Data processing: database and file management or data structures – Database design – Data structure types
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-02
2004-05-25
Kindred, Alford (Department: 2172)
Data processing: database and file management or data structures
Database design
Data structure types
C380S239000, C380S228000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06741991
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for managing data for using, i.e., storing, copying, editing, or transferring digital data content.
2. Background Art
Because analog data content is deteriorated in quality whenever storing, copying, editing, or transferring it, controlling copyrights associated with these operations has not been a serious problem. However, because digital data content is not deteriorated in quality after repeatedly storing, copying, editing, or transferring it, controlling copyrights associated with these operations for digital data content is a serious problem.
Because there has been hitherto no adequate method for controlling a copyright for digital data content, the copyright is handled by the copyright law or contracts. Even in the copyright law, compensation money for a digital-type sound- or picture-recorder is only systematized.
Use of a data content includes not only referring to its contents but also normally effectively using by storing, copying, or editing obtained data person via on-line basis by a communication line or via off-line basis using a proper recording medium. Furthermore, it is possible to transmit the edited data content to the database to be registered as new data content.
In a conventional database system, only character data content is handled. In a multimedia system, however, audio data content and picture data content which are originally analog data contents are digitalized and formed into a database in addition to the data content such as characters which have been formed into a database so far.
Under these circumstances, how to deal with a copyright of data content in a database is a large problem. However, there has not been adequate copyright management means for solving the problem so far, particularly copyright management means completed for secondary utilization such as copying, editing, or transferring of the data content.
The inventor of the present invention proposed a system for managing a copyright by obtaining a permit key from a key control center via a public telephone line in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 46419/1994 (GB 2269302A) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 141004/1994 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,933) and moreover, proposed an apparatus for managing the copyright in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 132916/1994 (GB 2272822A).
Moreover, a copyright management method for primary utilization of digital data content such as display (including process to sound) or storage including real-time transmission of the digital data content in a database system and secondary utilization of the digital data content such as copying, editing, or transferring of the digital data content by further developing the above invention is proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 64889/1994 (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/416,037).
The database copyright management system of the above application in order to manage the copyright, either one or more of a program for managing the copyright, copyright information, and a copyright control message are used in addition to a use permit key corresponding to a requested use, and data content which has been transferred with encryption is decrypted to be used for viewing and editing, and the data content is encrypted again when used for storing, copying and transferring.
The copyright control message is displayed when utilization beyond the range of the user's request or authorized operation is found to give caution or warning to a user and the copyright management program performs monitoring and managing so that utilization beyond the range of the user's request or authorized operation is not performed.
On the other hand, it is widely practiced to establish LAN (Local Area Network) by connecting computers with each other in offices, organizations, companies, etc. Also, a plurality of networks are connected with each other, and Internet is now organized in a global scale, by which a plurality of networks are utilized as if they are a single network.
In LAN used in an organization such as firms, secret information is often stored, which must not be disclosed to outsiders. For this reason, it is necessary to arrange the secret information in such a manner that only a specific group of users can gain access and use such information, and such access is generally placed under control to prevent leakage of secret information to outsiders.
There are roughly two methods to control the access: a method to control access with access permission, and a method to do it by encryption.
The method of access control by access permission is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,173,939, 5,220,604, 5,224,163, 5,315,657, 5,414,772 and 5,438,508, in EP506435, and in JP Laid-Open 169540/1987.
The access control method based on encryption is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,736,422, 5,224,163, 5,400,403, 5,457,746, and 5,584,023, in EP 438154 and EP 506435, and in JP Laid-Open 145923/1993. The access control method based on encryption and digital signature is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,919,545 and 5,465,299.
Intranet is now being propagated, in which a plurality of LANs are connected with each other via Internet and these LANs are utilized as if they are a single LAN. In the intranet, information exchange is performed via Internet, which basically provides no guarantee for prevention of piracy, and information is encrypted to prevent the piracy when secret information is exchanged.
The prevention of information piracy during transmission by means of encryption is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,504,818 and 5,515,441, and the use of a plurality of crypt keys is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,504,816; 5,353,351, 5,475,757, and 5,381,480. Also, performing re-encryption is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,514.
When encrypting, management of crypt key including transfer and receipt of crypt key becomes an important issue. Generation of keys by IC card is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,121, and encryption/decryption by IC card is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,347,581 and 5,504,817. Also, electronic watermark technique is described in EP 649074.
In the video conference system, a television picture has been added to the conventional voice telephone set. Recently, the video conference system is advanced in which a computer system is incorporated in the video conference system so that the quality of the voice and the picture are improved, and data content can be handled at the same time as well as the voice and the picture.
Under these circumstances, security against the violation of the user's privacy and the data content leakage due to eavesdropping by persons other than the participants of the conference are protected by the cryptosystem using a secret-key.
However, since the conference content obtained by the participants themselves are decrypted, in the case where participants themselves store the content of the conference and sometimes edit the content, and further, use for secondary usage such as distribution to the persons other than the participants of the conference, the privacy of other participants of the video conference and data content security remains unprotected.
In particular, the compression technology of the transfer of data content is advanced while the volume of the data content storage medium is advanced with the result that the possibility is getting more and more realistic that all the content of the video conference may be copied to the data content storage medium or transmitted via a network.
Also, electronic commerce system with digital data content for commercial dealing is now being used for practical applications. Above all, various types of experiments are now under way for digital cash system to exchange electronic data content instead of cash so that the system can be used by general public.
The digital cash system which has been proposed so far is based on a secret-key cryptosystem. The encrypted digital cash data content is transferred from a bank account or a cash service of a credit company, and is stored in an IC card so th
Kindred Alford
Mitsubishi Corporation
Westerman Hattori Daniels & Adrian LLP
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