Patent ID: 7689823

Claim:
A content distribution method for distributing content from a plurality of content providers, comprising: encoding and converting content to a content stream; encrypting the encoded content stream using a data encryption tool; generating a specific Content ID according to the content; generating intellectual property management and protection (IPMP) Tool Information containing information needed to decrypt content encrypted by the data encryption tool; generating an IPMP Tool Information flag indicating the presence of the IPMP Tool Information; compiling a data stream from the IPMP Tool Information flag, the IPMP Tool Information, the specific Content ID, and the encrypted content stream; and generating separate IPMP Tool Information containing information required to decrypt encrypted content distributed by a second content provider of the plurality of content providers and encrypted using a second data encryption tool, wherein the IPMP Tool Information for the content encrypted by a first content provider of the plurality of content providers and the separate IPMP Tool Information for the content encrypted by the second content provider of the plurality of content providers are included in the data stream, wherein generating the IPMP Tool Information comprises: allocating an IPMP Tool ID from a pre-defined ID table that identifies a plurality of encryption tools used for encrypting each content, said pre-defined ID table defining a list of identifiers of IPMP tools; allocating a location type ID indicating the type of location where the data encryption tool is located; and allocating location details information indicating the specific location where the data encryption tool is located.