JP2003058657A - License management server and license management method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a license management server that can easily and safely transfer a user's license usage right to another person. A management server (1) stores a license information database (2) for storing license information specifying the content usage right owned by each user in an individual area corresponding to each user. When an instruction to request the transfer is obtained, bibliographic data of the ciphertext and an encryption key are generated from the plaintext bibliographic data of the license information pertaining to the transfer request, and the bibliographic data of the plaintext and the bibliographic data of the generated ciphertext are generated. And license information database 2
And an encryption unit 5 that transmits the generated encryption key to the user requesting the transfer request and, upon receiving the encryption key from the user, encrypts the license information associated with the encryption key. A right management unit 7 for moving the key to the storage area of the individual area corresponding to the user who transmitted the key is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a license management server that manages usage rights of contents, and more particularly to a technology that enables safe transfer and sharing of usage rights.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to ensure the sound distribution of digital works (contents) such as music, movies and computer programs, it is necessary to prevent the contents from being illegally copied. That is, it is necessary to ensure that the content is used only within the scope of the right to use it.

[0003] On the other hand, as with general tangible goods, the contents are not fixed semipermanently, but the usage right is transferred or the usage right is shared among a plurality of people. A mechanism for sharing is needed. For example,
In the distribution channel, wholesalers, resellers, etc. need to purchase content from creators and copyright holders and then resell it to general consumers. In addition, there are cases where general consumers who have purchased the content desire to transfer the license to another person or to share the license with another person.

[0004] As a conventional technique for enabling such transfer / sharing of contents, there is an "information receiving system" disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-67795. In this system, when exchanging registration information between a plurality of information receiving devices having different registration information for using the content data and handing over the usage right, it is possible to determine whether or not the content data can be used between the plurality of information receiving devices. By making the determination, the content data can be exchanged between the information receiving devices having different registration information.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional technique, although the usage right can be transferred between devices having different usage rights, the usage right is handed over together with the content data. In addition, there is a problem that, for example, if they are illegally acquired, it is no longer possible to prevent illegal use of the content by an illegal person.

As a countermeasure for that, there has been proposed a method of providing a license management server for centrally managing licenses of contents on a communication network such as the Internet. However, although this method is effective in preventing unauthorized use of content, no specific automated process has yet been established for license transfer and sharing. In other words, with regard to the transfer and sharing of the license, it is the current situation that the registered information for each user is manually rewritten based on the report from the user, or the mutual trust relationship between the contractors is used.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and in a system in which rights are managed by a server and contents are used by clients, the rights are safely transferred (shared, between clients). The purpose is to provide a license management server or the like that enables resale.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a license management server according to the present invention is a license management server for managing usage rights of contents distributed to a terminal device. Individual storage means for storing license information for specifying the contents of the usage right owned, in a storage area associated with each terminal device or user,
When the temporary storage unit for temporarily storing the license information and the instruction to request the transfer of the usage right are acquired from the first terminal device or the first user, the license related to the transfer request is acquired. Generate key information corresponding to the information,
Key information generating means for transmitting to the first terminal device or the first user, first right moving means for moving the license information related to the transfer request from the individual storage means to the temporary storage means, and second terminal device Alternatively, when the key information is acquired from the second user, the license information associated with the key information is stored in the temporary storage unit in the individual storage unit associated with the second terminal device or the second user. And a second right transfer means for moving to a storage area.

That is, the license is centrally managed by the license management server, and the license information itself is moved from the storage area for the transferee to the storage area for the transferee in the license management server without taking out the license information itself from the license management server. I decided. At that time
It was decided to verify that the transferee has the key information issued to the transferee in advance, as proof that the license has been properly received from the transferee. Specifically, the following procedure is taken as an example.

License information for each user (or terminal) is stored in an individual area of the license information database. When the transfer request is received from the transferor, an encryption key is generated, the target license information is encrypted by using the encryption key, the private area is moved to the public area, and the encryption key is issued to the transferor. The issued encryption key is given by the transferee to the transferee. When the transferee receives a request from the transferee to transfer the rights to himself, the transferee is authenticated depending on whether he has the encryption key issued to the transferee. When it is possible to authenticate the authorized transferee, the corresponding license information is decrypted with the encryption key and moved from the public area to the individual area for the transferee. As a result, in a system in which the server manages the right and the client uses the content, the right can be safely shared and resold between the clients.

The present invention is realized as a license management method having the characteristic means of the license management server as a step, realized as a program executed by a general-purpose computer device, or storing the program. It can also be realized as a computer-readable recording medium.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a content distribution system 19 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The content distribution system 19
This is a communication distribution system in which the management server 1 centrally manages a license (= content usage right) for contents such as videos, games, and copyrighted works, and includes a management server 1, user terminals 11 to 13, and a communication network 18.

<Management Server 1> The management server 1 includes three databases (license information database 2, user database 3, content database 4) including hard disks, and six processing units (encryption unit 5) realized by programs and the like. , An authentication unit 6, a rights management unit 7, a ticket generation unit 8, a distribution unit 9, and a communication unit 10), and distributes the content in response to a content distribution request from the user, and the user can use the distributed content. A license ticket to do so is issued in response to a request from the user.

Further, the management server 1 also has a function as a Web server, and by the right transfer request from the user who has accessed, the transfer request is made within the range of the content usage right owned by the user. Rights data of
The content usage right is transferred to the transferee by moving the content to the authorized storage area for the transferee.

The license ticket is issued in response to a license ticket issuance request from the user who purchased the content, and is mainly within the range of the content key for decrypting the encryption of the content and the content usage right owned by the user. The content usage conditions permit the usage of the requested content usage each time.

The content distribution request is the user terminal 11
13 to 13 is a command for requesting the distribution of the content desired by the user from the management server 1, and mainly includes the terminal IDs of the user terminals 11 to 13 that are the request sources.
The content ID of the requested content is included.

The license ticket issuance request is
A terminal ID of the requesting user terminal 11-13, which is a command for requesting issuance of the license ticket.
And the content ID of the content desired to be reproduced and the desired use condition indicating how much the content is desired to be used.

Further, the right transfer request is a command for requesting transfer of all or part of the content usage right owned by the user to another person, and the request source user terminals 11-13. It includes a terminal ID, a content ID that identifies the content to be transferred, and a desired transfer usage condition that indicates how much the usage right should be transferred, corresponding to the usage condition of the content.

The license information database 2 has an individual area and a public area in its storage area. The individual area is an area in which only a user who has been authenticated by inputting a user ID, a password, etc. can access only the information about the user himself, and the content usage right of each user, the content usage condition for each content. The license information represented by is stored. The public area is not limited to the users registered in the user database 3,
This is an area that all users can access without being authenticated, and in accordance with the right transfer request of the user who owns the content usage right, the right data (plain text) separated from the license information of the user and its It is stored in association with the ciphertext. Since the ciphertext is encrypted, it is stored in the public area, but is not available for browsing.

The user database 3 stores, for each user who uses the content, user information in which personal information about each user and the terminal IDs of the user terminals 11 to 13 are recorded. The content database 4 is
The content that has been encrypted in advance and the content key that decrypts the encryption of the content are stored.

The encryption unit 5 generates an encryption key composed of, for example, 1024-bit data, and at the same time, the right management unit 7, which will be described later, uses the encryption key to generate the right data separated from the license information of the individual area. The encrypted right data is stored in the license information database 2 in association with the plaintext right data.

The authenticating unit 6 carries out authentication regarding transfer of rights. Specifically, the encryption key uploaded with the user ID of the transferor is used to decrypt the ciphertext right data of the user identified by the user ID, and is stored in the public area corresponding to the ciphertext. The plaintext right data and the decrypted right data are collated to authenticate whether the user who uploaded the encryption key is a legitimate transferee of the right. That is, if the matching results match,
Acknowledge that you are a legitimate transferee.

The right management unit 7 manages license information relating to the transfer of rights. Specifically, when a user transfers a right transfer request, whether or not the requested transfer right range is within the range of the content usage right owned by the user in response to the transfer request. After confirming, create right data that represents the content of the requested transfer from the license information of that user, and if there is a residual content usage right of the requesting user, use the right data that represents the residual right content. , Update the original rights data. by this,
The rights data representing the rights content of the transfer requested is separated from the license information of the requesting user.

Further, the right management unit 7 newly registers user information in the user database 3 for a user who is authenticated by the authentication unit 6 as an authorized transferee and is a new user. The plaintext right data placed in the public area is moved to the individual area of the license information database 2 as the license information of the user who is the proper transferee. If the user who has been authenticated as a legitimate transferee is a registered user, the plaintext right data placed in the public area is added to the license information of the user.

The ticket generation unit 8 generates a license ticket, which is information that enables the reproduction unit 15 of the user terminals 11 to 13 to reproduce the distributed content.
Specifically, the ticket generation unit 8 reads the usage condition of the content corresponding to the content ID included in the license ticket issuance request from the license information of the requesting user in response to the user's license ticket issuance request. The usage condition requested this time is subtracted from the read usage condition of the content, and the usage condition of the original content is rewritten. Next, a content usage condition corresponding to the current usage amount is created, the created content usage condition and the content key in the content database 4 are written in the license ticket, and the requesting user terminals 11 to 13 are written.
To the user via the communication unit 10.

The distribution unit 9 distributes contents such as videos, games and copyrighted works in accordance with a content distribution request from a user. Specifically, the content requested by the content distribution request is stored in the content database 4
And the read content is distributed via the communication network 18 such as the Internet.

The communication unit 10 requests the content distribution from the user terminals 11 to 13, the license ticket issuance request,
While receiving rights transfer requests and other requests,
The content read by the distribution unit 9, the license ticket created by the ticket generation unit 8, the encryption key created by the encryption unit 5, and the like are stored in SSL (Secu
A secure communication such as re Sockets Layer protocol) is used to reply to the requesting user terminals 11 to 13.

<User Terminals 11 to 13> User Terminal 11
Numerals 13 to 13 are terminals (Web clients) such as personal computers connected to a communication network 18 such as a broadband high-speed public line ADSL, each of which has a similar configuration and is roughly divided into a content storage unit 14 including a hard disk. And three processing units (reproducing unit 15, requesting unit 16, communication unit 17) realized by a program, a logic circuit, and the like.

The content storage unit 14 stores each user terminal 1
The content and license ticket distributed to 1 to 13 are stored. It also stores an encryption key or the like generated in response to the right transfer request.

The reproducing unit 15 reproduces the delivered content in accordance with the content of the license ticket while always referring to the license ticket corresponding to the content. Specifically, the playback unit 15 includes a playback module such as a tamper-proof decoding module and an MPEG decoder, and plays back the delivered content in a stream according to a playback command input by the user on the display screen. Alternatively, the content is temporarily stored in the content storage unit 14 and then reproduced by inputting a reproduction command again. At this time, the reproducing unit 15 reproduces the content in accordance with the content use condition of the license ticket.

The request unit 16 receives various requests from the user.
It is transmitted to the management server 1 via the communication unit 17. Specifically, the request unit 16 accesses the management server 1 by a browser or the like according to the user's operation, displays a menu screen corresponding to various requests received from the management server 1 to the user, and displays the menu screen. Of the user input, and transmits a content distribution request, a license ticket issuance request, and a right transfer request of the user terminals 11 to 13, which are composed of the received input data, to the communication unit 17. At this time, the request unit 16 transmits the terminal IDs of the user terminals 11 to 13 as information indicating the request source for each request.

The communication unit 17 transmits various requests from the request unit 16 to the management server 1, and transfers the content and the license ticket received from the management server 1 to the content storage unit 14 and the reproduction unit 15. The encryption key received from the management server 1 is transferred to the content storage unit 14. The communication network 18 is a communication network such as the Internet.

Next, the operation of the management server 1 configured as above will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of stored contents of the individual area and the public area of the license information database 2 of FIG. As shown in the figure, the license information database 2 is provided with an individual area and a public area, and in the individual area, license information 21 to 23 for all users AZ of the content distribution system 19,
It is stored in a storage area corresponding to each of all users A to Z. For example, in the license information 21, all the rights of the content usage right purchased by the user A are recorded for each content, and in the license information 22, all the rights of the content usage right purchased by the user B are recorded for each content. It is recorded in. Similarly, in the license information 23, all rights of the content usage right purchased by the user Z are recorded for each content. As described above, in the individual area of the license information database 2, all the rights regarding the content usage for all users are recorded, and the ticket generation unit 8 of FIG.
Based on the license information 21 to 23, the user A to
Issue a license ticket to Z.

Among the right data separated from the license information 21 of the user A, plaintext bibliographic data 27 and ciphertext bibliographic data 24 are stored in the public area in association with each other by a user name (user ID). ing. Similarly, for the user D and the user X, the plaintext bibliographic data 28, 29 and the ciphertext bibliographic data 25, 26 are included in the right data separated from the respective license information.
And are stored in association with each other by the user name.
As described above, the right data stored in the public area is the right data indicating the range of the rights to which the transfer destination is undecided in relation to the user's right transfer request, and the right data is stored in the public area. You cannot use the content with this right data while you are there. For example, when the user A sends a right transfer request to the management server 1 to transfer a part of the content usage right that the user A owns, the right management unit 7 determines that the right range designated by the right transfer request. The right data indicating the is separated from the license information 21 of the user A. The encryption unit 5 encrypts the bibliographic data 27 of the separated right data to create ciphertext bibliographic data 24, and stores the plaintext bibliographic data 27 and the ciphertext bibliographic data 24 in the public area. User D ...
The same applies to user X.

The plaintext bibliographical data 27 and the ciphertext bibliographical data 24 of the user A stored in this way are the assignee who has offered to be the assignee of the right (for example, the user B).
Is authenticated as the legitimate transferee of the right, and when the transfer destination of the right is determined, the licensee of the transferee (user B) is placed in the individual area associated with the transferee (user B). It is moved as information (or part of it).

As described above, the right data determined by the user is placed in the storage area corresponding to the user in the individual area as the license information 21 to 23, and is the target of the license ticket issuance by the ticket generation unit 8. But,
The right data indicating the right relating to the user's right transfer request is
While the transfer destination is undecided, it is temporarily placed in the public area, and when the right transfer destination is decided, the right is moved to the storage area associated with the transfer destination user in the individual area. In this way, the management server 1 grants the right for the transfer request received from the user,
The ticket generation unit 8 manages the right data relating to the transfer request in the public area in the order of moving to the individual area (transferor) → public area → individual area (transferee) in association with the state of the right related to the transfer. Since the license information is managed separately from the license information, it is possible to safely and easily transfer the right itself to another person without exposing it to the outside.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of user A's bibliographic data in which plaintext and ciphertext are stored in association with each other in the public area of the license information database 2. As shown in the figure, the plaintext bibliographical data 27 shows the content of the right of the content usage right of the user A that has requested the right transfer, and the content usage right to be transferred is the content usage right. A content name 30 indicating that the content is valid, a valid period 31 of the usage right, an effective usage count 32 indicating how many times the content can be used, and the number of hours the content can be used corresponding to the effective usage count. The effective use time 33 indicating whether or not is recorded. A user who has accessed the public area shown in FIG. 2 can freely browse the plaintext bibliographic data 27. For example, in the plaintext bibliographical data 27, during the valid period “from 9:00 on May 1, 2000 to 9:00 on April 28, 2003”, the content “Anime Criminal Conan” is displayed.
It is recorded that the right to be used for "2" times or "6" hours is transferred. In this way, the user who has accessed the public area can freely browse the plaintext bibliographic data, so that not only when reselling the right to a third party, but also between the users, the transferee of the right is determined in advance. In this case, the transferee of the right can easily confirm the contents of the right to be transferred by browsing the plaintext bibliographic data in advance.

The encryption unit 5 encrypts the plaintext bibliographic data 27 and stores the plaintext bibliographic data 27 and the ciphertext bibliographic data 24 in the public area.

On the other hand, the transferee who received the encryption key
When the encryption key is uploaded to the public area together with the user name (user ID) of the user A who is the transferor,
The authentication unit 6 decrypts the ciphertext bibliographic data 24 with the uploaded encryption key, and collates the decrypted bibliographic data with the plaintext bibliographic data 27. If the verification results match, the transferee is authenticated as a right transfer destination of the right.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a communication procedure of the user A, the management server 1 and the user B until the user B uses the content by using the content usage right transferred by the user A. In the figure, a case where the user A resells a part of the content usage right owned by the user A to an unspecified third party will be described.

First, the user A determines the terminal ID of the user terminal 11, the content ID indicating which content usage right is the content usage right desired to be transferred, and the range of the usage right to be transferred, of the content. A right transfer request including the desired use condition for transfer indicated in correspondence with the use condition,
It is transmitted to the management server 1 (S10).

The communication unit 10 uses the user terminal 11 of the user A.
Upon receipt of the right transfer request from the right management unit 7, whether or not the right range of the requested transfer amount is within the range of the content usage right owned by the user A in response to the transfer request. Is checked with reference to the license information 21 of the user A, and if it is within the range, right data representing the right contents of the transfer requested is created. Furthermore, user A
Of the right information indicating the remaining right range obtained by subtracting the right range requested to be transferred from the right range indicated by the license information 21 of FIG. 1, and the right data indicating the remaining right range is licensed as the license information 21 of the new user A. By updating the information database 2, the rights data representing the rights content of the transfer requested is separated from the license information 21 of the user A. The encryption unit 5 encrypts the bibliographic data of the separated right data, stores the plaintext bibliographic data and the ciphertext bibliographic data in the public area of the license information database 2 in association with each other (S1).
1) The encryption key used for encryption is transmitted to the user A via the communication unit 10 (S12).

The right management unit 7 creates a display screen as shown in FIG. 5 for the plaintext bibliographic data 27 to 29 relating to the right data for which the transfer request has been stored and is stored in the public area, and the display screen of the license information database 2 is created. It is provided for viewing by users who have accessed the public area.

FIG. 5 relates to plaintext bibliographic data 27 to 29 in the public area of the license information database 2 of FIG.
It is a screen figure which shows an example of the display screen used for a user's browsing. As shown in the figure, on the browsing screen 36, regarding the bibliographic data of each right data related to the transfer request, the contact name 35 indicating the user name and the mail address of the seller to be contacted when the transfer of the right is desired, the transfer request Content name 30 indicating which content each usage right is a usage right, valid period 31 of the usage right, effective usage number 32 indicating how many times the content can be used, and the effective usage number Correspondingly, an effective use time 33 indicating how many hours the content can be used and a desired resale price 34 indicating how much the right is to be resold are displayed. A “next page” button 37, a “previous page” button 38, and the like are provided below the browsing screen 36. A user who has accessed the public area of the license information database 2 can press these buttons to
The undisplayed bibliographic data and the already displayed bibliographic data can be displayed on the browsing screen 36 for browsing.

Further, a "send key" button 39 is provided at the lower right of the browsing screen 36, and the transferee who has received the encryption key from the transferee of the right has this "send key" button 39. By pressing, the authentication unit 6 can shift to another display screen for accepting the upload of the encryption key.

Strictly speaking, of the rights relating to the transfer request of the user A displayed on the browsing screen 36 in this way, the content name 30, the valid period 31, the valid use number 32, and the valid use time 33 are shown in FIG. In the plaintext bibliographic data 27, the e-mail address and the desired resale price 34 are not originally the right data recorded in the license information, but the right management unit 7 follows the right transfer request from the user A. It was acquired by

In this way, the plaintext bibliographic data 27 of the user A displayed on the browsing screen 36 is browsed (S1
3) When the user B desires to purchase the right of the user A, the user B sends an email to the user A by clicking the email address of the user A displayed in the contact information 35 on the browsing screen 36. The request is transmitted and the user A is offered to purchase the right (S14).

When User A agrees to transfer the right to User B's offer to purchase, User A determines that User B
While receiving the purchase price of the content usage right from
The user B receives the encryption key received from the management server 1 as ftp (file transfer pr) as a Web page including the encryption key.
or an encrypted mail with a digital signature or the like (S15).

User B who has obtained the encryption key from User A
By accessing the public area of the license information database 2 of the management server 1 and pressing the “send key” button 39 on the browsing screen 36 shown in FIG. 5, the authentication unit 6 accepts the upload of the encryption key. Move to the display screen of. The user B selects the user name of the transferor displayed on the display screen of the transfer destination, transmits the user ID of the transferor to the authentication unit 6, and presses the upload button or the like displayed at the same time. , And sends the encryption key to the authentication unit 6 (S16). The encryption key is uploaded using secure communication such as SSL.

Authentication unit 6 which received the encryption key from user B
Refers to the log to confirm that the transmission from user B is not illegal, and based on the user ID of user A received with the encryption key, user A stored in the public area of license information database 2 The ciphertext bibliographic data 24 is read, and the read ciphertext bibliographic data 24 is decrypted with the received encryption key. Next, the decrypted bibliographic data and the user A stored in the public area
Of the plaintext bibliographic data 27 (S17), and if both of the bibliographic data match as a result of the collation, the user B is authenticated as a legitimate transferee of the right of the user A, and the authentication result is the user B (S18). If they do not match as a result of the collation, the user B is notified that they do not match,
The process ends. In addition, the authentication unit 6 sets the communication date and time and the user ID of the transferor transmitted every time the authentication result is issued.
Then, a log recording the source IP address, the transmitted encryption key, and the verification result by the authentication unit 6 is recorded. By referring to this log, fraudulent acts such as hackers can be prevented, and if fraudulent acts have been performed, it can be useful for post-mortem investigations.

When the authentication unit 6 authenticates the user B as a legitimate transferee, the right management unit 7 indicates the content of the right shown in the plaintext bibliographic data 27 of the user A by the license information 22 of the user B. In addition to the content of the right, the license information 22 of the user B is rewritten, the plaintext bibliographic data 27 and the ciphertext bibliographic data 24 in the public area are erased, and the right of the user A is transferred to the user B (S19). ).

User B uses the right handed over from User A to "1" for the content "Anime Criminal Conan".
If you want to watch "times" or "3 hours", the management server 1
For the content "Anime Criminal Conan""once"
Alternatively, it requests the issuance of a license ticket for "3 hours" viewing (S20). On the other hand, the management server 1
Is the license information 2 of the usage condition requested by the user B.
After confirming whether or not the right range shown in No. 2 is exceeded, the effective use number 32 of "Anime Criminal Conan" of the license information 22 of the user B is changed from "2 times" to "1".
Effective time 33 from “6 hours” to “3 hours”
"May 1, 2000 from 9 o'clock to 200"
Until 9 o'clock on April 28, 3rd, user B is issued with a license ticket permitting playback of "Anime Criminal Conan""once" or "3 hours" (S2).
1).

The communication unit 17 of the user B having received this license ticket stores the received license ticket in the content storage unit 14 and transfers the content distributed from the distribution unit 9 to the reproduction unit 15. Playback unit 1
5 is for playing the received content in a stream, or once storing the content in the content storage unit 14 in response to a playback command input by the user on the display screen, and then inputting the playback command again. Reproduce as needed (S22).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the management server 1 of FIG. 1 in response to a user's right transfer request. In the management server 1, when the communication unit 10 receives the right transfer request from the user terminal 11 of the user A, the right management unit 7 responds to the transfer request, and the right range of the requested transfer portion corresponds to the user A. After confirming whether or not the content is within the range of the content usage right that the user owns, right data representing the content of the rights requested to be transferred is created based on the license information of the user A, and the content usage right of the user A is created. If there is a residual in the
Update the original license information. As a result, the right data representing the right contents of the transfer request is separated from the license information of the requesting user A.

The encryption unit 5 generates an encryption key, encrypts the bibliographic data of the right data separated by the right management unit 7 (S1), and associates the encrypted bibliographic data with the plaintext bibliographic data. It is also stored in the public area of the license information database 2 (S2). The encryption key generated by the encryption unit 5 is a Web page including the encryption key or an encrypted mail with a digital signature,
The communication unit 10 returns the request to the user terminal 11 of the user A (S3).

The transferee B, who had promised to transfer the content usage right from the user A in advance, receives the encryption key from the user terminal 11 of the user A as a Web page including the encryption key or as an encrypted mail with a digital signature. Then, the public area of the license information database 2 of the management server 1 is accessed to upload the user name (user ID) of the user A and the encryption key.

When the user ID and the encryption key of the transferor user A are received from the user terminal 12 of the user B (S
4), the authentication unit 6 decrypts the ciphertext of the user A specified by the user ID using the uploaded encryption key (S5), and also the plaintext stored in the public area corresponding to the ciphertext. The bibliographic data of (1) and the bibliographic data after decryption are collated (S6), and if the collation results match, the user B who has uploaded the encryption key is authenticated as a legitimate transferee of the right. If the verification results do not match, the process ends.

Since the user B has been authenticated as a legitimate transferee, the right management section 7 stores the right contents of the right data represented by plaintext bibliographic data in the individual area of the license information database 2. In addition to the license information of user B, the license information of user B is updated, and the plaintext bibliographic data placed in the public area and the ciphertext corresponding thereto are deleted from the public area (S7).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the management server 1 centrally manages the license of content (= content usage right), and the license information database 2 acquires the right corresponding to the transfer request from the user. The transferee was able to transfer to the transferee through the public domain of. As a result, it is possible to move the license safely and reliably in correspondence with the transfer in the real world without taking out the license information from the management server.

Further, in the present embodiment, 102
The authentication unit 6 authenticates whether or not the right is the rightful transferee by the encryption key consisting of 4-bit data, and the authentication unit 6 leaves a log each time the authentication result is obtained. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the transfer of the right by an unauthorized encryption key. There is an effect that can be.

In the present embodiment, in order to authenticate to the management server 1 whether or not the user who applied for the transfer of the right is the legitimate transferee who has transferred the right from the transferee of the right. Although the encryption key is used in the above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and the encryption key may be, for example, a predetermined password or the like. And
Only the user who has presented the password (the transferee) may be permitted to log in to the operation screen for transferring the right, thereby authenticating the transferee.

Further, in the present embodiment, the authentication unit 6
For the transferee who has been authenticated as a legitimate transferee by the rights management unit 7, the rights management unit 7 sets the range of rights represented by plaintext bibliographical data to the transferee's license information stored in the individual area. It is assumed that the license information of the transferee is updated in addition to the right range of
Without being limited to the present embodiment, for example, in the public area of the license information database 2, a license ticket that is associated with plaintext right data and represents an equivalent range of rights is encrypted and stored, and the authentication unit 6 is used. May decrypt the encrypted license ticket using the uploaded encryption key, and check the content of the right against the plaintext bibliographic data. In this case, the right management unit 7 further
Instead of updating the license information of the user who has been authenticated by the authentication unit 6 as an authorized transferee, the license ticket decrypted by the authentication unit 6 may be transmitted to the transferee.

Further, in the present embodiment, the ciphertext bibliographic data is decrypted by the authentication unit 6 using the cipher key received from the transferee, and the ciphertext is transmitted by collating it with the plaintext bibliographic data. Although it has been described that the person authenticates whether or not the person is an authorized transferee, the management server 1 of the present invention
The embodiment is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the transferee who has acquired the encryption key from the transferor downloads the ciphertext bibliographic data from the public area of the license information database 2 and decrypts it using the acquired encryption key. In addition, the decrypted bibliographic data may be transmitted to the management server 1 to be authenticated by the authentication unit 6. In this case, the authentication unit 6 compares the plaintext bibliographical data stored in the public area with the decrypted bibliographical data uploaded from the transferee, so that the transferee can confirm the right of the right. Authenticate whether or not you are a transferee.

Further, the period in which the license information to be transferred is placed in the public area may be limited to a fixed period instead of being unlimited. By shortening the period of unstable rights that are sold but not determined by the buyer, the content of the rights can be prevented from being exposed to the public for a long period of time, and the burden of measures against illegal acquisition of rights can be reduced. .

In the present embodiment, when the transferee who receives the encryption key tries to transfer the right, the encryption key is uploaded to the public area together with the transferee's user name (user ID). However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and only the encryption key may be uploaded. In this case, the encryption unit 5
When transmitting the encryption key to the transferor, the correspondence between the encryption key, the transferor, and the right to be transferred is recorded in a table or the like, and when the encryption key is uploaded, the authentication unit 6
May refer to this to identify the ciphertext of the right data to be decrypted with the encryption key and perform authentication.

In the present embodiment, only the method in which the right assignor and the assignee directly contact each other, such as an offer to purchase a right and a promise to transfer the right, has been described. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments. For example, the right purchase request may be made to the management server 1 instead of directly to the transferor. In this case, for example, the right management unit 7 displays a “purchase” button in the item of the contact information 35 on the display screen shown in FIG. 5, and the user who desires to purchase the right purchases the “purchase” button.
By pressing the button, the purchase offer from the user is accepted. Furthermore, the management server 1 may be provided with a billing processing unit, and the management server 1 may act for the delivery of the purchase price.

[0067]

The license management server of the present invention is a license management server that manages the usage right of the content distributed to the terminal device, and stores the license information that specifies the content of the usage right owned by each user. An individual storage unit for storing in a storage area associated with each terminal device or user, a temporary storage unit for temporarily storing the license information, and a first terminal device or a first user A key information generating means for generating key information corresponding to the license information related to the transfer request when the instruction for requesting the transfer of the usage right is acquired, and transmitting the key information to the first terminal device or the first user. , First right transfer means for moving the license information related to the transfer request from the individual storage means to the temporary storage means, and the key information from a second terminal device or a second user. And second right transfer means for moving the license information associated with the key information from the temporary storage means to a storage area of the individual storage means associated with the second terminal device or the second user. It is characterized by being provided.

As described above, the license management server of the present invention transfers the license information relating to the transfer request, that is, the license information of the content usage right that may be transferred, from the individual storage means to the temporary storage means. When the user moves and obtains the key information corresponding to the license information related to the transfer request from the second user, the second user is recognized as a new user of the content usage right related to the transfer request, and the key information is acquired. The license information associated with is transferred from the temporary storage means to the storage area of the individual storage means associated with the second terminal device or the second user, so that the right itself is output to the outside of the license management server. Without having to deal with the transfer of rights in the real world,
Because it is possible to safely transfer between the first user and the second user, and the distinction between the content usage right for which the user is defined and the content usage right for which the user is not defined is clear. , There is an effect that the transfer and management of those rights can be performed easily.

For example, even if the content is illegally acquired, since the license information is stored in the license management server, it is possible to prevent the content from being illegally used. In addition, since the license information is safely moved in the license management server and the license is transferred in a form corresponding to the transfer of the license in the real world, the right can be safely shared among individuals and the right can be shared. It can also be applied to the resale business, ensuring secure and sound distribution of content.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a content distribution system 19 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of stored contents of an individual area and a public area of a license information database 2 of FIG.

[FIG. 3] In the public area of the license information database 2,
It is a figure which shows an example of the bibliographical data of the user A in which plaintext and ciphertext were matched and stored.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a communication procedure of the user A, the management server 1 and the user B until the user B uses the content by using the content usage right transferred by the user A.

FIG. 5 is a screen diagram showing an example of a display screen used for browsing by the user regarding plaintext bibliographic data 27 to 29 in the public area of the license information database 2 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the management server 1 of FIG. 1 in response to a user's right transfer request.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 management server 2 License information database 3 user database 4 Content database 5 Cryptographic department 6 Authentication Department 7 Rights Management Department 8 Ticket generator 9 Delivery Department 10 Communication unit 11-13 User terminal 14 Content storage 15 Playback section 16 Request section 17 Communications Department 18 Communication network

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Norio Higashi             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5B085 AA08 AE29 BA07 BG07                 5J104 AA07 AA13 AA16 EA01 EA16                       KA01 KA06 MA05 NA02 NA05                       PA07

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A license management server for managing usage rights of contents distributed to a terminal device, wherein license information for identifying the contents of the usage rights owned by each user is handled for each terminal device or user. Individual storage means for storing in the attached storage area, temporary storage means for temporarily storing the license information, and request transfer of the usage right from the first terminal device or the first user. When the instruction to that effect is acquired, key information generating means for generating key information corresponding to the license information relating to the transfer request and transmitting the key information to the first terminal device or the first user, and the license information relating to the transfer request. When the key information is acquired from the first right transfer unit that moves the individual storage unit to the temporary storage unit and the second terminal device or the second user, it is associated with the key information. A license management server, comprising: second right transfer means for moving the license information from the temporary storage means to a storage area of the individual storage means associated with the second terminal device or the second user. . 2. The second right transfer means is only when the key information acquired from the second terminal device or the second user has a certain relationship with the key information generated by the key information generation means. The license management server according to claim 1, wherein the license information is moved from the temporary storage means to a storage area of the individual storage means. 3. The first right transfer means reads the license information from the individual storage means, and encrypts the read license information with the key information generated by the key information generation means as an encryption key. Later, the second right transfer means stores the encrypted license information in the temporary storage means, and reads the encrypted license information from the temporary storage means, and reads the license information from the second terminal device or the second user. 3. The license management server according to claim 2, wherein the key information obtained from the decryption key is decrypted as a decryption key, and the decrypted license information is stored in the storage area of the individual storage means only when the decryption is successful. . 4. The first right transfer means stores the encrypted license information together with the unencrypted license information in the temporary storage means, and the second right transfer means stores the encrypted license information. For the license information, the key information obtained from the second terminal device or the second user is decrypted as a decryption key, and the obtained information and the unencrypted license information stored in the temporary storage means 4. The license management server according to claim 3, wherein the decrypted license information is stored in the storage area of the individual storage means only when the two are matched with each other. 5. The second right transfer means further acquires at least the date and time of acquisition of the key information, the second terminal device or the second terminal device each time the key information is acquired from the second terminal device or the second user. The license management server according to claim 1, further comprising a log recording unit that records log information including address information for identifying a user and the collation result. 6. The key information is a password, and the second right transfer means transfers license information from the temporary storage means to a storage area of the individual storage means based on an instruction from a terminal device or a user. A login dialogue unit to be moved, and only when the password obtained from the second terminal device or the second user matches the password generated by the key information generating means, The license management server according to claim 1, wherein a dialogue with two terminal devices or the second user is permitted. 7. The first right transfer means further obtains, from the first terminal device or the first user, an instruction to request the transfer of the right to use, and the first user owns the use. A determination unit that determines whether or not the range of the usage right related to the transfer request is within the range of the usage right owned by the first user by referring to the license information that specifies the content of the right; As a result, if the license information is within the range, the license information in the storage area associated with the first user of the individual storage unit is changed from the range of the usage right indicated by the license information to the range of the usage right related to the transfer request. And a subtraction unit that rewrites the license information into the license information, and a transfer license information generation and transfer unit that generates license information that specifies the content of the usage right related to the transfer request and moves the license information to the temporary storage unit. Contract The license management server according to claim 1. 8. The license management server further comprises browsing means for displaying the contents of the license information moved by the first right moving means to allow an unspecified user to browse. The license management server according to any one of items 1 to 7. 9. A license management method by a server device that manages a usage right of content distributed to a terminal device, wherein the server device provides license information for specifying the content of the usage right owned by each user. The license management method includes: an individual storage unit that stores in a storage area associated with each terminal device or a user; and a temporary storage unit that temporarily stores the license information. When an instruction to request the transfer of the usage right is acquired from the device or the first user, key information corresponding to the license information related to the transfer request is generated, and the key information is generated to the first terminal device or the first user. A key information generating step of transmitting, a first right moving step of moving the license information relating to the transfer request from the individual storage means to the temporary storage means, and a second end When the key information is acquired from the device or the second user, the license information associated with the key information is stored in the temporary storage unit of the individual storage unit associated with the second terminal device or the second user. A second right transfer step of moving to a storage area. 10. A program for license management by a server device that manages usage rights of contents distributed to a terminal device, the program causing a computer to execute the steps of claim 9. 11. A computer-readable recording medium in which the program according to claim 10 is recorded.