KR100891564B1 - Method and device for managing proprietary data format content - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of generating a data object protected from original content by digital rights management (DRM) protection law, wherein the original content has a proprietary data format. Further provided is a method for providing a proprietary data format contained within a protected data object having a MIME type field, where the protected data object is generated by digital rights management (DRM) law.

Description

Method and device for managing proprietary data format content

The present invention generally relates to a method for generating a data object protected from original content, wherein the original content has a proprietary data format. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for providing proprietary data format content contained within a protected data object. The invention also proposes a server unit and a mobile unit configured to handle the protected data object.

The proliferation of the use of media content in digital form has many advantages in terms of quality and ease of use, among others, but also poses the problem of the possibility of lossless duplication with respect to digital content. Because copying digital information is easy, copyright infringement has become a major threat to content owners.

At present, there are many different concepts and methods available, which are provided for handling or generating protected digital content. The digital content to be protected, for example, is not limited to, but corresponds to other likely content, such as ordinary software applications or other digital music, pictures. Over time, software applications on personal computers, mobile phones, or gaming consoles (hereinafter referred to as "systems") have become increasingly valuable and attractive businesses surround different kinds of applications on those systems. Developed. One example is a game business for moving or stationary game devices. If a software application was acquired for a particular device, the content protection technology must ensure that the software application runs only on that particular device and cannot be duplicated to another device. The application code must ensure that it cannot be manipulated (eg exchange code instructions) to protect data integrity. A license is usually required to obtain or use the code. The term "license" refers to a summary of the required software components that make protected software run on a device. Content protected software cannot be used without a valid license on the device.

So digital content protection, called digital rights management (DRM), has evolved. DRM utilizes encryption to protect media content. The principles of DRM are to combine usage rules with digital content and to enforce these rules in addition. Raw digital information is encrypted and usually distributed to specially predetermined devices. In conclusion, the content data can no longer be replicated or copied without any limitations. This allows the provider of the digital content to restrict and prevent the distribution of undefined and illegal licensed content. The expression "digital content" refers to a summary of common content that is well known in the market, such as ringtones, pictures and logos, Java and Symbian applications, MIDI ringtones or composite software applications or video clips in the market. These issues are defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and provide for standards for the use of mobile-centric content.

DRM allows for control of the use of downloaded media objects and allows content providers to define rules about how content should generally be used. It makes it possible to sell the rights to use media data rather than the media object itself. Privileges can send privileges by downloading the privilege with the content or by sending the privilege object separately from the content to the consuming device. The OMA DRM system introduces three possible content delivery methods: forward-lock, combined delivery, and separate delivery schemes. The first two mentioned methods require packaging the content in the form of a rights object and a DRM message. The message may be delivered to the device using, for example, an OMA download mechanism (not part of this description).

The third method mentioned above is the case of separate delivery. In this case, the content provider must convert the plaintext media object to the DRM content format. The conversion includes symmetric encryption of the content, making the DRM protected content useless for users who do not have access to the Content Encryption Key (CEK). Thus, content can be delivered via insecure transmission. Authorization objects may be delivered separately, for example, via secure transmission such as WAP push. However, separate delivery is more secure than the first mentioned method because it simply prevents it from stealing content. In addition, further information on the mentioned DRM methods is described in detail in the OMA DRM specification.

The current technology provides a number of software tools that provide protection of digital content in accordance with the OMA DRA specification. These tools are commonly referred to as "Content Publishing Toolkits" and they provide content providers with a user-friendly software kit, which makes it possible to create the protected content in encrypted DCF format ( DRM content format).

OMA Digital Rights Management precisely details the form for the DCF data object. In addition to encrypting the media object, also called the DRM Content Format Object (DCF), (see description above), the original content type of the media object, the unique for this DRM protected media object in relation to the permissions. It supports metadata such as unique identifiers, information about encryption details, information about permissions, and so on. The November 2003 edition of OMA defines the content format for precisely protected DRM content.

OMA DRM uses the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) media type defined in the RFC 2046 standard to identify content types. In general, the MIME type field of a file is used to identify what kind of data contains the file. The information contained in the MIME type is used to invoke the appropriate application intended to handle the data. For example, if the data is a picture, the image viewer will be started. In the OMA DRM environment, the content type field referred to in the above itemization is the original MIME type (or MIME media type) of the actual DRM-protected content, i.e. the result of successful decryption of the contained encrypted data. You must define whether it represents the content type. However, the contents of the MIME field are useful for called DRM agents on the device side that want to handle protected content.

Current technology defines MIME types only for standardized data and not for proprietary data. This means that proprietary data cannot be protected by means of DRM technologies. But this is exactly where DRM should be used to protect common applications such as games against illegal copy or the like. Games or other applications often make use of proprietary (or any) formats for images, levels, or map data in the case of games. Level and map data is usually used to describe, for example, the space in which the character of the game is about to move.

The current technology defines DRM protection only for data with valid MIME type fields. The present invention should enable DRM protection of content even if the content has a proprietary or arbitrary data format. This means that the present invention should be used for proprietary data or files even if they do not have a valid MIME type field or valid file extension.

According to a first aspect of the invention, the invention provides a method for generating a data object protected from original data by means of a digital rights management (DRM) protection law according to claim 1. The original content has a proprietary (or each arbitrary) data format. After acquiring the original content, encryption of the content is executed to generate encrypted content. Subsequently generating or generating a header portion of the protected data object associated with the encrypted content, wherein the header portion includes information related to the original content and has a MIME type field, wherein the MIME type field is the original content. Define at least one application that can handle A blank entry is then assigned to the MIME type field of the header part. A blank MIME type field is provided to indicate the presence of a proprietary data format of the original content. Finally, a protected data object is generated by combining the header portion with the encrypted content included in the body portion of the protected data object.

The privilege object associated with the original content is created first. Rights entities can be provided for further use. This is the step used by content providers to distribute protected and licensed content to users.

The original content may correspond to a software application configured to run on the mobile terminal device. This issue advantageously provides applications for use in mobile devices such as mobile phones.

It is preferred that the protected content is freely distributable from the mobile terminal device to a plurality of mobile terminal devices. This enables the distribution of the protected content.

According to another aspect of the invention, the invention provides a method for providing proprietary data format content included in a protected data object having a MIME type field. The protected data object is generated by digital rights management (DRM) law. The method for providing a proprietary data format comprises first receiving a request from a data-requesting application to obtain data contained in the protected data object and subsequently in the MIME within the protected data object. Examining the content of the type field. Subsequently, it should be determined whether the MIME type field of the protected data object is blank. The blank mine type field indicates the presence of a proprietary data format. In addition, extraction of the encrypted content included in the body portion of the protected data object and further decryption of the encrypted content are performed to generate the proprietary data format content. Finally, proprietary data format content is provided to a data-requesting application.

It is preferred that the encrypted content be processed against a previously obtained privileged entity related to the protected data object. This allows for controlled use of the original content previously encrypted by the content provider.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a computer program for handling protected content, wherein the program is a computer, a microprocessor-based device, a terminal, a network device, a mobile terminal, or a portable device. When run on a communicable terminal, the program code sections for performing the steps of any one of the preceding claims. Special software is essential to the present invention in order to provide a closed system on either side of the process.

 According to another aspect of the invention, the invention provides a computer program product for protected content, wherein the computer program product is a computer, a microprocessor-based device, a terminal, a network device, a mobile terminal, Or program code sections stored on a machine readable medium for performing the steps of any of the preceding claims, when run on a portable communication capable terminal.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a software tool for handling protected content, the software tool on a microprocessor-based device, processing device, terminal device, network device, mobile terminal, or portable communication enabled terminal. It includes program portions for performing the operations of any one of the preceding claims when the program is implemented within a computer program for execution.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, the invention provides a computer data signal, which represents a program embodied within a carrier and instructing a computer to perform the steps of the method of any of the preceding claims.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides a server unit for generating a data object protected from original content by a digital rights management (DRM) protection law, wherein the original content has a proprietary data format, The server unit may include:-means for obtaining the original content,-a module that becomes encrypted content as a result of encrypting the original content,-a module for generating a header portion of the protected data object in relation to the encrypted content The header portion includes information related to the original content, and has a MIME type field, the MIME type field defining at least one application capable of processing the original content, in the MIME type field of the header portion; A module for allocating a blank entry, wherein the blank MIME type field is blank. A module for generating the protected data object by combining encrypted content that will be included in the header portion and the body portion of the protected data object provided to indicate the presence of a proprietary data format of the original content. do.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention provides a mobile unit for providing proprietary data format content contained within a protected data object having a MIME type field, wherein the protected data object is a digital rights management (DRM) technology. Generated by one of these means, the mobile unit comprising:-a module for receiving a request from a data requesting application to obtain data contained in the protected data object,-content of the MIME type field in the protected data object A module for checking whether the MIME type field of the protected data object is blank, wherein the blank MIME type field is in a proprietary data format and is included in the body portion of the protected data object For extracting encrypted encrypted content and Module, to be a proprietary data format of said content as a result of decoding a group of encrypted content - a module for providing said proprietary data format for the data requested application.

The invention can be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a flowchart showing the generation of protected data;

2 illustrates a precise data flow and illustratively header generation.

3 is a flow diagram illustrating the provision of data contained within a protected data object.

4 illustrates in detail the method generally shown in FIG.

1 shows the occurrence of a protected data object in connection with the present invention. The starting point corresponds to a package symbolized by block 1 and representing the original content. The original content may be some kind of data, such as software applications, games, pictures, and the like. The invention is particularly concerned with generating data objects protected from proprietary data used internally by software applications, for example games. In operation S12, a header corresponding to the original content is provided. The header portion is necessary for providing the user side with information related to the steps processed on the content generation side. The user side corresponds, for example, to a mobile phone which wants to use a protected data object. As described above, the generation of the protected data object is performed by the DRM protection law. The generated header corresponds to the header specified by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) associated with the DCF data. The field defining the MIME type of the original content 1 is included in the header portion. The exact definition of the elements of the other header elements can be found in the November 2003 edition of OMA DRM.

Operation S13 follows the generation of the entire header portion. This operation is an important step of the present invention and assigns a blank value to the MIME type field. After the processing of operations S12 and S13, a DCF header according to the present invention is provided. Operation S11, which can be operated in parallel with operations S12 and S13, provides encryption of the original content. As mentioned above, symmetric encryption techniques can be provided using CEK keys. Information related to the encryption mechanism may be included in a header portion that allows decryption of the encrypted content on the user side. Operation S14 symbolizes combining the header portion with the encrypted content. Block 2 shows the protected data following operation S14. The protected data object 2 is now ready to be provided. The protected data object 2 has a typical DRM format embodied by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). A header portion containing information about the corresponding content and a body portion including at least one data portion are contained in this data container. The header portion and the body portion are delimited to each other by the predefined boundary tags detailed in RFC 2046.

2 illustrates a general data flow in accordance with a method of generating a protected data object or data container and its corresponding authority entity. Block 27 incorporates the steps of the method according to the invention described in FIG. Reference numeral 1 represents original content protected according to DRM protection techniques. Block 27 receives the original content and processes the steps already described in FIG. Blocks 25 and 26 represent the functions processed within block 27. Block 26 is an exact assembly of the protected data object 2 with the aid of the separate data models shown in the header portion 21 and the body portion 22 of the protected data object 2 ( assembling process, and the MIME type field 23 is also shown. Body portion 22 corresponds to the encrypted content that is the result after processing operation S11 described in the previous section. In addition, the above-described operation S12 transfers the header portion 21 in accordance with the original content. In the header section, fields for the MIME type and additional information are defined. The specification defining the DCF format accurately describes the entire fields contained in the header portion 21. All fields are mentioned in the following statements for completeness:

Version: version number;

ContentTypeLen: length of ContentType field;

ContentURILen: length of ContentURI field;

ContentType: MIME type field 23;

ContentURI: unique identifier of the actual content;

HeadersLen: length of headers field;

DataLen: data length field;

Headers: headers in which headers define additional metadata (such as encryption algorithms) according to the actual content;

After processing operation S13 the MIME type field 23 is now blank indicating the presence of exclusive data format content. The other fields shown in the header portion 21 also contain additional information relating to the original content 1 and information about the encryption algorithm provided for obtaining the encrypted content 22. The obtained header portion comprising the blank MIME type fields is combined into a protected data object 2 with a body portion representing encrypted content.

Block 25 shows the occurrence of the rights entity according to the original content. Operation S21 represents a process of generating a license entity defining rights for handling the original content 1 on the user side. It is possible to set the permissions for previewing the content or to set a temporary executable permission or the like. The DRM specification precisely defines what user rights are possible. Rights entities can be provided together with or separately from protected data objects. After the performance of the operations contained in blocks 25 and 26, the protected data object 2 is ready for distribution. Finally, the original content is encrypted, a rights entity is generated and the content can now be distributed without limitation.

3 illustrates a method for providing content contained in a protected data object or data container in accordance with the present invention. In general, when a file (content) must be used by an application (API), the DRM implementation (DRM agent) should check whether the file is a DRM protected data object. If the content or file is not protected, another predefined action can be started (but not part of the present invention). As described above, if a protected data object is requested by an application, the MIME type field included in the header portion of the protected data provides the DRM agent with an application type that can handle the original content. In the case of a picture (eg jpeg), the image viewer may receive the decrypted content. This means that the MIME type field allows the DRM agent to determine which application will handle the content.

Another object according to the present invention is configured to provide a method for the DRM agent to handle proprietary (or any) data format. Proprietary data formats cannot be related to standard applications such as, for example, image viewers or mp3 players. The following introduces a method for handling proprietary data format content contained within a protected data object in accordance with the present invention. The method according to the invention is handled on the user side, for example in the mobile device. The decryption of the encrypted content is provided inside the DRM agent according to the previously obtained rights. Privileged objects can be included in protected data objects, but another possibility is stored in a privileged object in a special data base, for example on the user side. The API in FIG. 3 starts the data request operation S31 to use the data contained in the protected data object 2. It is expected that the protected data object may be a DRM protected data object that includes at least one header portion and one body portion. Next, operation 32 checks the contents of the MIME type field. If there is a proprietary data format, S36 makes a decision regarding the contents of the MIME type field. If the MIME type field is detected, according to the NO branch, the predefined process 1 is started. The predefined process may be a standard application such as an image viewer or the like. If the MIME type field is blank (YES branch), then the existence of a proprietary data format has been determined and the DRM agent in accordance with the present invention knows whether the original application API needs the data contained within the protected data object. S33 shows the extraction of the body part included in the protected data object. 2 also shows encrypted content generated by the body portion also by means of DRM encryption techniques. A license is required to encrypt the content. Operation S37 represents a determination as to whether the license is valid or not. If no license is valid, a predefined process 2 can be started, for example informing the user that an additional rights entity is necessary. However, the user side needs an authorization entity to justify the encrypted content.

Operation S34 processes decryption of the encrypted content so that the original content 1 provided to the caller API provided to the caller API is generated in accordance with operation S35.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the method according to the invention described in FIG. 3 processed at the user side. The two application APIs 1 and API 2 are shown by way of example and both communicate in a bi-directional manner with the DRM implementation or DRM agent according to the invention. The DRM implementation is associated with the file system 41 and the authority entity database RE DB. The database may also be implemented with a standard file system or the like. The purpose of the RE DB is to provide information related to DRM-protected content to the DRM implementation. 4 illustratively shows a number of rights entities grouped in a special rights entity database RE DB.

API 1 or API 2 requests a file stored in the file system. Next, if the MIME type field matches the standard MIME type field definition, the standard process begins after the DRM agent processes the decryption. Full decryption operations are processed with respect to the stored rights entities.

API 1 requires proprietary data format content contained in protected data objects stored in the file system in accordance with S44. The DRM implementation performs the operations shown in the highlighted block of FIG. S36 determines the presence of the blank MIME-type field and S33 extracts the body portion of the protected data object. Finally, decryption of the encrypted content is performed according to the previously obtained rights entity. Information stored in the header portion of the data object protected during encryption is also used.

After performing the encryption, the DRM implementation provides API 1 with decrypted content 1 representing the requested original content.

Although the invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments in accordance with the accompanying drawings, it is apparent that the invention is not limited thereto but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (12)

A method of generating a data object protected from original content by digital rights management (DRM) protection techniques, the original content having a proprietary data format, the method comprising: Obtaining the original content; Encrypting the original content to produce encrypted content; Generating a header portion of the protected data object related to the encrypted content, wherein the header portion includes information related to the original content, has a MIME type field, and the MIME type field can process the original content; Define at least one application]; Allocating a blank entry to the MIME type field of the header part, wherein the blank MIME type field is given to indicate the presence of a proprietary data format of the original content; And Generating the protected data object by combining the header portion and the encrypted content to be included in the body portion of the protected data object. The method of claim 1, Generating a rights entity relating to the original content and providing the rights entity for further use. The method of claim 1, The original content is a software application configured to run on a mobile terminal device. The method of claim 1, And the protected data object is freely distributable from the mobile terminal device to a plurality of mobile terminal devices. A method for providing proprietary data format content contained within a protected data object having a MIME type field, wherein the protected data object is generated by digital rights management (DRM) techniques, the method comprising: Receiving a request from a data-request application to obtain data contained within the protected data object; Checking the contents of the MIME type field in the protected data object; Determining whether the MIME type field of the protected data object is blank, wherein the blank MIME type field indicates the presence of a proprietary data format; Extracting the encrypted content contained in the body portion of the protected data object and decrypting the encrypted content so that the exclusive data format content is generated; And Providing the proprietary data format content to the data-requesting application. The method of claim 5, Decrypting the encrypted content is processed for a previously obtained rights entity with respect to the protected data object. A computer readable recording of a computer program for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 6 when the program is executed on a computer, a microprocessor based device, a terminal, a network device, a mobile terminal, or a portable communication terminal. Recording media. delete delete delete A server unit for generating a data object protected from original content by digital rights management (DRM) protection techniques, wherein the original content has a proprietary data format, the server unit: Means for obtaining the original content; A module for encrypting the original content such that encrypted content is generated; A module for generating a header portion of the protected data object in association with the encrypted content, wherein the header portion contains information related to the original content and has a MIME type field, the MIME type field to process the original content. Define at least one application that can be]; A module for assigning a blank entry to the MIME type field of the header part, wherein the blank MIME type field is provided to indicate the existence of a proprietary data format of the original content; And A module for generating the protected data object by combining the header portion and the encrypted content to be included in the body portion of the protected data object. A mobile unit for providing proprietary data format content contained within a protected data object having a MIME type field, wherein the protected data object is generated by digital rights management (DRM) techniques, wherein the mobile unit is: A module for receiving a request from a data-request application to obtain data contained within the protected data object; A module for inspecting the content of the MIME type field in the protected data object; A module for determining whether the MIME type field of the protected data object is blank, wherein the blank MIME type field indicates the presence of a proprietary data format; A module for extracting encrypted content included in the body portion of the protected data object and decrypting the encrypted content such that the proprietary data format content is generated; And A module for providing the proprietary data format content to the data-request application.

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