Patent ID: 7822201

Claim:
A method of rendering a protected digital bit stream including: receiving the protected digital bit stream; receiving one or more rules controlling access to, or use of, said protected digital bit stream in which the one or more rules specify one or more authorized uses of the protected digital bit stream; passing the protected digital bit stream to a media player, the media player reading first header information identifying a first plugin required to process the protected digital bit stream; the media player calling the first plugin; the media player passing the protected digital bit stream to the first plugin; the first plugin applying the one or more rules to selectively determine whether to proceed with decrypting step and comparing a system identifier included in at least one rule with an identifier associated with the media player, the first plugin decrypting at least a portion of the protected digital bit stream to obtain a decrypted digital bit stream; the first plugin reading second header information identifying a second plugin necessary in order to render the decrypted digital bit stream; the first plugin calling the second plugin; the first plugin passing the decrypted digital bit stream to the second plugin; the second plugin processing the decrypted digital bit stream to obtain a decrypted and processed digital bit stream; the second plugin passing the decrypted and processed digital bit stream to the media player; and the media player enabling rendering of the decrypted and processed bit stream.