.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention signs the license conditions of the license target product on the license issuing side device, and verifies the signature with the verification key on the license usage side device, and manages the execution of the license conditions of the license target product. A license management method for storing a license usage history each time the license usage product is used in the license usage side device; and the license usage side of the stored license usage history. And a second step of verifying the execution of the license condition at the license issuing side device that has received the license usage history.

  In the present invention, the first step includes a license usage history signed with a signature key that is different from the signature key used when signing the license conditions in the license usage information output from the licensed product. A step (a) of reading, and the read license usage history is verified with a verification key prepared corresponding to the different signature key. If the license usage history is correctly signed, the license usage history is output. A step (b) of adding time information to the license usage information; a step (c) of signing the set of the license usage information and the time information with the different signature key and storing the signature as a new license usage history; With the end of the license period recognized by monitoring the license conditions and time information, Characterized in that it comprises a step (d) to send Nsu use history to the license issuing device, as sub-steps.

  In the present invention, the sub-step (a) further includes a step of outputting empty license usage information at regular intervals set by a timer when license usage information is not output for a predetermined period from the licensed product. It is characterized by including as a sub-step.

  In the present invention, the substep (c) stores the license usage information and license usage cumulative information obtained by accumulating the license usage information as a license usage history, and the substep (d) includes And a step of collating the results of mutual verification with the different verification keys, as a further sub-step.

  In the present invention, the sub-step (c) performs an aggregation operation between the license usage history and the latest license usage history, and uses the license obtained by signing the aggregation operation result with the different signature key. The step of accumulating the history as a new license usage history is included as a further sub-step.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention signs the license conditions of the license target product on the license issuing side device, and verifies the signature with the verification key on the license usage side device, and manages the execution of the license conditions of the license target product. A license management apparatus that performs a signature on the license conditions of the license target product and provides a license to the license using side apparatus, and is stored every time the license target product is used in the license using side apparatus. And a signature verification device for verifying the execution of the license conditions of the licensed product.

  According to the present invention, each time a license is used, whether or not a license target product such as a program is operating in accordance with a given license condition is saved as a license usage history on the license usage apparatus side. Then, a license usage history accumulated on the license issuing device side is returned and analyzed to verify whether or not the license has been executed correctly. As a result, even if the licensed product to be used operates in a computer managed by the licensee, such as when the authority on the licensee side is limited or the licensee is malicious, such as falsification, etc. The product can operate autonomously in accordance with the license condition, and the execution status of the license can be verified.

  In addition, if license usage information is not output from the licensed product for a specified period, use the timer to output empty license usage information at regular intervals to obtain accurate license usage information even when the license is not used for a specified period. can do. Furthermore, by accumulating not only the license usage information but also the cumulative calculation results and collating them, an accurate verification result can be obtained according to the license execution status.

1 to 4 are diagrams cited for explaining the respective embodiments for realizing the license management method of the present invention.
1 to 4, reference numeral 1 is a license issuing side apparatus, reference numeral 2 is a license using side apparatus, and the difference from the conventional example shown in FIG. 5 is that two sets of digital signature keys A and B and signature verification A pair of keys A and B is prepared, and two signature devices 12, 28 and three signature verification devices 16, 23, 30 are used.
First, an embodiment for realizing the license management method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Here, a program will be described as an example of a license target product. Other licensed products include media content and software documents.

  First, the license issuing device 1 signs the license condition 13 using the signature key A (11), issues the license information 21 to the user after preventing falsification. On the other hand, when the user sets the license information 21 in the license target program 20, the license using apparatus 2 verifies the license information 21 using the verification key A (22). The license target program 20 operates.

The above operation is the same as that of the conventional example shown in FIG. That is, after that, when the license target program 20 operates in accordance with the license condition 24, the license usage information 25 that is a record of license execution is output from the license target program 20.
At that time, the license usage history 26 recorded and signed so far (signed by the signature device 28 using the signature key B) is read, verified with the verification key B (27), and the license usage history 26 has been correctly signed. If this is the case, the license usage information 25 and the time information 25 output from the current license target program 20 are additionally written, and the signature verification apparatus 30 performs a signature on the whole using the signature key B (27), The new license usage history 26 is recorded.

  Thereafter, along with the end of the license period, the license using side device 2 returns the license usage history 26 to the license issuing side device 1, and the license issuing side device 1 receives the verification key B (15) from the signature verification device 16. Use to confirm the validity of the license usage history 14. This makes it possible to verify the performance status of the license. In the case of a pay-as-you-go license, billing according to the usage record is possible.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the license management method according to the present invention. The difference from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that a timer 31 is added to the license using apparatus side 2.
That is, since it is assumed that license usage information is not output from the license target program 20 for a predetermined period, in this case, empty license usage information is output at regular intervals using the timer 30. In other words, by starting the output of the license usage information unconditionally according to the timeout by the timer 30, it is possible to obtain accurate license usage information even when the license usage side device 2 does not use the license for a predetermined period. Other operations are the same as those of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the license management method according to the present invention. The difference from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that the license usage information is added to the license usage information in the license usage side device 2 and the license usage captured in the license issuing side device 1. The cumulative calculation device 19 is used to perform cumulative calculation on the history information 17, and the license utilization cumulative information 18 is compared with the cumulative value recorded in the same history by the verification device 33.
Here, “license accumulated value” means the number of copies, the number of users, etc., obtained by accumulating individual license conditions. This further enhances the reliability of license performance verification. Other operations are the same as those of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the license management method according to the present invention. The difference from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that an aggregation operation device 32 is added between the license usage information and time information 25 of the license usage side device 2 and the signature device 28.
That is, the aggregation operation device 32 performs an aggregation operation such as addition between the license usage history 26 and the latest license usage information 25, so that the license usage history 26 obtained by signing with the signature key B by the signature device 28. Becomes aggregated information. Others are the same as the embodiment shown in FIG.

The license management apparatus according to the present invention is installed in each of the license issuing side apparatus 1 and the license using side apparatus 2.
The license management device installed in the license issuing side device 1 uses the signature key A to sign the license conditions of the license target program and grants the license to the license using side device 2, and the license using side device 2 The signature verification device 16 that takes in the license usage history 26 stored in the above and verifies the execution of the license conditions using the signature verification key B is configured. In addition, in order to make the license execution verification result more reliable, the cumulative calculation device 19 and the verification device 33 may be added. The operation is as described above.
In addition, the license management device installed in the license using side device 2 accumulates a license usage history each time the license target program 20 is used, and the signature verification device 23 that verifies the license information using the verification key A, Each time, a signature is signed using the signature key B and a verification is performed using the verification key B. The signature device 28 and the signature verification device 30 are respectively configured. In addition to the time information, a license accumulated value may be added to the license usage information 25, or an aggregation calculation device 32 may be added to make the license usage history 26 an aggregated information.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the license usage apparatus 1 accumulates the license usage history every time the license is used as to whether or not the licensed product such as a program is operating according to the given license conditions. The license issuing device 2 returns the accumulated license usage history and analyzes it to verify whether or not the license has been correctly executed. Even if the license side's authority is limited, such as when operating in a computer managed by the license destination, or when the license destination has malicious intent such as falsification, the license using device 1 autonomously observes the license conditions. The license issuing device 1 can verify the license execution status. A.

Even if license usage information is not output from the licensed product for a specified period, by using the timer to output empty license usage information at regular intervals, accurate license usage can be achieved even if the license is not used for a certain period of time. The information can be obtained, and moreover, by verifying not only the license usage information but also the cumulative calculation result, an accurate verification result can be obtained according to the license execution status.
The procedures executed in each of the signature devices 12 and 28, the signature verification devices 16, 23, and 30, and the cumulative calculation device 19, the verification device 33, the timer 31, and the aggregation calculation device 32 shown in FIGS. Is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a computer system and executed, whereby the license management apparatus of the present invention can be realized. The computer system here includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.

Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used.
The program may be transmitted from a computer system storing the program in a storage device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by a transmission wave in the transmission medium. Here, the “transmission medium” for transmitting the program refers to a medium having a function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) such as the Internet or a communication line (communication line) such as a telephone line.
The program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Furthermore, what can implement | achieve the function mentioned above in combination with the program already recorded on the computer system, and what is called a difference file (difference program) may be sufficient.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes design and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

It is the figure quoted in order to demonstrate one Embodiment which implement | achieves the license management method of this invention. It is the figure quoted in order to demonstrate other embodiment which implement | achieves the license management method of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram cited for explaining still another embodiment for realizing the license management method of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram cited for explaining still another embodiment for realizing the license management method of the present invention. It is the figure quoted in order to demonstrate the conventional license management method.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... License issuing side apparatus, 2 ... License utilization side apparatus, 12, 28 ... Signature apparatus, 16, 23, 30 ... Signature verification apparatus, 19 ... Cumulative arithmetic unit, 20 ... License object program, 31 ... Timer, 32 ... Aggregation Arithmetic unit, 33 ... collation device

Claims (6)

A license management method for signing a license condition of a license target product on a license issuing side device, performing signature verification with a verification key on a license using side device, and managing execution of the license condition of the license target product,
A first step of storing a license usage history each time the license target product is used in the license usage side device;
A second step of transmitting the accumulated license usage history to a license issuing device and verifying the fulfillment of the license conditions at the license issuing device that has received the license usage history;
A license management method comprising: The first step includes
A step (a) of reading a license usage history signed with a signature key different from the signature key used when signing the license conditions in the license usage information output from the licensed product;
The read license usage history is verified with a verification key prepared corresponding to the different signature key, and when the license usage history is correctly signed, the time information is added to the license usage information output thereto. A step (b) of appending;
Signing the set of license usage information and time information with the different signature key and storing as a new license usage history;
A step (d) of transmitting the accumulated license use history to the license issuing side device at the end of the license period recognized by monitoring the license condition and time information;
The license management method according to claim 1, further comprising: The substep (a) includes:
3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising a step of outputting empty license usage information at regular intervals set by a timer when license usage information is not output from the licensed product for a predetermined period. License management method.   The sub-step (c) stores the license usage information and the license usage cumulative information obtained by accumulating the license usage information as a license usage history, and the sub-step (d) The license management method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of collating the mutually verified results as a further sub-step. The sub-step (c)
Performing an aggregation operation between the license usage history and the latest license usage history, and accumulating a license usage history obtained by signing the aggregation calculation result with the different signature key as a new license usage history. The license management method according to claim 2, further comprising: A license management device that performs a signature management on a license target product on a license issuing side device and performs signature verification with a verification key on a license usage side device to manage execution of the license conditions of the license target product;
A signature device for signing a license condition of the licensed product and providing a license to the license consuming device;
A signature verification device that captures a license usage history accumulated every time the license target product is used in the license usage side device, and verifies the fulfillment of the license conditions of the license target product;
A license management apparatus comprising:

Images