Title of Invention

METHOD OF SEAMLESSLY EXCHANGING DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT (DRM) CONTENT BASED ON USER LOCATION

Abstract

The present invention, in general relates to the field of content exchange. The invention deals with Secure Content Exchange (SCE) under the Digital Rights Management (DRM) domain. SCE provides for uninhibited content exchange and usage to authorized users based on constraints such as time, count, etc. However it doesn't provide for any means to restrict usage depending on the location of the user. This gap is proposed to be filled to provide for usage of content depending on user proximity based on his location. More particularly this invention relates to Seamless exchange of Content based on user location. This invention explains a method of seamless exchange of content based on user location comprising the steps of: inserting location and position based constraint in rights object during content generation; imposing constraints by a DRM agent when the new RO is within the range of the mentioned alternatives for location identification and matching; sending position co-ordinates to an authenticator or content provider by the DRM agent of the device who want to access the content; checking if the position conditions are met by the target devices DRM agent; and sharing the RO by other device in proximity, if the position conditions are met.

Full Text

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention, in general relates to the field of content exchange. The invention deals with Secure Content Exchange (SCE) under the Digital Rights Management (DRM) domain. SCE provides for uninhibited content exchange and usage to authorized users based on constraints such as time, count, etc. However it doesn't provide for any means to restrict usage depending on the location of the user. This gap is proposed to be filled to provide for usage of content depending on user proximity based on his location. More particularly this invention relates to Seamless exchange of Content based on user location. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART Secure Content Exchange extends the idea of DRM v2.0 to promote and enhance user experience through seamless content sharing. Content to be shared is used in a controlled manner depending on some constraints such a number of times of use, interval of use, accumulated use, etc. There are many specifications that talk about constraints that can be applied over DRM content. 1. OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) DRMv2 specification Rights specification in OMA DRMv2, REL (Rights Expression Language) describes about permissions like play, display, execute, print and export. It describes constraints like count, timed-count, datatime, interval, accumulated, individual, system. More description of the For more information about rights supported in DRMv2 please refer www.openmobilealliance.org 2. ODRL (Open Digital Rights Language) ODRL specification describes permissions like display, print, play, execute etc and constraints like individual, group, datetime, accumulated, interval etc. For more details on ODRL specification please refer http://www..w3.org/TR/2002/NOTE-odrl-20020919/. 3. XrML (extensible rights Markup Language) Similarly XrML, a rights markup standard from content guard talks about set of permissions and constraints that can be exercised over DRM content during consumption. LIMITATIONS Though the above mentioned standards talk about different permissions and constraints that can be exercised over DRM content, none of them deal with location and position based constraint while consuming content or exchanging the content as in SCE. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary objective of the invention is to add location and position based constraint in rights object while packaging DRM content and apply the same while consuming or exchanging the content This will enable controlling content usage by location and position of device consuming the content. Accordingly, this invention explains a method of seamless exchange of content based on user location comprising the steps of: (a) inserting location and position based constraint in rights object during content generation; (b) imposing constraints by a DRM agent when the new RO is within the range of the mentioned alternatives for location identification and matching; (c) sending position co-ordinates to an authenticator or content provider by the DRM agent of the device who want to access the content; (d) checking if the position conditions are met by the target devices DRM agent; and (e) sharing the RO by other device in proximity, if the position conditions are met. The said range is indicated by plurality of tags or position co-ordinates like "centre" & "radius" or "top-left" & "bottom-right" tag or 3GPP/3GPP2 Location Area/Routing Area or WLAN speicific SSID or any system specific Location id tags. The Content provider can package the RO by only mentioning the radius in which the content can be used. The DRM agent uses the RO to impose the said constraint. Allowing access to content is subjected to the condition that the content is consumed with in limits of allowed range specified in rights object. Accordingly, this invention also explains a system of seamless exchange of content based on user location comprising: (a) means for inserting location and position based constraint in rights object during content generation; (b) means for imposing constraints by a DRM agent when the new RO is within the range of the mentioned alternatives for location identification and matching; (c) means for sending position co-ordinates to an authenticator or content provider by the DRM agent of the device who want to access the content; (d) means for checking if the position conditions are met by the target devices DRM agent; and (e) means for sharing the RO by other device in proximity, if the position conditions are met. These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the ensuing detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood however that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The following description and drawings are not to be construed as limiting the invention and numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art how to make and/or use the invention. However in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail. Consider the following case. User 1 has bought certain Content (e.g. movie) from a Content Issuer with the constraint that he can consume it within the bounds of a certain area A1. There is one more constraint that he can exchange/share this content only when he is in some area A2. User 1 can now consume the content happily when he is in Area A1. Now, User 1 goes to a party in Area A2 and meets User 2 at a party. User 1 wants User 2 to try out this Media. However he would not want User 2 to be able to consume the media once he leaves the party (and goes geographically distant from User 1). The following steps describe various operations during a) Download & usage of location based Content, b) Secure Content Exchange of this Content and c) Usage of the exchanged Content. 1. User 1 has purchased and downloaded OMA DRM Protected Content and Rights Object to his device (say Device 1). The Rights specify that User 1 can consume the Content with a certain Area A1. He can exchange this content with another User when he is in Area A2. 2. User 1 uses the content in Area A1. When he comes out of Area A1 he cannot consume it. User 1 goes to a party in Area A2 where he meets User 2. 3.User 1 wants User 2 to consume the same DRM protected content on his Device (say Device 2 - obviously another device than Device 1). 4.DRM Agents on Devices 1 and 2 mutually authenticate each other and establish a secure session if needed. 5. DRM Agent on Device 1 generates a temporary RO, which can be consumed by the DRM Agent on Device 2. In this temporary RO, User 1 specifies the range (latitude/longitude or current position & radius) within which the content can be consumed in the rights object of the RO Response (in ROAP). Device 1 then super-distributes DRM Content and transfers the temporary RO to Device 2. Since A2 is the area where User 1 can exchange content, this step is successful. Both the Devices should have the capability to indicate its geographical location (using GPS or any other location tracking method). 6. Device 2 checks with the Authenticator whether it can dynamically render the content obtained from Device 1. 7. Device 2 plays the content according to the position of the device. User 2 can consume the content on Device 2 depending on its proximity to the Device 1. Beyond the range specified by the Device 1, the Device 2 cannot consume the content (assuming high accuracy of GPS). 8.lf the Device can't predict its location (due to any issue), content can't be consumed. The Rights Object inside the RO response message of the ROAP Protocol shall have to be changed to accommodate the same. We recommend two additional tags and . A sample RO is provided below The tag specifies the current location of the Device 1 in terms of latitude and longitude. These values can be stated up to precision of one fractional digit e.g. 23.4N, 35.9W. The tag specifies the radius of the circle in which the user can consume the Content, the accuracy can depend on the GPS technology and accuracy available. The tag specifies the radius of the circle in which the user can consume the Content. This method uses absolute co-ordinates of the Device position to enforce the constraint. Inclusion of these additional changes will cause change in ODRL specification and OMA -REL (inherited from ODRL) specification. Grammer/DTD for these extra tags addition would be as given below: LeftTop,RightBottom)|(LocationArea))+> The way to specify ELEMENT "location" is not limited to above mentioned grammar. It could be extended to any other location identification methods. Refer to Section "Alternatives" for some possible methods. Alternatively, relative position can be used for the same purpose. However this would require the Device to send its position coordinates to the Rights Issuer as an optional parameter (in any of the registration messages - device Heilo or registration Request) One way is, 22N, 34E Here the Device is sending its co-ordinates to the Rights Issuer. The Rights Issuer can then use these co-ordinates and send only the radius (with above co-ordinates as center) in which the content can be consumed. An additional extension shall be defined in ROAP schema to enable device communicate their location specific details to server. Schema for the same is as given below: This method would also be suitable for the SCE mechanism discussed above where the center co-ordinates can be sent during the time of the Authentication message exchange. The temporary RO created by Device 1 then needs to contain only the tag to specify area of usage. Or, in the conventional manner the temporary RO could contain both the and tags which allows Device 1 to specify the usage area according to its own location and the Second Device's proximity from his own location. ADVANTAGES 1.Enables support for better pricing model for digital goods: Books, Songs, software games etc in digital format are increasingly being sold in digital format and this trend is likely to rise in future. Companies have different pricing models for different geographic regions depending on various factors like economic conditions, taxes etc. Adding location based constraints for digital goods sold as packaged DRM content would restrict illegal usage of digital content purchased in one region in other region. 2. Restricted usage of confidential content: Confidential documents exchanged within organization can be packaged as DRM content with location details specifying the regions where the document can be opened. This enables document to be usable as long as the person is within the organization. Even if document goes out (for example in employee's laptop/mobile phone) it will remain un-usable thus enabling organizations to have higher control over confidential information. Alternatives Alternative 1; Instead of the and tags, we can assume the area of usage to be a rectangle and hence specify the top-left and bottom-right co-ordinates using and tags for the same. The content shall be available for consumption in the rectangle bounded by latitudes 22 degree North (top) and 5 degree North (bottom). The Longitudinal binding shall be 35 degree East (left) and 6 degree West (right). Alternative 2: The concept of Location Areas (or Tracking Areas and Routing Areas) over 3G or similar technology can also be used to define the location based constraint. Example, consider that a certain Content can be used only in Location Area 1. It should not be able to render the content when the Device goes out of that Location Area. When the Device is in Location Area "Areal" only then is it able to consume the content. The concept of Location area can be similar to "Location Area" or "Routing Area" or 'Tracking Area" as in 3GPP or 3GPP2 systems. Incase of WLAN or other unlicensed spectrum usage, it can be mapped to system specific location identificiations like for e.g. SSID in WLAN networks. For e.g. If the WLAN device is in particular SSID, then the location constraint can be applied. Or For e.g. if the 3GPP UE is in a particular LA or RA then only the above types of consumption may be possible.. It will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that other control methods and apparatuses can be derived from the combinations of the various methods and apparatuses of the present invention as taught by the description and the accompanying drawings and these shall also be considered within the scope of the present invention. Further, description of such combinations and variations is therefore omitted above. It should also be noted that the host for storing the applications include but not limited to a microchip, microprocessor, handheld communication device, computer, rendering device or a multi function device. Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are possible and are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom. GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND DEFINITIONS THEREOF DRM: Digital Rights Management REL: Rights Expression Language ODRL: Open Digital Rights Language XrML: extensible rights Markup Language OMA: Open Mobile Alliance SCE: Secure Content Exchange Location: is defined as the geographical area bounded by the top -left and bottom right rectangle co-ordinates or the circular area with "center" as the center and "radius" as the radius. CLAIM 1. A method of seamless exchange of content based on user location comprising the steps of: (a) inserting location and position based constraint in rights object during content generation; (b) imposing constraints by a DRM agent when the new RO is within the range of the mentioned alternatives for location identification and matching; (c) sending position co-ordinates to an authenticator or content provider by the DRM agent of the device who want to access the content; (d) checking if the position conditions are met by the target devices DRM agent; and (e) sharing the RO by other device in proximity, if the position conditions are met. 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said range is indicated by plurality of tags or position co-ordinates like "centre" & "radius" or "top-left" & "bottom-right" tag or 3GPP/3GPP2 Location Area/Routing Area or WLAN specific SSID or any system specific Location id tags. 3. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the Content provider can package the RO by only mentioning the radius in which the content can be used. 4. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the DRM agent uses the RO to impose the said constraint. 5. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein allowing access to content is subjected to the condition that the content is consumed within limits of allowed range specified in rights object. 6. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said tags further cover the location ELEMENT and subsequent location identifiers like centre, LAID and SSID used for sending in a ROAP Hello message. 7. A system of seamless exchange of content based on user location comprising: (a) means for inserting location and position based constraint in rights object during content generation; (b) means for imposing constraints by a DRM agent when the new RO is within the range of the mentioned alternatives for location identification and matching; (c) means for sending position co-ordinates to an authenticator or content provider by the DRM agent of the device who want to access the content; (d) means for checking if the position conditions are met by the target devices DRM agent; and (e) means for sharing the RO by other device in proximity, if the position conditions are met. 8. A method of seamless exchange of content based on user location substantially described particularly with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

1976-CHE-2005 AMENDED CLAIMS 06-12-2012.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 AMENDED PAGES OF SPECIFICATION 06-12-2012.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 18-01-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 18-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 08-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 EXAMINATION REPORT REPLY RECEIVED. 06-12-2012.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 FORM-1 01-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 FORM-1 06-12-2012.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 FORM-5 01-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 FORM-5 06-12-2012.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 OTHER PATENT DOCUMENT 06-12-2012.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 POWER OF ATTORNEY 06-12-2012.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 POWER OF ATTORNEY 18-01-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 POWER OF ATTORNEY 18-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 01-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 05-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 FORM-1 05-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 FORM-13 08-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 FORM.13 18-01-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 OTHERS 05-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 POWER OF ATTORNEY 01-02-2013.pdf

1976-CHE-2005 POWER OF ATTORNEY 08-02-2013.pdf

1976-che-2005-abstract.pdf

1976-che-2005-claims.pdf

1976-che-2005-correspondnece-others.pdf

1976-che-2005-description(complete).pdf

1976-che-2005-description(provisional).pdf

1976-che-2005-form 1.pdf

1976-che-2005-form 26.pdf

1976-che-2005-form 5.pdf