Patent Abstract:
The invention discloses a method and system for dynamically modifying files in a shared file network, such as Peer to Peer network. Files may be modified by inserting advertising into the file before passing it on to the end user. Files may be modified to create audible artifacts thus making them less likely to be copied by an end user. The audible artifacts may be removed should the user pay a licensing fee for the file. Files may also be modified to add digital rights management information so that the file may not be utilized without the appropriate key. Files may also be modified by inserting tracking information to include such information as the date of download and the IP address of the site providing the file.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    Files are often shared on the Internet with little regard for copyright holder rights. This sharing may be via the World Wide Web (WWW), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), peer-to-peer file sharing, and other means. Currently the only recourse a copyright rights holder has is to apply for court injunctions to prevent unlicensed distribution of their property. It is very difficult and costly to obtain such injunctions against an individual user who downloads a movie, image, song or other copyrighted material. At the time of filing this application, the copyright holders are directing their infringement charges to the intermediary software providers that facilitate the distribution of the material. Such intermediary providers would not only be those that provide services such as KaZaA, Morpheus and Napster but also the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that support such services.  
           [0002]    In addition to dealing with copyright issues, rights holders may also wish to modify the material as it is distributed for a variety of reasons. For example, a rights holder may wish to add advertising material to the file to help them recover the costs of distribution. They may wish to add targeting information to the material to aid them in tracking the material for marketing analysis or other statistical uses. Further, a rights holder may wish to add Digital Rights Management (DRM) information to the material.  
           [0003]    Thus there is a need for a system to dynamically modify files transferred within a network for a variety of reasons. The present invention addresses this need.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The present invention is directed to a file modification device for dynamically modifying content as the content transfers through a network.  
           [0005]    The present invention is further directed to a method of dynamically modifying content as the content transfers through a network, the method having the steps of:  
           [0006]    a) examining the content;  
           [0007]    b) determining if a modification to the content is required;  
           [0008]    c) if a modification is required, selecting the type of modification and performing the modification selected to create modified content;  
           [0009]    d) outputting the content or the modified content. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it can be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of data flow within a network;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a logical flowchart of the overall process of the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a logical flowchart illustrating insertion of an advertisement in an audio file;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a logical flowchart illustrating audio quality reduction;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a logical flowchart illustrating insertion of digital rights management; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is a logical flowchart illustrating insertion of tracking information. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]    The present invention does not block the sharing of files, but rather modifies the files as they cross the network. One method of modification is to provide advertising, thus providing the content of the file with advertising support much like radio or television transmissions. Another method of modification would be to provide digital rights management, so that a fee would have to be paid so that the downloaded file may be used fully. Other modification mechanisms may include personalizing a file as it is downloaded in order to track it as it is redistributed. Such tracking information may be useful beyond the legal issues, for example to monitor use for marketing efforts.  
         [0018]    In a peer-to-peer network, a device installed in the network may monitor file exchanges. An example of such a device is disclosed in the applicant&#39;s co-pending application titled “Path Optimizer For Peer To Peer Networks”, application Ser. No. 10/138,336, filed on May 6, 2002, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Such a device, might instead of blocking a known stolen file, modify the contents of the file to lower the quality, thus rendering it less desirable.  
         [0019]    This content modification may be reversible by paying a fee for the file, thus providing digital rights management and monetary flow back to the rights holder. In a web-based model, this network-based device would be similar to a web-cache.  
         [0020]    Referring now to FIG. 1 a block diagram of data flow within a network is shown generally as  10 . File Sharer  12 , for example a computer executing a peer-to-peer file sharing application, sends a requested file via link  16  to network router  14 . Router  14  transfers the file to file modification device  18  via link  20 . File modification device  18  makes the appropriate changes to the file, and passes it back to network router  14  via link  22 . Network router  14  then forwards the file via link  24  to file downloader  26  where the file is received by the original requester. It is not the intent of the inventor to restrict the present invention to the network topography shown in FIG. 1; this is simply one example of how the present invention may be utilized.  
         [0021]    Referring now to FIG. 2 a logical flowchart of the overall process of the present invention is shown generally as  30 . Process  30  would be utilized in file modification device  18  of FIG. 1. Content is received at step  32 . Content may be any form of material that the rights holder may wish to protect. Examples include, but are not limited to: single images or streaming video, sound files, and text files. At step  34  a test is made to determine if a modification to the content is required. Determining if a modification is required requires the recognizing of content. This may be done by file name, matching patterns in the content, computing content signatures, by associated metadata such as Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME), computing a signature or hash over the contents, or other means. If no modification is required, processing moves to step  46  where the content is forwarded to the appropriate device or process. In the present example this would be router  14  of FIG. 1.  
         [0022]    If at step  34  it has been determined a modification is required, processing moves to step  36  where the type of modification is selected. Process  30  illustrates four possible types of modification namely:  
         [0023]    1) The insertion of advertising as shown at step  38 ;  
         [0024]    2) The reduction of quality as shown at step  40 ;  
         [0025]    3) The addition of Digital Rights Management (DRM) information as shown at step  42 ; and  
         [0026]    4) The addition of tracking information as show at step  44 . Steps  38 ,  40 ,  42  and  44  modify the content provided at step  32  and then provide that modified content to step  46  for distribution.  
         [0027]    It is not the intent of the inventor to restrict the types of modification to those illustrated by steps  38 ,  40 ,  42  and  44 , they serve only as examples.  
         [0028]    We will now discuss the functionality provided by steps  38 ,  40 ,  42  and  44  with reference to FIGS. 3, 4,  5  and  6  respectively.  
         [0029]    Referring to FIG. 3 a logical flowchart illustrating insertion of an advertisement in an audio file is shown generally as process  50 . Although this example is directed to inserting advertisements in mp3 files, a similar technique may be applied to other forms of content, such as video or electronic books.  
         [0030]    By way of example, advertising content could be added to the ID3 textual description flag in mp3 audio. Alternatively advertising content could be pre-pended to the audio, or overlay the audio. This advertising space could be sold to pay the royalty associated with the media that is transferred, and targeted to the end-user or receiver of the content.  
         [0031]    At step  52  the audio content is received and passed to step  54  where it is decoded. At step  56  one or more advertisements are extracted from database  58  and added to the content. The merged advertisements and content are then encoded at step  60 . Once encoded the modified content is output at step  46 , which is the same step  46  as shown in FIG. 2.  
         [0032]    Referring now to FIG. 4 a logical flowchart illustrating audio quality reduction is shown generally as process  70 . Although process  70  is directed to reducing the quality content of mp3 audio, a similar technique may be applied to other forms of content. In process  70  the audio amplitude (volume) could be truncated in precision, e.g. reduced from 16 bits to 12 bits, so that the audio sounded more “grainy” or slightly distorted. It would still be possible for a listener to determine if they liked the content, but the listener would be less inclined to record it onto a CD and listen to it later, they would be more inclined to buy the licensed and higher quality version. This may be viewed as a try-before-you buy mechanism.  
         [0033]    Beginning at step  72  the content is received and at step  74  the amplitude of the signal is extracted. At step  76  the value of the amplitude is then shifted right 4 logical bits and passed to step  78  where the original amplitude is replaced with the modified amplitude. The resulting modified content is then output at step  46 , which is the same step  46  of FIG. 2.  
         [0034]    Referring now to FIG. 5 a logical flowchart illustrating insertion of digital rights management is shown generally as process  80 . Continuing with our example of content being an audio file, to add digital rights management to an mp3 file, a technique could be employed where a pseudorandom number is generated. For each file transferred, each time it is transferred, a different pseudorandom number would be chosen. A mathematical function is then used to generate a modifying sequence of numbers based on the initial seed. This could be used, for example, to add audible artifacts to the amplitude as discussed early with regard to process  70 . Thus, the song would still be usable, but of lower quality. For a price, the user downloading the content could obtain the random number and the inverse modifying sequence, and the already-downloaded file could be returned to its original state.  
         [0035]    Beginning at step  82  the audio content is received and at step  74  the amplitude of the signal is extracted. This is the same step  74  of process  70  (see FIG. 4). At step  84  a random number is generated and at step  86  the random number is XORed with the amplitude. The result of step  86  is then used to replace the original amplitude in the content. This is the same step  78  of process  70  (see FIG. 4). The modified content is then output at step  46 , which is the same step  46  of FIG. 2.  
         [0036]    As one skilled in the art will recognize, a more sophisticated algorithm than a simple XOR with a generated modification value could be employed at steps  84  and  86 . It is not the intent of the inventors to restrict the present invention to any specific algorithm. Process  80  is reversible by supplying the modification values to the end user to decode the content.  
         [0037]    Referring now to FIG. 6 a logical flowchart illustrating insertion of tracking information is shown generally as process  90 . Content is received at step  92  and passed to step  94  where the type of content is determined. As discussed herein, content may take many forms, including by not limited to: audio, video, electronic books or other material. Depending upon the type of content a decision is made at step  96  to determine what form of tracking should be introduced into the content. For example, in an mp3 file the tracking would involve the use of an ID3 tag. For mpeg files, a private PID may be utilized. Further, the tracking to be added would be application dependent and configurable. Tracking information could include: the IP addresses of the provider of the content, the time of day the content was sent out, and other data. The tracking information may be inserted in a number of content specific ways, including the use of digital watermarking techniques. At step  98  the content is modified based upon the information from steps  94  and  96  and then output at step  46  that is the same step  46  of FIG. 2.  
         [0038]    Configuration of file modification device  18  (FIG. 1) would permit the recognition of content by numerous means, including but not limited to: name, patterns within the content, or a digital signature or computed content signatures, for example MD5 or SHA-1 hash. Configuration of device  18  would also allow making the appropriate decision for the appropriate end-user transparently and without the end-user being able to circumvent the device.  
         [0039]    Although the present invention has been described as being a process to be implemented in software, one skilled in the art will recognize that it may be implemented in hardware as well. Further, it is the intent of the inventors to include computer readable forms of the invention. Computer readable forms meaning any stored format that may be read by a computing device.  
         [0040]    Although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments, various modifications thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as outlined in the claims appended hereto.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6