Patent ID: 7366915

Claim:
A method, the method being performed with regard to a first digital license corresponding to a piece of encrypted digital content, the encrypted digital content provided via a retailer, the first license including a content key for decrypting the encrypted content, the content key being encrypted, the first license being tied to a first persona by way of the encrypted content key of the first license being decryptable by a first decryption key available only to the first persona; the first license further including referral information specifying a location of a licensor, the method being performed as a computer process on a computing device and comprising: receiving a request from a second persona to render the content by way of the first license; determining that the second persona does not have the first decryption key available only to the first persona and therefore that the first license is not tied to the second persona; denying the request from the second persona based on the first license not being tied to the second persona; obtaining the referral information from the first license, the first license comprising a Universal Resource Locator (URLL) of a site at which the second license may be obtained from the licensor and a friendly name representative of the URL and an identifier (ID) of the first persona; obtaining the location of the licensor specified in the obtained referral information; initiating contact with the licensor at the obtained location; performing a transaction with the contacted licensor at the obtained location to obtain a second license tied to the second persona; receiving the second license from the licensor including the content key for decrypting the encrypted content, the content key in the second license being encrypted, the second license being tied to the second persona by way of the encrypted content key of the second license being decryptable by a second decryption key available only to the second persona; as a result of the transaction obtaining the second license, receiving from the retailer a bounty credit provided to the first persona, the first persona identified using the ID of the first persona in the referral information from the first license; determining that the second persona has the second decryption key available only to the second persona and therefore that the second license is tied to the second persona; granting the request from the second persona based on the second license being tied to the second persona.