Patent Publication Number: US-2007097422-A1

Title: Information storage medium in which digital contents are recorded, and method and system of managing digital contents

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION  
      This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2005-103786, filed Nov. 1, 2005, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      Aspects of the present invention relate to a method of preventing unauthorized use of digital contents, and, more particularly, to an information storage medium in which digital contents are configured such that they may be reproduced only by a user having authorization to do so, and a method and a system of producing and reproducing the digital contents.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Recently, portable devices such as MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) players, portable multimedia players (PMPs), digital camcorders, and digital cameras, have become widely used. Meanwhile, the use of digital contents including music and moving picture files has rapidly grown as well. As such, digital contents may be freely copied and moved using the Internet or digital devices. In detail, the digital contents may be freely used by an anonymous user via the Internet and easily transmitted to another person. However, often the digital contents are misused and copied by anonymous users in contrast to the intentions of an author of the digital contents. Accordingly, demand, within the digital contents industry and others, for content securement technology to prevent the illegal usage of digital contents is urgently required.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Aspects of the present invention provide an information storage medium in which digital contents are recorded, and a method and system of producing, downloading, providing, and reproducing digital contents, so as to fundamentally block unauthorized usage of the digital contents.  
      The present invention also provides a method and a system to manage digital contents, in which identity information of a user device to reproduce the digital contents is recorded, the digital contents being reproduced in the user device only when a user of the user device is authorized.  
      According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storing medium in which digital contents are recorded, wherein the digital contents comprise device information to identify a user device and digital data, the device information being used to determine a state of a usage authorization of the digital contents.  
      The user device may be a device to reproduce the digital contents.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storing medium in which digital contents are recorded, the information storing medium comprising: a data area in which audio and/or video data is stored; a header area in which header information about the audio and/or video data is stored; and an added information area in which additional information about the audio and/or video data is stored, wherein device information to identify a user device is recorded in at least one of the data area, the header area, and the added information area, the device information being used to determine a state of a usage authorization of the digital contents.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing digital contents, the method comprising: obtaining digital data; and inserting device information to identify a user device into the digital data to produce the digital contents.  
      The obtaining of the digital data may comprise: receiving an audio and/or video signal from an audio and/or video signal source; and encoding the audio and/or video signal in a predetermined format to transform the audio and/or video signal into the digital data.  
      The encoding of the audio and/or video signal into the digital data may further comprise producing digital data including a data area in which audio and/or video data is stored, a header area in which header information about the audio and/or video data is stored, and an added information area in which additional information about the audio and/or video data is stored, wherein the inserting of the device information may comprise inserting the device information into at least one of the data area, the header area, and the added information area.  
      The inserting of the device information may comprise: extracting identity information of a device for reproducing the digital data; and inserting the extracted identity information into the digital data.  
      The inserting of the device information may comprise: decoding the obtained digital data; and encoding the decoded data in a predetermined format and inserting the device information.  
      The obtaining of the digital data may comprise downloading the digital data from a remote server.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing digital contents, the method comprising: receiving an audio and/or video signal from an audio and/or video signal source; extracting device information to identify a user device; and encoding the audio and/or video signal in a predetermined format and inserting the device information.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing digital contents, the method comprising: receiving device information to identify a user device; inserting the received device information into digital contents to be provided; and transmitting the digital contents in which the device information is inserted.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of reproducing digital contents, the method comprising: reading device information included in the digital contents, reading device information from a user device reproducing the digital contents, comparing the device information of the digital contents with the device information of the user device, and determining whether the digital contents are to be reproduced according to the comparison result.  
      The determining of whether or not the digital contents are to be reproduced may comprise determining to reproduce the digital contents if it is determined that the device information of the digital contents is identical to the device information of the user device.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server providing digital contents, the server comprising: a digital contents storing unit to store the digital contents; a data transceiver to receive a digital contents request comprising device information to identify a user device and to transmit the requested digital contents to a client requesting the digital contents; and a digital contents transforming unit to obtain the requested digital contents from the digital contents storing unit, to insert the transmitted device information into the obtained digital contents to produce digital contents to be transmitted to the client, and to output the digital contents to the data transceiver.  
      According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for reproducing digital contents, the system comprising: a digital contents storing unit to store the digital contents; and a digital contents reproducing unit to obtain the digital contents to be reproduced from the digital contents storing unit, to compare device information inserted in the obtained digital contents with its own device information, and to determine whether the obtained digital contents are to be reproduced.  
      The system may further comprise: a data transceiver to receive the digital contents via a network; and a digital contents transforming unit to insert its own device information into the received digital contents and storing the digital contents in the digital contents storing unit.  
      Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
       FIG. 1A  illustrates a digital contents file format in which device information is recorded, according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 1B  illustrates a digital contents file format in which device information is recorded, according to another embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 1C  illustrates a digital contents file format in which device information is recorded, according to another embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  illustrates an information flow structure among a portable device, a network device, and a contents providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating a method of producing digital contents according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating a method of downloading digital contents according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing digital contents according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating a method of reproducing digital contents according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 7  illustrates a structure of a digital contents providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 8  illustrates a structure of a system for reproducing digital contents according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS  
      Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.  
       FIG. 1A  illustrates a digital contents file format in which device information is recorded, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 1A , a digital contents file comprises device information  10  and digital data  20 . The device information  10  is identity information to identify a user device to reproduce digital contents. The device information  10  may be a serial number or a model name of a device or other similar data that identifies the user device. The device information  10  is used to determine whether the user device is authorized to reproduce the digital contents when the digital contents are reproduced. The digital data  20  is an area in which data to be protected is recorded.  
       FIG. 1B  illustrates a digital contents file format in which device information is recorded, according to another embodiment of the present invention. Generally, a digital multimedia contents file, such as an MP3 file, comprises a data area  40 , in which audio and/or video data is stored, a header area  30  in which header information about audio and/or video data is stored, and an added information area  50 , in which additional information about audio and/or video data is stored. Various information about a corresponding file including the format or the size of a file is recorded in the header area  30 . The additional information including a title, an artist, a manufacturer, creation day and time of the contents stored in the data area  40  is recorded in the added information area  50 . As shown in  FIG. 1B , device information  10  to identify the user device is recorded in the header area  30 .  
       FIG. 1C  illustrates a digital contents file format in which device information is recorded, according to another embodiment of the present invention. As in  FIG. 1B , a digital contents file comprises a header area  30 , a data area  40 , and an added information area  50 . Here, however, device information  10  about the user device is recorded in the added information area  50 .  
      According to the embodiments of the present invention described above, the device information  10  is inserted into the header area  30  or the added information area  50 . However, it is noted that the location of the device information  10  is not restricted to the locations discussed above. In fact, the device information  10  may be inserted in any location defined in advance. When a reproducing device reproduces the digital contents recorded in the above-described information storage medium, the reproducing device compares device information thereof with device information recorded in the digital contents and reproduces the digital contents where the device information is found to be substantially identical.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates an information flow structure among a portable device  220 , a network device  230 , and a contents providing server  210 , according to an embodiment of the present invention. The portable device  220  may comprise devices, such as an MPEG Audio Layer-3 (MP3) player or a portable media player (PMP), that are capable of reproducing digital contents. The network device  230  is a device, such as a personal computer (PC) or a personal digital assistant (PDA), that is equipped with a network function. The contents providing server  210  is a system providing the digital contents to the portable device  220  or the network device  230 . Moreover, an authentication server  240  to process the authentication of a device to be provided when the contents are provided may be additionally connected. This authentication processing may be performed in the contents providing server  210  with the contents providing function.  
      In the portable device  220 , when requesting the digital contents from the contents providing server  210  and if device information, which is identity information about the portable device  220 , is transmitted, the server  210  inserts the device information, requested by the portable device, into the digital contents and produces and transmits new digital contents. The portable device  220 , which receives the new digital contents, reads the device information inserted into the contents before reproducing the contents, compares the device information with its own device information and determines whether the contents are to be reproduced. The portable device  220  may be implemented to reproduce the received digital contents only when its own device information is identical or substantially identical to the device information of the contents. Consequently, unauthorized reproduction of the digital contents is impossible even if another user of the portable device  220  tries to illegally copy the digital contents and to use them.  
      The digital contents are provided to the network device  230  from the contents providing server  210  in the same way or in a substantially similar manner as the manner in which the digital contents are provided the portable device  220 .  
      When a user tries to reproduce digital contents in the portable device  220 , the user usually downloads the digital contents to the network device  230  such as a PC and then downloads them from the network device  230  to the portable device  220 . In this case, the network device  230  serves as a server that provides the digital contents. The portable device  220  receives the digital contents from the network device  230 , inserts its own device information and then stores the digital contents in a memory. The digital contents stored in the portable device  220  can then still not be reproduced because they were illegally copied to the network device  230 .  
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating a method of producing digital contents according to an embodiment of the present invention. Firstly, an operation of obtaining digital data needs to be performed. The acquisition of the digital data is performed by obtaining digital data from an arbitrary source or receiving and encoding an audio/video (A/V) signal from an external A/V signal source.  FIG. 3  illustrates the latter case. Referring to  FIG. 3 , first, the A/V signal is received from the external audio/and video signal source in operation S 302 . Identity information of a user device granted with an authority to reproduce the digital contents is extracted in operation S 304 . The received audio and/video signal is encoded in a predetermined format and transformed into digital data in operation S 306 . The device information is inserted in the digital data in operation S 308  and digital contents produced are output in S 310 . The digital contents generated using this process may be generated in one of the digital contents file formats illustrated in  FIGS. 1A through 1C  or, of course, in other formats.  
      By inserting the device information into the digital data, the digital contents are produced as digital data that is already encoded in the predetermined format. As in  FIG. 3 , here, the obtained digital data may be in one of the digital contents file formats illustrated in  FIGS. 1A through 1C  or, of course, in other formats. That is, the device information may be recorded in one or more areas among the header area  30 , the data area  40 , and the added information area  50  illustrated in  FIGS. 1B and 1C . According to the file format of the digital data, in order to insert the device information into encoded digital data, first, the digital data needs to be again decoded. In this case, when the decoded digital data is encoded again, the device information is inserted into the digital data.  
      Even in the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , there are some encoding methods, in which the device information needs to be inserted into the encoded digital data when encoding the audio and/video signal. In this case, operations S 306  and S 308  are simultaneously performed.  
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating a method of downloading digital contents according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 4 , the digital contents are received from a server in operation S 402 , device information is inserted into the received digital contents in operation S 404  and new digital contents are produced. As is described above, while the digital contents are being encoded again in a predetermined format after the digital contents are decoded, the device information may be inserted into the encoded digital data.  
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing digital contents according to another embodiment of the present invention. If device information is received from a user device by a server in operation S 502 , the received device information is sent to an authentication server and the user device is authenticated in operation S 504 . If the user device is determined to be authorized, the device information is inserted into digital contents which the user device requests in operation S 506  and the newly produced digital contents are transmitted to the user device in operation S 508 . Even at this time, while the digital contents are being encoded again in a predetermined format after the digital contents are decoded, the device information may be inserted into the encoded digital data.  
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating a method of reproducing digital contents according to another embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 6  illustrates a process where produced or provided digital contents are reproduced in a user device using the method illustrated in  FIG. 5 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , first, device information is read from the digital contents in operation S 602 . Thereafter, device information of the user device itself is read in operation S 604  and is compared with device information, which is read from the digital contents, in operation S 606 . According to the comparison result, whether the user device is authorized to allow the digital contents to be reproduced is determined in operation S 608 . For example, the digital contents are allowed to be reproduced only when device information of the digital contents is identical to the device information of the user device. Therefore, the digital contents cannot be reproduced in an unauthorized device, in which device information of the digital contents is not identical to the device information of the user device.  
       FIG. 7  illustrates a structure of a digital contents providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the digital contents providing server includes a digital contents storing unit  730  to store digital contents for a contents provision service, a data transceiver  710  to provide for communications with external devices, and a digital contents transforming unit  720  to produce the digital contents transmitted to a client that requests the digital contents.  
      The digital contents providing server re-encodes the requested digital contents in a predetermined format to provide the digital contents. That is, the digital contents transforming unit  720  obtains the digital contents requested from the digital contents storing unit  730 , inserts device information received from the client into the obtained digital contents, produces new digital contents to be transmitted to the client and transmits them through the data transceiver  710 .  
       FIG. 8  illustrates a structure of a system of reproducing digital contents according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the system includes a digital contents storing unit  830  to store the digital contents, and a digital contents reproducing unit  840  to obtain and reproduce the digital contents to be reproduced from the digital contents storing unit  830 . The digital contents reproducing unit  840  determines whether the digital contents are to be reproduced before reproducing the digital contents read from the digital contents storing unit  830 . That is, the digital contents reproducing unit  840  itself determines whether the digital contents reproducing unit  840  is authorized to reproduce the digital contents. The digital contents reproducing unit  840  compares device information, inserted into the digital contents, that is to be reproduced, with its own device information. The digital contents reproducing unit  840  then determines whether to reproduce the digital contents based on this comparison. For example, the digital contents reproducing unit  840  reproduces the digital contents only when the device information inserted into the digital contents is identical to its own device information.  
      Moreover, when the system of reproducing digital contents receives a digital contents providing service from an external server, the system further includes a data transceiver  810  receiving the digital contents through a network, and a digital contents transforming unit  820  to produce data in which its own device information is inserted into the received digital contents and storing the data in the digital contents storing unit  830 . In this way, the digital contents in which device information is inserted and which are re-encoded cannot be reproduced without authorization in another reproducing device. Alternatively, the reproduction system transmits the device information to the external server through the data transceiver  810  when requesting the digital contents from the external server. The external server uses the device information for authenticating the reproduction system and/or producing new digital contents that only the reproduction system can use.  
      In accordance with aspects of the present invention, the methods and systems discussed above may be embodied as computer readable codes recorded on a computer readable recording medium to execute the methods and systems.  
      As is described above, in an information storage medium in which digital contents are recorded according to aspects of the present invention, and the method and system for managing digital contents according to aspects of the present invention, the use of the digital contents is fundamentally prevented in an unauthorized user device, and consequently, counterfeiting of the digital contents is prevented.  
      Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.