Abstract:
A mechanism is provided for consumption based digital content rental. Responsive to validating a request from a user to consume the digital content, one or more discrete units of a plurality of discrete units comprised by the digital content are made available to the user. A timer associated with a selected discrete unit is started that records an agreed-to consumption time for the selected discrete unit. The selected discrete unit is presented to the user and then a determination is made as to whether the tinier indicates that the agreed-to consumption time of the selected discrete unit has expired. When the agreed-to consumption time has expired, consumption of the selected discrete unit is ended white leaving each remaining discrete units in the plurality of discrete unit with its own agreed-to consumption time for the user to consume.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for consumption based digital content rental expiration. 
     Current digital content rental models allow users to rent a piece of digital content, such as a movie, music, game, e-book, or the like, for a given length of time. However, one disadvantage to renting the piece of digital content is that a user may be interrupted while they are utilizing the digital content. Then, before the user can finish enjoying the digital content they have paid for, the time associated with the digital content rental has expired, and the user has to re-rent the piece of digital content, which may discourage users from renting such digital content. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one illustrative embodiment, a method, in a data processing system, is provided for consumption based digital content rental. The illustrative embodiment receives a request from a user to consume the digital content. Responsive to validating the request, the illustrative embodiment makes one or more discrete units of a plurality of discrete units comprised by the digital content available to the user. Responsive to the user selecting a discrete unit of the one or more discrete units to consume thereby forming a selected discrete unit, the illustrative embodiment starts a timer associated with the selected discrete unit that records an agreed-to consumption time for the selected discrete unit. The illustrative embodiment presents the selected discrete unit to the user. The illustrative embodiment determines whether the timer indicates that the agreed-to consumption time of the selected discrete unit has expired. Responsive to an indication that the agreed-to consumption time has expired, the illustrative embodiment ends consumption of the selected discrete unit. In the illustrative embodiment, the consumption of the selected discrete unit ends the consumption of only the selected discrete unit while leaving each remaining discrete unit in the plurality of discrete units with its own agreed-to consumption time for the user to consume. 
     In other illustrative embodiments, a computer program product comprising a computer useable or readable medium having a computer readable program is provided. The computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to perform various ones of, and combinations of, the operations outlined above with regard to the method illustrative embodiment. 
     In yet another illustrative embodiment, a system/apparatus is provided. The system/apparatus may comprise one or more processors and a memory coupled to the one or more processors. The memory may comprise instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform various ones of, and combinations of, the operations outlined above with regard to the method illustrative embodiment. 
     These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be described in, or will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of, the following detailed description of the example embodiments of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention, as well as a preferred mode of use and further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an example diagram of a distributed data processing system in which aspects of the illustrative embodiments may be implemented; 
         FIG. 2  is an example block diagram of a computing device in which aspects of the illustrative embodiments may be implemented; 
         FIG. 3  depicts a functional block diagram of a mechanism for consumption based digital content rental in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; 
         FIGS. 4A and 4B  depicts a flow diagram of the operation performed by a digital content rental mechanism in accordance with an illustrative embodiment; and 
         FIG. 5  depicts a flow diagram of the operation performed by a digital content rental mechanism in retrieving additional discrete units of a plurality of discrete units associated with a requested digital content in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The illustrative embodiments provide consumption based digital content expiration mechanisms for digital rentals. The mechanisms of the illustrative embodiments orient digital content rentals towards consumption rather than solely being based on length of time. In the illustrative embodiments, the digital content is segmented into two or more discrete units. Only after a user has initiated viewing of one discrete unit is a time started for that discrete unit based on the agreed-to expiration time period. Only once consumption of each discrete unit has started and the time period associated with that discrete unit expires, does that discrete unit expire such that the user is no longer able to view that discrete unit of the digital content. 
     Thus, the illustrative embodiments may be utilized in many different types of data processing environments. In order to provide a context for the description of the specific elements and functionality of the illustrative embodiments,  FIGS. 1 and 2  are provided hereafter as example environments in which aspects of the illustrative embodiments may be implemented. It should be appreciated that  FIGS. 1 and 2  are only examples and are not intended to assert or imply any limitation with regard to the environments in which aspects or embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
       FIG. 1  depicts a pictorial representation of an example distributed data processing system in which aspects of the illustrative embodiments may be implemented. Distributed data processing system  100  may include a network of computers in which aspects of the illustrative embodiments may be implemented. The distributed data processing system  100  contains at least one network  102 , which is the medium used to provide communication links between various devices and computers connected together within distributed data processing system  100 . The network  102  may include connections, such as wire, wireless communication links, or fiber optic cables. 
     In the depicted example, server  104  and server  106  are connected to network  102  along with storage unit  108 . In addition, clients  110 ,  112 , and  114  are also connected to network  102 . These clients  110 ,  112 , and  114  may be, for example, personal computers, network computers, or the like. In the depicted example, server  104  provides data, such as boot files, operating system images, and applications to the clients  110 ,  112 , and  114 . Clients  110 ,  112 , and  114  are clients to server  104  in the depicted example. Distributed data processing system  100  may include additional servers, clients, and other devices not shown. 
     In the depicted example, distributed data processing system  100  is the Internet with network  102  representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers, consisting of thousands of commercial, governmental, educational, and other computer systems that route data and messages. Of course, the distributed data processing system  100  may also be implemented to include a number of different types of networks, such as for example, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or the like. As stated above,  FIG. 1  is intended as an example, not as an architectural limitation for different embodiments of the present invention, and therefore, the particular elements shown in  FIG. 1  should not be considered limiting with regard to the environments in which the illustrative embodiments of the present invention may be implemented. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an example data processing system in which aspects of the illustrative embodiments may be implemented. Data processing system  200  is an example of a computer, such as client  110  in  FIG. 1 , in which computer usable code or instructions implementing the processes for illustrative embodiments of the present invention may be located. 
     In the depicted example, data processing system  200  employs a hub architecture including north bridge and memory controller hub (NB/MCH)  202  and south bridge and input/output (I/O) controller hub (SB/ICH)  204 . Processing unit  206 , main memory  208 , and graphics processor  210  are connected to NB/MCH  202 . Graphics processor  210  may be connected to NB/MCH  202  through an accelerated graphics port (AGP). 
     In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter  212  connects to SB/ICH  204 . Audio adapter  216 , keyboard and mouse adapter  220 , modem  222 , read only memory (ROM)  224 , hard disk drive (HDD)  226 , CD-ROM drive  230 , universal serial bus (USB) ports and other communication ports  232 , and PCI/PCIe devices  234  connect to SB/ICH  204  through bus  238  and bus  240 . PCI/PCIe devices may include, for example, Ethernet adapters, add-in cards, and PC cards for notebook computers. PCI uses a card bus controller, while PCIe does not. ROM  224  may be, for example, a flash basic input/output system (BIOS). 
     HDD  226  and CD-ROM drive  230  connect to SB/ICH  204  through bus  240 . HDD  226  and CD-ROM drive  230  may use, for example, an integrated drive electronics (IDE) or serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interface. Super I/O (SIO) device  236  may be connected to SB/ICH  204 . 
     An operating system runs on processing unit  206 . The operating system coordinates and provides control of various components within the data processing system  200  in  FIG. 2 . As a client, the operating system may be a commercially available operating system such as Microsoft® Windows 7®. An object-oriented programming system, such as the Java™ programming system, may run in conjunction with the operating system and provides calls to the operating system from Java™ programs or applications executing on data processing system  200 . 
     As a server, data processing system  200  may be, for example, an IBM® eServer™ System p® computer system, running the Advanced Interactive Executive (AIX®) operating system or the LINUX® operating system. Data processing system  200  may be a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) system including a plurality of processors in processing unit  206 . Alternatively, a single processor system may be employed. 
     Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented programming system, and applications or programs are located on storage devices, such as HDD  226 , and may be loaded into main memory  208  for execution by processing unit  206 . The processes for illustrative embodiments of the present invention may be performed by processing unit  206  using computer usable program code, which may be located in a memory such as, for example, main memory  208 , ROM  224 , or in one or more peripheral devices  226  and  230 , for example. 
     A bus system, such as bus  238  or bus  240  as shown in  FIG. 2 , may be comprised of one or more buses. Of course, the bus system may be implemented using any type of communication fabric or architecture that provides for a transfer of data between different components or devices attached to the fabric or architecture. A communication unit, such as modem  222  or network adapter  212  of  FIG. 2 , may include one or more devices used to transmit and receive data. A memory may be, for example, main memory  208 , ROM  224 , or a cache such as found in NB/MCH  202  in  FIG. 2 . 
     Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in  FIGS. 1 and 2  may vary depending on the implementation. Other internal hardware or peripheral devices, such as flash memory, equivalent non-volatile memory, or optical disk drives and the like, may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Also, the processes of the illustrative embodiments may be applied to a multiprocessor data processing system, other than the SMP system mentioned previously, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     Moreover, the data processing system  200  may take the form of any of a number of different data processing systems including client computing devices, server computing devices, a tablet computer, laptop computer, telephone or other communication device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like. In some illustrative examples, data processing system  200  may be a portable computing device that is configured with flash memory to provide non-volatile memory for storing operating system files and/or user-generated data, for example. Essentially, data processing system  200  may be any known or later developed data processing system without architectural limitation. 
     Again, the illustrative embodiments provide mechanisms that orient digital content rentals towards consumption rather than solely being based on length of time. The illustrative embodiments divide a piece of digital content into two or more discrete units. These discrete units may be, for example, time units, such as seconds, minutes, hours, or the like, or content units, such as pages, chapters, scenes, tracks, levels, or the like. When a user rents a piece of digital content, the mechanism may transfer all or a portion of the digital content to the user&#39;s electronic device for consumption. When the user begins consumption of the digital content, such as through viewing a movie, listening to an album, reading a book, playing a game, or the like, the mechanisms start a timer associated with the discrete unit of the piece of digital content that is being consumed. If the user is interrupted such that the consumption of the discrete unit of the digital content is stopped during the time period associated with that discrete unit, only for that discrete unit do the mechanisms continue to elapse the associated time. Thus, all other discrete units where consumption has not been initiated are still available to the user for the agreed-to time period. 
       FIG. 3  depicts a functional block diagram of a mechanism for consumption based digital content rental in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. Consumption based digital content rental mechanism  300  comprises consumer device  302 , rental server  304 , and content server  306 . The configuration depicted in  FIG. 3  is solely for a logical understanding of the digital content rental mechanism. However, the illustrative embodiments are not limited to only this depiction as one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that one or more of the components may perform the operations of the illustrative embodiments from a single device or multiple devices without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     When user  308  requests access to digital content, digital content request logic  310  in consumer device  302  receives the request for the digital content and forwards the request to digital content rental logic  312  in rental server  304 . Digital content rental logic  312  receives the request, validates user  308  as being a valid user and thus a valid request, and sends an authorization to digital content issuance logic  314  in content server  306 . Digital content issuance logic  314  retrieves one or more discrete units of a plurality of discrete units that make up the requested digital content from digital content repository  316  and sends the one or more discrete units to digital content temporary storage  318  in consumer device  302 . Digital content issuance logic  314  may send only one discrete unit of a plurality of discrete units that make up the digital content, send two or more discrete units but not the entirety of the plurality of discrete units that make up the digital content, or all of the plurality of discrete units that make up the digital content. 
     Upon the one or more discrete units of the requested digital content being stored in digital content temporary storage  318  in consumer device  302 , digital content consumption logic  320  notifies user  308  that one or more discrete units of the requested digital content is available for consumption. Upon a selection by user  308  to consume one discrete unit of the one or more discrete units, digital content consumption logic  320  presents the discrete unit to user  308  through the user of a video device, audio device, and/or other presentation device coupled to consumer device  302 . Once digital content consumption logic  320  initiates the consumption of the discrete unit, digital content consumption logic  320  sends a notification to digital content rental logic  312 . By receiving the notification, digital content rental logic  312  initiates one of discrete unit timers  322  set to the agreed upon time period agreed to by user  308  for the discrete unit. The timer may be a countdown timer which counts down to the expiration of the time period or a stopwatch timer that counts up to the expiration of the time period. 
     If user&#39;s  308  consumption of the discrete unit is in some way interrupted, user  308  still has the remainder of the time period in which to consume the discrete unit. Thus, if user  308  attempts to consume a discrete unit where consumption has already been initiated at least once and where digital content rental logic  312  has already started one of discrete unit timers  322  set to the agreed upon time period, then prior to initiating the consumption of the previously initiated discrete unit, digital content consumption logic  320  sends a request for timer period verification to digital content rental logic  312 . Digital content rental logic  312  verities the time remaining in the agreed to time period as recorded by the associated discrete unit timer  322 . If there is time remaining within the agreed to time period, then digital content rental logic  312  authorizes digital content consumption logic  320  to present the discrete unit to user  308 . However, if there is no time remaining within the agreed to time period, then digital content rental logic  312  signals digital content consumption logic  320  to inform user  308  that the time period associated with the discrete unit has expired. Further, if at any time during consumption of the discrete unit, digital content rental logic  312  determines that the agreed to time period associated with the discrete unit has expired, then digital content rental logic  312  sends a signal to digital content consumption logic  320  to either: end consumption of the discrete unit; inform digital content consumption logic  320  to allow user  308  to continue consumption until such time user  308  interrupts consumption of the discrete unit or consumption of the discrete unit ends; or determine whether consumption of the discrete unit is over a predetermined percentage complete and, if so, allow the user to continue consumption until such time user  308  interrupts consumption of the discrete unit or consumption of the discrete unit ends or, if not, end consumption of the discrete unit. Nevertheless, once the time period associated with the discrete unit has expired and user  308  is no longer consuming the discrete unit, digital content consumption logic  320  prevents the user from consuming only the discrete unit of the digital content where consumption has been initiated and the time period has expired. 
     As stated previously, digital content issuance logic  314  may send only one discrete unit of a plurality of discrete units that make up the digital content, send two or more discrete units but not the entirety of the plurality of discrete units that make up the digital content, or all of the plurality of discrete units that make up the digital content. Therefore, if digital content issuance logic  314  has sent only one discrete unit and so as not to impede user  308  consumption of the digital content, once digital content consumption logic  320  determines that the presentation of the one discrete unit reaches a predetermined location near the end of the discrete unit, digital content consumption logic  320  may send a signal to digital content rental logic  312  to request the next discrete unit from digital content issuance logic  314 . Digital content rental logic  312  validates user  308  as being a valid user and sends authorization to digital content issuance logic  314 . Digital content issuance logic  314  retrieves the next discrete unit of a plurality of discrete units that make up the digital content from digital content repository  316  and sends the next discrete unit to digital content temporary storage  318  in consumer device  302 . 
     In an alternative embodiment, if digital content issuance logic  314  has sent two or more discrete units but not the entirety of the plurality of discrete units that make up the digital content, then digital content consumption logic  320  may determine whether the remaining unconsumed discrete units meets a predetermined number of unconsumed discrete units. If digital content consumption logic  320  determines that the remaining unconsumed discrete units is less that the predetermined number of unconsumed discrete units and there are more discrete units in the plurality of discrete units yet to be consumed, then digital content consumption logic  320  may send a signal to digital content rental logic  312  to request the next one or more discrete units from digital content issuance logic  314 . Digital content rental logic  312  validates user  308  as being a valid user and sends authorization to digital content issuance logic  314 . Digital content issuance logic  314  retrieves the next one or more discrete units of a plurality of discrete units that make up the digital content from digital content repository  316  and sends the next one or more discrete units to digital content temporary storage  318  in consumer device  302 . 
     As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method, or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in any one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer usable program code embodied thereon. 
     Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in a baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     Computer code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, radio frequency (RF), etc., or any suitable combination thereof. 
     Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java™, Smalltalk™, C++, or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
     Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems and computer program products according to the illustrative embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions that implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
       FIGS. 4A and 4B  depicts a flow diagram of the operation performed by a digital content rental mechanism in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. As the operation begins, the digital content rental mechanism, executed by a processor, receives a request for digital content (step  402 ). The digital content rental mechanism then authenticates a user that sent the request (step  404 ). If at step  404  the user is not authenticated, then the digital content rental mechanism sends an error to the user (step  406 ), and the operation terminates thereafter. However, if at step  404  the user is authenticated, then the digital content rental mechanism retrieves one or more discrete units of a plurality of discrete units that make up the requested digital content from a digital content repository (step  408 ). 
     The digital content rental mechanism makes the one or more discrete units available for the user to consume (step  410 ) and notifies the user of the availability (step  412 ). The digital content rental mechanism then determines if the user has provided an indication to consume a selected discrete unit in the one or more discrete units of the requested digital content (step  414 ). If at step  414  the user fails to provide an indication to consume the selected discrete unit, then the operation returns to step  412 . However, if at step  414  the user provides an indication to consume the selected discrete unit, then the digital content rental mechanism starts a timer that will indicate when a time period associated with the consumption of the selected discrete unit expires (step  416 ). The digital content rental mechanism then presents the selected discrete unit to the user (step  418 ). 
     The digital content rental mechanism then determines whether the time associated with the selected discrete unit has expired (step  420 ). If at step  420  the digital content rental mechanism determines that the time has not expired, then the digital content rental mechanism determines whether the consumption of the selected discrete unit has been interrupted (step  422 ). If at step  422  the digital content rental mechanism determines that the consumption has not been interrupted, then the operation returns to step  418 . If at step  422  the digital content rental mechanism determines that consumption has been interrupted, then the digital content rental mechanism determines whether consumption has been reinitiated (step  424 ). If at step  424  the digital content rental mechanism determines that consumption of the selected discrete unit has not been reinitiated, then the operation returns to step  424 . If at step  424  the digital content rental mechanism determines that consumption has been reinitiated, then the operation proceeds to step  420 . 
     If at step  420  the digital content rental mechanism determines that the time associated with the selected discrete unit has expired, then the digital content rental mechanism determines whether there is a predefined setting to allow the user to continue consuming an in-progress consumption (step  426 ). If at step  426  the digital content rental mechanism determines that there is a preference to allow in-progress consumption, then the digital content rental mechanism determines whether the preference is to allow consumption only if a predetermined percentage of the selected discrete unit has been consumed (step  428 ). If at step  428  the digital content rental mechanism determines that the preference is to allow consumption only if a predetermined percentage of the selected discrete unit has been consumed, then the digital content rental mechanism determines whether the predetermined percentage has been consumed (step  430 ). 
     If at step  430  the digital content rental mechanism determines that the predetermined percentage has been consumed, then the operation returns to step  418 . If at step  430  the digital content rental mechanism determines that the predetermined percentage has not been consumed, then the digital content rental mechanism ends the consumption of the selected discrete unit (step  432 ) and sends a notification to the user that the time period has expired (step  434 ), with the operation terminating thereafter. 
     If at step  428  the digital content rental mechanism determines that preference is to allow in-progress consumption regardless of the percentage of consumption, then the operation returns to step  418 . If at step  426  the digital content rental mechanism determines that there is no preference to allow in-progress consumption, then the operation proceeds to step  432 . 
       FIG. 5  depicts a flow diagram of the operation performed by a digital content rental mechanism in retrieving additional discrete units of a plurality of discrete units associated with a requested digital content in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. As the operation begins, a digital content rental mechanism, executed by a processor, determines whether all discrete units in the plurality of discrete units associated with a requested digital content have been made available for the user to consume (step  502 ). If at step  502  the digital content rental mechanism determines that all discrete units associated with the requested digital content have been made available for the user to consume, then the operation terminates. If at step  502  the digital content rental mechanism determines that not all of the discrete units associated with the requested digital content have been made available for the user to consume, then the digital content rental mechanism determines whether unconsumed discrete units made available for the user to consume are less than a predetermined number of unconsumed discrete units that should be available (step  504 ). If at step  504  the digital content rental mechanism determines that the unconsumed discrete units made available for the user to consume are more than or equal to the predetermined number of unconsumed discrete units that should be available, then the operation returns to step  504 . If at step  504  the digital content rental mechanism determines that the unconsumed discrete units made available for the user to consume are less than the predetermined number of unconsumed discrete units that should be available, then the digital content rental mechanism makes one or more additional discrete units available for the user to consume (step  506 ), with the operation retuning to step  502  thereafter. 
     The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart, illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     Thus, the illustrative embodiments provide mechanisms for consumption based digital content rental expiration. The mechanisms of the illustrative embodiments orient content rentals towards consumption rather than solely being based on length of time. In the illustrative embodiments, the digital content is segmented into two or more discrete units. Only after a user has initiated viewing of one discrete unit is a time started for that discrete unit based on the agreed-to expiration time period. Only once each discrete unit is viewed in its entirety and the time period associated with that discrete unit expires, does that discrete unit expire such that the user is no longer able to view that discrete unit of the digital content. 
     As noted above, it should be appreciated that the illustrative embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In one example embodiment, the mechanisms of the illustrative embodiments are implemented in software or program code, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. 
     A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution. 
     Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers. Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modems, and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters. 
     The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.