Patent ID: 7437771

Claim:
A method in connection with a first computing device (‘transmitter’) and a second computing device (‘receiver’) interconnected by a network, the transmitter for transmitting protected digital content to the receiver in a manner so that the receiver can access the protected digital content, the method comprising: the transmitter receiving the protected digital content in encrypted form as originally provided by a content provider separate from the transmitter, the protected digital content received by the transmitter being encrypted and decryptable according to a content key (KD) to result in (KD(content)); the receiver registering with the transmitter for providing an indication to the transmitter that the receiver is a trusted component of the transmitter, the receiver registering with the transmitter by sending a registration request to the transmitter, the registration request including a unique identification of the receiver; the transmitter validating the registration request; the receiver sending a session request to the transmitter, the session request including an identification of the protected digital content to the transmitter, an action to be taken with the protected digital content, and the unique identification of the receiver; the transmitter receiving the session request from the receiver, determining from the unique identification of the receiver in the session request that the receiver is in fact registered to the transmitter, obtaining a digital license corresponding to the identified protected digital content in the session request, reviewing a policy set forth in the license to determine that the license allows the transmitter to provide access to the protected digital content to the receiver and also allows the action in the session request, and sending a session response to the receiver, the session response including the policy from the license, the unique identification of the receiver, and the content key (KD) for decrypting the protected digital content, the content key (KD) in the session response being protected in a form obtainable by the receiver, the receiver not receiving any license corresponding to the identified protected digital content from the content provider of the identified protected digital content in response to the session request; the transmitter sending (KD(content)) to the receiver; the receiver receiving the session response and (KD(content)) from the transmitter and not the content provider, retrieving the policy and the protected content key (KD) for decrypting the protected digital content from the session response, confirming that the policy allows the receiver to render the protected digital content, obtaining the content key (KD) from the protected form thereof in the session response, applying (KD) to (KD(content)) to reveal decrypted content obtained from the protected digital content, and then in fact rendering the decrypted content in accordance with the policy.