Patent ID: 8141165

Claim:
A method performed by an electronic appliance comprising a processor and a memory encoded with program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic appliance to perform the method, the method comprising: receiving, by the electronic appliance, a first electronic object, the first electronic object specifying one or more permitted uses of a group of electronic content objects, the first electronic object further comprising one or more decryption keys for decrypting one or more content items contained in said group of electronic content objects; receiving, by the electronic appliance, via separate delivery from the first electronic object, a first electronic content object, the first electronic content object being protected separately from the first electronic object and comprising an identifier and an encrypted first piece of electronic content, wherein the first electronic content object is a member of said group of electronic content objects; and using tamper resistant software to govern use of the first piece of electronic content in accordance with the one or more permitted uses specified by the first electronic object, including using at least one of the one or more decryption keys to decrypt the first piece of electronic content.