1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for providing conditional access to protected content, and in particular to a system and method for providing access to protected content via execution of licensable functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
The digitization of audio visual media content such as television shows and movies has enabled viewers to purchase their own copies of such media content for personal enjoyment. Such media content may be disseminated via tangible media such as optical discs, or may be disseminated by downloading the digital media from a content server or kiosk to a writable medium for later playback. Unfortunately, the digitalization of such media content has also permitted large scale and widespread unauthorized dissemination and/or use. Such unauthorized dissemination and/or use deprive providers of the audio visual media content the economic benefit of authoring such material.
Of course, the unauthorized dissemination and/or use of content constitutes a copyright infringement of the content by the person or entity disseminating or using the content in an unauthorized way. Hence, one way of preventing such unauthorized use is to aggressively enforce such copyrights. One of the problems with such enforcement is that such copyright infringements are typically highly decentralized and distributed, and filing suit for copyright infringement against such entities is far more costly than any damages that may be recovered, even statutory damages. For example, an individual may be guilty of copyright infringement for an unauthorized viewing or dissemination of a movie, but the statutory damages for such infringement do not justify the effort and expense of filing a lawsuit against that individual. Further, such actions may not be effective with respect to derivative works, and may require evidence which is difficult to obtain.
Other enforcement strategies are also problematic. For example, one such strategy is to attempt to enjoin entities that offer software or hardware that is capable of decoding and decrypting protected content with a lawsuit. The problem is that it can be difficult to initiate a cause of action against such entities until the infringement itself has already occurred (and when it has, an unprotected copy has typically already been disseminated), and if the software or hardware can be used in non-infringing ways, the action itself may be unsuccessful.
Further, successful digital rights management (DRM) schemes require coordination among content providers, manufacturers and licensors of the DRM scheme itself. When the scheme is intended to be a standard adopted by many manufacturers and content providers, the devices are manufactured according to a common specification. Unfortunately, the specification is also likely to be accessed by the public and used to circumvent the DRM scheme or otherwise render it ineffective. At the same time, content providers may desire to disseminate content and manufacturers build devices that are intended for use only under particular limitations (for example, within certain geopolitical boundaries or time periods).
What is needed is a system and method for protecting content from unauthorized use and/or dissemination that can augment current methods by providing additional causes of action against potential and actual infringers. What is also needed is a system and method that permits content providers and manufacturers to protect such content in ways that permit different schemes to be employed as required by geopolitical boundaries, time periods, content sensitivity or type, or by any other desired means. The system and method described herein satisfies these needs.