Patent ID: 7644443

Claim:
A content distribution method for performing content transaction management comprising the steps of: (a) distributing content by transmitting a secure container from a secure container distributing device to a plurality of user devices, said secure container being generated by a content provider and comprising: (i) the content, said content being encrypted by a content key; (ii) container information comprising conditions relating to a content transaction; (iii) a first section containing information relating to transmitting said secure container to the plurality of user devices; and (iv) a second section comprising a person identification certificate (IDC) and an IDC identifier list to authenticate a user of a receiving device, said IDC comprising a biometric information template encrypted in one of a plurality of manners which is identifiable in the IDC identifier list; (b) performing authentication of the user, when the secure container is transmitted among the plurality of user devices, based on the IDC and the IDC identifier list; wherein one of the user devices is a secure container distributing device which (1) receives a primary distribution including the secure container from the content provider and verifies the authenticity of the secure container, (2) decrypts and extracts the encrypted biometric information template stored in the IDC, and (3) is configured to compare sampling information input by a user of a receiving device which is one of the user devices with the decrypted biometric information template to authenticate the user of the receiving device, and wherein performing authentication of a user further comprises the steps of: (i) comparing biometric sampling information input by a user with the biometric information template; and (ii) distributing, with the secure container distributing device, the content key for encrypting the content stored in the secure container, after the the user of the receiving device is authenticated.