U.S. patent application number 11/113964 was filed with the patent office on 2005-12-01 for piracy prevention for voice and video.
Invention is credited to Schilling, Donald L..
Application Number | 20050268340 11/113964 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32987707 |
Filed Date | 2005-12-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050268340 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Schilling, Donald L. |
December 1, 2005 |
Piracy prevention for voice and video
Abstract
Protecting content from piracy. A user computer stores a stored
address. A smart card stores a smart-card address. The smart-card
address matches the stored address. A seller stores content to be
sold to the user. The content is encoded using the smart-card
address from the smart card, as encoded content. A header is added
to the encoded content, to generate header-encoded content. The
header-encoded content is written on an encoded disk. The user
computer detects the header from header-encoded content, as a
detected header. The smart-card address is read from the smart card
and verified with the stored address at the user computer. In
response to a match and to the detected header, the encoded content
embedded in the header-encoded content is decoded from the encoded
disk.
Inventors: |
Schilling, Donald L.; (Palm
Beach Gardens, FL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DAVID NEWMAN CHARTERED
P.O. Box 956
Indian Head
MD
20640
US
|
Family ID: |
32987707 |
Appl. No.: |
11/113964 |
Filed: |
April 25, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11113964 |
Apr 25, 2005 |
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10391485 |
Mar 18, 2003 |
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6910630 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
726/26 ;
348/E7.056; 348/E7.061; 386/E5.004 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 5/913 20130101;
H04N 21/4405 20130101; H04N 7/163 20130101; H04N 2005/91364
20130101; H04N 21/4334 20130101; H04N 21/2347 20130101; H04N
21/6125 20130101; H04N 21/42646 20130101; H04N 21/42661 20130101;
H04N 7/1675 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
726/026 |
International
Class: |
H04L 009/00 |
Claims
I claim:
1. An improvement for protecting content, comprising: a user
computer, of an user, having a stored address; a smart card having
a smart-card address, with the smart-card address equal to the
stored address of the user computer; any of a compact disk or a
storage medium, having the content to be sold to the user; an
encoder for encoding, using the smart-card address from the smart
card, the content from any of the compact disk or the storage
medium, thereby generating encoded content; a header subsystem for
adding a header to the encoded content, thereby generating
header-encoded content; disk-writing means for writing the
header-encoded content, on an encoded disk; a header detector,
located at the user computer, for detecting the header from
header-encoded content on the encoded disk, thereby generating a
detected header; a user smart-card reader, located at the user
computer, for reading the smart-card address from the smart card; a
verifier subsystem, located at the user computer, for verifying the
smart-card address read from the smart card with the stored address
at the user computer, and responsive to the smart-card address
matching the stored address, for generating a verification signal;
and a decoder, responsive to the verification signal and responsive
to the detected header, for decoding, using either the smart-card
address or the stored address, the encoded content embedded in the
header-encoded content from the encoded disk.
2. An improvement for protecting content, comprising: a user
computer, of an user, having a stored address; a remote center,
having any of a compact disk or a storage medium, located remotely
from the user computer, having the content to be sold to the user;
user-transmitter means for sending the stored address from the user
computer to the remote center; an encoder, located at the remote
center, for encoding, using the stored address received from the
user computer, the content from any of the compact disk or the
storage medium, thereby generating encoded content; a header
subsystem, located at the remote center, for adding a header to the
encoded content, thereby generating header-encoded content;
remote-transmitter means for sending the header-encoded content to
the user computer; a header detector, located at the user computer,
for detecting the header from the header-encoded content, thereby
generating a detected header; a user smart-card reader, located at
the user computer, for reading a smart-card address from the smart
card; a verifier subsystem, located at the user computer, for
verifying the smart-card address read from the smart card with the
stored address at the user computer, and responsive to the
smart-card address matching the stored address, for generating a
verification signal; and a decoder, responsive to the verification
signal and responsive to the detected header, for decoding, using
either the smart-card address or the stored address, the encoded
content embedded in the header-encoded content from the remote
center.
3. An improvement for protecting content, comprising: a user
computer, of an user, having a stored address; a smart card having
a smart-card address, with the smart-card address equal to the
stored address of the user computer; any of a compact disk or a
storage medium, having the content to be sold to the user; an
encoder for encoding, using the smart-card address from the smart
card, the content from any of the compact disk or the storage
medium, thereby generating encoded content; a header subsystem for
adding a header to the encoded content, thereby generating
header-encoded content; and disk-writing means for writing the
header-encoded content, on an encoded disk.
4. An improvement for protecting content, comprising: a header
detector, located at a user computer, for detecting a header from
header-encoded content on an encoded disk, thereby generating a
detected header; a user smart-card reader, located at the user
computer, for reading a smart-card address from a smart card; a
verifier subsystem, located at the user computer, for verifying the
smart-card address read from the smart card with a stored address
at the user computer, and responsive to the smart-card address
matching the stored address, for generating a verification signal;
and a decoder, responsive to the verification signal and responsive
to the detected header, for decoding, using either the smart-card
address or the stored address, the encoded content embedded in the
header-encoded content from the encoded disk.
5. An improvement for protecting content, comprising: user computer
means, of an user, for storing a stored address; smart-card means
for storing a smart-card address, with the smart-card address equal
to the stored address of the user computer; storage means for
storing the content to be sold to the user; encoder means for
encoding, using the smart-card address from the smart card, the
content from any of the compact disk or the storage medium, thereby
generating encoded content; header means for adding a header to the
encoded content, thereby generating header-encoded content;
disk-writing means for writing the header-encoded content, on an
encoded disk; detector means, located at the user computer, for
detecting the header from header-encoded content on the encoded
disk, thereby generating a detected header; reader means, located
at the user computer, for reading the smart-card address from the
smart card; verifier means, located at the user computer, for
verifying the smart-card address read from the smart card with the
stored address at the user computer, and responsive to the
smart-card address matching the stored address, for generating a
verification signal; and decoder means, responsive to the
verification signal and responsive to the detected header, for
decoding, using either the smart-card address or the stored
address, the encoded content embedded in the header-encoded content
from the encoded disk.
6. An improvement for protecting content, comprising: user-computer
means, of an user, for storing a stored address; remote center,
located remotely from the user computer, for storing the content to
be sold to the user; user-transmitter means for sending the stored
address from the user computer to the remote center; encoder means,
located at the remote center, for encoding, using the stored
address received from the user computer, the content from any of
the compact disk or the storage medium, thereby generating encoded
content; header means, located at the remote center, for adding a
header to the encoded content, thereby generating header-encoded
content; remote-transmitter means for sending the header-encoded
content to the user computer; detector means, located at the user
computer, for detecting the header from the header-encoded content,
thereby generating a detected header; reader means, located at the
user computer, for reading a smart-card address from the smart
card; verifier means, located at the user computer, for verifying
the smart-card address read from the smart card with the stored
address at the user computer, and responsive to the smart-card
address matching the stored address, for generating a verification
signal; and decoder means, responsive to the verification signal
and responsive to the detected header, for decoding, using either
the smart-card address or the stored address, the encoded content
embedded in the header-encoded content from the remote center.
7. An improvement for protecting content, comprising:
user-computer, of an user, for storing a stored address; smart-card
means for storing a smart-card address, with the smart-card address
equal to the stored address of the user computer; storage means for
storing the content to be sold to the user; encoder means for
encoding, using the smart-card address from the smart card, the
content from any of the compact disk or the storage medium, thereby
generating encoded content; header means for adding a header to the
encoded content, thereby generating header-encoded content; and
disk-writing means for writing the header-encoded content, on an
encoded disk.
8. An improvement for protecting content, comprising: detector
means, located at a user computer, for detecting a header from
header-encoded content on an encoded disk, thereby generating a
detected header; reader means, located at the user computer, for
reading a smart-card address from a smart card; verifier means,
located at the user computer, for verifying the smart-card address
read from the smart card with a stored address at the user
computer, and responsive to the smart-card address matching the
stored address, for generating a verification signal; and decoder
means, responsive to the verification signal and responsive to the
detected header, for decoding, using either the smart-card address
or the stored address, the encoded content embedded in the
header-encoded content from the encoded disk.
9. An improvement for protecting content, comprising the steps of:
storing, at a user computer, of an user, having a stored address;
storing in a smart card, a smart-card address, with the smart-card
address equal to the stored address of the user computer; storing
content to be sold to the user; encoding, using the smart-card
address from the smart card, the content, thereby generating
encoded content; adding a header to the encoded content, thereby
generating header-encoded content; writing the header-encoded
content, on an encoded disk; detecting, at the user computer, the
header from header-encoded content on the encoded disk, thereby
generating a detected header; reading, at the user computer, the
smart-card address from the smart card; verifying, at the user
computer, the smart-card address read from the smart card with the
stored address at the user computer; generating, in response to the
smart-card address matching the stored address, a verification
signal; and decoding, in response to the verification signal and in
response to the detected header, using either the smart-card
address or the stored address, the encoded content embedded in the
header-encoded content from the encoded disk.
10. An improvement for protecting content, comprising the steps of:
storing, at a user computer, of an user, a stored address; storing,
at a remote center, located remotely from the user computer, the
content to be sold to the user; sending the stored address from the
user computer to the remote center; encoding, located at the remote
center, using the stored address received from the user computer,
the content from any of the compact disk or the storage medium,
thereby generating encoded content; adding, located at the remote
center, a header to the encoded content, thereby generating
header-encoded content; sending the header-encoded content to the
user computer; detecting, located at the user computer, the header
from the header-encoded content, thereby generating a detected
header; reading, at the user computer, a smart-card address from
the smart card; verifying, at the user computer, the smart-card
address read from the smart card with the stored address at the
user computer; generating, in response to the smart-card address
matching the stored address, a verification signal; and decoding,
in response to the verification signal and responsive to the
detected header, using either the smart-card address or the stored
address, the encoded content embedded in the header-encoded content
from the remote center.
11. An improvement for protecting content, comprising the steps of:
storing, at a user computer, of an user, having a stored address;
storing in a smart card, a smart-card address, with the smart-card
address equal to the stored address of the user computer; storing
content to be sold to the user; encoding, using the smart-card
address from the smart card, the content, thereby generating
encoded content; adding a header to the encoded content, thereby
generating header-encoded content; and writing the header-encoded
content, on an encoded disk.
12. An improvement for protecting content, comprising the steps of:
detecting, at a user computer, a header from header-encoded content
on an encoded disk, thereby generating a detected header; reading,
at the user computer, a smart-card address from a smart card;
verifying, at the user computer, the smart-card address read from
the smart card with a stored address at the user computer;
generating, in response to the smart-card address matching the
stored address, a verification signal; and decoding, in response to
the verification signal and in response to the detected header,
using either the smart-card address or the stored address, the
encoded content embedded in the header-encoded content from the
encoded disk.
13. The improvement as set forth in claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6,
further including: a time-erase controller for specifying a time
period, and/or a number of times, which a program may be viewed;
and a time-erase reader for reading the time-erase control, and for
erasing or deleting or otherwise impeding the remote user from
viewing the program after a specified time period and/or number of
times viewed.
14. The improvement as set forth in claim 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 12,
further including the steps of: specifying a time period, and/or a
number of times, which a program may be viewed; and erasing or
deleting or otherwise impeding the remote user from viewing the
program after a specified time period and/or number of times
viewed.
Description
RELATED PATENTS
[0001] This patent stems from a continuation application of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 10/391,485, and filing date of Jun. 14,
2000, entitled PIRACY PREVENTION FOR VOICE AND VIDEO by inventor,
DONALD L. SCHILLING. The benefit of the earlier filing date of the
parent patent application is claimed for common subject matter
pursuant to 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 120.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to cable, DSL and other telephone
mediums, and satellite distributed television and Internet signals,
and more particularly to reducing piracy of voice and video of the
distributed television and Internet signals.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELEVANT ART
[0003] Today a common practice is to disregard the copyright on new
movies and songs, and to improperly copy these items for resale.
While pirates can be prosecuted when caught, this solution is not
satisfactory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] A general object of the invention changes the paradigm by
which music, movies or other content, are recorded and sold, to
prevent copying of voice and video and data signals.
[0005] According to the present invention, as embodied and broadly
described herein, an improvement for protecting content is
provided. A user has a user computer. The improvement includes
storing, at the user computer, a stored address. A smart card
stores a smart-card address. The smart-card address matches the
stored address of the user computer. The matching of the smart-card
address with the stored address can be an identical match, or a
less than identical match that passes a matching threshold when the
smart-card address is correlated with the stored address. A seller
has a storage medium, such as a compact disk or hard disk, for
storing content to be sold to the user. The content is encoded
using the smart-card address from the smart card, as generating
encoded content. A header is added to the encoded content, to
generate header-encoded content. The header-encoded content is
written on an encoded disk.
[0006] At the user computer, the header is detected from
header-encoded content on the encoded disk, thereby generating a
detected header. The smart-card address is read from the smart
card. The smart-card address read from the smart card is verified
with the stored address at the user computer. In response to the
smart-card address matching the stored address, a verification
signal is generated. In response to the verification signal and in
response to the detected header, using either the smart-card
address or the stored address, the encoded content embedded in the
header-encoded content is decoded from the encoded disk.
[0007] An alternative embodiment of the present invention includes
storing, at a user computer, of an user, a stored address. A remote
center, located remotely from the user computer, stores the content
to b resold to the user. The stored address is sent from the user
computer to the remote center. At the remote center, using the
stored address received from the user computer, the content is
encoded, to generate encoded content. A header is added to the
encoded content, to generate header-encoded content. The
header-encoded content is sent to the user computer.
[0008] At the user computer, the header is detected from the
header-encoded content, to generate a detected header. A smart-card
address is read from the smart card. The smart-card address read
from the smart card is verified with the stored address at the user
computer. In response to the smart-card address matching the stored
address, a verification signal is generated. In response to the
verification signal and in response to the detected header, using
either the smart-card address or the stored address, the encoded
content is detected embedded in the header-encoded content from the
remote center.
[0009] Additional objects and advantages of the invention are set
forth in part in the description which follows, and in part are
obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the
invention. The objects and advantages of the invention also may be
realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and
combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute a part of the specification, illustrate preferred
embodiments of the invention, and together with the description
serve to explain the principles of the invention.
[0011] FIG. 1 show an encoder encoding music, video or data;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a block diagram for encoding content on an encoded
disk;
[0013] FIG. 3 illustrates a packet with a header and encoded
content;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a block diagram for decoding content from an
encoded disk;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a verifier subsystem; and
[0016] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of encoding at a remote center and
decoding at a user computer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] Reference now is made in detail to the present preferred
embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in
the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate
like elements throughout the several views.
[0018] As illustratively shown in FIG. 1,
[0019] In the exemplary arrangement shown in FIG. 1
[0020] The present invention provides a novel way to protect
content from piracy, for distributing from a store, content on, for
example, a compact disk (CD), or from a remote center, over the
Internet or cable. The present invention uses a stored address and
a smart-card address, which are digital number g(t), as shown in
FIG. 1, to encode with an encoder 11 music, data, video to generate
an encoded signal c(t). The encoder 11 broadly represents
encrypting, scrambling or other encoding for privacy and
identification of a user-computer means. For example, the stored
address or smart-card address may be a key used with an encryption
or scrambling algorithm of the encoder 11. Alternatively, the
stored address or smart-card address may be added directly to the
input signal d(t) and repeatedly added to the input signal until
the entire input signal d(t) is encoded. Also, the stored address
or smart-card address may be added with and fraction or two or more
bits, or fraction of bits, acting as chips, to spread the input
signal d(t).
[0021] From a store, the present invention broadly includes
smart-card means, storage means, encoder means, header means, and
disk-writing means. The storage means and the smart-card means are
coupled to the encoder means. The header means and the encoder
means are coupled to the disk-writing means. At a user, the present
invention includes user-computer means, detector means, reader
means, verifier means, and decoder means. The user-computer, either
internally or externally, is coupled to detector means and decoder
means. The verifier means is coupled to the reader means. The
decoder means is coupled
[0022] The user-computer means, of an user, stores a stored
address. The smart-card means storing a smart-card address. The
smart-card address is equal to the stored address of the
user-computer means. The term STORED ADDRESS, as used herein,
refers to a digital number associated with the user-computer means.
The smart-card address and the stored address may be assigned with
each new user-computer means. The storage means stores the content
to be sold to the user. The encoder means encodes, using the
smart-card address from the smart card, the content from any of the
compact disk or the storage medium, thereby generating encoded
content. The header means adds a header to the encoded content,
thereby generating header-encoded content. The disk-writing means
writes the header-encoded content, on an encoded disk.
[0023] At the user-computer means, the detector means detects the
header from header-encoded content on the encoded disk, thereby
generating a detected header. The reader means reads the smart-card
address from the smart card. The verifier means verifies the
smart-card address read from the smart card with the stored address
at the user computer. In response to the smart-card address
matching the stored address, the verifier means generates a
verification signal. The decoder means, in response to the
verification signal, and in response to the detected header,
decodes, using either the smart-card address or the stored address,
the encoded content embedded in the header-encoded content from the
encoded disk.
[0024] In the exemplary arrangement, as shown in FIG. 2, the
user-computer means is embodied as a user computer, the smart-card
means is embodied as a smart-card reader 24, storage means is
embodied as a compact disk 21 or equivalently other disk storage
medium, the encoder means is embodied as an encoder 22, header
means is embodied as a header subsystem 23, and the disk-writing
means is embodied as an encoded disk 25. Time-erase means is
embodied as a time-erase controller 26. The user computer, of an
user, has a stored address. The smart-card means is embodied as
smart-card reader 24 with smart card. The smart card, which is read
by the smart-card reader 24, has a smart-card address. The encoder
means is embodied as an encoder 22. The encoder 22 encodes, using
the smart-card address from the smart card, the content from any of
the compact disk or the storage medium. The output of the encoder
22 is referred to herein as encoded content. The header means is
embodied as a header subsystem 23. The header subsystem 23 adds a
header to the encoded content. The combination of the header added
to the encoded content is referred to herein as header-encoded
content. The time-erase controller 26 specifies a time period,
and/or a number of times, which a program may be viewed. The
time-erase control is then part of the packet 31 of FIG. 3. At the
remote-user, a time-erase reader reads the time-erase control from
packet 33, and then will erase or delete or otherwise impede the
remote user from viewing the program after a specified time period
and/or number of times viewed.
[0025] The header-encoded content 31 is shown in FIG. 3. The time
period or number of times the program may be viewed is shown as
time erase control. The disk-writing means generates the encoded
disk 25. The disk-writing means may be a CD writer or other write
device for delivering the header-encoded content to the user.
[0026] At the user computer, as illustratively shown in FIG. 4, the
detector means is embodied ad header detector 41. The reader means
reads the encoded disk 25, and may be embodied ad a CD reader or
other equivalent device for reading content or header-encoded
content from the store. The verifier means verifies the smart card
42, and would be embodied as a verifier subsystem. The decoder
means is embodied as a decoder 43. The header detector 41 detects
the header from header-encoded content on the encoded disk. The
output from the header detector 41 is referred to herein as
detected header. The user smart-card reader reads the smart-card
address from the smart card 24. The verifier subsystem verifies the
smart-card address read from the smart card 24 with the stored
address at the user computer. In response to the smart-card address
matching the stored address, the verifier subsystem generates a
verification signal.
[0027] In response to the verification signal, and in response to
the detected header, the decoder 43 decodes, using either the
smart-card address or the stored address, the encoded content
embedded in the header-encoded content from the encoded disk. The
time-erase reader 44 reads the time-erase control from the packet
of FIG. 3, and limits the remote user from viewing the program
corresponding to the packet of FIG. 3, beyond a time period or
number of times viewed.
[0028] A representative verifier subsystem is shown in FIG. 5. The
verifier subsystem may include correlation means embodied a
correlator 159, including a product device 51, an integrator 52, a
threshold device 53, an AND gate 58, and a synchronization (SYNCH)
circuit 54 coupled to the decoder 43. The product device 51
multiplies the stored address g'(t) by smart-card address g(t). The
integrator 52 integrates, or in combination with the product
device, convolutes, the stored address with the smart-card address.
The threshold device 53 compares, to a threshold, the convolved
stored address with the smart-card address. The threshold need not
be an absolute perfect match, but within, by way of example, of a
maximum value. If the convolved value exceeds the threshold, then
the threshold device generates an ENABLE signal, which permits the
smart-card address, or equivalently the stored address, to go to
the SYNCH circuit 54. The decoder 43 accordingly decodes the
encoded content. The correlator 159 equivalently may be a matched
filter, performing the same function, as is well-known in the
art.
[0029] An alternative embodiment of the present invention includes,
at a user, user-computer means, detector means, reader means,
verifier means, and decoder means. At a remote center, remotely
located from the user-computer means, the alternative embodiment of
the present invention includes user-transmitter means, encoder
means, header means, and remote-transmitter means. The remote
center stores the content to be sold to the user. The
user-transmitter means sends the stored address from the user
computer to the remote center. The encoder means encodes, using the
stored address received from the user computer, the content from
any of the compact disk or the storage medium, thereby generating
encoded content. The header means adds a header to the encoded
content, thereby generating header-encoded content. The
remote-transmitter means sends the header-encoded content to the
user computer.
[0030] At the user-computer means, the detector means detects the
header from the header-encoded content, thereby generating a
detected header. The reader means reads a smart-card address from
the smart card. The verifier means verifies the smart-card address
read from the smart card with the stored address at the user
computer. In response to the smart-card address matching the stored
address, the verifier means generates a verification signal. In
response to the verification signal, and in response to the
detected header, the decoder means decodes, using either the
smart-card address or the stored address, the encoded content
embedded in the header-encoded content from the remote center.
[0031] As illustratively shown in FIG. 6, at the remote center, the
user-transmitter means is embodied as a transmitter 63, the encoder
means is embodied as encoder 22, the header means is embodied as
header subsystem 62, and the remote-transmitter means is embodied
as remote transmitter 63. The user-computer means is embodied as a
user computer, the detector means is embodied a header detector 41,
the reader means is embodied as smart-card reader for reading the
smart card 24. The verifier means is embodied as verifier subsystem
42, and the decoder means is embodied as decoder 43.
[0032] At a remote user, a remote-subscriber-unit (RSU) transmitter
66 sends a request to the remote center for a particular program or
content. At the remote center, a remote center receiver 67 receives
the request, and activates retrieving the requested program or
content from program, music, video, data 61, and encodes the
content with encoder 22. A time-erase reader 44 reads the
time-erase control information from the packet requesting the
program, and then sets limits on period of time, or number of
times, or other limitation, during which the requested program may
be viewed by the requesting user.
[0033] The user computer stores a stored address. The remote center
has any of a compact disk or a storage medium, located remotely
from the user computer. The remote center has the content to be
sold to the user. The user-transmitter means sends the stored
address from the user computer to the remote center. The encoder 22
encodes, using the stored address received from the user computer,
the content from any of the compact disk or the storage medium,
thereby generating encoded content. The header subsystem 62 adds a
header to the encoded content, thereby generating header-encoded
content. The remote-transmitter 63 sends the header-encoded content
to the user computer over a communications channel 64.
[0034] The header detector 41 detects the header from the
header-encoded content, thereby generating a detected header. The
user smart-card reader reads a smart-card address from the smart
card 24. The verifier subsystem 42 verifies the smart-card address
read from the smart card with the stored address at the user
computer. In response to the smart-card address matching the stored
address, the verifier subsystem 42 generates a verification
signal.
[0035] In response to the verification signal and responsive to the
detected header, the decoder 43 decodes, using either the
smart-card address or the stored address, the encoded content
embedded in the header-encoded content from the remote center. The
time-erase reader 44 reads the time-erase control and then limits
the period of time and/or number of times, or other limitation,
during a program may be viewed.
[0036] The present invention comprises the improvement, with the
steps of storing, at a user computer, of an user, having a stored
address; storing in a smart card, a smart-card address, with the
smart-card address equal to the stored address of the user
computer; storing content to be sold to the user; encoding, using
the smart-card address from the smart card, the content, thereby
generating encoded content; adding a header to the encoded content,
thereby generating header-encoded content; writing the
header-encoded content, on an encoded disk; detecting, at the user
computer, the header from header-encoded content on the encoded
disk, thereby generating a detected header; reading, at the user
computer, the smart-card address from the smart card; verifying, at
the user computer, the smart-card address read from the smart card
with the stored address at the user computer; generating, in
response to the smart-card address matching the stored address, a
verification signal; and decoding, in response to the verification
signal and in response to the detected header, using either the
smart-card address or the stored address, the encoded content
embedded in the header-encoded content from the encoded disk.
[0037] Alternatively, the present invention includes the steps of
storing, at a user computer, of an user, a stored address; storing,
at a remote center, located remotely from the user computer, the
content to be sold to the user; sending the stored address from the
user computer to the remote center; encoding, located at the remote
center, using the stored address received from the user computer,
the content from any of the compact disk or the storage medium,
thereby generating encoded content; adding, located at the remote
center, a header to the encoded content, thereby generating
header-encoded content; sending the header-encoded content to the
user computer; detecting, located at the user computer, the header
from the header-encoded content, thereby generating a detected
header; reading, at the user computer, a smart-card address from
the smart card; verifying, at the user computer, the smart-card
address read from the smart card with the stored address at the
user computer; generating, in response to the smart-card address
matching the stored address, a verification signal; and decoding,
in response to the verification signal and responsive to the
detected header, using either the smart-card address or the stored
address, the encoded content embedded in the header-encoded content
from the remote center.
[0038] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications can be made to the piracy prevention of voice and
video method and apparatus of the instant invention without
departing from the scope or spirit of the invention, and it is
intended that the present invention cover modifications and
variations of the piracy prevention of voice and video method and
apparatus provided they come within the scope of the appended
claims and their equivalents.
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