Patent ID: 7694342

Claim:
A method for managing the use of electronic content at a user's computing device, the method including: executing an application program on the user's computing device, the application program being capable of rendering electronic content, the application program having at least a first digital certificate associated therewith, the first digital certificate being generated by or on behalf of a first entity comprising an association of one or more content providers, the first digital certificate being associated with the application program if the application program meets certain predefined criteria set by the association, the predetermined criteria including that the application program will handle the electronic content with at least a predefined level of security; requesting the application program to render a piece of electronic content, the piece of electronic content having at least a second digital certificate associated therewith, the second digital certificate being generated by or on behalf of a second entity different from the first entity, and the piece of electronic content further having associated therewith at least one electronic rule, the at least one electronic rule including data specifying one or more conditions associated with rendering the piece of electronic content, the one or more conditions including a condition that the piece of electronic content may be rendered by an application program having the first digital certificate associated therewith; verifying, at the user's computing device, the association of the second digital certificate with the piece of electronic content; using a rights management program running on the user's computing device to examine the data included in the at least one electronic rule and to determine that the piece of electronic content may be rendered by an application program having the first digital certificate associated therewith; verifying the association of the first digital certificate with the application program using the rights management program; and rendering the piece of electronic content using the application program, wherein the piece of electronic content comprises an authorizing document, and the second entity associates the second digital certificate with the authorizing document if the authorizing document originated from a certified entity.