Abstract:
A method of controlling digital content ( 10 ) is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing a digital file ( 14 ) including a network address ( 22 ), and enabling play of media content within the digital file ( 14 ) by connecting to the network address ( 22 ).

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates broadly to a method of controlling or accessing digital content. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The pirating of films costs the industry vast amounts of money. It is estimated that in 2005 US film studios lost $6.1 billion from the pirating of films. Of this loss, $2.4 billion was from illegal internet downloads. The rapid growth of internet piracy can in part be attributed to the development of peer-to-peer networks, such as Bit Torrent™, which allow downloading of large video files quickly and cheaply. 
         [0003]    The current business model for the marketing of a film is to first release the film for cinema distribution, then releasing the film for DVD distribution 4 months after the cinema release, and then releasing the film for Pay TV 12 months after the cinema release, and finally releasing the film for free-to-air broadcast 24 months after the cinema release. Most film piracy occurs in the period after cinema release and before DVD distribution. 
         [0004]    Furthermore, consumers who obtain pirated films can view the movie without watching advertising that would usually be shown before, after, or during screening. This results in further losses. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    According to the present invention there is provided a method of controlling digital content, the method comprising the steps of:
       providing a digital file including a network address; and   enabling play of media content within the digital file by connecting to the network address.       
 
         [0008]    Preferably the step of providing a digital file includes the step of providing a network address for a network accessible resource in the form of an advertisement. 
         [0009]    Preferably the method of controlling digital content further comprises the step of receiving playback information over the network. More preferably the method of controlling digital content further comprises the step of receiving credit; the amount of credit depending on the playback information received over the network. 
         [0010]    Preferably the step of providing the digital file includes the step of providing a digital file over the internet. More preferably the step of providing the digital file over the interne includes the step of providing the file via a peer-to-peer network or streaming across the web. 
         [0011]    Preferably the step of providing a network address for the network accessible advertisement is after a step of selling network accessible advertising space. 
         [0012]    Preferably the step of providing a network address for a network accessible advertisement includes the step of customising the advertisement to an advertisement viewer&#39;s location. More preferably the step of providing a′network address for a network accessible advertisement includes the step of customising the advertisement to the advertisement viewer&#39;s local time or user preferences. 
         [0013]    According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of accessing digital content, the method comprising the step of:
       a consumer receiving a digital file including a network address; and   enabling play of media content within the digital file by connecting to the network address.       
 
         [0016]    Preferably the step of the consumer receiving the digital file includes the step of the consumer receiving a network address for a network accessible resource in the form of an advertisement. 
         [0017]    Preferably the step of the consumer receiving a network address for the network accessible advertisement includes the step of the consumer sending playback information over the network. 
         [0018]    Preferably the step of the consumer receiving the digital file includes the step of the consumer receiving a digital file over the internet. More preferably the step of the consumer receiving the digital file over the internet includes the step of the consumer receiving the file via a peer-to-peer network or streaming across the web. 
         [0019]    Preferably the step of the consumer receiving a network address for a network accessible advertisement includes the step of the consumer receiving a network address for an advertisement customised to the consumer&#39;s location. More preferably the step of the consumer receiving a network address for a network accessible advertisement includes the step of the consumer receiving a network address for an advertisement customised to the consumer&#39;s local time or user preferences. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0020]    In order to achieve a better understanding of the nature of the present invention a preferred embodiment of a method of controlling or accessing digital content will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  shows a preferred embodiment of a method of controlling or accessing digital content; 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  depicts another embodiment of a method of controlling or accessing digital content; 
           [0023]      FIGS. 3  through to  6  show screen shots of digital content with embedded advertisements; 
           [0024]      FIG. 7  is a diagram of the consumers end of a network of one embodiment of the invention; 
           [0025]      FIG. 8  shows the controlling party charging fees for the embodiment of the method of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0026]      FIG. 9  is a diagram of a PPPOP network of one embodiment of the invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 10  is a diagram of a core advertising network of one embodiment of the invention; 
           [0028]      FIG. 11  shows the inputs and outputs of software that builds an executable file used in the preferred embodiment of the method of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0029]      FIG. 12  summarises the method from the perspective of various involved parties; 
           [0030]      FIG. 13  is a diagram of a network of a content owner of one embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0031]      FIG. 14  is another embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0032]    In order that the nature of the present invention may be more clearly understood, a preferred form thereof will now be described with reference to the following non-limiting examples. 
         [0033]    In one embodiment of the invention, generally shown as  10  in  FIG. 1 , a consumer  12  can download free of charge an executable file  14  to a personal computer  16  using a peer-to-peer network  18 , such as Bit Torrent™, over the internet  20 . The file  14  contains viewable media content and one or more links  22  or network addresses for network accessible resources on one or more remote servers such as  24  and  30 . The media content can be played, at least in part, after the executable file  14  accesses or connects to the link  22  to the network accessible resource. In this embodiment, one network accessible resource is an advertisement  26 . This ensures that the consumer  12  views the media content only if they view the advertisement  26 . In another embodiment the file is streamed to the personal computer rather than downloaded. The media content will not play unless the link  22  to the advertisement  26  functions. There should be an interne connection to the personal computer  16  for the media content to play. This helps ensure that the consumer  12  will view the advertisement  26  if they view, the media content contained in the executable file  14 .  FIG. 2  shows another embodiment of the invention similar to the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
         [0034]      FIGS. 3 through 6  show 11 different screen shots of media, in this case a movie, with embedded advertisements. The advertisements are transferred from the advertisement server  24  by accessing links such as  22 . The screen shot  11  of  FIG. 3  has multiple advertisements including a vertical banner  19 , a horizontal banner  21 , an opaque logo  17 , and a transparent logo  15 . Advertisements such as these fade in and out during play. These advertisements may be either still or animated. The screen shot  11  also includes a ‘bug’  13 , which is a transparent logo that is visible throughout the entire play. The bug  13  may change position during play, which increases the viewer impact. 
         [0035]    The left screen shot  23  of  FIG. 6  includes a banner advertisement  25  which names the song that is currently being played as part of the movie. In some embodiments, the consumer  12  can click on this banner to be taken to a web site from which the song can be purchased. The right screen shot  35  includes a banner  70  that names the IP address of the computer that downloaded the executable  14 . This banner  70  may change its position during play. This acts as a deterrent to people pirating the movie because the IP address is distributed with pirated copies. 
         [0036]    In this embodiment the supported video formats include AVI (any codec), MPEG, MOV, FLV, SWF, DVD, streaming. The supported advertising formats include Animated GIF, GIF, Flash SWF and FLV, AVI (any codec), MPEG, MOV, JPG, PNG, BMP. 
         [0037]    In this embodiment the advertising types used include pre-roll, post-roll, in-roll, dynamic overlay, picture in picture, single or dual overlay, real-time and placement, and interactive advertising. Different types of advertisement servers are supported including a proprietary server of the applicant. 
         [0038]      FIG. 7  is a diagram of the network terminating, in this example, in the consumer&#39;s  12  lounge room  72 . A wireless router/modem  27  is connected to the internet  20 . The consumer  12  can access the internet  20  by an electronic device such as the personal computer  16  or a home laptop  29  connected to the wireless router/modem  27 . 
         [0039]    As the media content is played, the executable file  14  sends playback information in the form of a beacon  28  that registers the play point of the content. The beacon  28  includes the Content Identification Register of the media to identify it. This playback information is sent over the internet  20  to a network accessible resource on a remote server  30 , and used to calculate a fee for the service. For example, based on US$2.00 for an entire play:
       when 0-25% of the executable file is played the controlling party charges US 50 cents;   when 25-50% is played the controlling party charges US 100 cents;   when 50-75% is played the controlling party charges US 150 cents; and   when 75-100% is played the controlling party charges US 200 cents.       
 
         [0044]    As shown in  FIG. 8 , the controlling party  32  charges its fees  34  to the distributor of the media content, and thus receives credit  36  depending on the playback information  28  received by the remote server  30 . As shown in  FIG. 9  this is achieved using a pay per portion of play server  43  (PPPOP), which is part of the core PPPOP network generally indicated at  35 . The Web 2.0 sphere  20  represents where the executable  14  will reside inside the internet  20 , namely on personal computers such as  16 . As content is played from the Web 2.0 sphere  20 , the executable  14  periodically informs the PPPOP network  35  of the portion of the content that has been played. The executable  14  broadcasts a Content Identification Register and registers the portion of play and IP address of the consumer  12  with the PPPOP server  43 . 
         [0045]    The PPPOP server  43  collates Content Identification Register and portion data, allowing the PPPOP server  43  to calculate the fees chargeable. In one embodiment the PPPOP server  43  reports daily and invoices weekly. 
         [0046]    The request is made through to the router  37 , passing over to the load balancing switch  39 . This request is made over an SSL connection (Secure Socket Layer or TCP port  443 ). The load balancing switch  39  passes this request to a web server  41 . The web server  41  processes the request in ASP or XML to drive the data from a SQL database on the SQL Advertising Server  43 . 
         [0047]    The table structure within the SQL Database will be capable of identifying:
       (a) uniquely the content by the Content Identification Register;   (b) the computer on the internet;   (c) the IP address the content is played from;   (d) the date, time, locale, duration of content playback;   (e) the number of adverts streamed;   (f) which adverts have been streamed;   (g) user and password; and   (h) user preferences including advertisement frequency and advertising category.       
 
         [0056]    The advertisement  26  can be changed to suit the consumer&#39;s  12  geographical location and local time. Because the computer  16  is connected to the internet  20 , the computer  16  has an associated IP address. Sometimes, a reverse DNS can find the host&#39;s name which may include the geographical location, or the host may make use of the standard RFC 1876 which is an extension of the DNS specifically including geographical information. Once the geographical location of the host has been determined, a suitable advertisement is placed at the end of the link  22  included in the executable file  14 . For example, if the geographical location is Sydney, Australia and the local time is 7.30 am then a suitable advertisement would be for McDonald&#39;s™ breakfast products. Advertising shown can also be based on user preferences. 
         [0057]    The network accessible advertising space at the end of the link  22  is sold before providing a link  22  to it. The advertising space, in this embodiment, is auctioned to advertisers. The cost of the advertising will thus increase with the popularity of the media content. 
         [0058]    In another embodiment the advertising is dynamic and strategically placed within the media content. 
         [0059]    The advertisements are provided by the core advertising network, generally indicated as  45  in  FIG. 10 . The Web 2.0 sphere, or internet  20 , represents where the executable  14  will reside, namely on personal computers such as  16 . As content is played from the Web 2.0 sphere, the executable  14  will periodically request from the advertising network  45  a logo or animated graphic to place over the top of the content being played. Supported image formats include: GIF; BMP; and JPEG. The graphic or logo will fade in (for example, over 2.5 seconds), remain steady on the screen (for example, for 25 seconds) then fade out over a period (for example, over 2.5 seconds). A good advertisement length is 30 seconds. This process can occur once every 3 minutes during the content presentation. This process may occur at a frequency other than 3 minutes depending on user preferences. The request is made through to the router  47 , passing over to the load balancing switch  49 . This request is made over an SSL connection (Secure Socket Layer on TCP port  443 ). The load balancing switch  49  will pass this request to a web server  51 . The web server  51  processes the request in ASP or XML to drive the data from a SQL database on the SQL Advertising Server  53 . The table structure within the SQL Database will be capable of:
       (a) uniquely identifying by the content through its unique Content Identification Register number;   (b) identifying the computer on the internet;   (c) using the date/time/locale information to provide relevant advertising material based on this criteria;   (d) storing of graphical advertising within the advertising allocation matrix.       
 
         [0064]    A SQL Statistical Analysis Server  55  will be responsible for data collection regarding:
       (a) the IP address the content is played from;   (b) the date, time, locale, duration of content playback;   (c) the number of adverts streamed;   (d) which adverts have been streamed;   (e) username and password; and   (f) user preferences including advertisement frequency and advertising category.       
 
         [0071]    As shown in  FIG. 11 , the executable file  14  is the output of a software based application  38 , the application&#39;s input are the URL&#39;s  40  of advertising links such as  22  and a data file  42  containing the media content. The data file  42  originates from the content producer, who has obtained an International Standard Audiovisual Number (as described at www.isan.org) which is included in the executable. The date file is encrypted using a codec such as AVI (any codec), MPEG, MOV, FLV, SWF, DVD, or streaming. The software  38  also builds a torrent file  44  to allow the executable  14  to be accessed by the Bit Torrent™ System. In some embodiments, however, the executable file  14  can also be burnt/copies onto removable media, such as DVD or a Portable Hard Disk, for distribution. A standard DVD player will not be able to play the executable file  14 , which is undesirable in any case because this may allow the consumer  12  to avoid the viewing of linked advertisements such as  26 . The executable file  14  allows the media content to be played, paused, stopped and resumed only. The creation of executable files is generated by the content distributor  33 . 
         [0072]    It will be appreciated that at least the preferred embodiment allows the originating source of the media content to be verified before it is viewed by the consumer. This can be used to combat piracy of the media content. To help further curb piracy, the viewer&#39;s IP address, date and time of viewing can also be embedded into the movie. 
         [0073]      FIG. 12  summarises the method from the perspective of the content producers, the ad agency, the ad server operator, the consumer, the personal computer and also the pay per portion of play (PPPOP). 
         [0074]    In some embodiments, the executable files are only available to members, in a system of a content owner. The network diagram for such a system is shown in  FIG. 13  and generally indicated as  57 . The web server  59  will present marketing material about up and coming feature films, and requests for members to sign in to collect their torrent file. All transactions occur over a SSL connection. A SQL Database on a SQL server  61  will be structured to maintain: username; password; persons name; email address; country; and other statistics about the user. The other functions for serving the content is similar to or the same as for peer-to-peer networks such as Bit Torrent™. 
         [0075]    In one embodiment, depicted in  FIG. 6  and generally indicated as  63 , the consumer  65  can view common video media with predefined images transferred from the World Wide Web  67  and displayed at regular time intervals. When image display is required, each image is transferred via the Hypertext Transfer Protocol and displayed by behaviour according to the image&#39;s display configuration. Once each image from the configurations list has been displayed, then the image display cycle will start from the first image of the image display configuration list. The image display cycle will continue for the duration of the video media. The operation of this embodiment is as follows:
       1. programme starts with initial image configuration;   2. user has option to create further image configurations with the image configuration dialogue;   3. user opens video media dialogue and selects a video media file to load;   4. the video media starts playing with the option to pause, stop and restart the viewing of the media;   5. commence image display cycle;   6. display first image;   7. display remaining images; and   8. return to first image after last image has been displayed.       
 
         [0084]    Media player features such as menu items, buttons, colours, look and feel are all customisable. 
         [0085]    Each image display configuration is defined by the following display properties:
       Source Image URL, eg http://www.sourcewebsite1.com/source_image.gif;   Image display size (pixels), eg width=150, height=100 pixels;   Image display position (pixels) eg top=50, left=70 pixels;   Image display duration (seconds), eg 300 seconds; and   Image display transparency (%), eg 50%.       
 
         [0091]    In a preferred embodiment the target platform is MS Windows 2000 or XP or Windows Vista. This embodiment may use components/libraries including: Net Framework 1.1; 2.0, 3.0; Direct X 9.x, 10.x; or Direct X 9.x, 10.x SDK. The best known development platform is MS Visual Studio, 2003, 2005 using C#. 
         [0092]    It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. For example, the personal computer could be using a Mircosoft™ Windows™ or Linux™ operating systems, or be an Apple™ Mac™ computer, a Microsoft™ Xbox360™, a Sony Playstation or in the future a purpose built set top box. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.