KR100745998B1 - Method and system for digital rights management - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a digital rights management method and system.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for managing digital rights, the method comprising: receiving a request for searching for digital content formatted in a digital rights management format supported by a platform to a client device, searching for the requested digital content, and searching for And transmitting the retrieved digital content to the client device when digital content formatted in a digital rights management format is retrieved.

According to the present invention, there is an effect capable of supporting interoperability between digital contents protected by heterogeneous digital rights management technology.

Digital content, DRM

Description

Method and system for digital rights management

1 is a view for explaining a problem in the conventional digital rights management.

2 is a diagram illustrating a digital rights management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating a digital rights management system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a digital rights management process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing DRM content requested by a client device through a conversion server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a digital rights management process according to another embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a digital rights management process according to another embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

210, 220: content provider 230: search server

240: conversion server 250: client device

260 relay server

The present invention relates to a digital rights management method and system, and more particularly, to a digital rights management method and system capable of supporting interoperability between digital contents protected by heterogeneous digital rights management technology.

Recently, research on digital rights management (hereinafter referred to as DRM) has been actively conducted, and commercial services using DRM have been introduced or are being introduced. Unlike analog data, digital data can be copied without loss, easy to reuse and process, and easily distributed to third parties. In addition, the copying and distribution of such digital data is possible at very low cost. On the contrary, since a lot of cost, effort and time are required to produce digital contents, technology for protecting various digital copyrights is required, and the scope of application of DRM is gradually expanding.

DRM refers to a technology that prevents illegal distribution and duplication of digital contents, makes the contents available only to legitimate users, and manages the copyright of digital contents through user management and billing services. DRM allows only legitimate users with specific cryptographic keys to decrypt and use DRM-protected digital content. Therefore, even if DRM-protected digital content (hereinafter referred to as DRM content) is illegally distributed, a third party who does not possess an encryption key cannot use the digital content.

Like this, DRM can protect digital contents. However, while there are many types of DRM technologies (DRM types) for protecting digital contents, each DRM format is incompatible with each other. This will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

1 is a view for explaining a problem in the conventional digital rights management.

The first content provider 110 and the second content provider 120 provide DRM-protected digital content. Each content provider 110, 120 uses a different DRM technology to protect digital content. For example, the digital content provided by the first content provider 110 is formatted in a DRM format, and the digital content provided by the second content provider 120 is formatted in DRM format.

If the hardware or software platform of the MP3 player 130 (hereinafter, referred to as a platform) of the illustrated MP3 player 130 supports only DRM in the “A” format, the MP3 player 130 may only use the DRM content provided by the first content provider 110. Can be run. Therefore, even if the user purchases the DRM content provided by the second content provider 120, the user cannot execute the purchased DRM content through the MP3 player 130.

On the other hand, when the platform of the digital audio system 140 shown supports only DRM in a BB format, the digital audio system 140 may execute only the DRM content provided by the second content provider 120. Accordingly, although the user may execute the DRM content purchased from the first content provider 110 through the MP3 player 130, the user may transmit the DRM content to the digital audio system 140 to execute the DRM content through the digital audio system 140. There is no number.

As such, the user may be restricted from using the DRM content depending on the device's ability to execute the DRM content or the DRM format protecting the digital content. In order to solve the interoperability problem of the DRM technology, a technology may be introduced in which one device can support a plurality of DRM formats. However, even with such a device, the DRM format that one device can support is limited, and thus there is a limit in providing interoperability between DRM technologies from a user's point of view.

Therefore, a technology that can support interoperability between digital contents protected by heterogeneous DRM technologies has been required.

An object of the present invention is to support interoperability between digital contents protected by heterogeneous digital rights management technology.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, the digital rights management method according to an embodiment of the present invention is requested to search for digital content formatted in a digital rights management format supported by the platform to the client device, the search for the requested digital content And transmitting the retrieved digital content to the client device if the digital content formatted in the requested digital copyright management format is found as a result of the search.

In order to achieve the above object, the digital rights management method according to another embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of requesting a client device to search digital content formatted in a digital rights management format supported by its platform, receiving the search request A search server searching for digital content formatted in the requested digital rights management format; and if the digital content formatted in the requested digital rights management format is searched, the search server searches for the searched digital content. Transmitting to the client device.

In order to achieve the above object, a digital rights management system according to an embodiment of the present invention is a client device requesting to search for digital content formatted in a digital rights management format supported by its platform, which is formatted in a specific digital rights management format. Manage metadata about digital contents, manage metadata about digital contents formatted in a specific digital rights management format through the metadata, and request the digital rights management format requested from the client device through the metadata; A search server that searches for and transmits the digital content formatted to the client device, and other digital rights management when the digital content formatted in the requested digital rights management format is not searched as a result of the search server. A conversion server for converting the digital content formatted in the format into digital content formatted in the requested digital copyright management format.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and the drawings.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in various different forms, and only the embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the person having the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a diagram illustrating a digital rights management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The illustrated system includes a plurality of content providers 210, 220, search server 230, translation server 240, and client device 250.

Each content provider 210, 220 protects digital content through a specific DRM technology. In the illustrated embodiment, each content provider 210, 220 protects digital content using different DRM technologies. For example, the first content provider 210 provides digital content (abc.A, def.A, etc. in the illustrated example) formatted as DRM in "A" format, and the second content provider 220 is in "B" format. DRM formatted digital content (abc.B, ghi.B, etc. in the illustrated example).

The search server 230 integrates and manages metadata (hereinafter, referred to as DRM content information) regarding DRM content provided by the content providers 210 and 220. The DRM content information includes information such as content content included in the DRM content, a DRM technology (DRM format) applied to the DRM content, a file name of the DRM content, and a content provider providing the corresponding DRM content. An example of the DRM content information is shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1

Content content DRM technology Filename Content provider Vivaldi's Four Seasons Microsoft abc.A First content provider Schubert mullet Mictosoft def.A First content provider … … … … Vivaldi's Four Seasons Intertrust abc.B Second content provider … … … …

When a request for specific DRM content is received from the client device 250, the search server 230 searches for the requested DRM content, and transmits the retrieved DRM content to the client device 250. For example, the search server 230 identifies a content provider that provides DRM content that meets a request condition (eg, content content and supported DRM technology) of the client device 250 through DRM content information managed by the search server 230, The DRM content may be requested to the identified content provider. When the DRM content is received from the content provider, the search server 230 may transmit the received DRM content to the client device 250.

If the DRM content requested by the client device 250 is not retrieved, the search server 230 retrieves the DRM content including digital content having the same content as the requested DRM content from the client device 250 and formatted in another DRM format. do. For example, when the search server 230 manages the DRM content information shown in Table 1, and receives a request for a Chengschbert mullet MP3 file formatted by Intertrust's DRM technology from the client device 250, the search server 230 receives the client. The DRM content that satisfies the request condition of the device 250 may not be searched. At this time, the search server 230 requests the first content provider 210 for “def.A”, which is a DRM content of which the MP3 file of the same content content (Schubert mullet) is formatted using Microsoft's DRM technology, and the first content provider. The DRM content “def.A” may be obtained from 210.

The search server 230 may transmit the searched DRM content to the conversion server 240 and request to convert the searched DRM content into a DRM format supported by the platform of the client device 250. For example, a request may be made to convert the DRM content file def.A to def.B. When the converted DRM content is received from the conversion server 240, the search server 230 provides the converted DRM content to the client device 250.

The conversion server 240 converts the DRM content of a specific format into the DRM content of another format. For example, the conversion server 240 decodes the DRM content (abc.A) formatted in the "A" format DRM, formats the decoded digital content into the DRM in the "B" format, and converts the DRM content (abc) in the "B" format. .B) can be generated.

In order to convert the DRM content, the conversion server 240 previously needs information for conversion between heterogeneous DRM formats, such as information on DRM technology used by each content provider 210 and 220, a method of decoding and formatting DRM content, and the like. Can be obtained from a service provider that provides DRM technology. The conversion server 240 sets a conversion rule between heterogeneous DRM content types through this information, and, upon request of the search server 230 or the client device 250, the heterogeneous DRM according to the conversion rule between the DRM content types set. Will transform the content.

The client device 250 requests the search server 230 for the DRM content containing the content of the specific content. In this case, the client device 250 may transmit information for identifying a DRM format supported by its platform, which is illustrated in Table 2.

TABLE 2

DRM technology Extension of DRM Content File Microsoft wma Intertrust aac

When requesting the DRM content, the client device 250 may transmit a DRM technology supported by its platform, a file extension name of the DRM content protected according to the corresponding technology, and the like as shown in Table 1 below. Accordingly, the search server 230 may receive the information shown in Table 1 from the client device 250 to determine the DRM format that the platform of the client device 250 can support.

Meanwhile, the user may designate a specific DRM format through the client device 250 and request the search server 230 to transmit the DRM content having the designated format.

When requesting the DRM content, when the client device 250 stores the DRM content in a format not supported by its platform, the client device 250 includes the same content while transmitting the stored DRM content to the search server 230, and includes its own platform. It may also request DRM content in a format supported by.

3 is a diagram illustrating a digital rights management system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The digital rights management system according to the present embodiment further includes the relay server 260 and one or more network devices 270 capable of executing digital content in the digital rights management system described with reference to FIG. 2. In the present embodiment, the client device 250, the relay server 260, and the network devices 270 may form an independent network 280, and the relay server 260 may refer to the network 280 as the search server 230. Connect with

For example, the network 280 may be a home network, and the relay server 260 may be a home gateway of a home network, and the client device 250 and the network devices 270 may be home devices that constitute a home network.

When there is a request for DRM content from the client device 250, the relay server 260 transmits a request of the client device 250 to the search server 230.

Meanwhile, before transmitting the request of the client device 250 to the search server 230, the relay server 260 may first search for the DRM content requested from the client device 250 in the network 280.

If there is a network device having a function of converting DRM content among the network devices 270, the relay server 260 may request the corresponding network device to convert DRM content.

The digital rights management process in the system according to the embodiment of Figs. 2 and 3 will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings of Figs.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a digital rights management process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

When the first client device 250 is the DRM content (hereinafter, referred to as the first DRM content) in a format that is not supported by its platform, the client device 250 sends the search server 230 to the search server 230. A request for DRM content (hereinafter referred to as second DRM content) including digital content having the same content as the first DRM content and formatted in a DRM format supported by the platform (S110). For example, if the client device 250 only supports DRM in "A" format and the first DRM content is Vivaldi's "Company" MP3 file formatted in "B" format, the client device 250 may be "A". Vivaldi's "Quarterly" MP3 file (second DRM content) may be requested. In this case, the client device 250 may transmit information for identifying a DRM format supported by its platform.

The search server 230 searches for DRM content information of the second DRM content that satisfies the condition requested by the client device 250 among the DRM content information managed by the search server 230 (S120).

When the DRM content information of the second DRM content requested from the client device 250 is searched, the search server 230 may identify the content provider 210 or 220 providing the corresponding DRM content through the searched DRM content information (S130). ).

The search server 230 requests the content provider 210 or 220 identified in step S130 to the second DRM content that satisfies the requested condition from the client device 250 (S140).

The content provider 210 or 220 retrieves the requested DRM content from the search server 230 (S150) and transmits the requested DRM content to the search server 230 (S160).

When the DRM content is received from the content provider 210 or 220, the search server 230 transmits the DRM content to the client device 250 (S170).

If the requested DRM content is not retrieved from the search server 230 in step S150, the content provider 210 or 220 may inform the search server 230 that the requested DRM content has not been retrieved. In this case, the search server 230 may search for another content provider providing the second DRM content through the DRM content information managed by the search server 230 and request the second DRM content from the corresponding content provider.

Meanwhile, the search server 230 may manage not only the content provider but also information about a separate server (not shown) that stores DRM content provided from the content providers 210 and 220 in the DRM content information. In this case, the search server 230 may obtain the requested DRM content from the client device 250 in a separate server that stores the DRM content.

The client device 250 receiving the second DRM content from the search server 230 may delete the first DRM content previously stored.

Alternatively, the client device 230 may transmit the first DRM content stored therein at the time of requesting the second DRM content (S110). In this case, the search server 230 serves to exchange the first DRM content with the second DRM content.

In the case where the DRM content information search step S120 does not retrieve the DRM content information that meets the requirements from the client device 250, the search server 230 may request the conversion server 240 to convert the DRM format. Explain through 5.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing DRM content requested by a client device through a conversion server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

When the first client device 250 requests the second DRM content (S210), the search server 230 may request the DRM of the second DRM content that satisfies the condition requested by the client device 250 among the DRM content information stored therein. The content information is retrieved (S220).

Steps S210 and S220 of the present embodiment may be performed in the same manner as steps S110 and S120 described with reference to FIG. 4.

When the DRM content information that meets the condition requested from the client device 250 is not retrieved in the search step S220, the search server 230 may display digital content having the same content as the second DRM content requested by the client device 250. The DRM content information of the digital content (hereinafter referred to as the third DRM content) that is included in the DRM in a format different from the second DRM content is searched for (S230). For example, if the client device 250 requests a Vivaldi's company-wide MP3 file (second DRM content) formatted in DRM format of "A" format, but fails to retrieve the DRM content information for this, the search server 230 sends a message. Retrieves DRM content information of Vivaldi's four-year-old MP3 file (third DRM content) formatted in a DRM format other than A 'format.

When the DRM content information of the third DRM content is found, the search server 230 may check the content provider 210 or 220 that provides the third DRM content through the searched DRM content information (S240).

The search server 230 requests third DRM content from the content provider 210 or 220 identified in step S240 (S245).

The content provider 210 or 220 retrieves the requested DRM content from the search server 230 (S250) and transmits the requested DRM content to the search server 230 (S255).

When the third DRM content is transmitted from the content provider 210 or 220, the search server 230 requests the conversion server 240 to convert the third DRM content into second DRM content requested by the client device 250 (S260). ).

The conversion server 240 converts the third DRM content into second DRM content requested by the client device 250 according to a request of the search server 230 (S270), and converts the converted second DRM content into the search server 230. It transmits to (S280).

The search server 230 transmits the second DRM content received from the conversion server 240 to the client device 250 (S290).

If the DRM content information for the third DRM content is not searched for in step S230, the search server 230 may inform the client device 250 that it cannot search for the DRM content of the requested condition. In this case, the client device 250 may transmit the first DRM content stored therein to the search server 230. Accordingly, the process following step S260 described with reference to FIG. 5 may be performed. In this case, the DRM content transmitted to the conversion server 240 in step S260 may be the first DRM content received from the client device 250. That is, the search server 230 receiving the first DRM content from the client device 250 may request the conversion server 240 to convert the first DRM content into the second DRM content. The conversion server 240 converts the first DRM content into the second DRM content according to the request of the search server 230, and the converted second DRM content is transmitted to the client device 250 via the search server 230. .

In another embodiment of the present invention, if the DRM content information for the third DRM content is not retrieved in step S230, the search server 230 transmits a result indicating that the third DRM content is not retrieved, and the client device 250. May directly instruct the conversion server 240 to request DRM content conversion. In this case, the client device 250 may transmit the first DRM content stored therein to the conversion server 240 together with the request for conversion of the DRM content. In this case, as described with reference to Table 2, the client device 250 may transmit information on the DRM technology supported by its platform. Accordingly, the conversion server 240 may convert the first DRM content into second DRM content supported by the platform of the client device 250, and then convert the converted DRM content (second DRM content) to the client device 250. ) Can be sent.

Meanwhile, as described with reference to FIG. 4, when the client device 250 transmits the first DRM content stored therein at the request of step S210, the process of searching for the third DRM content of steps S230 to S255 may be omitted. have. In this case, the search server 230 may request the conversion server 240 to convert the first DRM content received from the client device 250 into the second DRM content when the process of step S260 is performed. Therefore, the conversion server 240 converts the first DRM content into the second DRM content in step S270.

In addition, the client device 250 may directly request the DRM content conversion from the conversion server 240 without passing through the search server 230. To this end, the client device 250 may transmit the first DRM content stored therein to the conversion server 240. At this time, the client device 250 may transmit the DRM technology supported by its platform, the file extension name of the DRM content protected according to the corresponding technology, and the like, as described in Table 2. Accordingly, the conversion server 240 converts the first DRM content transmitted from the client device 250 into second DRM content supported by the platform of the client device 250, and converts the converted second DRM content to the client device 250. ) Can be sent.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a digital rights management process according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The flowchart depicts the process of the client device 250 obtaining the desired DRM content via the relay server 260.

The first client device 250 requests the second DRM content (S310). In this case, the client device 250 may transmit the information for identifying the DRM format supported by the platform to the relay server 260.

The relay server 260 requests the network devices 270 constituting the network 280 to search for the requested second DRM content from the client device 250 (S320).

The network devices 270 search for the second DRM content requested from the relay server 260 (S330), and transmit the search result to the relay server 260 (S340). The network device storing the second DRM content among the network devices 270 may transmit the second DRM content in operation S340.

At this time, the relay server 260 transmits the second DRM content received from the network devices 270 to the client device 250 (S350).

If the network devices 270 do not store the second DRM content, the search result transmitted in step S340 may be a message that no DRM content is found. In this case, the relay server 270 may request the search server 230 for the second DRM content requested from the client, and the relay server 260 relays the request of the client device 250 described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. Will be Accordingly, the relay server 260 may obtain the second DRM content requested by the client device 250 from the search server 230 through a process similar to that described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, and may transmit the same to the client device 250. Can transmit

Meanwhile, when a network device having a DRM conversion function exists among the network devices 270 constituting the network 280, the relay server 260 may request conversion of DRM content through the corresponding network device. This will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a digital rights management process according to another embodiment of the present invention.

When the client device 250 requests the second DRM content (S410), the relay server 260 may provide the network device 270 having the DRM format conversion function with specific DRM content supported by the platform of the client device 250. 2 Request to convert to DRM content (S420). In this case, the specific DRM content may be first DRM content transmitted by the client device 250 together with the request in step S410.

If the conversion function of the network device 270 does not support the conversion of the first DRM content to the second DRM content, the network device 270 may inform the relay server 260 that it cannot convert the DRM content. In this case, the relay server requests the search server 230 for the second DRM content.

If the conversion function of the network device 270 supports the conversion of the first DRM content to the second DRM content, the network device 270 performs DRM conversion in response to a request of the relay server 260 (S430).

The converted DRM content may be transmitted to the client device 250 via the relay server 260 (S440) (S450).

Meanwhile, in each of the above-described embodiments, the search server 230 and the conversion server 240 are described as separate entities, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Therefore, the search server 230 and the conversion server 240 may be the same subject. In this case, the search server 230 and the conversion server 240 provide a DRM content search service and a DRM content conversion service in one server. It may be a sub area.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may implement the present invention in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. You will understand that. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

According to the digital rights management method and system of the present invention as described above, there is an effect that can support interoperability between digital contents protected by heterogeneous digital rights management technology.

Claims (21)

Receiving digital content formatted in a digital rights management format supported by the platform of the client device; Identifying a content provider that provides digital content formatted in the specific digital rights management format through metadata about the digital contents formatted in the specific digital rights management format; Requesting the requested digital content from the identified content provider; And Obtaining the requested digital content from the content provider; And Transmitting the obtained digital content to the client device; The metadata may include content contents of digital contents formatted in the specific digital copyright management format, digital copyright management technology in which digital contents formatted in the specific digital copyright management format, and digital contents formatted in the specific digital copyright management format. And at least one of the information about the content provider to provide. delete delete The method of claim 1, wherein if the content provider cannot be identified through the metadata, Converting digital content formatted in another digital rights management format into digital content formatted in the requested digital rights management format; And Sending the converted digital content to a client device. 5. The digital content management system of claim 4 wherein the digital content formatted in the other digital rights management format includes content content identical to the digital content requested from the client device and is formatted in a digital rights management format that is not supported by the platform of the client device. A digital rights management method, which is digital content. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the digital content formatted in the other digital rights management format is digital content received from the client device with a search request of the client device. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the converting comprises meta content of digital content formatted in the other digital rights management format that includes the same content content as the digital content requested from the client device and is not supported by the platform of the client device. Searching using data; And Converting the digital content formatted in the retrieved other digital rights management format into digital content formatted in the requested digital rights management format. Requesting the client device to retrieve digital content formatted in a digital rights management format supported by its platform; Identifying, by the search server, a content provider that provides digital contents formatted in the specific digital rights management format through metadata about the digital contents formatted in the specific digital rights management format; Requesting, by the search server, the digital content requested from the client device from the identified content provider; Sending, by the content provider, the requested digital content to the search server; And Sending, by the search server, the digital content sent from the content provider to the client device, The metadata may include content contents of digital contents formatted in the specific digital copyright management format, digital copyright management technology in which digital contents formatted in the specific digital copyright management format, and digital contents formatted in the specific digital copyright management format. And at least one of the information about the content provider to provide. delete delete The method of claim 8, wherein if the content provider cannot be identified through the metadata, Requesting, by the search server, a conversion server to convert digital content formatted in another digital rights management format into digital content formatted in the requested digital rights management format; The conversion server receiving the conversion request converting the digital content formatted in the other digital rights management format into digital content formatted in the requested digital rights management format; Transmitting, by the conversion server, the converted digital content to the search server; And Transmitting, by the search server, the converted digital content to the client device. 12. The digital content management system of claim 11, wherein the digital content formatted in the other digital rights management format includes content content identical to the digital content requested from the client device and is formatted in a digital rights management format that is not supported by the platform of the client device. A digital rights management method, which is digital content. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the digital content formatted in the other digital rights management format is digital content received from the client device with a search request of the client device. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the digital content formatted in the other digital copyright management format is digital content retrieved by the search server. A client device requesting to retrieve digital content formatted in a digital rights management format supported by its platform; And Manage metadata relating to digital contents formatted in a specific digital rights management format, identify a content provider that provides digital contents formatted in the specific digital rights management format through the metadata, and from the identified content provider A search server for obtaining the requested digital content and transmitting the requested digital content to the client device; The metadata may include content contents of digital contents formatted in the specific digital copyright management format, digital copyright management technology in which digital contents formatted in the specific digital copyright management format, and digital contents formatted in the specific digital copyright management format. And at least one of the information about the content provider to provide. delete delete 16. The conversion server of claim 15, wherein when the content provider is not identified, digital content formatted in another digital rights management format is converted into digital content formatted in the requested digital rights management format at the request of the search server. Digital rights management system further comprising. 19. The digital content of claim 18 wherein the digital content formatted in the other digital rights management format includes content identical to the digital content requested by the client device and is formatted in a digital rights management format that is not supported by the platform of the client device. A digital rights management system, which is content. 20. The digital rights management system of claim 19 wherein the digital content formatted in the other digital rights management format is digital content delivered from the client device to the search server with a search request of the client device. 20. The digital rights management system of claim 19 wherein the digital content formatted in the other digital rights management format is digital content retrieved by the search server.

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