Patent ID: 8744969

Claim:
A system comprising: a processor; a memory storing executable instructions that when executed by the processor causes the processor to perform the method steps of: forwarding digital content from a rendering application to a destination, and defining a path between said rendering application and said destination, said path being defined by at least one module; and a digital rights management system including a black box that releases encrypted digital content to said rendering application for distribution to said destination by way of said path, said black box comprising a black box processor and a memory storing executable instructions that when executed by the black box processor causes the black box processor to perform an authentication of at least a portion of the path to determine whether each defining module thereof is to be trusted to appropriately handle the digital content passing therethrough, wherein said black box processor performs the authentication by performing the steps of: traversing the at least a portion of the path to develop a map of each module in the path, authenticating each module in the map, and for each module in the at least a portion of the path, receiving from the module a certificate as issued by a certifying authority, determining from the received certificate whether such received certificate is acceptable for purposes of authenticating the module, checking a revocation list to ensure that the received certificate has not been revoked, and refusing to decrypt the encrypted digital content if at least one module in the at least a portion of the path fails to provide an acceptable certificate, said black box decrypting the encrypted digital content if in fact each such defining module is to be trusted and forwarding the decrypted digital content to the rendering application for further forwarding to the destination by way of the authenticated path.