Patent Document

TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The technical field relates to data sharing and more particularly, to apparatus, systems and methods for sharing data content between a plurality of receiving devices, such as set-top boxes, that are located at distinct user locations. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     In one embodiment, a system is provided to facilitate secure content sharing between a plurality of set-top boxes. The system includes a satellite communication system; a plurality of set-top boxes communicatively coupled to the satellite communication system, each set-top box of the plurality of set-top boxes being located at a distinct respective customer premises; and a distribution server communicatively coupled to the satellite communication system, the distribution server configured to provide access control information via the satellite communication system to a first set-top box of the plurality of set-top boxes and to at least a second set-top box, the access control information enabling the first set-top box to share content of the first set-top box with the second set-top box. 
     The first set-top box of the system being configured to receive via the satellite communication system from the distribution server the access control information, to share content of the first set-top box for use by the second set-top box, and to restrict access to the shared content based at least in part on the access control information received by the first set-top box, such that the second set-top box has access to the shared content and other set-top boxes of the plurality of set-top boxes do not have access to the shared content; and the second set-top box being configured to receive via the satellite communication system from the distribution server the access control information, and to access the shared content of the first set-top box based at least in part on the access control information received by the second set-top box. 
     In another embodiment, a method for securely sharing data is provided. The method includes: under control of a first set-top box located at a first customer premises, receiving first access control information via a content distribution system; sharing data of the first set-top box for use by a second set-top box, the second set-top box being located at a distinct second customer premises, the second set-top box having received second access control information via the content distribution system; and restricting, based at least in part on the first access control information, access to the shared data in such a manner that the second set-top box can access the shared data based at least in part on the second access control information. 
     In some embodiments, the method may include: under control of the second set-top box, determining a second cryptographic key based on the second access control information; receiving the shared data from the first set-top box restricted for access by the second set-top box; and decrypting at least a portion of the shared data with the second cryptographic key. 
     In another embodiment, a method is provided to facilitate secure content sharing between a plurality of set-top boxes. The method includes: under control of a distribution server, receiving a request to enable access for a second set-top box to content of a first set-top box, the first set-top box located in a first customer premises and the second set-top box located in a second customer premises distinct from the first customer premises; and providing to the first and second set-top boxes, via a program distribution system, access control information that enables the first and second set-top boxes to securely share content. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other. Like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an example communication system in which embodiments of a secure content sharing system may be implemented. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment a secure content sharing system. 
         FIGS. 3A-3B  illustrate examples of interactions between portions of an example embodiment of a secure content sharing system. 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of example computing systems suitable for executing example embodiments of a secure content sharing. 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram of an example content sharing access service process. 
         FIGS. 6A-6B  are flow diagrams of example content sharing client processes. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A. Environment Overview 
       FIG. 1  is an overview block diagram illustrating an example communication system  102  in which embodiments of a secure content sharing system may be implemented. It is to be appreciated that  FIG. 1  illustrates just one example of a communications system  102  and that the various embodiments discussed herein are not limited to such systems. Communication system  102  can include a variety of communication systems and can use a variety of communication media including, but not limited to, satellite wireless media. 
     Although various embodiments of the secure content sharing system are discussed with respect to a satellite communication system/network, the various described techniques may apply to other types of content distribution systems, including but not limited to, cable systems, fiber optic systems, telephony systems, and the like. In addition, in various embodiments, a content distribution system may provide various types of content, including, but not limited to, audio (e.g., music, audio books, etc.), video (e.g., television programs, movies, user-generated content, etc.), and other data content. 
     Audio, video, and/or data service providers, such as, but not limited to, television service providers, provide their customers located at one or more customer premises  116  a multitude of audio/video and/or data programming (hereafter, collectively and/or exclusively “programming”). Such programming is often provided by use of a receiving device  118  communicatively coupled to a presentation device  120  configured to receive the programming. 
     Receiving device  118  interconnects to one or more communications media or sources (such as a cable head-end, satellite antenna, telephone company switch, Ethernet portal, off-air antenna, or the like) that provide the programming. The receiving device  118  commonly receives a plurality of programming by way of the communications media or sources described in greater detail below. Based upon selection by the user, the receiving device  118  processes and communicates the selected programming to the one or more presentation devices  120 . 
     For convenience, the receiving device  118  may be interchangeably referred to as a “television converter,” “receiver,” “set-top box,” “television receiving device,” “television receiver,” “television recording device,” “satellite set-top box,” “satellite receiver,” “cable set-top box,” “cable receiver,” “media player,” and/or “television tuner.” Accordingly, the receiving device  118  may be any suitable converter device or electronic equipment that is operable to receive programming. Further, the receiving device  118  may itself include user interface devices, such as buttons or switches. In many applications, a remote  128  is operable to control the presentation device  120  and other user devices  122 . 
     Examples of a presentation device  120  include, but are not limited to, a television (“TV”), a personal computer (“PC”), a sound system receiver, a digital video recorder (“DVR”), a compact disk (“CD”) device, game system, or the like. Presentation devices  120  employ a display  124 , one or more speakers, and/or other output devices to communicate video and/or audio content to a user. In many implementations, one or more presentation devices  120  reside in or near a customer&#39;s premises  116  and are communicatively coupled, directly or indirectly, to the receiving device  118 . Further, the receiving device  118  and the presentation device  120  may be integrated into a single device. Such a single device may have the above-described functionality of the receiving device  118  and the presentation device  120 , or may even have additional functionality. 
     A plurality of content providers  104   a - 104   i  provide program content, such as television content or audio content, to a distributor, such as the program distributor  106 . Example content providers  104   a - 104   i  include television stations which provide local or national television programming, special content providers which provide premium based programming or pay-per-view programming, or radio stations which provide audio programming. 
     Program content, interchangeably referred to as a program, is communicated to the program distributor  106  from the content providers  104   a - 104   i  through suitable communication media, generally illustrated as communication system  108  for convenience. Communication system  108  may include many different types of communication media, now known or later developed. Non-limiting media examples include telephony systems, the Internet, internets, intranets, cable systems, fiber optic systems, microwave systems, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”) systems, frame relay systems, digital subscriber line (“DSL”) systems, radio frequency (“RF”) systems, and satellite systems. Further, program content communicated from the content providers  104   a - 104   i  to the program distributor  106  may be communicated over combinations of media. For example, a television broadcast station may initially communicate program content, via an RF signal or other suitable medium, that is received and then converted into a digital signal suitable for transmission to the program distributor  106  over a fiber optics system. As another nonlimiting example, an audio content provider may communicate audio content via its own satellite system to the program distributor  106 . 
     In at least one embodiment, the received program content is converted by one or more devices (not shown) as necessary at the program distributor  106  into a suitable signal that is communicated (i.e., “uplinked”) by one or more antennae  110  to one or more satellites  112  (separately illustrated herein from, although considered part of, the communication system  108 ). It is to be appreciated that the communicated uplink signal may contain a plurality of multiplexed programs. The uplink signal is received by the satellite  112  and then communicated (i.e., “downlinked”) from the satellite  112  in one or more directions, for example, onto a predefined portion of the planet. It is appreciated that the format of the above-described signals are adapted as necessary during the various stages of communication. 
     A receiver antenna  114  that is within reception range of the downlink signal communicated from satellite  112  receives the above-described downlink signal. A wide variety of receiver antennae  114  are available. Some types of receiver antenna  114  are operable to receive signals from a single satellite  112 . Other types of receiver antenna  114  are operable to receive signals from multiple satellites  112  and/or from terrestrial based transmitters. 
     The receiver antenna  114  can be located at a customer premises  116 . Examples of customer premises  116  include a residence, a business, or any other suitable location operable to receive signals from satellite  112 . The received signal is communicated, typically over a hard-wire connection, to a receiving device  118 . The receiving device  118  is a conversion device that converts, also referred to as formatting, the received signal from antenna  114  into a signal suitable for communication to a presentation device  120  and/or a user device  122 . Often, the receiver antenna  114  is of a parabolic shape that may be mounted on the side or roof of a structure. Other antenna configurations can include, but are not limited to, phased arrays, wands, or other dishes. In some embodiments, the receiver antenna  114  may be remotely located from the customer premises  116 . For example, the antenna  114  may be located on the roof of an apartment building, such that the received signals may be transmitted, after possible recoding, via cable or other mechanisms, such as Wi-Fi, to the customer premises  116 . 
     The received signal communicated from the receiver antenna  114  to the receiving device  118  is a relatively weak signal that is amplified, and processed or formatted, by the receiving device  118 . The amplified and processed signal is then communicated from the receiving device  118  to a presentation device  120  in a suitable format, such as a television (“TV”) or the like, and/or to a user device  122 . It is to be appreciated that presentation device  120  may be any suitable device operable to present a program having video information and/or audio information. 
     User device  122  may be any suitable device that is operable to receive a signal from the receiving device  118 , another endpoint device, or from other devices external to the customer premises  116 . Additional non-limiting examples of user device  122  include optical media recorders, such as a compact disk (“CD”) recorder, a digital versatile disc or digital video disc (“DVD”) recorder, a digital video recorder (“DVR”), or a personal video recorder (“PVR”). User device  122  may also include game devices, magnetic tape type recorders, RF transceivers, and personal computers (“PCs”). 
     Interface between the receiving device  118  and a user (not shown) may be provided by a hand-held remote device  128 . Remote  128  typically communicates with the receiving device  118  using a suitable wireless medium, such as infrared (“IR”), RF, or the like. Other devices (not shown) may also be communicatively coupled to the receiving device  118  so as to provide user instructions. Non-limiting examples include game device controllers, keyboards, pointing devices, and the like. 
     The receiving device  118  may receive programming partially from, or entirely from, another source other than the above-described receiver antenna  114 . Other embodiments of the receiving device  118  may receive locally broadcast RF signals, or may be coupled to communication system  108  via any suitable medium. Non-limiting examples of medium communicatively coupling the receiving device  118  to communication system  108  include cable, fiber optic, or Internet media. 
     Customer premises  116  may include other devices which are communicatively coupled to communication system  108  via a suitable media. For example, but not limited to, some customer premises  116  include an optional network  136 , or a networked system, to which receiving devices  118 , presentation devices  120 , and/or a variety of user devices  122  can be coupled, collectively referred to as endpoint devices. Non-limiting examples of network  136  include, but are not limited to, an Ethernet, twisted pair Ethernet, an intranet, a local area network (“LAN”) system, or the like. One or more endpoint devices, such as PCs, data storage devices, TVs, game systems, sound system receivers, Internet connection devices, digital subscriber loop (“DSL”) devices, wireless LAN, WiFi, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (“WiMax”), or the like, are communicatively coupled to network  136  so that the plurality of endpoint devices are communicatively coupled together. Thus, the network  136  allows the interconnected endpoint devices, and the receiving device  118 , to communicate with each other. Alternatively, or in addition, some devices in the customer premises  116  may be directly connected to the communication system  108 , such as the telephone  134  which may employ a hardwire connection or an RF signal for coupling to communication system  108 . 
     A plurality of information providers  138   a - 138   i  are coupled to communication system  108 . Information providers  138   a - 138   i  may provide various forms of content and/or services to the various devices residing in the customer premises  116 , such as receiving device  118 , user device  122 , and/or PC  132 . For example, information provider  138   a  may provide requested information of interest to such devices, such as audio, video, and/or other types of data. Information providers  138   a - 138   i  may further perform various transactions on behalf of a user of a receiving device, such as when a user purchases a product or service via a receiving device  118  and/or one or more other devices of the user. 
     The above description of the communication system  102  and the customer premises  116 , and the various devices therein, is intended as a broad, non-limiting overview of an example environment in which various embodiments of a secure content sharing system may be implemented. The communication system  102  and the various devices therein, may contain other devices, systems and/or media not specifically described herein. The customer premises  116  may differ from one customer to another, may contain fewer, more and/or other devices, systems and/or media than those described herein. 
     As noted above, the content providers  104   a - 104   i , the information providers  138   a - 138   i , and/or the program distributor  106  may provide program content and/or various other types of content to a receiving device  118 . In some embodiments, the content providers  104   a - 104   i , the information providers  138   a - 138   i , and/or the program distributor  106  may restrict access to program content and/or other types of content, such that distributed content may only be viewed by and/or otherwise accessed by authorized users. In some instances, access to program content may be controlled by encrypting the program content, such that only authorized devices and/or users may access the program content. For example, if the program distributor provides content via a satellite network comprising antenna  110  and satellite  112 , then any person in possession of a receiving device  118  may receive the signal or signals carrying the program content and thereby access the program content. In order to control access to the program content, the program distributor  106  may encrypt the program content prior to its transmission, such that even if an unauthorized receiving device  118  receives the program content, it cannot access the program content unless it can obtain one or more appropriate decryption keys. 
     The receiving device  118  may store or otherwise have access to program content and/or other types of content received from various sources (e.g., content providers  104   a - 104   i , information providers  138   a - 138   i , program distributor  106 ), such as for use by a user of the receiving device. For example, in some embodiments, the receiving device may store program content, such as for playback to a user of the receiving device  118  using DVR/PVR technology, pay-per-view services, and the like. Program content may include television programs, movies, etc., and/or portions thereof (e.g., clips). In addition, the receiving device may store or otherwise have access to various other types of content that may be presented by or otherwise used by a receiving device, such as including other audio/video content (e.g., user-generated content), audio content (e.g., music), image content (e.g., photographs), and/or various other types of information. In various embodiments, such program content and other content may be stored on various storage medium accessible to the receiving device  118 , including one or more hard disks included in the receiving device  118  and/or other devices that the receiving device may access via a communication link (e.g., user device  122 , PC  132 ), and/or other storage media (including removable storage media). 
     The various embodiments disclosed herein, provide techniques to facilitate secure sharing of program content and/or other content stored on and/or otherwise accessible to a receiving device  118  located at a customer premises  116  with a group of one or more other receiving devices  118  located at one or more other customer premises  116 , such that the group of one or more other receiving devices  118  may present or otherwise utilize the shared content. For example, such techniques may allow a customer A to share such content of a receiving device located at customer A&#39;s premises, with a group of one or more other customers (e.g., friends, family, etc.) located at other customer premises, such that the one or more other customers may obtain the shared content for presentation and/or use by receiving devices located at the premises of the one or more other customers. After having received and/or otherwise acquired shared content from customer A&#39;s receiving device, the shared content may be presented by or otherwise used by the receiving devices of the one or more other customers, such as for presentation on an associated presentation device (e.g., presentation device  120 ), displaying on a television or other display, playing on a speaker, or the like. Shared content of a receiving device located at a first customer premises may be provided to or otherwise obtained by a group of other receiving devices located at other customer premises in various ways in various embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, shared content may be transmitted between receiving devices, such as via a communication network (e.g., communication system  108  or portions thereof). In some embodiments, shared content may be transported between receiving devices using various other data transmission and/or transfer techniques, including via removable storage media and the like. 
     In some embodiments, access to shared content of a customer&#39;s receiving device may be restricted such that only groups of one or more other receiving devices that are authorized to access the shared content may access or otherwise use the shared content. In at least some such embodiments, access to shared content of a first receiving device may be restricted for use by a group of one or more authorized receiving devices by providing access control information to the first receiving device that enables the first receiving device to encrypt content that it shares with the group of one or more authorized receiving devices, and separately providing access control information to the group of one or more other authorized receiving devices that enables such devices to decrypt content that has been encrypted by the first receiving device. Thus, in such an embodiment, only receiving devices that have been provided with the appropriate access control information may decrypt content that is shared by the first receiving device. In some embodiments, access control information is provided by a program distributor  106  to the various receiving devices via a satellite network comprising antenna  110  and satellite  112 . In addition, in at least some embodiments, some or all of the described techniques are performed by an embodiment of a secure content sharing system, such as described in greater detail below. 
     Example embodiments described herein provide applications, tools, data structures and other support to implement a secure content sharing system. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth, such as data formats, code sequences, and the like, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the described techniques. Various of the embodiments described can be practiced without some of the specific details described herein, or with other specific details, such as changes with respect to the ordering of the code flow, different code flows, and the like. Thus, the scope of the techniques and/or functions described are not limited by the particular order, selection, or decomposition of steps described with reference to any particular module, component, or routine. 
     B. Secure Content Sharing Overview 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of portions of a secure content sharing system  200 . The secure content sharing system  200  enables customers of a program distributor  106  to form secure content sharing groups in which the customers share content stored on and/or accessible to receiving devices of the customers with one or more other customers that are authorized to access such content, such that the one or more authorized customers may access and/or otherwise use the shared content on their own receiving devices. The illustrated secure content sharing system  200  includes a program distributor  106 , a plurality of receiving devices  118   a - 118   i  located at respective customer premises  116   a - 116   i , a satellite communication network  210 , and other communication network  212 . A content sharing access service  202  is provided by the program distributor  106  to facilitate secure content sharing between various of the receiving devices  118   a - 118   i , such as by providing capabilities related to specifying secure content sharing groups and enabling the receiving devices  118   a - 118   i  within secure content sharing groups to encrypt and/or decrypt content that is shared within the groups. 
     Each of the receiving devices  118   a - 118   i  is located at a respective one of the customer premises  116   a - 116   i  and receives programming and/or other data provided by the program distributor  106  via the satellite network  210  for use of an associated customer of the particular customer premises. For example, the one or more receiving devices  118   a  located at customer  1  premises  116   a  receive programming and/or other data provided by the program distributor  106  for use of a customer  1  located with the customer  1  premises; the one or more receiving devices  118   b  located at a customer  2  premises  116   b  receive programming and/or other data provided by the program distributor  106  for use of a customer  2  located with the customer  2  premises; and so on. The satellite network  210  is part of a satellite distribution system and may include, for example, the antenna  110  and the satellite  112  described with respect to  FIG. 1 . 
     Various of the receiving devices  118   a - 118   i  are interacting with various other of the receiving devices  118   a - 118   i  via the other communication network  212 , such as to securely share content of the receiving devices in accordance with various of the described techniques, as well as interacting with the content sharing access service  202  to specify or otherwise manage secure content sharing groups. The other communication network  212  may be, for example, a publicly accessible network of linked networks, possibly operated by various distinct parties (e.g., the Internet), a private network (e.g., corporate, university, etc.) that is wholly or partially inaccessible to non-privileged users, one or more private networks with access to and/or from other private and/or public networks, and/or the like. Although not illustrated here, the satellite network  210  and the other communication network  212  may be provided as part of the communication system  108  described with respect to  FIG. 1 . 
     As previously noted, various of the receiving devices  118   a - 118   i  may be grouped into secure content sharing groups. A secure content sharing group may, for example, include a group of two or more receiving devices located at different customer premises wherein at least one of the receiving devices shares content stored on and/or accessible to the receiving device with the other receiving devices in the secure content sharing group, such that only the other receiving devices in the group are authorized to access or otherwise use the shared content. Access to shared content may be restricted such that only the receiving devices  118   a - 118   i  in the secure content sharing group may access or otherwise use the shared content. A receiving device that shares content with other receiving devices in a secure content sharing group is variously referred to as a “sharing device” and/or a “sharing receiving device” in various embodiments. In some embodiments, a secure content sharing group may be configured to include only a single sharing device that shares its content with the other receiving devices in the group, with the other receiving devices being authorized to access content shared by the single sharing device. In other embodiments, a secure content sharing group may include multiple sharing devices that share content with the other receiving devices in the group, and/or may be configured such that all receiving devices in the group share content with each other. Furthermore, in some embodiments, a receiving device may be included in multiple different secure content sharing groups, such as a receiving device that has been authorized to access shared content of multiple sharing devices. 
     As one illustrative example of a secure content sharing group, the secure content sharing group  250  includes the receiving devices  118   a  and  118   b , located at customer premises  116   a  and  116   b , respectively. In this group, the receiving device  118   a  shares content with the receiving device  118   b , which has been authorized to access or otherwise use shared content of the receiving device  118   a . Additional receiving devices may be added or otherwise included in the secure content sharing group  250 , such that the additional receiving device may also be authorized to access or use various shared content of receiving device  118   a . For example, the receiving device  118   i  may be added to the secure content sharing group  250 , after which the receiving device  118   i  is authorized to access or otherwise use content shared by the receiving device  118   a . Although not illustrated in  FIG. 2 , various other secure content sharing groups may exist and/or be created. For example, a secure content sharing group may be formed that includes receiving device  118   b  as a sharing device and receiving device  118   i  and/or any number of other receiving devices (not shown) as devices that are authorized to access shared content of the sharing device  118   b , etc. 
     As part of configuring a secure content sharing group  250 , the content sharing access service  202  interacts via the satellite network  210  with the various receiving devices  118   a - 118   b  that are included in the secure content group, such as to provide access control information to the receiving devices to enable the secure content sharing group to share encrypted content that only receiving devices in the group  250  may access. The content sharing access service  202  provides access control information to a receiving device  118   a  to enable the receiving device to encrypt content that it shares with other receiving devices included in the secure content sharing group. Such access control information may cause and/or otherwise allow the receiving device  118   a  to determine a cryptographic key to use for encrypting content that it shares with other receiving devices in the group. The content sharing access service  202  also provides access control information to other one or more receiving devices, such as receiving device  118   b , that are included in the secure content sharing group  250  to enable such other receiving devices to decrypt content that has been encrypted by the sharing receiving device  118   a  for use by device in the content sharing group. Such access control information may cause and/or otherwise allow such receiving devices to determine a cryptographic key to use for decrypting the shared content that the sharing receiving device  118   a  has encrypted. Of course, if other receiving devices are added to the content sharing group  250 , such as receiving device  118   i , the content sharing access service  202  provides access control information via the satellite network  210  to the other receiving devices to enable such receiving device to decrypt content shared by the receiving device  118   a.    
     After a content sharing group  250  has been configured to share encrypted content that only receiving devices in the group  250  may access, the receiving devices in the group may share the encrypted content in various ways in various embodiments. In some embodiments, the sharing receiving device  118   a  may transmit encrypted shared content to one or more other receiving devices in the shared content group (e.g., receiving device  118   b ) via a communication network, such as the other communication network  212  and/or the satellite network  210 , such as by using various data transmission protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, FTP, HTTP, and the like). For example, in some such embodiments, the receiving device  118   b  in the content sharing group  250  may interact with the sharing receiving device  118   a  via the other communication network  212  to request one or more pieces of shared content from the receiving device  118   a , with the receiving device  118   a  responding to the request by encrypting the requested content pieces for access by the receiving device  118   b  and providing the encrypted content to the receiving device  118   b  via the other communication network  212 . After the receiving device  118   b  receives the encrypted content from the receiving device  118   a , it may decrypt the content for presentation and/or other use by the content receiving device  118   b . In other embodiments, the sharing receiving device  118   a  may store encrypted shared content on a removable storage media (e.g., USB, CDROM, etc) or other storage media that may be provided to or otherwise made accessible to the one or more other receiving devices in the content sharing group. 
     Additional details related to configuring receiving devices to share content in a secure content sharing group and related to secure content sharing are described below and with respect to  FIGS. 3A-3B . 
     A secure content sharing group may be created in various ways in various embodiments. In one exemplary embodiment, the content sharing access service  202  provides capabilities that enable customers to specify and/or manage secure content sharing groups via receiving devices of the customers, with the content sharing access service  202  configuring the various receiving devices in the secure content sharing groups according to such customer specification. In some such embodiments, a customer may interact with the content sharing access service  202  to indicate one or more other customers with whom the customer authorizes to share content of a receiving device of the customer. As a result of such interactions, the content sharing access service  202  may determine the various receiving devices that are in the created secure content sharing group (e.g., by accessing a customer database that includes such information, etc.) and interact with the various receiving devices in the created secure content sharing group via the satellite network to provide access control information to the receiving devices, such as described above. As one illustrative example, a customer  1  associated with the customer  1  premises  116   a  may interact with the content sharing access service  202  via the other communication network  212  to create the secure content sharing group  250 , such as by providing information and/or otherwise indicating that the customer  1  wishes to share content of the receiving device  116   a  with the receiving device  118   b  associated with a customer  2  associated with the customer  2  premises  116   b . After receiving such indications, the content sharing access service  202  provides access control information to the receiving devices  118   a  and  118   b  to enable those receiving devices to share encrypted content with the secure content sharing group  250 . At a later time customer  1  may interact with the content sharing access service  202  to add one or more other receiving devices to the group, with content sharing access service  202  providing access control information to the added receiving devices to enable them to share content within the group. 
     The content sharing access service  202  may facilitate the various types of interactions by customers in various ways in various embodiments, such as including programmatic interactions based on an API (Application Programming Interface) provided by the content sharing access service  202  and/or interactive interactions based on a graphical user interface provided to customers (e.g., via one or more Web pages hosted by the content sharing access service  202 , via a client-side application of the executing on a receiving device and/or other computing device of a customer, etc.). Although an embodiment has been described that includes a customer interacting with the content sharing service  202  via the other communication network  212  to specify groups of receiving devices that the customer wishes to share content with, other embodiments are possible. For example, in some embodiments, a customer may interact with the content sharing access service  202  to specify secure content sharing groups in other ways, such as by telephoning a customer representative of the program distributor  106 , etc. 
     In some embodiments, the content sharing access service  202  may provide other information to the receiving devices in the secure content group to facilitate formation of a secure content sharing group, such as identifiers that may be used to determine a location of where shared content resides (e.g., a network address of a sharing device, etc.) as well as other information that may be used to identify receiving devices that are in the secure content sharing group, etc. Such other information may be provided to the receiving devices in various ways, such as via the satellite network  210 , the other communication network  212 , etc. 
     Although a satellite network  210  is provided in the illustrated embodiment of  FIG. 2 , it will be appreciated that in other embodiments of a secure content sharing system  200  other program distribution systems/networks may be used, such as including, but not limited to, cable systems, fiber optic systems, telephony systems, and the like. In addition, in some embodiments, the content sharing access service  202  may interact with the plurality of receiving devices  118   a - 118   i  to facilitate secure content sharing via the other communication network  212 . 
     As previously noted, the content shared may be a recorded video program, a DVD, an audio file or some other electronic content. The following are examples that may be carried out according to various embodiments. Customer  1  may have watched a particular program of high interest, for example, the Super Bowl, the final show of American Idol, or a particular classic movie. The program may have been recorded on the local DVR or hard disk located in the receiving device  118   a  at customer  1  premises. Customer  1  may have indicated that such a recorded program is available for access to receiving devices in a content sharing group. At some later time, customer  2 , who has been authorized to access shared content of customer  1 , may wish to view the program that is stored on customer  1 &#39;s receiving device  118   a . In this case, customer  2  may obtain a copy of the particular recorded program, such as by interacting with customer  1 &#39;s receiving device  118   a  via customer  2 &#39;s receiving device  118   b  to request access to the particular recorded program, with the particular program being encrypted for use by customer  2 &#39;s receiving device  118   b  and then provided to customer  2 &#39;s receiving device  118   b  for viewing, such as variously described herein. 
     A particular example of the use of the system is as follows. Assume that customer  1  is having a Super Bowl party at his home. He invites a number of guests, including relatives, neighbors and friends to watch the Super Bowl together at his home. This is customer premises  116   a . Among the guests who attend are his sister and her family, who live a few miles away. The Super Bowl party is enjoyed by those who attend as they watch the plays, the replays and commercials. Customer  1  records the Super Bowl on his local hard disk or DVD inside his receiving device  118   a  while it is being transmitted so it is now stored in his local machine  118   a  in his premises for replay when ever he wishes. After the party is over, the guests return to their individual homes. The sister had intended to set her local set-top box to record before going to the Super Bowl party, but neglected to do so. Therefore, when she attempts to watch some of the Super Bowl events at her own home, she is not able to do so. Both have the same satellite network provider, for example, Dish Network®, provided by DISH Network LLC of Englewood, Colo. The sister is customer  2 , at premises  116   b . At sometime prior, the brother and sister had joined a common customer group with the satellite network provider, for which they may have paid a different fee and may have a different monthly payment structure. They are both in the same Secure Content Sharing group  250 . Using the content sharing access service  202  as described herein, the sister may obtain a copy of the Super Bowl recorded on her brother&#39;s receiving device  118   a  for viewing on her receiving device  118   b . Similarly, customer  2  can send video programs, audio programs, movies and other data from her receiving device  118   b  to customer  1 &#39;s receiving device using the system described herein. Customers  1  and  2  can exchange various video programs with each other they wish using the system described herein. 
     Assume other people at the same Super Bowl party are not part of the same secure content sharing group  250 . Such people will not be able to access the recorded version of the Super Bowl for customer  1  even if they have the same satellite network provider. Unless the proper authorizations have been provided, the customer  1  would not be able to exchange recorded data or video program information with them. Without the proper codes and authorization access provided by the program distributor, such sharing is not permitted. 
     C. Example Interactions of a Secure Content Sharing System 
       FIGS. 3A-3B  illustrate examples of interactions between portions of a secure content sharing system  200 . 
     In particular,  FIG. 3A  illustrates a content sharing access service  202  providing access control information via a satellite network  210  to a receiving device  118   a  located at a customer  1  premises  116   a , and providing access control information  302   b  to a receiving device  118   b  located at a customer  2  premises  116   b , such as to enable the receiving device  118   a  to securely share content with the receiving device  118   b , such as in a secure content sharing group  250 . In this example, the content sharing access service  202  has received an indication to enable a content sharing group  250 , that includes the receiving device  118   a  as a sharing receiving device and the receiving device  118   b  as a receiving device that is authorized to access content shared by the receiving device  118   a , such as, for example, in response to an indication by a customer  1  associated with the customer  1  premises  116   a  to create such a group. 
     The content sharing access service  202  determines appropriate access control information to provide to the various receiving devices in the secure content sharing group such that the receiving devices may exchange encrypted content that only the receiving devices in the secure content group may access, and provides the appropriate information to the various receiving devices via the satellite network  210 . In this illustrated example, the content sharing access service  202  provides access control information  302   a  to the receiving device  118   a  that enables or otherwise instructs the receiving device  118   a  to determine an appropriate encryption key to use for sharing content with one or more other receiving devices included the secure content sharing group  250 , such as the receiving device  118   b . The content sharing access service  202  also provides access control information  302   b  to the receiving device  118   b  that enables or otherwise instructs the receiving device  118   b  to determine an appropriate decryption key to use for accessing shared content of the receiving device  118   a.    
     In some embodiments, the encryption key and the decryption key may be symmetric keys (e.g., such as shared secret keys), and in such embodiments the receiving device  118   a  encrypts content for use by the receiving devices in the secure content sharing group  250  using a symmetric key algorithm, such as DES (“Data Encryption Standard”), Triple DES, AES (“Advanced Encryption Standard”), Blowfish, RC5, RC5, RC66, Vernam Ciphers, or the like. In other embodiments, the encryption key and the decryption key may be an asymmetric key pair, and in such embodiments the receiving device  118   a  encrypts content for use by the receiving devices in the secure content sharing group  250  using an asymmetric algorithm such as RSA (“Rivest, Shamir, Adelman”), ElGamal, or the like. 
     In some embodiments, the access control information may include an identifier or information that is uniquely associated with the secure content sharing group (e.g., such as a randomly generated identifier; a customer identifier; an identifier associated with the sharing receiving device; etc.), such that the receiving devices may individually generate and/or otherwise obtain an appropriate cryptographic key to use with the secure content sharing group. For example, in some embodiments access control information  302   a  and  302   b  may include a unique identifier that is associated with the content sharing group  250 , with each of the receiving devices  118   a  and  118   b  using that information to seed a key generation algorithm to generate an appropriate cryptographic key (e.g., receiving device  118   a  generates an encryption key, and receiving device  118   b  generates a decryption key). In some such embodiments, the access control information may also include indications of one or more key generation algorithms/techniques to use for generating cryptographic keys. 
     In other embodiments, the access control information may otherwise indicate one or more keys for the receiving devices to use in the secure content sharing group. For example, the access control information  302   a  and  302   b  may indicate keys that are currently stored (e.g., in a cryptographic key storage hardware, in memory, on disk, etc.) or otherwise available to the receiving devices. In some embodiments, the access control information may include the appropriate cryptographic keys, such as access control information  302   a  may include the encryption key, and access control information  302   b  may include the decryption key. 
     In some embodiments, the access control information may include various other information. For example, in some embodiments, the access control information  302   a  and  302   b  may include indications of an encryption algorithm to use for encrypting/decrypting shared content, indications of where to obtain shared content (e.g., network address of the sharing device  118   a ), access identifiers to use in obtaining/providing shared content, etc. In some situations and embodiments, the access control information  302   a  and  302   b  may contain the same information and/or may contain different information. 
     As previously noted, the content sharing access service  202  determines appropriate access control information to provide to the receiving devices in a secure content sharing group. In some embodiments, such information may be stored in a database and/or other storage medium in association with the access control group, such that the content sharing access service  202  may obtain appropriate access control information from such storage when configuring various receiving devices to participate in the secure content sharing group. When the content sharing access service  202  receives indications to add other devices (not shown) to the content sharing group  250 , the content sharing access service  202  determines the appropriate access control information associated with the secure content sharing group (e.g., obtains from storage) and provides such information to the addition receiving devices via the satellite network  210 . 
     In some embodiments, the access control information  302   a , which enables the receiving device  118   a  to encrypt shared content for the secure content sharing group  250 , may be provided to the receiving device  118   a  prior to adding other receiving devices, such as the receiving device  118   b , to the secure content group  250 . For example, in some embodiments, the receiving device  118   a  may be preconfigured by the content sharing access service  202  to encrypt shared content for other devices in the secure content sharing group  250 . 
     Various other embodiments may include various other features and/or functionality. In some embodiments, the access control information itself may be encrypted by the content sharing access service  202  prior to being provided to the various receiving devices in the secure content sharing group, such that only the receiving devices that are intended to receive the access control information may access such encrypted information. For example, the access control information  302   a  may be encrypted by way of an identifier or key, such as a subscription key, service key, user key, hardware identifier, or the like, that is uniquely associated with the receiving device  118   a , such that only the receiving device  118   a  may decrypt the content. Access control information  302   b  may be similarly encrypted for access by the receiving device  118   b . In addition, in some embodiments, the access control information and/or cryptographic keys may be periodically changed/updated for a secure content sharing group, and in such cases the content sharing access service  202  may provide new access control information to the various receiving devices in the secure content sharing group. 
       FIG. 3B  continues the example of  FIG. 3A  and illustrates a secure content sharing group  250 , with the receiving device  118   a  located at customer  1  premises  116   a  securely sharing content  372  with the receiving device  118   b  located at the customer  2  premises  118   b  in accordance with various of the described techniques. 
     The receiving device  118   a  includes content sharing logic  302 , content  304 , and content sharing information  306  including an encryption key  308 . The content sharing logic  302 , when executed by the receiving device  118   a , enables the receiving devices  118   a  to securely share content  304  of the receiving device  118   a  with other receiving devices in a secure content sharing group, such as receiving device  118   b . The content  304  includes programming content and/or other content that is stored on or otherwise accessible to the receiving device  118   a , some of which may be shared by the receiving device  118   a . The content sharing information  306  includes information related to one or more content sharing groups that the receiving device  118   a  may be included in. For example, in this illustrated embodiment, the content sharing information includes the encryption key  308  that the receiving device  118   a  uses to encrypt content that it shares with receiving devices in the secure content sharing group  250 . 
     The receiving device  118   b  includes content sharing logic  312 , content  314 , and content sharing information  316  including a decryption key  318 . The content sharing logic  312 , when executed by the receiving device  118   b , enables the receiving devices  118   b  to access or otherwise obtain content shared by the receiving device  118   a . The content  314  includes programming content and/or other content that is stored on or otherwise accessible to the receiving device  118   b , including content that the receiving device  118   b  has obtained from one or more other receiving devices, such as receiving device  118   a . The content sharing information  316  includes information related to one or more content sharing groups that the receiving device  118   b  may be included in. For example, in this illustrated embodiment, the content sharing information includes the decryption key  318  that the receiving device  118   b  uses to decrypt content that the receiving device  118   a  shares with receiving devices in the secure content sharing group  250 . 
     In this particular example, the receiving devices  118   a  and  118   b  have respectively received access control information  302   a  and  302   b  from the content sharing access service  202 , such as illustrated in  FIG. 3A . In response to receiving access control information  302   a , the receiving devices  118   a  has determined the encryption key  308  to use for encrypting content (such as content  304 ) that the receiving device  118   a  shares with other receiving devices in the secure content sharing group  250 , such as receiving device  318   b . For example, the content sharing logic  302  may include logic for generating and/or otherwise obtaining the encryption key  308  based on the received access control information, and may store the encryption key  308  for later use in encrypting shared content. Similarly, in response to receiving access control information  302   b , the receiving device  118   b  has determined the decryption key  318  to use for decrypting content that the receiving device  118   a  shares in the secure content sharing group  250 , and has stored the decryption key  318  for later use in decrypting such content. 
     The receiving device  118   a  receives requests and/or other indications to share one or more pieces of content  304  with a receiving device  118   b  in the secure content sharing group  250 . In response to such requests, the receiving device  118   a  determines an appropriate encryption key to use for encrypting the requested content, such as the encryption key  308  associated with the secure content sharing group  250 . After the appropriate encryption key  308  has been determined, the receiving device encrypts the requested content using the encryption key  308  and provides the encrypted requested content  372  for use by the receiving device  318   b.    
     When encrypting requested shared content, the receiving device  118   a  may encrypt some or all of the requested content using the encryption key  308 . For example, in some embodiments, the receiving device may only encrypt audio and/or video tracks of content that includes both audio and video tracks; may encrypt one or more segments of a video/audio track (e.g., every other second), etc. In some embodiments, the requested content may already be encrypted, such as by the program distributor or other content provider who provided the content to the receiving device  118   a . In some such cases, when the receiving device  118   a  shares such requested content, the receiving device may not encrypt the content itself, as it is already encrypted, but may instead encrypt one or more cryptographic keys that may be used to decrypt the requested content using the encryption key  308 , and provides those encrypted keys along with the requested content. 
     The encrypted content  372  may be provided to the receiving device  118   b  in various ways in various embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, the receiving device  118   a  may send the encrypted content  372  directly to the receiving device  118   a  via a communication network, such as by sending, writing, streaming, transmitting, etc. In other embodiments, the receiving device  118   a  may post the encrypted shared content  372  to a network server (e.g., a file server, etc.) for download by the receiving device  118   a . In still other embodiments, the receiving device  118   a  may write the encrypted content onto a removable storage media that may subsequently be transported to the receiving device  118   b.    
     In some embodiments, the content sharing logic  302  and/or  312  enables the receiving devices  118   a  and  118   b , respectively, to interactively share content, such as over a communication network (e.g., the other communication network  212  of  FIG. 2 ). For example, in some such embodiments, the receiving device  118   b  may interact via a communication network with the receiving device  118   a  to request shared content, with the receiving device  118   a  encrypting and providing the requested shared content to the receiving device  118   b  in response to such a request. 
     After the receiving device  118   b  receives or otherwise obtains the encrypted content  372 , the receiving device  118   b  may determine an appropriate decryption key to use with such content  372  shared by the receiving device  118   a , such as the decryption key  318  associated with the secure content sharing group  250 , and decrypts the content  372 . After the content has been decrypted, the receiving device may present and/or otherwise use the content as appropriate. 
     Although this embodiment has been described in terms of one-way sharing, from receiving device  118   a  to receiving device  118   b , other embodiments are possible. In some embodiments, the access control information provided by the content sharing access service  202  may enable the receiving devices in the content sharing group  250  to share content in a two-way manner, such that each of the devices in the group may encrypt and share content that other receiving devices in the group may decrypt. For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 3B , the receiving device  118   a  may optionally obtain shared content  376  from the receiving device  118   b . In some such embodiments, the receiving device  118   a  may be able to perform both encryption and decryption using the encryption key  308 , while the receiving device  118   b  may be able to perform both encryption and decryption using the decryption key  318 , although in other embodiments other keys (not shown) may have been determined from the access control information provided to the respective receiving devices  118   a  and  118   b  that may be used for such purposes of two-way sharing. In still other embodiments, an additional secure content sharing group may formed (not shown), in addition to the content sharing group  250 , that includes the receiving device  118   b  as the sharing device and the receiving device  118   a  as a device that obtains shared content from the receiving device  118   b , with access control information being provided by the content sharing access service  202  as appropriate to enable such secure sharing between the additional group. 
     In some embodiments, the sharing logic  302  and/or  312  may enable a customer to configure or/other manage secure content sharing groups. For example, the sharing logic  302  may enable a customer to interact with an embodiment of the content sharing access service  202  to specify/manage one or more content sharing groups. In other embodiments, the content sharing logic  302  and/or  312  may enable customers to control access to various content of a receiving device. For example, the content sharing logic  302  may provide functionality that allows a customer/user interacting with the receiving device  118   a  to specify or otherwise indicate particular content that the customer/user wishes to share, such as by specifying particular pieces of content (e.g., a particular program, album, song, photo album, picture, etc.), particular categories of content (e.g., by type, such as programming, music, photo albums, etc; by ratings, such as PG, TV-PG, etc; and the like), etc. In a similar fashion, the content sharing logic  302  may also enable a customer/user of the receiving device  118   a  to mark or otherwise indicate content that is not to be shared. In addition, the content sharing logic  302  may enable the customer/user to provide and/or restrict various shared content for use by particular other receiving devices in a secure content sharing group, such as by enabling the customer/user to specify which of the shared content (e.g., particular content, types of content, etc.) each of the one or more of the other receiving devices in the secure content sharing group are allowed to access. For example, the customer may use such functionality to permit customer  2 &#39;s receiving device  118   b  to access all shared content, while restricting access to such shared content for another receiving device in the secure content sharing group to children&#39;s programming and/or particular photo albums, etc. 
     In addition, the cryptographic keys (encryption key  308  and decryption key  318 ) determined respectively by the receiving devices  118   a  and  118   b  based on the provide access control information ( 302   a  and  302   b ) may be used in other ways in other embodiments of a secure content sharing group. For example, in some embodiments, the receiving devices  118   a  and  118   b  may use their respective cryptographic key for the purposes of authenticating each other and/or other receiving devices in the secure content sharing group  250 . For example, the receiving devices  118   a  and  118   b  may authenticate the identity of the other device using their cryptographic keys to generate/validate digital signatures. In some such embodiments, after a receiving device  118   a  has authenticated the identity of the other receiving device  118   b  as being part of the secure content sharing group (or vice versa), the receiving device may provide other services and/or functionality for use by the receiving device  118   b.    
     D. Example Computing System Implementation 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of example computing systems suitable for executing example embodiments of portions of a secure content sharing system.  FIG. 4  shows a receiving device computing system  118  that may be utilized to implement an embodiment of content sharing logic  302 , and a server computing system  460  that may be utilized to implement and embodiment of the content sharing access service  202 . The server computing system  460  may be provided by a program distributor (e.g., the program distributor  106  of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ). 
     In one embodiment, the receiving device computing system  118  is configured to receive and display programming on a presentation device. In addition, the receiving device  118  may comprise one or more distinct computing systems/devices and may span distributed locations. Furthermore, each block shown may represent one or more such blocks as appropriate to a specific embodiment or may be combined with other blocks. Also, the content sharing logic  302  may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, or in some combination to achieve the capabilities described herein. 
     In the embodiment shown, the receiving device computing system  118  comprises a computer memory (“memory”)  401 , a display  402 , one or more Central Processing Units (“CPU”)  403 , Input/Output devices  404  (e.g., keyboard, mouse, CRT or LCD display, and the like), other computer-readable media  405 , and network connections  406 . Content sharing logic  302  is shown residing in memory  401 . In other embodiments, some portion of the contents of the content sharing logic  302  may be stored on and/or transmitted over the other computer-readable media  405 . The content sharing logic  302  preferably executes on one or more CPUs  403  to securely share and/or access shared content, and/or to configure the receiving device  118  to perform operations related secure content sharing, as described herein. Other code or programs  430  (e.g., a user interface (“UI”) manager, an audio/video processing module, a program guide manager module, a Web server, and the like) and potentially other data repositories, such as data repository  420 , also reside in the memory  401 , and preferably execute on one or more CPUs  403 . Of note, one or more of the components in  FIG. 4  may not be present in any specific implementation. For example, some embodiments may not provide other computer readable media  405 , etc. The other receiving devices  450  may include similar components and/or blocks to those described with respect to the receiving device  116 , although such are not shown in  FIG. 4  here. 
     The content sharing logic  302  performs various of the described functionality of the receiving device  118  related to secure content sharing such as describe with respect to  FIGS. 2 and 3A-3B  above. For example, the content sharing logic  302  may receive and/or otherwise obtain access control information, such as provided via the communication system  108 , and determine based on such information a cryptographic content key to use for secure content sharing and/or access shared content generate, as well as perform encryption/decryption as appropriate for sharing content in a secure content sharing group. In addition the content sharing logic  302  may interact via the communication system  108  with one or more other receiving devices  450 , and possibly with the server computing system  460 , and/or with other computing systems or devices (not shown), to perform various of the described operations related to secure content sharing. 
     The data repositories  420  may include content, such as programming content and/or other types of content obtained from a program distributor (not shown) and/or one or more other computing systems (e.g., content providers  104   a - 104   i , information providers  138   a - 138   i  from  FIG. 1 ), such as via communication system  108 . The content may be received from various other sources, including the other computer-readable media  405  and/or other computing systems or devices (not shown), such as computing systems/devices located at a customer premises with the receiving device  118 , etc. As discussed elsewhere, such content may include programming, clips, audio/video, audio, images, and/or other data files, etc. In at least one embodiment, at least some of the content included in the data repositories  420  may be encrypted for restricted access by the receiving device computing system  118  (e.g., by a program distributor or other content provider) and may include one or more corresponding encryption keys that are usable for decrypting at least portions such content. 
     In this illustrated embodiment, the server computing system  460  comprises a memory  461 , one or more CPUs  463 , Input/Output devices  464  (e.g., keyboard, mouse, CRT or LCD display, and the like), and/or various other components (not shown), e.g., computer readable media, network connections, etc. The content sharing access service  202  preferably executes on one or more CPUs  463  to configure and/or specify one or more secure content sharing groups, as described herein. Furthermore, each block shown may represent one or more such blocks as appropriate to a specific embodiment or may be combined with other blocks. Also, the content sharing access service  202  may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, or in some combination to achieve the capabilities described herein. 
     The content sharing access service  202  performs various of the described functionality, as described in  FIGS. 2 and 3A-3B . In particular, the content sharing access service  202  may interact with the receiving device  116  and other receiving devices  450  via the communication system  108 , such as to configure and/or otherwise manage receiving devices to participate in secure content sharing groups. 
     In an example embodiment, components/modules of the content sharing logic  302  and/or the Content Sharing Access Service  202  are implemented using standard programming techniques. For example, the content sharing logic  302  and/or the Content Sharing Access Service  202  may be implemented as “native” executables running on the CPU  403  and CPU  463  respectively, along with one or more static or dynamic libraries. In other embodiments, the content sharing logic  302  and/or the Content Sharing Access Service  202  may be implemented as instructions processed by virtual machine. In general, a range of programming languages known in the art may be employed for implementing such example embodiments, including representative implementations of various programming language paradigms, including but not limited to, object-oriented (e.g., Java, C++, C#, Visual Basic.NET, Smalltalk, and the like), functional (e.g., ML, Lisp, Scheme, and the like), procedural (e.g., C, Pascal, Ada, Modula, and the like), scripting (e.g., Perl, Ruby, Python, JavaScript, VBScript, and the like), declarative (e.g., SQL, Prolog, and the like). 
     The embodiments described above may also use well-known or proprietary synchronous or asynchronous client-server computing techniques. However, the various components may be implemented using more monolithic programming techniques as well, for example, as an executable running on a single CPU computer system, or alternatively decomposed using a variety of structuring techniques known in the art, including but not limited to, multiprogramming, multithreading, client-server, or peer-to-peer, running on one or more computer systems each having one or more CPUs. Some embodiments may execute concurrently and asynchronously, and communicate using message passing techniques. Equivalent synchronous embodiments are also supported by an HDM implementation. Also, other functions could be implemented and/or performed by each component/module, and in different orders, and by different components/modules, yet still achieve the functions of the HDM. 
     Different configurations and locations of programs and data are contemplated for use with techniques of described herein. A variety of distributed computing techniques are appropriate for implementing the components of the illustrated embodiments in a distributed manner including but not limited to TCP/IP sockets, RPC, RMI, HTTP, Web Services (XML-RPC, JAX-RPC, SOAP, and the like). Other variations are possible. Also, other functionality could be provided by each component/module, or existing functionality could be distributed amongst the components/modules in different ways, yet still achieve the functions of an HDM. 
     Furthermore, in some embodiments, some or all of the components of the content sharing logic  302  and/or the Content Sharing Access Service  202  may be implemented or provided in other manners, such as at least partially in firmware and/or hardware, including, but not limited to one ore more application-specific integrated circuits (“ASICs”), standard integrated circuits, controllers (e.g., by executing appropriate instructions, and including microcontrollers and/or embedded controllers), field-programmable gate arrays (“FPGAs”), complex programmable logic devices (“CPLDs”), and the like. Some or all of the system components and/or data structures may also be stored as contents (e.g., as executable or other machine-readable software instructions or structured data) on a computer-readable medium (e.g., as a hard disk; a memory; a computer network or cellular wireless network or other data transmission medium; or a portable media article to be read by an appropriate drive or via an appropriate connection, such as a DVD or flash memory device) so as to enable or configure the computer-readable medium and/or one or more associated computing systems or devices to execute or otherwise use or provide the contents to perform at least some of the described techniques. Some or all of the system components and data structures may also be stored as data signals (e.g., by being encoded as part of a carrier wave or included as part of an analog or digital propagated signal) on a variety of computer-readable transmission mediums, which are then transmitted, including across wireless-based and wired/cable-based mediums, and may take a variety of forms (e.g., as part of a single or multiplexed analog signal, or as multiple discrete digital packets or frames). Such computer program products may also take other forms in other embodiments. Accordingly, embodiments of this disclosure may be practiced with other computer system configurations. 
     E. Processes 
       FIG. 5  is a flow diagram of an example content sharing access service process according to one embodiment. In particular,  FIG. 5  illustrates a process  500  that may be performed, for example, as part of the content sharing access service  202  executing on the program distributor  106 , such as illustrated with respect to  FIGS. 2 and 3A , and/or executing in memory  461  on an embodiment of the server computing system  460  of  FIG. 4 . 
     The illustrated process  500  starts at  502 . At  504 , the process receives and indication to create a secure content sharing group. Typically, this indication is received from a first receiving device located at a first customer premises, so as to configure such a first receiving device to securely share content with other receiving devices located at other customer premises. For example, a customer associated with the first customer premises may be interacting with a user interface provided by the first receiving device to indicate a desire to create a secure content sharing group. Although, in other embodiments, such indications may be received from other sources. In some embodiments, the process may further determine the identity and/or location of the first receiving device, such as based on information stored in a customer database, etc. 
     At  506 , the process provides access control information to the first receiving device located at the first customer premises to enable the receiving device to securely share content with other receiving devices that are currently in and/or will be added to the secure content sharing group. The access control information is provided to the first receiving device via a satellite communication network. As discussed elsewhere, such access control information may include various identifiers and/or information associated with the content sharing group that may be used by the first receiving device to determine a cryptographic key with which to encrypt shared content for use by other devices in the secure content sharing group. 
     At  508 , the process receives an indication to add an authorized receiving device located at a different customer premises to the secure content sharing group. Typically, this indication is received from the first receiving device, such as in response to a customer associated with the first receiving device indicating another customer and/or another customer&#39;s receiving device with which the first customer desires to share content. In some embodiments, the process may further determine the identity and/or location of the authorized receiving device, such as by searching a database or other information storage that includes information associating one or more customers to receiving devices of those customers. 
     At  510 , the process provides access control information to the authorized receiving device to enable that device to access content shared by the first receiving device. As discussed elsewhere, such access control information may include various identifiers and/or information associated with the content sharing group that may be used by the authorized receiving device to determine a cryptographic key with which to decrypt content shared by the first receiving device. 
     At  512 , the process determines whether to continue. If so, the process returns to step  508  to receive other indications to add additional authorized receiving devices to the secure content sharing group. If not, the process ends at  514 . 
       FIGS. 6A-6B  are flow diagrams of example content sharing client processes. In particular,  FIGS. 6A and 6B  illustrate processes  600  and  650 , respectively, that may be performed, for example, by the content sharing logic  302  and  312  executing on the receiving devices  118   a  and  118   b  of  FIG. 3B , and/or execution of the content sharing logic  302  executing in memory  401  of the receiving device  118  of  FIG. 4 . Although processes  600  and  650  are illustrated in  FIGS. 6A and 6B  as separate processes, in other embodiments, such processes may be provided as part of a single process executing on a receiving device with steps of the various illustrated processes  600  and  650  being performed as appropriate based on various received indications, information and/or requests. 
     In  FIG. 6A , the illustrated process  600  starts at  602 . At  604 , the process receives access control information via a satellite network to enable the receiving device to securely share content with other receiving devices in a secure content sharing group. Such access control information may be provided by execution of step  506  of process  500  ( FIG. 5 ). 
     At  606 , the process determines based on the received access control information an encryption key to use for encrypting content that the receiving device shares with other receiving devices in the secure content sharing group. For example, in some embodiments, the receiving device may generate and/or otherwise obtain the encryption key based on the information included in the provided access control information. 
     At  608 , the process receives and indication to provide content to another receiving device that is in the secure content sharing group. Typically, this indication will be received from the other receiving device, such as via a communication network (e.g., the Internet), although the indication may be received from other sources in other embodiments. 
     At  610 , in response to the received indication in step  608 , the process encrypts the requested content using the determined encryption key. 
     At  612 , the process provides the encrypted content to the other receiving device in the content sharing group. Typically, the encrypted content may be provided to the other receiving device via a communication network (e.g., the Internet). 
     At  614 , the process determines whether to continue. If so, the process returns to step  608  to receive additional requests to share content. Otherwise, the process ends at  618 . 
     In  FIG. 6B , the illustrated process  650  starts at  652 . At  654 , the process receives access control information via a satellite network to enable the receiving device to access content shared by a sharing receiving device in a secure content sharing group. Such access control information may be provided by execution of step  510  of process  500  ( FIG. 5 ). 
     At  656 , the process determines based on the received access control information a decryption key to use for decrypting shared content that the receiving device receives from the sharing receiving device in the secure content sharing group. For example, in some embodiments, the receiving device may generate and/or otherwise obtain the decryption key based on the information included in the provided access control information. In some embodiments, the process may store the determined decryption key. 
     At  658 , the process receives encrypted shared content from the sharing receiving device in the secure content sharing group. For example, such content may be received based on execution of step  612  of the process  600  ( FIG. 6A ). 
     At  660 , the process decrypts the received shared content using the determined decryption key. 
     At  662 , the process presents the decrypted shared content to a user of the receiving device on a presentation device, such as a television, computer and/or other presentation device. In other embodiments, the received shared content may be used by the receiving device in other manners as appropriate, such as for example, playing the content on an audio device, storing/transmitting to another device (e.g., a PC) for use by that other device, etc. 
     At  664 , the process determines whether to continue. If so, the process returns to step  658  to receive other shared content. Otherwise, the process ends at  668 . 
     In other embodiments, the process  650  may perform additional and/or other steps not illustrated. For example, in some embodiments, the process may interact with a sharing receiving device to request and/or otherwise obtain the encrypted shared content from the sharing receiving device. 
     While various embodiments have been described hereinabove, it is to be appreciated that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention(s) presently or hereafter claimed.

Technology Category: 5