KR20070058216A - Method of operating digital rights offer management system and digiral rights offer management system of enabling the method - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for operating a digital rights offer management system and the digital rights offer management system using the same are provided to consistently manage the RO provided from a plurality of RO servers by storing offer information to a database, converting an offer information request into a DRM(Digital Rights Management) type supported in the RO server, and transmitting the converted request. The database(501) stores the offer information for the RO of the contents. The offer information is related to a use right or limitation of the contents. A receiving module(502) receives the offer information request from a multi-DRM gateway. An offer information transmitting module(503) searches the offer information corresponding to the offer information request by referring to the database and transmits the searched offer information to the RO server. The RO server generates and transmits the RO by the offer information to the multi-DRM gateway, and the multi-DRM gateway transmits the RO to a user terminal requesting the RO.

Description

TECHNICAL OPERATION DIGITAL RIGHTS OFFER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND DIGIRAL RIGHTS OFFER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF ENABLING THE METHOD}

1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of providing content to which a DRM is applied to a user terminal according to the related art.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of operating a network connection and offer management system of an offer management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 illustrates one embodiment of a rights object request in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of managing rights objects provided to a plurality of user terminals in an offer management system according to the present invention;

5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an offer management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a multi-DRM gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

501: database

502: receiving module

503: offer information transmission module

601: rights object request receiving module

602: Offer information request module

603: rights object transfer module

The present invention relates to an operation method of a digital rights offer management system and a digital rights offer management system employing the method. More particularly, the present invention provides an offer corresponding to a received offer information request by receiving an offer information request from a multi-DRM gateway. The operation management method and offer management employing the method of the offer management system which transmits the information to the rights object providing server so that the rights object for the content can be collectively managed regardless of the rights object providing server to which the rights object is provided. It's about the system.

Today, with the development of technology, a multimedia content providing service providing multimedia contents to a user terminal has become common. In addition, in order to protect the copyright of the creator of the content in accordance with the provision of the content, it is required to apply DRM (Digital Rights Management) to the multimedia content, and various DRM methods are used according to such a requirement.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is the collective term for technology that protects the interests and rights of copyright parties by preventing unauthorized use of digital content. In the case of distributing the content without encrypting it, users can illegally use the content. Therefore, a content providing server providing a DRM encrypts the content and transmits the content, and a rights object providing server sends a right object ( Rights Object) so that only legitimate users can play and output the content. The rights object includes a content encryption key used for decrypting content and content usage rights, which are information about content usage information.

Meanwhile, according to the related art, the user terminal reproduces and outputs only content according to a predetermined DRM method. In addition, similarly, the content providing server that provides the content is provided to the user terminal by applying one digital rights management (DRM) scheme to the content.

1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of providing content to which a DRM is applied to a user terminal according to the related art.

Referring to FIG. 1, when the first user terminal 101 transmits a request for providing a rights object to the rights object providing server 1 102, the rights object providing server 1 102 may determine a content encrypted according to the DRM 1 scheme. The right object is transmitted to the first user terminal.

At this time, the rights object providing server 1 102 is a server that generates a rights object according to the "DRM 1" method, which is a DRM method supported by the first user terminal. According to an embodiment, the encrypted content may be first transmitted to the first user terminal by the content providing server, and the rights object may be separately transmitted through a predetermined payment process and an authentication process. The first user terminal 101 decrypts the encrypted content using the decryption key included in the rights object, and reproduces and outputs the decrypted content.

Similarly, the second user terminal 103 sends a rights object provision request to the rights object provision server 2 104. The rights object providing server 2 104 encrypts the content according to the "DRM 2" method, which is a DRM method supported by the second user terminal, and generates a rights object. The rights object providing server 2 104 transmits the content and the rights object encrypted according to the DRM 2 scheme to the second user terminal 103.

At this time, the encrypted content is first transmitted from the content providing server, and the rights object may be separately transmitted through a predetermined payment process and an authentication process. The second user terminal 103 decrypts and reproduces the encrypted content by using the decryption key included in the rights object.

     As described above, since the right object providing server according to the related art provides a right object only to a user terminal according to a specific type of DRM method, it is not possible to control the use rights and use restrictions of the right object provided to various types of user terminals. There is this.

That is, the rights object providing server according to the related art can control only the usage rights and usage restrictions of the rights object provided to the first user terminal 101, but not the rights objects provided to the second type of user terminal 102. The usage rights and usage restrictions cannot be controlled at all, and since the DRM standard of the rights object is different, even if the users of the first user terminal 101 and the second user terminal 103 are the same, the right of use of the rights object related to content provision Information and usage restrictions cannot be managed in a batch.

Therefore, by solving these shortcomings, it is possible to collectively control and manage the usage rights and usage restrictions of the rights object provided to various user terminals, and provide a means for providing the rights object according to the DRM method supported by the corresponding user terminal. This has been urgently requested.

The present invention provides a right object provided by a plurality of rights object providing servers by unifying offer information in a single manner and storing it in a database, and converting and transmitting the offer information request to a DRM method supported by the rights object providing server when an offer information request is received. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for operating a digital rights offer management system that can be managed consistently and a digital rights offer management system employing the method.

In addition, the present invention provides an operation method and a digital copyright offer employing the method of the digital rights offer management system that provides a user interface for inputting and managing offer information to the user so that the offer information for the rights object can be managed. It is another object to provide a management system.

In addition, the present invention, while maintaining the existing rights object providing server, the operation method of the digital rights offer management system that can collectively manage the rights object provided to the user terminal that supports a variety of DMR scheme and digital employing the method Another object is to provide a copyright offer management system.

In order to achieve the above object and to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the offer for the Rights Object associated with the predetermined content to which the digital rights management scheme is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention. A method of operating an offer management system that provides information includes maintaining offer information for a rights object of the content in a database, wherein the offer information is information on a usage right or a restriction on use of the content. Receiving an offer information request, referring to the database, searching for offer information corresponding to the offer information request, and transmitting the retrieved offer information to a predetermined rights object providing server; providing the rights object The server generates a rights object according to the offer information and the multi-DRM gay Sent to the way, and the multi-DRM gateway is characterized in that it transmits the rights object to the user terminal requesting the rights object.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a method of operating a multi-DRM gateway that provides a rights terminal (Rights Object) associated with a predetermined content to which the digital rights management scheme is applied to the user terminal is provided from the user terminal. Receiving a Rights Object request associated with DRM-encrypted content supported by the terminal, and in response to the rights object request, transmitting a request for offer information to an offer management system connected through a communication network. Information is information on a usage right or a restriction of use of the content, and receiving the rights object from a predetermined rights object providing server and transmitting the rights object to the user terminal, wherein the offer management system requests the offer information. The right object providing server with offer information corresponding to the And the rights object providing server generates the rights object according to the offer information.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the offer management system that provides offer information for Rights Objects associated with predetermined content to which the digital rights management scheme is applied may be applied to the rights object of the contents. A database for holding offer information, wherein the offer information is information on a usage right or a restriction of use of the content; a receiving module that receives an offer information request from the multi-DRM gateway; An offer information transmission module for retrieving corresponding offer information and transmitting the retrieved offer information to a predetermined rights object providing server, wherein the rights object providing server generates a rights object according to the offer information to generate the multi-DRM gateway; To the multi-DRM gateway, the rights holder The rights object is transmitted to the user terminal requesting the change.

In addition, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a multi-DRM gateway for providing a rights object (Rights Object) associated with a predetermined content to which the digital rights management scheme is applied to the user terminal is provided by the user terminal from the user terminal. Rights object request receiving module for receiving a Rights Object request associated with the content encrypted in the supporting DRM method, and in response to the right object request, offer information for transmitting an offer information request to an offer management system connected through a communication network. Request module-The offer information is information on the use rights or usage restrictions of the content. And a rights object transmission module for receiving the rights object from a predetermined rights object providing server and transmitting the rights object to the user terminal, wherein the offer management system transmits offer information corresponding to the offer information request to the rights object providing server. The rights object providing server may generate the rights object according to the offer information.

Hereinafter, an operation method of an offer management system and an offer management system employing the method will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of operating a network connection and an offer management system of an offer management system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the user terminal 201 is connected to the multi-DRM gateway 202 through a communication network, and the multi-DRM gateway 202 is connected to the offer management system 203 and the right object providing server through the communication network. 204).

The user terminal 201 of the present invention is a CDMA (Code Division Multiplexing Access) module, a Bluetooth module, such as a PC, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a handheld PC, a mobile phone, an MP3 player, and the like. A predetermined communication module, such as an infrared communication module (IrDA) or a wired / wireless LAN card, may be provided, and a terminal having a predetermined computing power by mounting a predetermined microprocessor is a concept.

The multi-DRM gateway 202 of the present invention transmits the rights object request transmitted from the user terminal 201 to the offer management system 203, and transmits the rights object transmitted from the rights object providing server 204 to the user terminal 201. To send.

The offer management system 203 of the present invention manages offer information of rights object providing servers generating rights objects supporting different types of DRM schemes.

The rights object providing server 204 of the present invention generates the rights object according to the offer information transmitted from the offer management system 203 and provides them to the user terminal 201.

In the following description, the content providing server provides content to a user terminal, and the rights object providing server is divided and described as a configuration for providing a rights object for the content, but this is only classified according to a function performed by each server means. In the actual implementation, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the rights object providing server and the content providing server providing the content to the user terminal may be implemented by being integrated physically or functionally.

In step S201, the user transmits a rights object request associated with the DRM-encrypted content supported by the user terminal through the user terminal 201. As described above, in order to protect the copyright of the content, a rights object is required to reproduce the encrypted content in the user terminal 201.

3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of a rights object request according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the rights object request may include a user identifier 301, a content identifier 302, and DRM information 303 supported by the user terminal.

The user identifier 301 is information for identifying a user terminal using a content or a user terminal to receive a rights object. For example, the user identifier may be "ssll" which is a mobile communication terminal number. In some embodiments, the user identifier 301 may be information for identifying a user terminal such as a mobile communication number and a network address.

The content identifier 302 is information for receiving a rights object corresponding to the content. For example, a rights object request may request a rights object corresponding to the content "142 Song" 302.

The DRM information 303 is information included for requesting a rights object according to the DRM scheme supported by the user terminal 201. For example, a rights object request may request a rights object in a “DRM 1” 303 manner.

The user terminal 201 may transmit the rights object request at the same time as the content request, or may transmit the rights object request separately after the content is transmitted to the user terminal.

The rights object is information including an encryption key that allows content to be played on the user terminal and content usage rights or usage restrictions, which are information about content usage information.

The content usage right is information about a range in which a user can use the content in the user terminal. For example, the multimedia content can be played, outputted, executed, printed, deleted, moved, copied, backed up, and stored in the user terminal. Information about whether there is. The usage right includes all information related to the use of content in the user terminal.

The usage restriction is restriction information on whether the user can use the content. For example, the usage restriction is information about a restriction on the number of times, the period, the time interval, the system, and the like that the user can use the content. The usage restriction includes all information related to content usage restriction in the user terminal.

In step S202, the multi-DRM gateway 202 receives a Rights Object request associated with the DRM-encrypted content supported by the user terminal from the user terminal 201, and responds to the rights object request. The offer information request is transmitted to the offer management system 203 connected through the communication network.

At this time, according to an embodiment, the multi-DRM gateway 202 may be included in the rights object providing server 204 and operate as one backbone.

Offer information is information on a usage right or a restriction of use of the content, and an offer information request is data for requesting offer information for a rights object of the content. According to an embodiment, the offer information request may be the same as the right object request of FIG. 3, or may include an identifier or network address information of the right object providing server 204 for receiving offer information.

In step S203, the offer management system 203 receives the offer information request, and transmits offer information corresponding to the offer information request to the rights object providing server.

At this time, the offer management system 203 maintains the offer information for the rights object of the content in a database, retrieves the offer information corresponding to the offer information request by referring to the database, and provides the retrieved offer information with a predetermined right. Send to the object providing server.

In the above example, the offer management system 203 retrieves offer information corresponding to the user identifier "ssll" from the database in the database. It has already been described that the offer information is information on a usage right and a restriction on use of content. For example, if the usage right corresponding to the user identifier is capable of "playback, screen output" and is not "printable", the offer management system 203 reads the usage right as described above.

In addition, when the usage restriction information corresponding to the user identifier is "available 90 times a month", the offer management system 203 reads such usage restrictions.

In the above description, the case in which offer information is set according to a user identifier has been described as an example. For example, the usage right corresponding to the music content "Lovely" may be set to "play, display" and "not print", and the use right may be set to "available 90 times a month". . When offer information is set for each content, the same usage restrictions and usage rights may be applied to all users.

According to an embodiment, the offer management system 203 converts the retrieved offer information into a DRM scheme supported by the rights object providing server and transmits the received offer information to the rights object providing server. At this time, the offer management system 203 maintains in the database the DRM method information supported by the rights object providing server in association with the identifier of the rights object providing server or the network address, and if the offer information request is received, Refer to the DRM method supported by the rights object providing server.

In the above example, the offer management system 203 translates the retrieved offer information into a "DRM 1" scheme, which is a DRM scheme supported by the rights object providing server 204, and transmits the received offer information to the rights object providing server 204. The DRM scheme supported by the rights object providing server 204 is the same as the DRM scheme supported by the user terminal 201.

That is, the offer management system 203 of the present invention unifies offer information for each user identifier in a single method and stores them in a database. When an offer information request is received, the offer management system 203 converts the offer information for each user identifier into a DRM scheme supported by a rights object providing server. By doing so, the rights objects provided by the plurality of rights objects providing server can be managed consistently.

In particular, the offer management system 203 of the present invention provides a user interface for inputting and managing offer information to a user so as to collectively manage offer information for a rights object.

At this time, the offer management system 203 receives the offer information for the rights object of the content through the user interface, and maintains the received offer information in the database.

For example, the operator inputs the user's permission information and usage restriction information corresponding to the user identifier "ssll" so that even if the user receives content and rights objects from a plurality of user terminals supporting various DRM methods, the corresponding permission information And the content according to the usage restriction information.

In addition, the operator inputs usage rights and usage restriction information for each content stored in the database, so that even if a user receives contents and rights objects from a plurality of user terminals that support various DRM methods, the operator may use the contents according to the authority information and usage restriction information. Use it.

Therefore, the operator may input and manage the usage rights, usage restrictions, and the like for the contents provided by the plurality of rights object providing servers through the user interface provided by the offer management system 203, and may manage them consistently.

In step S204, the rights object providing server 204 generates a rights object according to the offer information and transmits the rights object to the multi-DRM gateway 202, and the multi-DRM gateway sends the rights object to the user terminal 201 that requested the rights object. Send the rights object.

The multi-DRM gateway of the present invention properly transmits the offer information request as described above, and transmits the rights object created according to the offer information to the user terminal, thereby providing appropriate contents and rights according to the DRM scheme supported by the user terminal to the user terminal. Allows you to provide an object.

Accordingly, the present invention can provide the user terminal 201 with a rights object generated according to the offer information stored in the offer management system 203 and according to the DRM scheme supported by the user terminal 201.

The user terminal 201 outputs or plays back the content according to the usage rights and usage restrictions maintained in the offer management system 203.

4 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of managing a rights object provided to a plurality of user terminals in an offer management system according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the plurality of user terminals 401, 402, and 403 are connected to a backbone network 404 including a multi-DRM gateway and a plurality of rights object providing servers through a communication network. In this case, according to an embodiment, the user terminals 401, 402, and 403 may be connected to a point of contact through a communication network, and an offer management function and a rights object are generated in an offer management system connected through the maintenance contact and a communication network. You can also implement all of the functionality.

Referring to FIG. 4, when a user object (401, 402, 403) supporting various DRM schemes transmits a rights object request associated with content to the backbone 404 network, the user terminal (401, 402, 403) provides the offer on the backbone 404 network that receives the rights object request The request for information is sent to the offer management system 408.

The offer management system 408 receives the offer information request, reads the user identifier or the user terminal identifier, retrieves the offer information corresponding thereto, and transmits the offer information to the rights object providing server 405, 406, 407. . At this time, the offer information is converted into a DRM scheme supported by the rights object providing server and transmitted.

The rights object providing server 405, 406, 407 generates a rights object according to the offer information and transmits the rights object to the user terminals 401, 402, 403.

Therefore, the present invention has the effect of collectively managing rights objects provided to user terminals supporting various DMR schemes while maintaining existing rights object providing servers.

The operating method of the digital rights offer management system according to the present invention may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magnetic disks, such as floppy disks. Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. The medium may be a transmission medium such as an optical or metal wire, a waveguide, or the like including a carrier wave for transmitting a signal specifying a program command, a data structure, or the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an offer management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the offer management system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a database 501, a receiving module 502, and an offer information transmitting module 503.

The database 501 maintains offer information for the rights object of the content. As described above, the offer information is information on a use right or a use restriction of the content.

The receiving module 502 receives a request for offer information from the multi DRM gateway. An embodiment of the offer information request has been described with reference to FIG. 3.

The offer information transmitting module 503 searches for offer information corresponding to the offer information request by referring to the database, and transmits the retrieved offer information to a predetermined right object providing server.

The offer information transmitting module searches for offer information corresponding to the offer information request by referring to a database 501, converts the retrieved offer information into a DRM scheme supported by the rights object providing server, and provides the rights object providing server. To send.

The rights object providing server generates a rights object according to the offer information and transmits the rights object to the multi-DRM gateway, and the multi-DRM gateway transmits the rights object to the user terminal that requested the rights object.

6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a multi-DRM gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 6, the multi-DRM gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a rights object request reception module, an offer information request module, and a rights object transmission module.

The rights object request receiving module 601 receives a rights object request associated with content encrypted in a DRM manner supported by the user terminal from the user terminal.

The offer information request module 602 transmits the offer information request to the offer management system connected through the communication network in response to the right object request. It has already been described that the offer information is information on a use right or a use restriction of the content.

The rights object transmitting module 603 receives the rights object from the rights object providing server and transmits the rights object to the user terminal.

The offer management system transmits offer information corresponding to the offer information request to the rights object providing server, and the rights object providing server generates the rights object according to the offer information as described above.

The offer management system and the multi-DRM gateway according to the present invention have been described so far, and thus the technical contents described in the above embodiments may be applied to the configurations of FIGS. 5 and 6, and thus the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, the present invention has been described by way of limited embodiments and drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, which can be variously modified and modified by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Modifications are possible. Accordingly, the spirit of the present invention should be understood only by the claims set forth below, and all equivalent or equivalent modifications thereof will belong to the scope of the present invention.

The present invention provides a right object provided by a plurality of rights object providing servers by unifying offer information in a single manner and storing it in a database, and converting and transmitting the offer information request to a DRM method supported by the rights object providing server when an offer information request is received. There is an effect that can be managed consistently.

In addition, the present invention has the effect of providing the user interface to input and manage the offer information to manage the offer information for the rights object.

In addition, the present invention has the effect that it is possible to collectively manage the rights object provided to the user terminal supporting various DMR schemes, while maintaining the existing rights object providing servers.

Claims (9)

A method of operating an offer management system that provides offer information for rights objects associated with predetermined content to which a digital rights management method is applied, Maintaining offer information for a rights object of the content in a database, wherein the offer information is information regarding a usage right or a restriction of use of the content; Receiving an offer information request from the multi DRM gateway; Searching for offer information corresponding to the offer information request by referring to the database, and transmitting the retrieved offer information to a predetermined right object providing server; Including, The rights object providing server generates a rights object according to the offer information and transmits the rights object to the multi-DRM gateway, and the multi-DRM gateway transmits the rights object to the user terminal that requested the rights object. Method of operation. The method of claim 1, The step of searching for offer information corresponding to the offer information request by referring to the database and transmitting the retrieved offer information to a predetermined right object providing server may include:  An offer, wherein the offer information corresponding to the offer information request is retrieved by referring to the database, and the offer information is converted into a DRM scheme supported by the rights object providing server and transmitted to the rights object providing server. How the management system works. The method of claim 1, Maintaining offer information for the rights object of the content in a database, Receiving offer information for the rights object of the content via a user interface; And Maintaining the received offer information in the database Method of operation of the offer management system comprising a. A method of operating a multi-DRM gateway that provides a user terminal with rights objects associated with predetermined content to which digital rights management is applied, Receiving a Rights Object request associated with the DRM-encrypted content supported by the user terminal from the user terminal; In response to the right object request, transmitting an offer information request to an offer management system connected through a communication network, wherein the offer information is information on a usage right or a restriction on use of the content; And Receiving the rights object from a given rights object providing server and transmitting the rights object to the user terminal Including, The offer management system transmits offer information corresponding to the offer information request to the rights object providing server, and the rights object providing server generates the rights object according to the offer information. Way. The method of claim 4, wherein The rights object is generated according to a DRM scheme supported by the user terminal. A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 5 is recorded. In the offer management system for providing offer information for the Rights Object associated with the predetermined content to which the digital rights management method is applied, A database that maintains offer information for the rights object of the content, wherein the offer information is information regarding usage rights or usage restrictions of the content; A receiving module for receiving an offer information request from the multi DRM gateway; An offer information transmission module for retrieving offer information corresponding to the offer information request by referring to the database and transmitting the retrieved offer information to a predetermined right object providing server Including, The rights object providing server generates a rights object according to the offer information and transmits the rights object to the multi-DRM gateway, and the multi-DRM gateway transmits the rights object to the user terminal that requested the rights object. . The method of claim 7, wherein The offer information transmission module,  An offer, wherein the offer information corresponding to the offer information request is retrieved by referring to the database, and the offer information is converted into a DRM scheme supported by the rights object providing server and transmitted to the rights object providing server. Management system. In the multi-DRM gateway for providing a user terminal with rights objects associated with predetermined content to which the digital rights management method is applied, A recommendation object request receiving module for receiving a rights object request associated with content encrypted in a DRM manner supported by the user terminal from the user terminal; An offer information request module for transmitting an offer information request to an offer management system connected through a communication network, in response to the right object request, wherein the offer information is information on a usage right or a restriction on use of the content; And A rights object transmission module for receiving the rights object from a predetermined rights object providing server and transmitting the rights object to the user terminal. Including, The offer management system transmits offer information corresponding to the offer information request to the rights object providing server, and the rights object providing server generates the rights object according to the offer information.

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