Patent ID: 7958369

Claim:
A method for multiple level control of access privileges to protected media content, said method comprising: associating first data with media content, said first data dictating scalability of different versions of said media content, wherein said different versions of said media content are produced using said first data, each of said different versions comprising one or more portions of said media content, said one or more portions selected using said first data, wherein said dictating scalability comprises: encoding input data using an encoding scheme to generate encoded input data, said input data comprising values of scalable attributes; and generating scalable profile data for said encoded input data to produce generated scalable profile data, such that a corresponding data segment within said encoded input data is identified for each of said input data, and such that said generated scalable profile data can be scaled without requiring knowledge of said encoding scheme; associating second data with said different versions, said second data identifying respective values of protection attributes used to encrypt said different versions, wherein said respective protection attributes correspond to respective keys that provide respective levels of access to said media content, wherein said identifying comprises generating a protection profile data, said protection profile data comprising a cross-reference of said protection attribute values and corresponding data segments, such that said protection profile data comprises enough information to relate a value of said values of protection attributes with one or more of said corresponding data segments; and transmitting said media content, said first data and said second data to a downstream device, wherein a key at said downstream device is used to access at least one different version of said media content corresponding to a level of access.