Abstract:
A content distribution system is described in which indicia defining a level of copyright control are encapsulated together with content to which it relates in a datagram for a delivery over a network. Depending on the level of copyright control defined by the indicia, a terminal receiving the content is restricted in the operations it can carry out on the content including saving, reading and forwarding the content.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to the distribution of content over networks, particularly although not exclusively content having digital rights such as copyright therein.  
         [0002]     A particular challenge to the content generating community which includes record companies, publishers and other right holders, is the ease with which digital content may be disseminated particularly over networks. This ease of dissemination is also coupled with the fact that there is little or no degradation in the quality of the content despite repeat copying and forwarding of the content in its original format. Thus, unauthorised copies of copyright context will meet the same high expectations of consumers in relation to the authorised content.  
         [0003]     Consequently, right holders have been reluctant to make their content available for distribution over networks. In a parallel development, efforts are presently being made to prevent or at least restrict the ability of purchasers of such content to make further copies thereof.  
         [0004]     Where content has been made available for distribution over networks, various proposals have been made to counter the loss in revenue to right holders. Broadly, these have constituted, on the one hand, the creation of technical barriers to unauthorised copying of content and on the other hand, the development of transactional controls. In many cases both approaches have been used in tandem to attempt to strictly control the distribution of content to authorised recipients namely those users who have paid the appropriate fee to the right holder. The implementation of such techniques does require significant processing power and requires specific hardware and/or software features in a terminal. Indeed, as the sophistication of those seeking unauthorised access to content increases, the demands for processing power will only increase. Furthermore, as many proprietary approaches exist there result in a multiplicity of hardware and software features in different terminals. As a result of the ensuing poor level of interoperability and concomitant fragmentation of the market, right holders are reluctant to invest in making content available.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     Thus, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a content distribution control system comprises a network having at least one terminal connected thereto, a content creation tool operable to assign indicia representative of a pre-determined level of control of said content, said content being subsequently made available to said network and said at least one terminal being responsive to said indicia to permit operations in relation to said content received from said network.  
         [0006]     The content creation tool may be an application resident on a terminal thereby allowing users to generate their own content such as ringtones and to assign a desired level of protection to that content. At the other end of the scale, a publisher might utilise such a tool to make their works available over a network in which case a level of control for such content may be assigned. The content need not be provided in an electronic format but could be distributed on Compact Disc (CD) or Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), the only requirement being that the indicia remain with the content when it is transferred to other media including uploading the content to a network. Thus, the right holder is assured that his intentions regarding dealings with the content are preserved. To deter unauthorised dealings in the content, the indicia may be encrypted and/or encryption may be utilised over those channels of communication via which the content is distributed. The simplicity of the approach facilitates its implementation on all platforms including relatively thin clients such as mobile terminals unsuitable for implementing the computationally and resource intensive demands of prior art content distribution systems. Thus there is no need to implement blanket prohibition of the forwarding of right holder&#39;s content from terminals such as hitherto been the case with ringtones for example.  
         [0007]     According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a terminal having a first memory into which content is receivable, a second memory and a user interface operatively associated with said memories, such that a set of operations of said user interface in relation to said content received into said first memory is permitted by reference to said content, at least one of said operations permitted by said content being a transfer of said content to said second memory, wherein a set of operations of said user interface in relation to said same content when received into said second memory is similarly permitted by reference to said content.  
         [0008]     It will be recognised that because the user interface is responsible for managing the operations permitted or allowed in respect of the content and that the content itself is otherwise unavailable to a typical user, there is no requirement for computationally and resource intensive cryptographic protection of the content. Preferably, the first memory is volatile with the result that content is not retained in the terminal unless the indicia permits transfer of the content to the second non-volatile memory. However, the terminal may implement session level cryptography to protect the content during transit over the network.  
         [0009]     According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of creating content for controlled distribution comprises defining indicia representative of respective levels of control of content, determining a level of control appropriate to said content and assigning indicia to said content in accordance with said determination.  
         [0010]     Because the level of control may be set during the creation of content a right holder is able to set out at the outset his intention regarding the copyright status, for example, of that content. Attempts to defeat this intention by removing such indicia may be actionable and thus the presence of the indicia acts as a form of legal tripwire which can be tested in cases of unauthorised use of the content. Furthermore, the indicia, by remaining intact during transfer of the content, ensures that the intentions of the right holder are retained even where the content is transferred between different media including physical devices such as Compact Discs and Digital Versatile Discs and electronic copies held on web servers, for example. The management of such rights is further enhanced as a user interface of a terminal or other device receiving such a content can be programmed to respond in a predetermined manner to content having particular indicia. Such a simplification of the management process reduces the computational and other resource requirements of a terminal.  
         [0011]     According to a still further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of receiving content including indicia representative of allowable operations in respect of said content, which comprises receiving said content into a first memory, generating a list of allowable operations in relation to said content from said indicia and displaying said list to a user.  
         [0012]     One at least of the allowable operations will be transferring the content to a second, non-volatile, memory. However, in some circumstances, for example, where the content is intended for promotional purposes, such a transfer will be prohibited by the indicia. In which case, the content would be deleted when the first volatile memory is purged or the terminal powered down. Consequently, the opportunity to seek to hack or otherwise carry out unauthorised activity in relation to the content will be denied. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]     In order to understand the present invention more fully, a number of embodiments thereof will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a communication network in accordance with one aspect of the present invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic view of a terminal for use with the network of  FIG. 1  in accordance with a further aspect of the invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a diagrammatic view of a datagram for use with the network of  FIG. 1  in accordance with a further aspect of the invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is view of information shown on a display of the terminal of  FIG. 2 ; and  
         [0018]      FIGS. 5   a,    5   b  and  5   c  are all views of different information shown on a display of the terminal of  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0019]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a communication network  1  to which a plurality of terminals  3  has access. The network  1  has interworking connections  5  to external networks  7  including the Internet  9 . In addition to locally created content and through these external connections  5  allow content to enter the communication network  1 .  
         [0020]     Referring in particular to  FIG. 2 , a terminal  3  for use with the network  1  is provided with a processor  9 , memory  11  and data input  13  and output devices  15 . The memory  11  includes a cache  17  into which data is received from the network  1 . The cache  17  operates by retaining data on a temporary basis which is being used by the terminal  3  thereby preventing repeat requests from the terminal  3  for the network  1  to deliver the same data. At the end of a communication session and/or when data has not been accessed for a predetermined time period, the cache  17  is emptied. The terminal  3  is provided with a User Interface (UI)  19  to namely an application which controls reprocessing co-ordinate the activities of the terminal  3  in response to inputs from a user and/or the network  1 .  
         [0021]     The terminal  3  may be connected to the network  1  in a conventional manner. Thus a fixed terminal may be connected by a modem  21  connected to the network, for example. In the case of a mobile terminal, the connection may be over an air interface  25 , in which case the terminal  3  will include the appropriate well known additional elements required to perform this function. The techniques for connection of such terminals to the network  1  will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.  
         [0022]     As has already been mentioned, content may enter the network  1  from externally connected content providers  22  or the network  1  itself may incorporate content providers  29  including, but not limited to, the terminals  3  themselves. As shown in  FIG. 3 , content  31  is encapsulated in a datagram  33  formatted in accordance with the frame type of the protocol the network  1  is operating. Typically, the datagram  33  has a header portion  35  which is provided with fields  37 ,  39 ,  41  containing a destination address  43  and respectively the address  45  of the sender&#39;s device and an initial router address  47  determined from a look-up table or similar held by the terminal  3 . In the case of a so-called second generation Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) as exemplified by GSM, the content  31  may be in the form of text or ringtone data carried by a Short Message (SM). In which case the destination address  43  will be the receiving terminal&#39;s telephone number, the sender&#39;s address  45  the sending terminal&#39;s telephone number and the initial router address  47  the Short Message Service Centre telephone number. The content  31  itself is conveyed in a payload portion  49  of the datagram  33 .  
         [0023]     The content  31  contains a value indicative of a control or copyright class  51  to which belongs. This may take the form of a value placed in a sub division  50  of the payload portion  49  or elsewhere within the content  31 . The class  51  is initially assigned to a contents  31  by an application under the control of the right holder or a party authorised by him within the function of a service creation tool (not shown). Such tools are commonly used to create personalisation material such as ringing tones, profile icons, picture messages, screen savers and digital images, to name but some possibilities. The digital rights associated with such material will vary and thus a suite of options is available within the tool to set an appropriate level of protection. Each level of protection will place a different level of restriction on the use a recipient may make of the content  31 . The indication of the class  51  may be performed by setting a bit to a corresponding state. Depending on the resources available, the indication of class  51  may be used to deliver more detailed information relating to the content  31  with which it is associated.  
         [0024]     One of the functions of the terminal UI  19  is to control the delivery of datagrams for a user as exemplified by the delivery of an SM to a mobile terminal  3  connected to a GSM network  1 , for example. When a datagram  33  is received by the terminal  3 , it is placed in the cache  17  which is accessible to the UI but not otherwise accessible to a user operating the terminal  3  in a normal fashion. A UI function examines the payload portion  49  for a value indicative of the control class  51  applied to the content encapsulated by the datagram  33 . As previously mentioned, the value may be placed in a sub-division  50  within the payload portion  49  or indeed any other predetermined location within the datagram  33 .  
         [0025]     The value  51  is then compared by the UI function against a set of pre-existing conditions each representing a set of allowable and prohibited operations in relation to the content  31 . These correspond, of course, to those assignable by the content creation tool. If necessary, these conditions could be varied by a network operator in concert with a right holder, by delivering a new set of conditions to the terminal  3  to reflect changes in a content creation tool.  
         [0026]     By way of example, three conditions and corresponding control value or other indicia may be established in relation to user operations that may be carried out in relation to content  31 . Firstly, that the content  31  may be viewed only; secondly, that the content  31  may be viewed and saved locally within the terminal  3 ; and thirdly, that the content may be viewed, saved locally within the terminal  3  and freely forwardable over the network  1  such as, for example, to other terminals  3 .  
         [0027]     In use, a datagram  33  such as a SM will be received by the terminal  3  to which it is directed and the datagram  33  stored temporarily in the cache  17 . The UI function  19  will subsequently display to the user a message ( FIG. 4 ) indicating that a SM, such as a ringtone, has been received. The user will be given the option at this stage to either open  59  the SM or to discard it by exiting  61  the UI function. In this latter case  61 , the UI function will issue an instruction to clear the cache  17 .  
         [0028]     Presuming the user elects to open  59  the SM one of the three displays illustrated in  FIGS. 5   a,    5   b  and  5   c  will be displayed by the UI function  19  in accordance with the indicia  51  set by the content creation tool. The nature of the display will depend on the indicia  51  associated with the content  31 . Thus, the operations allowed to a user might include, in the case of a ringtone, the playing the ringtone, saving the ringtone for future local use, forwarding the ringtone to another terminal and lastly erasing the ringtone. For different forms of content  31 , it will be appreciated that alterations may be made to the operations available to the user although the operation to save and forward will always be present although perhaps prohibited under certain classes of control.  
         [0029]      FIG. 5   a  represents a terminal  3  display  15  to a user in which the first class of copyright control has been placed upon the content  31 . Thus, the options to save  55 , forward  57  or erase  63  the SM have be greyed out leaving the only option open to the user of playing  53  the ringtone. Such a copyright class would allow a user to access content for promotional or investigatory purposes only. Under this classification, there is no option to retain the SM for later local use or to forward it. Thus, once the UI function  19  has been exited through the requisite menu selections or indeed the terminal has been powered down, the cache  17  is cleared and the SM is no longer available. Clearly, there is no need to enable the option to erase the content  31  as this will occur in any case on exiting the UI function or switching off the terminal.  
         [0030]      FIG. 5   b  represents a terminal  3  display  19  in which a second class of copyright control has been placed upon the content  31 . Thus, the option to forward  57  the content to another terminal has been greyed out leaving the options of playing  53  or saving  55  the content  31  locally are available to the user. Such a control class would allow a user access to content  31  he has purchased without melody the right to disseminate it further.  
         [0031]     Finally,  FIG. 5   c  represents a terminal  3  display  19  in which a third class of copyright control has been placed upon the content  31 . Thus, the options to forward  57 , save  55  and play  53  together with the option to erase  63  the content  31  are available to the user. Such a class would be the default setting for content  31  not attributable to any right holder.  
         [0032]     Depending on the class and options allowed to a user, selection from a menu will result in the UI carrying out the relevant action, which in the case of saving  55  the SM will result in the content  31  being transferred from the cache  17  into the memory non-volatile  11  of the terminal  3 . The remaining options result in the UI operating directly on the content held in the cache  17 .  
         [0033]     It will be appreciated that by placing the copyright control information in a portion  36  of the datagram  33  which remains in the cache  17 , at least until it is saved to the terminal menus  11 , provides basic protection against hacking. Furthermore, once the content  31  has been stored locally, separate security measures may be employed to guard against hacking the copyright control class  51  of the stored content.  
         [0034]     Nevertheless, to protect against more sophisticated hacking, the header portion may further include a checksum value of the entire content held in the payload portion  36 . The UI function could initially determine whether the checksum was correct and if not this would be indicative of either data corruption during the transmission process or an attempt to make an unauthorised change to the copyright control class  51 . For example, a checksum could consist of a simple sum of the sub division  34  and content  31  the payload  34  divided by a pre-selected prime number. The remainder would then serve as an indicator of the integrity of the copyright control class  51 .  
         [0035]     Further security measures such as those necessary to avoid so-called man in the middle attacks or modification of the terminal itself could be defeated by utilising the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and a suitable cryptographic technique. Thus, a PKI based technique would be utilised to establish a secure connection between a pair of terminals  3  or a terminal  3  and a content provider between which a datagram  33  containing copyright content would travel.