Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/EP2180420A2/en
Timestamp: 2020-05-29 05:19:08
Document Index: 332838965

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 61', 'art 400', 'art 400', 'art 400', 'art 400', 'art 400', 'art 400', 'art 400', 'art 400', 'art 400']

EP2180420A2 - System and method for unlocking content associated with media - Google Patents
EP2180420A2
EP2180420A2 EP09012204A EP09012204A EP2180420A2 EP 2180420 A2 EP2180420 A2 EP 2180420A2 EP 09012204 A EP09012204 A EP 09012204A EP 09012204 A EP09012204 A EP 09012204A EP 2180420 A2 EP2180420 A2 EP 2180420A2
EP09012204A
EP2180420A3 (en
EP2180420B1 (en
2009-09-25 Application filed by Disney Enterprises Inc filed Critical Disney Enterprises Inc
2010-04-28 Publication of EP2180420A2 publication Critical patent/EP2180420A2/en
2012-12-05 Publication of EP2180420A3 publication Critical patent/EP2180420A3/en
2019-06-05 Publication of EP2180420B1 publication Critical patent/EP2180420B1/en
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/196,875, filed on October 20, 2008 , which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Figures 1A and 1B show conventional solutions for providing a consumer of media with an authentication key to unlock associated content. Conventional package 100a, in Figure 1A, includes media 102, in the form of a book, enclosed in wrapper 106. As shown in Figure 1A, authentication key 104, which may be an alphanumeric code, for example, is printed onto or attached to wrapper 106. Wrapper 106 may be a shrinkwrap cover protecting media 102 during distribution or display, for example. Authentication key 104 may be air printed onto wrapper 106, or printed onto an adhesive label affixed to wrapper 106. A consumer in possession of package 100a can enjoy media 102, and utilize authentication key 104 to access, or unlock, supplemental content associated with media 102.
Turning to Figure 1B, conventional package 100b in that figure includes media 102, again represented as a book, and authentication key 104 provided on insert 108, which is distributed with media 102. As in the previous figure, a consumer in possession of package 100b may enjoy media 102, and utilize authentication key 104 to access, or unlock, supplemental content associated with media 102. One advantage of the conventional solutions shown by Figures 1A and 1B is that otherwise indistinguishable units of packaged media, such as multiple copies of the book represented by media 102, are rendered distinctive and identifiable by being distributed with a physically separable object, i.e., wrapper 106 or insert 108, which bears a unique authentication key.
The disadvantages associated with the solutions shown by Figures 1A and 1B are several and significant, however. For example, because for both packages 100a and 100b, authentication key 104 is provided on an object separable from media 102, and produced independently from media 102, those separable objects, i.e., wrapper 106 or insert 108, must be combined with media 102 prior to their distribution to a consumer. That required combining step may be labor or resource intensive, as well as time consuming, and may represent a substantial additional production or distribution cost. In addition, and perhaps even more disadvantageously, because authentication key 104 is not bonded to media 102, but rather to physically separable wrapper 106 or insert 108, authentication key 104 may fairly readily be separated from media 102.
Figures 1A shows a conventional solution for providing a consumer of media with an authentication key to unlock associated content;
Figures 1B shows another conventional solution for providing a consumer of media with an authentication key to unlock associated content;
Figure 2 shows an example of media provided so as to enable unlocking of associated content by a consumer in possession of the media, according to one embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 shows a block diagram of a system for unlocking content associated with media, according to one embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 4 is a flowchart presenting a method to unlock content associated with media, according to one embodiment of the present invention.
The inventor recognizes the drawbacks and deficiencies in the conventional art, and has developed a novel solution for unlocking content associated with media that successfully overcomes the failings of conventional approaches. Figure 2 shows an example of media provided so as to enable unlocking of associated content by a consumer in possession of the media, according to one embodiment of the present invention. Package 200, in Figure 2, shows media 202, in the form of a book, having authentication key 204 selected from the contents of media 202, or in the present embodiment, from individual human readable words making up the text of the book.
The mechanism by which the result shown in Figure 2 is accomplished will be more fully explained in conjunction with following Figures 3 and 4. For the time being, it is enough to appreciate that according to the various embodiments of the present invention, authentication key 204 is fully integrated with, and not physically separable from media 202. As a result, authentication key 204 cannot be lost or discarded by a consumer of media 202, independently of media 202, making it less likely that the consumer would inadvertently relinquish access to associated content unlocked by authentication key 204. Moreover, the consumer cannot suffer loss of authentication key 204 through theft during distribution or display of media 202 because authentication key 204 is derived from the purchased product itself, in other words, from the contents of the media. In addition, because authentication key 204 cannot be separated from media 202, and as will be explained shortly, may be generated dynamically through interaction of the consumer with a content coordinator or content coordination system, the consumer cannot share authentication key 204 with others without relinquishing possession of media 202, making improper distribution of the associated content unlocked by authentication key 204 less likely.
As shown in Figure 2, authentication key 204 comprises the three words "big red balloon" corresponding to combination of the words "big" 203a, "red" 203b, and "balloon" 203c, appearing in the text on page twenty-three of the book represented by media 202. Thus, considering the number of words contained in a typical printed media, the number of letters making up those words, and the possible combinations of the words and/or letters, a practically infinite number of authentication keys can be generated from the contents of media 202. The consumer in possession of media 202 may be unable to identify authentication key 204 within those contents without guidance, however. That guidance may be provided by a content coordinator, in the form of a web server, accessible online through a personal computer or other client system, or through voice or data communication with a human customer service representative acting in that capacity, for example. Whatever form it takes, the content coordinator can guide the consumer to particular addresses or locations within media 202, at which elements of authentication key 204 have been determined to reside.
According to the embodiment of Figure 2, for example, a consumer in possession of media 202 and attempting to access supplemental content associated with media 202 would be prompted to turn to page twenty-three of the book and combine, in order, the fifth word from the beginning of the first paragraph (i.e., "big" 203a), the sixth word from the end of the first paragraph (i.e., "red" 203b), and the ninth word from the beginning of the second paragraph (i.e., "balloon" 203c), to produce the combination "big red balloon," matching authentication key 204. Although in the present embodiment, media 202 is represented as a book, in other embodiments media 202 may correspond to any human readable content that is packaged for distribution to consumers. Thus, for the purposes of the present application, media may comprise any printed media such as books, magazines, newsletters, or other periodicals, for example, or any other discrete arrangement of meaningful colors, shapes, or symbols, such as scrolls, etched or inlaid surfaces, playing or trading cards, or game boards, for example.
Furthermore, although in the embodiment of Figure 2, authentication key 204 is shown to comprise three human readable words selected from a common page of a book, in other embodiments authentication key 204 may comprise more or fewer content units, which may themselves be human readable words, symbols, raised or indented elements, or colors, for example, or combinations of such content units. In those embodiments, the one or more content units comprised by encryption key 204 need not be commonly located on the same page or reside together in a distinguishable subset of the media, such as a section or chapter, for example. Thus, the content units comprised by authentication key 204 may be as few as one, or may be numerous, and may be widely separated across the contents of media 202. In addition to the representation of authentication key 204 as comprising human readable words, as shown in Figure 2, in other situations in which media 202 is a book or other printed media, for example, the key data from which authentication key 204 is generated may include information such as the number of words in a particular line, or the identities of specific letters located at an address on a line. For example, in those embodiments, key data may include numbers, such as the number of words on line fourteen of page twenty-four, or individual letters, such as the fifth letter of the third word on line five of page twenty-one, and the like.
The mechanism by which authentication key 204 is generated for media 202 and identified by a consumer in possession of media 202 will now be further explained by reference to Figure 3. Figure 3 shows a block diagram of system 300 for unlocking content associated with media, according to one embodiment of the present invention. System 300 comprises server 310 interactively linked to supplemental content storage 320 including supplemental content 322. As shown in Figure 3, server 310 includes processor 312, memory 314 storing key data 317 in media database 316, and authentication module 318. Authentication module 318, under the control of processor 312, is capable of accessing data stored in media database 316. Figure 3 also shows consumer 338 in possession of book 302, in communication with system 300 through client system 330 and packet network 328. Book 302, in Figure 3, corresponds to media 202, in Figure 2, while key data 317 comprises data which corresponds to content units within book 302 (content units not shown in Figure 3), which in turn may be seen to correspond to the content unit human readable words "big" 203a, "red" 203b, and "balloon" 203c, in Figure 2.
According to the embodiment of Figure 3, consumer 338 may utilize client system 330 and packet network 328 to access server 310. Server 310 may then utilize processor 312 to interact with authentication module 318 and unlock supplemental content 322 associated with book 302. Supplemental content 322 associated with the media (e.g., book 302) may comprise one or more digital media files, for example, containing content relevant to book 302. In some embodiments, unlocking supplemental content 322 may correspond to authorizing temporary or permanent access to content associated with the media, such as one or more digital media files residing in supplemental content storage 320. In other embodiments, however, unlocking supplemental content 322 may authorize consumer 338 to subsequently arrange for transfer of supplemental content 322, such as one or more digital media files, to his or her possession, perhaps through purchase and/or download of supplemental content 322 to client system 330 over packet network 328, for example.
It is noted that although in the present embodiment, supplemental content 322 has been described as comprising one or more digital media files, that is merely an example of the form supplemental content 322 may take. In other embodiments, supplemental content 322 associated with the media may comprise other items of media, such as printed media, recorded video or film content, recorded music content, or objects, such as tokens, plush toys, or prizes, for example. Moreover, although in the embodiment of Figure 3, client system 330 is represented as a personal computer (PC), in other embodiments client system 330 may correspond to another type of personal communication device, such as a mobile telephone, digital media player, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablet computer, or a wired or wireless gaming console, for example.
As shown in Figure 3, in one embodiment, unlocking of supplemental content 322 associated with book 302 is mediated directly by authentication module 318 on server 310, accessed through packet network 328. In that embodiment, authentication module 318 may comprise a web application, accessible over a packet network such as the Internet, for example. In other embodiments, however, unlocking of supplemental content 322 may be mediated by a human content coordinator utilizing authentication module 318, such as a customer service representative engaging in voice or data communication with consumer 338, for example. Furthermore, it is noted that although in the embodiment of Figure 3, supplemental content storage 320 is shown to reside apart from server 310, such as, for example where distribution of supplemental content 322 is managed by a content distribution clearinghouse, in other embodiments, supplemental content 322 may be stored on server 310.
Although the present discussion has thus far described authentication module 318, in Figure 3, as residing on server 310, more generally, authentication module 318 may comprise a software module stored on any suitable computer-readable medium. For example, instructions for performing steps comprising identifying a media, generating an authentication key using one or more key data from a set of key data contained in the media, determining an address in the media of one or more content units corresponding respectively to each of the one or more key data used to generate the authentication key, requesting the at least one content unit at the determined address, receiving user data in response to the request, comparing the user data with the one or more key data used to generate the authentication key, and unlocking the content associated with the media if the user data matches the authentication key, may be stored on a computer-readable medium, for execution by a processor.
The expression "computer-readable medium," as used in the present application, refers to any medium that provides instructions to a computer or processor, such as processor 312 on server 310, in Figure 3. Thus, a computer-readable medium may correspond to various types of media, such as volatile media, non-volatile media, and transmission media, for example. Volatile media may include dynamic memory, such as dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM), while non-volatile memory may include optical, magnetic, or electrostatic storage devices. Transmission media may include coaxial cable, copper wire, or fiber optics, for example, or may take the form of acoustic or electromagnetic waves, such as those generated through radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) communications. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), DVD, or other optical disc; a RAM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH memory, or a transmission carrier wave.
Figures 2 and 3 will now be further described in conjunction with Figure 4, which presents a flowchart of a method for execution by a processor to unlock content associated with media, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The steps shown in flowchart 400 are merely exemplary, however, so that a step may consist of one or more substeps or may involve specialized equipment or materials, as known in the art. While steps 410 through 470 indicated in flowchart 400 are sufficient to describe one embodiment of the present method, other embodiments may utilize steps different from those shown in flowchart 400, or may include more, or fewer steps.
Beginning with step 410 in Figure 4, and referring to system 300 in Figure 3, step 410 of flowchart 400 comprises identifying the media, or, as in the embodiment of Figure 3, identifying book 302. Identification of book 302 may be performed by authentication module 318, under the control of processor 312, for example, from inputs provided by consumer 338 seeking to access and unlock supplemental content 322 associated with book 302. Authentication module 318 may identify book 302 by comparison of identifying data provided by consumer 338 to the contents of media database 316, for example.
Flowchart 400 continues with step 420, comprising generating an authentication key using one or more key data from a set of key data contained in the media. Step 420 may be performed by authentication module 318, under the control of processor 312, for example, by accessing media database 316 in which key data 317 are stored. Referring to Figure 2, a set of key data contained by media 202 may include all words contained in media 202, including every word appearing on displayed page twenty-three, for example. In one embodiment, generation of authentication key 204 may be performed by processor 312 and authentication module 318, in Figure 3, using a random sequence generator, or other suitable algorithm for selecting key data corresponding to the individual words making up "big red balloon." Although authentication key 204 is shown to include three words, in other embodiments, authentication key 204 may comprise only one word, or two words, or more than three words, for example. In still other embodiments, authentication key 204 may comprise the number and/or identity of specific letters located on one or more pages of media 202.
In step 430 of flowchart 400, the address or location in the media, of the content unit corresponding respectively to each of the key data used to generate the authentication key, is determined. Once again, step 430 may be performed by authentication module 318, under the control of processor 312, by reference to media database 316. In the embodiment of Figure 2, for example, three key data were used to generate authentication key 204. Those three key data correspond to the three content units, in that case human readable words, "big" 203a, "red" 203b, and "balloon" 203d. The addresses of those words may be determined according to various criteria, such as page number, line number, paragraph number, word number, and the like, to describe the location of each content unit.
Step 440 comprises requesting the content unit at each address determined in step 440. Step 440 may correspond to a message being generated by authentication module 318, under the control of processor 312, being sent from server 310 to client system 330, for example, requesting the user of client system 330, e.g. consumer 338, to provide the content unit or units appearing at the specified respective address or addresses. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, for example, such a message may request the user to input, in order, the fifth word from the beginning of the first paragraph on page twenty-three, the sixth word from the end of the first paragraph on the same page, and the ninth word from the beginning of the second paragraph on that page. Authentication module 318, under the control of processor 312, may then, in step 450 of the method of flowchart 400, receive user data responsive to the request issued in step 440.
Continuing with step 460 of flowchart 400, step 460 comprises comparing the user data with the key data used to generate the authentication key in step 420. Step 460 may be performed by authentication module 318, under the control of processor 312, by reference to key data 317 in media database 316. Where the user, e.g. consumer 338, in Figure 3, is actually in possession of the media, such as media book 202, in Figure 2, authentication key 204 can be readily provided through compliance with the request issued in step 440. For example, consulting the instructions provided in the previous paragraph, we find that the requested content units are the words "big" 203a, "red" 203b, and "balloon" 203c, which, in the requested order, match authentication key 204.
Thus, when a legitimate attempt to unlock supplemental content 322 is undertaken by consumer 338 in possession of book 302, consumer 338 is able to provide the content units requested in step 440. As a result, step 470 of flowchart 400 comprises unlocking associated supplemental content 322 if the user data received from consumer 338 in step 450 matches authentication key 204, shown in Figure 2. Step 470 may correspond to directions provided by authentication module 318, under the control of processor 312, to supplemental content storage 320, unlocking access to supplemental content 322 for consumer 338 on agreed upon terms, for example. Where an individual other than consumer 338 attempts to access supplemental content 322 associated with book 302, but is not in possession of book 302, however, the request issued in step 440 cannot be complied with, advantageously disabling access to associated supplemental content 322 for that individual, under those circumstances.
A system for unlocking a content associated with a media, the system comprising:
The system of claim 1, wherein the media comprises one of printed media, a book, a periodical publication, a trading card, or a game board.
The system of any of claims 1 and 2, wherein the authentication key includes a human readable word selected from the contents of the media.
The system of any of claims 1-3, wherein the content associated with the media comprises a digital media file.
The system of any of claims 1-4, wherein unlocking the content associated with the media includes authorizing a user of a client system to access the content associated with the media.
The system of any of claims 1-5, wherein unlocking the content associated with the media includes authorizing a user of a client system to transfer the content associated with the media to the client system.
A computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions comprising an authentication software module which, when executed by a processor, perform a method for unlocking a content associated with a media, the method comprising:
The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the authentication key includes a human readable word selected from the contents of the media.
The computer-readable medium of any of claims 7 and 8, wherein the content associated with the media comprises a digital media file.
A method for execution by a processor to unlock a content associated with a media, the method comprising:
The method of claim 10, wherein the media comprises one of printed media, a book, a periodical publication, a trading card, or a game board.
The method of any of claims 10 and 11, wherein the authentication key includes a human readable word selected from the contents of the media.
The method of any of claims 10-12, wherein the content associated with the media comprises a digital media file.
The method of any of claims 10-13, wherein unlocking the content associated with the media includes authorizing a user of a client system to access the content associated with the media.
The method of any of claims 10-14, wherein unlocking the content associated with the media includes authorizing a user of a client system to transfer the content associated with the media to the client system.
EP09012204.5A 2008-10-20 2009-09-25 System and method for unlocking content associated with media Active EP2180420B1 (en)
EP2180420A2 true EP2180420A2 (en) 2010-04-28
EP2180420A3 EP2180420A3 (en) 2012-12-05
EP2180420B1 EP2180420B1 (en) 2019-06-05
EP09012204.5A Active EP2180420B1 (en) 2008-10-20 2009-09-25 System and method for unlocking content associated with media
WO2013025392A2 (en) * 2011-08-12 2013-02-21 Redbox Automated Retail, Llc System and method for applying parental control limits from content providers to media content
EP1624609B1 (en) * 2000-01-21 2011-08-24 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Encryption data processing apparatus and method
TWI226619B (en) * 2003-11-04 2005-01-11 Ind Tech Res Inst CD-ROM with controllable reading times and the method thereof
US20100100726A1 (en) 2010-04-22
CN104601685B (en) 2019-03-12 A kind of method for playing music and device of intelligent sound box
US8768852B2 (en) 2014-07-01 Determining phrases related to other phrases
JP3831695B2 (en) 2006-10-11 Game system and server device
US8190519B1 (en) 2012-05-29 Electronic gifting
Ipc: G06F 21/00 20060101AFI20121029BHEP
Ipc: G06Q 30/00 20120101ALI20121029BHEP
Ref document number: 602009058592
Ipc: G06F 21/10 20130101AFI20190307BHEP
Ipc: G06F 21/34 20130101ALI20190307BHEP
Ipc: G06Q 30/02 20120101ALI20190307BHEP
Ref document number: 1140721