U.S. patent application number 11/107484 was filed with the patent office on 2006-03-16 for electronic storefront that limits download of software wrappers based on geographic location.
This patent application is currently assigned to Digital River, Inc.. Invention is credited to David Efergan, Pete Olson, Amir Rauf, Joel A. Ronning.
Application Number | 20060059561 11/107484 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35197642 |
Filed Date | 2006-03-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060059561 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ronning; Joel A. ; et
al. |
March 16, 2006 |
Electronic storefront that limits download of software wrappers
based on geographic location
Abstract
A computer software license management system wrapper for use in
a local computer is described. The software wrapper includes a
wrapper interface that provides controlled access to a computer
software application file. The software application file is
encapsulated by security software code to protect it from
unauthorized access. The software wrapper also includes a software
license key identifying a license policy specifying a use
limitation within a geographic boundary. In addition, the software
wrapper includes a license validation mechanism that periodically
determines compliance with the license policy. The license
validation mechanism permits access by another process operating on
the local computer through the wrapper interface in response to a
valid license confirmation signal received from the license server.
A license server that utilizes and an electronic storefront that
sells software license wrappers having software use limitations
within a geographic boundary also are described.
Inventors: |
Ronning; Joel A.;
(Excelsior, MN) ; Efergan; David; (Highland Park,
IL) ; Olson; Pete; (Minneapolis, MN) ; Rauf;
Amir; (Shakopee, MN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
NORTH OAKS PATENT AGENCY
45 ISLAND ROAD
NORTH OAKS
MN
55127
US
|
Assignee: |
Digital River, Inc.
Eden Prairie
MN
|
Family ID: |
35197642 |
Appl. No.: |
11/107484 |
Filed: |
April 14, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60562177 |
Apr 14, 2004 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
726/26 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 2221/2111 20130101;
G06F 2221/0773 20130101; G06F 21/10 20130101; G06F 21/12 20130101;
G06Q 20/1235 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
726/026 |
International
Class: |
H04N 7/16 20060101
H04N007/16 |
Claims
1. An electronic storefront for use by a consumer operatively
coupled via a pre-existing communication link between a local
computer and the electronic storefront, the electronic storefront
comprising: a plurality of computer software license management
system wrappers available for download, each wrapper comprising a
software application encapsulated by security software code to
protect the software application file from unauthorized access and
a license policy specifying a use limitation within a geographic
boundary; and a software purchasing application for requesting
input of a billing information including a geographic location for
billing in response to a consumer selecting one of the plurality of
wrappers for download, the software purchasing application
preventing download of the selected wrapper, if the billing
geographic location is outside of the geographic boundary specified
in the license policy of the selected wrapper.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application No. 60/562,177, filed Apr. 14, 2004.
[0002] This application is related to the following co-pending
applications: [0003] U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/______,
filed Apr. 14, 2005, entitled "Software Wrapper Having Use
Limitation Within A Geographic Boundary"; and [0004] U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 11/______, filed Apr. 14, 2005, entitled
"Software License Server With Geographic Location Validation".
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The present invention relates to digital rights management
of licensable goods. More particularly, the present invention
relates to a system and related tools for digital rights management
across geographic boundaries (e.g. countries or other political
boundaries) where legal protection of digital rights to computer
software, news & entertainment media, music, and other
electronically delivered intellectual property might vary by those
geographic regions.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Many commercial transactions are based on the licensing of
property, products or services by a licensor for a limited scope
and which may involve a limitation of the scope and/or duration of
their use by a licensee. Licenses typically operate to restrict or
otherwise limit the user's ability to assign, redistribute, resale
or otherwise change the intended beneficiary of the license, while
other restrictions may be directed to how, when, where and for how
long the use may occur. Both parties generally derive an economic
benefit from structuring a transaction in such a fashion: (1) the
licensor retains ownership interest in the subject of the license
and control over who may make, use or sell the same; and (2) the
licensee enjoys the benefit of using the property, product or
service at a reduced cost as compared to the underlying cost to a
licensee to outright acquire or develop the property, product or
service.
[0007] Individuals may encounter a variety of circumstances in
their daily lives that involve the licensing of goods and services.
For example, renting an apartment; or a hotel room, watching a film
at a movie theatre; renting or leasing a car, obtaining permission
from the state to drive or operate a motor vehicle, making a
telephone call with a calling card, joining a private gym or
country club, or using computer software applications are all forms
of licensing.
[0008] In the commercial software industry software application
products have generally been sold on a purchase basis with license
agreements for limited use of the software. Sales representatives
often market the software to prospective end-users and, upon
purchase in a conventional fashion, the software is then provided
to the user on diskettes or other media along with, for example,
user manuals. As such, many software applications have been sold
primarily on a long-term or permanent license basis with support
service being provided under long-term, fixed-price contracts.
[0009] From an end-user's perspective, software acquisition under a
conventional purchase based license agreement can be expensive.
Specifically, once an end-user initially invests in a conventional
software purchase, the acquisition of additional software titles
from other vendors may not be economically feasible. Moreover, the
vendor may charge the user for application upgrades and continuing
product support. In this regard, many end-users may become
dependent on a particular vendor and/or application product.
[0010] From a software application vendor's perspective, a large
portion of revenue is generally spent on sales, marketing and user
support through direct sales and the use of VAR (value added
reseller) channels. However, Internet access and the proliferation
of high speed connections (i.e., T1, cable and DSL) have made the
electronic distribution of software application products more
feasible. As the popularity and accessibility of the Internet has
grown, vendors have increasingly looked to the Internet as an
effective medium for reducing sales and marketing costs. As a
result, some vendors have expanded to support electronic purchase
and delivery of software applications over the Internet, but
generally under the conventional license agreement model discussed
immediately above. However, a need exists for a comprehensive
method to manage, track and customize software application
licenses.
[0011] In addition to cost and efficiency concerns, vendors often
are confronted with the issue of software piracy and other
unlicensed, unauthorized or illegal use. As a result, vendors have
generally implemented certain security features within software
products to protect the application from unlicensed use. The vendor
may therefore find that expensive additional resources are required
to support these licensing security features in addition to support
for the software application itself. In many instances, the support
for a software application includes live telephone support. As many
as 50% of the technical support telephone calls that a vendor
receives may involve licensing security issues. Often, this support
can prove to be a burden on the vendors available development
resources. Accordingly, a need exists for a licensing system that
can be outsourced to a third party for management and support so
that software vendors can operate more efficiently by reallocating
resources to, for example, application development.
[0012] Electronic distribution of software applications also poses
a security risk for many vendors. Conventionally, when an
encryption method is employed to protect the software code,
protection after decryption of the software code may be minimal or
non-existent. Accordingly, once the software application has been
delivered to the end-users platform, it may be difficult for the
vendor to protect against tampering and software piracy.
Furthermore, some electronic security solutions implemented by
vendors are cumbersome. For example, the user may be required to
maintain a data connection with an Application Service Provider
(ASP) while using the distributed software. An ASP working
environment may also limit access to new users to the distributed
application, if other users occupy all available access points or
licensed seats to the vendor site.
[0013] Some existing software application licensing systems
implement a client-server model which includes a method of wrapping
licensing instructions around a software product and integrating
licensing management as part of the installation process. The
license server contains a license database for tracking and
managing existing software licenses, product definitions, wrapped
software products, online purchase processing functions, and
end-user software registration functions.
[0014] A typical method for software licensing in this
client-server model includes the following steps. A developer
creates a software application product. The developer selects a
licensing management service. Using tools integrated from the
licensing management service, the developer generates instructions
for wrapping license management code around the application to
create a license management protected application. These wrapping
instructions describe, among other things, a particular license
policy that the developer wants to implement for this application.
Alternatively, the developer could use a software development kit
to embed license management code into the application that would
result in a license management protected application with the
desired license policy. The protected application may then be
packaged and delivered to end-user licensees for subsequent
installation and use. When a local instance of the protected
application is instantiated by an end-user licensee management
client, the management client checks for a license key on the
client system. If a license key is found, the management client
unlocks or unwraps the protected application and provides access to
the software to the end-user. If no license key is found, the
management client requests authorization over an Internet
communication link from the license management server to provide
appropriate access to the wrapped application. If the license
management server confirms a valid license, a license key is
provided to the management client and saved on the client system.
If the license management server does not locate a valid license,
the license management server initiates an order fulfillment
application and otherwise manages a software license sales
transaction. This order fulfillment application may be web
browser-based Java applet, embedded in the application, part of the
license management wrapper, or any other software technology that
implements order management and fulfillment functions.
[0015] The client-server model of software licensing described
above may be augmented with an electronic storefront that can be
provided through an application buying option embedded in the
software application or wrapper as well as a link to a electronic
commerce website. An end user can search the electronic store and
then download a desired protected application and license
management client. Once the license management client and protected
application are installed on the client system, license management
steps like the previous described steps would be preformed to
enable use of the protected application on the client system. In
some systems, the client management software is wrapped with the
protected application to form one downloadable and executable
software installation package.
[0016] License policies implemented in the wrapped/protected
application can take many forms. For example, the protected
software may be licensed by an end user for a specified time period
and then either renewed or cancelled when prompted by the
management client. Similarly, the protected software may be
licensed with varying levels of functionality depending on the
needs of the end user (e.g., trialware, basic, medium, and full
featured implementations). An end user can unlock the various
levels of functionality by interacting with the order fulfillment
functions on the license server to pay for a desired license
level.
[0017] A need exists for a system to address these and similar
deficiencies associated with the effective and efficient management
of licensing in a wide variety of licensee and licensor market
environments. With respect to the software application industry in
particular, a need exists for a turnkey electronic or software only
method for obtaining licenses and distributing software
applications. Such a software only based licensing system would
eliminate the cost, complexity, and administration associated with
licensing systems incorporating custom hardware-based keys or other
custom devices. A need also exists for a secure method for vendor
distribution of software and for maintaining security on the
end-user's platform.
[0018] One aspect of existing software licensing systems that is
not presently addressed is adjustment of software application
pricing based on local economic conditions. Such local economic
condition pricing policies have been implemented in other types of
commodities such as clothing, foods and pharmaceuticals. Disparate
pricing policies between elastic and inelastic markets have been
described by economists in conjunction with the "Ramsey Theory."
Geographic regions are often used to define different markets.
[0019] According to disparate pricing theory, it may be profitable
for a company to adjust prices of a product to local market
conditions. A cheaper product with a smaller profit may be
acceptable to broaden the market size and thus sales volume in
low-income geographic areas. In the pharmaceutical industry, high
profit sales from higher income areas are used to fund research and
development costs. Low profit-low cost sales to low-income
countries drive a higher sales volume that in turn helps to keep
per unit drug production costs low by increasing the overall
manufacturing volume. In order for this disparate pricing policy to
work, the cheaper products must be kept from high priced markets to
preserve higher profit margins in the higher income geographic
areas for a higher cost product. Rigorous enforcement of patent
rights and copyrights in various countries has enabled the
pharmaceutical industry to successfully implement and maintain
disparate pricing policies for certain types of drugs. However, the
cost of legal enforcement to maintain this disparate pricing policy
has likely been very high, perhaps costing the pharmaceutical
industry hundreds of millions of dollars.
[0020] Like in the pharmaceutical industry, the incremental cost of
manufacturing in the software industry is low once the high upfront
research and development cost for a particular software product has
been paid for. Unlike the pharmaceutical industry, rigorous
enforcement of patent rights and copyrights may not be practical.
Illegal copies of drugs can be identified and stopped as they are
imported into or exported from a country. In contrast, software is
often transmitted electronically over packetized data networks such
as the Internet that have virtually no controls in place to stop
data from being transmitted from one country to another. As such,
stopping illegal copies of software from being imported into or
exported from a particular country may be impractical.
[0021] Software piracy is common in low-income geographic areas. If
a more affordable software product license is made available for
purchase in these low-income geographic areas, users of pirated
software may be willing to purchase legitimate copies of software
licenses. If these former pirated software users purchase
legitimate copies of the software licenses, the software vendor
obtains licensing revenues that they otherwise would not have
received and expands their user base. Such users of affordable
legitimate software licenses would avoid legal prosecution for
using pirated software products and would enjoy the benefits of
regular users such as customer support and software updates. By
providing the affordable licenses, a software vendor creates a
larger loyal user base of their software products that may upgrade
to a higher level software license as the user's economic position
changes.
[0022] It may be beneficial to implement some form of disparate
pricing policy based on geographic areas in the software industry
so that higher volumes of sales can be achieved. Therefore, a need
exists for a software licensing system that can implement disparate
pricing policies based on geographic locations. Preferably, such a
software licensing system would be able to enforce use limitations
for the software based on geographic areas so that lower priced
software products can be kept from higher income geographic areas
where higher priced equivalent software products are sold.
[0023] The present invention provides a solution to these needs and
other problems, and offers other advantages over the prior art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0024] The present invention is related to a software system that
solves the above-mentioned problems. In accordance with one
embodiment of the invention, a computer software license management
system wrapper for use in a local computer is described. The
software wrapper includes a wrapper interface that provides
controlled access to a computer software application file. The
software application file is encapsulated by security software code
to protect the software application file from unauthorized access.
The software wrapper also includes a software license key
identifying a license policy specifying a use limitation within a
geographic boundary. In addition, the software wrapper includes a
license validation mechanism. The license validation mechanism
preferably is configured to periodically determine compliance with
the license policy by utilizing pre-existing communication
infrastructure to provide a communication link between the local
computer and a license server. The license validation mechanism
permits access by another process operating on the local computer
through the wrapper interface in response to a valid license
confirmation signal received from the license server. A license
server that utilizes and an electronic storefront that sells
software license wrappers with embedded license policy having
limitations on using a software application within a geographic
boundary also are described. In addition, a method of implementing
a license policy with limitations on using a software application
within a geographic boundary is described.
[0025] Additional advantages and features of the invention will be
set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part,
will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination
of the following or may be learned by practice of the
invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0026] FIG. 1 is data flow of an embodiment of the present
invention country-based licensing schema.
[0027] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing interaction of a wrapped
software application with a license server.
[0028] FIGS. 3 and 4 show user interfaces for a software protection
utility that wraps a software application with a license policy and
other data into a protected software application.
[0029] FIG. 5 shows a user interface for adding additional product
information for a wrapped software application on an administrative
website.
[0030] FIG. 6 shows a dialog box indicating a wrapped software
application has been added to an administrative website.
[0031] FIG. 7 shows a search results dialog box based on a search
using the product ID shown in FIG. 6.
[0032] FIGS. 8 and 9 show additional user interfaces for selecting
various options in a country-based licensing schema.
[0033] FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 show representative dialog boxes
displayed to a customer who selects a particular software
application to download from a web-based storefront.
[0034] FIG. 13 shows a representative dialog box that can be
presented to a customer to remind them to purchase a licensed copy
of a software application that has been installed on the customer's
computer system.
[0035] FIGS. 14 and 15 shows a sample software purchasing order
form that could be displayed in response to a customer selecting
the buy now option shown in the reminder dialog box shown in FIG.
13.
[0036] FIG. 16 shows a sample license installation dialog box that
can be shown to a customer upon submitting an order to purchase
software based on the order form shown in FIGS. 14 and 15.
[0037] FIG. 17 is a sample error message shown to a customer that
attempts to install a software license on a computer system that
violates a licensing policy embedded in the wrapped software
application.
[0038] FIG. 18 shows a sample warning message that can be shown to
a user when a violation of a licensing policy embedded in a wrapped
software application is detected.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0039] An opportunity exists to gain incremental revenue for
software vendors to into countries with price points that make
physical sales impractical. By solely selling digital products
inside these countries incremental revenue improvements can be
achieved in otherwise un-served markets. Such digital only software
license products can be sold with a disparate pricing policy based
on geographic areas or countries. For example, a price for a
software license limited to use in China could be set lower than a
software license limited to use in Japan. In a preferred
embodiment, a country-based licensing schema entails licensing a
software product protected with encryption technologies and having
that software phoning home on a regular basis to report on where it
is working in the world. Various business rules can be implemented
to handle situations where the licensed user is somehow violating
the geographic use limitations of the license.
[0040] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the country-based licensing
schema 100 includes providing license policy configuration
capabilities in a license server 108 that allow a user 102 to
define policies based on different a countries or geopolitical
regions such as Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, etc. This includes
the ability for the user such 102 as a independent software vendor
(ISV) to set license policies 120 in the license server 108 client
tool as well as those license configurations to be utilized by
license servers 108 through upload of a configuration file.
Preferably, the user 102 like the ISV or a license server
administrator can adjust these license policies 120 after the
initial setting of the license policy.
[0041] The license server 108 must be capable of determining, if
the user 102 is in compliance with the country-based license policy
120 when the application phones home to a license server 108 from a
user's computer. Web services exist today which provide reverse
Internet Protocol (IP) address lookups that determine a user's
geographic location based on the IP network address of the user's
computer. For example, a company named Digital Envoy which has
offices at 250 Scientific Drive, Suite 800, Norcross, Ga. 30092
provides such a reverse IP lookup web service named NetAcuity. A
phone home function for a registered software license would use the
IP address of a user's computer at the time of a phone home
operation to determine the present country location of the user's
computer and compare that present country location with the country
limitation of the registered software license. In addition, a
storefront 106 could use a user or customer provided billing
country in tandem with a reverse IP lookup determined country for a
user's computer to define the country for which that license is
available. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that
many different country-based license policies 120 could be defined
regarding the license validation and any acceptable exceptions to
the license policies.
[0042] In operation, a customer or user 102 obtains a software
wrapper 104 that has a particular software application 112
consisting of several protected files. The software wrapper 104 can
be obtained by copying it from a computer readable medium such as a
compact disk (CD) or digital video disk (DVD). In the preferred
embodiment, a user 102 obtains the software wrapper 104 by
downloading it to the user's computer from an e-commerce web-based
storefront 106. FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 show representative dialog
boxes displayed to a user or customer 102 who selects a particular
software application to download from a web-based storefront
106.
[0043] Once the software wrapper 104 is downloaded and the user 102
installs the software by selecting an install now button 130 shown
in FIG. 12, a dialog box 132 similar to the one shown in FIG. 13
can be presented on a reminder display to the user 102. This dialog
box 132 can be presented to a user or customer 102 to remind them
to purchase a licensed copy of a software application that has been
installed on the customer's computer system.
[0044] Once the user selects 150 the buy now option button 134
shown in FIG. 13, a software purchasing order form such as the
sample order form 136, 138 shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 is displayed.
When the buy now option button 134 is selected 150, the software
wrapper 104 opens a browser 152 and initiates contact to a
storefront 106 via a communication link such as a wired or wireless
internet connection. The storefront 106 performs a phone home
function 153 by: (i) contacting the license server 108, (ii)
checking to ensure that the item being purchased matches the
country or geographic location of the user 102 user an IP reverse
lookup as previously described and (iii) conveying the IP reverse
lookup results back to the storefront 106. If the IP address
associated with the user 102 matches the item being purchased, then
the storefront 106 sends information for displaying 154 this order
form 136, 138 through the software wrapper 104 to the user 102.
Otherwise, the storefront 106 sends an error message to the user
102 or changes the order to the correct item to be purchased for
the geographic location of the user 102. Subsequently, the user 102
fills in the first part of the order form 136 and the second part
of the order form 138 that includes payment information. Once that
is completed, the user 102 submits the order 156 to the storefront
106 by selecting the submit button 140.
[0045] When the storefront 106 receives the order, the storefront
106 processes the order in a manner well known by those skilled in
the art of electronic commerce by verifying the information,
obtaining payment, creating a software license entitlement,
submitting the software license entitlement 158 to a license server
108 and responding to the order 160 with a receipt that includes an
order ID, if the software purchase order process completes
successfully. Based on receiving the order 160 receipt information,
a receipt and license installation dialog box is shown to the user
102 like the sample dialog box 142 shown in FIG. 16. When the
finish option button 144 is selected, the software wrapper 104
attempts to retrieve 162 an unlock key by submitting a request to
the license server 108.
[0046] The license server 108 checks 164 for any software license
entitlements that match the order ID. During the checking process
164, the license server preferably performs an additional check
with a phone home function 164 similar to the phone home function
153 by: (i) checking to ensure that the item being purchased still
matches the country or geographic location of the user 102 user an
IP reverse lookup and (ii) permitting a license key to be injected
into the software wrapper 104 when the IP reverse lookup results
are favorable. The license server 108 injects 166 the key into the
software wrapper 104 after a successful phone home function 164.
Otherwise, when the geographic location limit associated with the
Order ID and the IP address based location of the user 102 do not
match, the injection of a license key is denied to the user 102.
FIG. 17 shows a sample error message 146 shown to a customer that
attempts to install a software license on a computer system that
violates a licensing policy (e.g., a geographic use limitation)
embedded in the wrapped software application.
[0047] Software Wrapper
[0048] Country-based software license pricing preferably involves
configuration of a wrapper license technology to support a model
where the wrapper 104 will phone home to a license server 108 on a
periodic basis and check to see that the user 102 is using the
application within the geographic boundaries associated with a
license. For example, a user buys an application to be used in
Russia. They give it to their buddy in Germany and they start using
the application. The software wrapper 104 or application phones
home on a scheduled basis and asks 168 the license server 108 to
validate 170 the geographic locale against the incoming IP address.
The license server 108 returns 172 true/false or success/failure
based on the results. If the user 102 is non-conforming the wrapper
needs to work through a few escalation paths until the user either
resolves the issue, buys a license for the new geographic locale,
or the wrapper disables the application. FIG. 18 shows a sample
warning message 148 that can be shown to a user 102 when a
violation of a licensing policy embedded in a wrapped software
application or software wrapper 104 is detected.
[0049] The software wrapper 104 and license server 108 preferably
implements one or more key business rules through an inter-process
communication 116 with a wrapper interface 110 that encapsulates
the protected files 112 in the wrapper 104 by security software
code to protect the software application files 112 from
unauthorized access. [0050] The wrapped software product or
software wrapper 104 will phone home 170 to the license server
every 21 days or the first time an Internet connection is detected
after 21 days. This will allow the license server policy center to
validate the product can continue to be used by that local computer
machine. The ISV should be able to configure this setting to
different lengths of time at the product level, with a default
setting of b 21 days. [0051] All phone home activity will be
transparent to the user 102 unless a violation of licensing
policies occurred, in which case the wrapper 104 will inactivate
the protected product 112 by communicating through a conduit 114
between the wrapper interface 110 and the protected files 112.
Also, a firewall or other Internet listening device may alert the
user 102. [0052] Upon confirmation of an invalid license, the
license server 108 will inactivate the protected product's 112
usage, reverting to the trialware nag screen 132 shown in FIG. 13
for purchase of a full license. No further usage of the protected
product 112 will be allowed.
[0053] The inter-process communication 116 between the wrapper 104
and a license server 108 could be accomplished with several
different software programming frameworks. In one embodiment, a
SOAP-XML (single object access protocol-extended markup language)
framework is used in an Internet web environment to perform the
tasks of communicating the license software key and current IP
address to a license server 108 and returning a valid license
confirmation signal to the local response to the user's 102 local
computer. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a
web server acting as the license server 108 could generate a
SOAP-XML message and make possible Internet web services by using
DLL (dynamic linking library) files and ActiveX components, if the
SOAP-XML message is written by an ASP (active server page).
Alternatively, EJB (enterprise java beans) and service server for
changing the SOAP-XML message to a DTD (document type definition)
type SOAP-XML message could be used, if the SOAP-XML message is
written by a JSP (java server page). Additional gateway or bridging
code may also be needed for interfacing with a DB (database)
server, if the DB server can not directly accept SOAP-XML messages
or EJB queries.
[0054] The software wrapper 104 needs the ability to define a
license policy that is tied to a geographic boundary. The country
could be determined in the wrapper 104 at the time of the
configuration or it could be bound to the license dynamically on
the backend based on what they purchased. The second option is the
most flexible and should be considered the primary method if
possible.
[0055] A setting is needed for the frequency of how often the
wrapper 104 checks with the license server 108 to determine if the
user 102 is in conformance with the license.
[0056] As previously described, the wrapper 104 will send 168 to
license server 108 or license policy center the license key
(encrypted) and the locale settings. The policy center will take
the license key, check 170 for validity of the requisition ID (for
fraud/charge backs/returns) and receive IP information from
NetAcuity. If the key and ReqID are valid, and NetAcuity resolves
to the original country and billing address at purchase, wrapper
104 will receive 172 a `confirmation` message to continue with a
valid license.
[0057] If data sent to policy center or license server 108 reveals
violation of license policy, the wrapper 104 will allow 10 days of
nonconformance through a violation counter before inactivating the
protected program files 112. A warning message 148 as shown in FIG.
18 will be shown to the user 102. This will allow for travel and
other unusual events. This functionality should be configurable at
the product level.
[0058] The wrapper 104 will continue to request validation every
other day past 10 days up to 5 times. After that, wrapper will
inactivate product until a new license is obtained. The violation
counter will reset to zero upon confirmation that the IP resolves
to the appropriate country.
[0059] The nag screen or warning message 148 needs to support the
following: [0060] Notify the user of the violation [0061] Display
amount of time remaining until the hard expiration occurs [0062]
Provide a URL to purchase appropriate license (or just a link to
the storefront) [0063] Display the licensed country versus the one
they are resolved to by the IP [0064] Show a termination message
when the protected product files 112 disables itself
[0065] The software development kit needs to be extended to support
the appropriate methods to allow someone using that mechanism to
communicated and validate this type of license. Generally, the
wrapper 104 will need to `lock down` the protected product files
112 and disallow usage of the software program upon violation of
the policies 120 or in the event the requisition state is changed
to returned/refunded/chargeback.
[0066] FIGS. 3 and 4 show user interfaces for a software protection
utility that wraps a files 118 of software application with a
license policy and other data into a protected software application
or protected files 112. It will be appreciated by those skilled in
the art that software wrapping utilities may also be web-based. For
example, FIG. 5 shows a user interface for adding additional
product information for a wrapped software application on an
administrative website. FIG. 6 shows a dialog box indicating a
wrapped software application has been added to an administrative
website. Once added to the website or storefront 106, files may be
searched by product ID, key words or other search criteria. For
example, if the product ID 176 shown in dialog box 174 is used to
perform a search, then the search results dialog box 178 as shown
in FIG. 7 would be produced. To implement the country-based
licensing schema 100, the software protection utility or web-based
software wrapping utilities would need additional user interfaces
such as those shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 for selecting various options
of these licensing policies.
[0067] Store
[0068] The software products consisting of a collection of files
118 in electronic storefront 106 need to support complex license
policies 120. These license policies 120 may include a security
certificate template key, a project/product ID, a signature level,
and some additional information based on options chosen by the
user. These license policies 120 ideally would be included in
configuration information or wrapper customization 122 associated
with the software product files 118 being wrapped. The
configuration of what country may be configured as part of the
project ID in the electronic storefront 106. Upon purchase of the
license the license activation server 108 will have to record for
the future the country for the license as part of the license
activation server record.
[0069] License Server
[0070] The license activation server or simply license server 108
needs to support a country-based license. Once a sale has occurred
it will need to record the license type as country based and the
country purchased.
[0071] When the wrapper 104 phones home 170 on a periodic basis it
will require the license server 104 to validate the license. The
license server 104 will take the incoming IP address and use
NetAcuity to resolve the location of the caller's or user's 102 IP
address and will then compare that to the billing country of the
original requisition ID. If there is a problem it will notify the
wrapper 104 of the issue.
[0072] The license server 108 may implement more complex license
policies 120 and provide the necessary arbitration. Alternative
configurations may be provided to handle unresolved IP addresses
and other mechanisms without departing from the scope and spirit of
the present invention. Unresolved IPs may, for example, revert to
the billing country in requisition ID. License server 108 may flag
unresolved IPs and attempt resolution as often as possible.
[0073] At any point, the license state could be changed to
refund/chargeback/fraud and consequently the license server 108
will return to a wrapper call home an instant violation of license
policy and inactivate protected product files 112 immediately.
[0074] In addition, customer service representatives (CSR) for the
company managing the license server 108 should have information
display screens that allow a CSR to see the serial number of the
product, the activation history, the country of origin, current
country and other necessary information for them to resolve
disputes that occur in activations and management of the ongoing
country-based license. Also, any CSR should be given the ability to
override violation business rules upon request/demand.
[0075] A log of every customer service request needs to be made for
historical purposes and for CSR screens. Information logged may
include the serial number, hardware fingerprint, activation code,
date, IP address, country resolution, order number. Customer
service should be able to make informed judgments on whether or not
to allow additional activations for a particular unit of software
or purchased software license. In addition, they will want to
arbitrate the facts about IP address issues and other types of
problems. In order to do this they need to be provided with screens
that allow them visibility to all the information relative to any
license activation issue. CSRs will want to see a detailed report
that provides a complete list of log information for the activation
history of a purchased license. This includes the downloaded/serial
number, unlock key, hardware fingerprint, name of licensee, IP
address, IP country resolved, country for the license, dates,
etc.
[0076] CSRs should to be able to override the blocking of an
activation to enable the user to keep using the software for a
specified number of days or up to a specified date. Ideally
customer service needs to be able to query a list of all users in
violation where termination is approaching so they can override and
fix issues before they become a problem (i.e. chase down obvious
things like IP addresses that don't resolve to anything, etc.)
[0077] The license server 108 may also have reports that enable the
ISV or storefront 106 to review activation histories, revocations,
and other pertinent information about country-based licenses.
[0078] A preferred embodiment implementation of the country based
licensing schema 100 can be summarized as follows. A computer
software license management system software wrapper 1044 for use in
a local computer 102 is provided. A wrapper interface 110 in the
wrapper 104 provides controlled access to a computer software
application file 119. The software application file 119 is
encapsulated by security software code to protect the software
application file 119 from unauthorized access. A software license
key is included in the wrapper 104 that identifies a license policy
120 specifying a use limitation within a geographic boundary. This
geographic boundary may be substantially identically to a country
border or an outer border of a collection of adjacent
countries.
[0079] A license validation mechanism in the wrapper 104 is
configured to periodically determine compliance with the license
policy by utilizing 168 pre-existing communication infrastructure
116 such as an inter-process communication and http protocol
communication channel (i.e., an Internet link) to provide a
communication link between the local computer 102 having the
wrapper 104 and a license server 108. The license validation
mechanism permits access by another process operating on the local
computer 102 through the wrapper interface 110 in response to a
valid license confirmation signal 172 received from the license
server 108. Otherwise, the software wrapper 104 denies access 114
by another process operating on the local computer 102 through the
wrapper interface 110 in response to an invalid license
confirmation signal 172 being received from the license server
108.
[0080] The wrapper interface 110 preferably provides controlled
access to a collection of computer software application files 118
that collectively form a software application. The software wrapper
104 can be configured to denies access by another process operating
on the local computer through the wrapper interface for a variety
of reasons. For example, denial may occur when a valid license
confirmation signal 172 is not received from the license server 108
within a predetermined period of time. Also, the software wrapper
104 may permit access for a limited duration by another process
operating on the local computer 102 through the wrapper interface
110 and cause the local computer 102 to display a warning message
148 about unauthorized use of the software application file 119
outside of geographic boundary specified in the license policy
identified by the software license key. This warning message 148
may be in response to either an invalid license confirmation signal
172 being received from the license server 108 or no signal being
received from the license server 108 within a predetermined period
of time. Preferably this warning message provides an option to a
user to purchase a license for the software application file 119
with a use limitation that includes a current geographic location
of the local computer 102.
[0081] A computer software license management system 100 may
include a software wrapper 104 and a license server 108. The
license server 108 preferably is configured to perform several
steps, such as: [0082] receiving a software license key and a
current Internet Protocol (IP) address of the local computer over
the communication link; [0083] determining a current geographic
location for the received current IP address by performing a
reverse IP address lookup in a geographic location cross reference
to IP address database; [0084] retrieving a license policy having a
use limitation with a specific geographic boundary from a license
database based on the received software license key; and [0085]
sending the valid license confirmation signal to the local computer
via the communication link when the current geographic location is
within the specific geographic boundary identified by the retrieved
license policy.
[0086] A computer software license server 108 is also provided that
includes a communication module for utilizing pre-existing
communication infrastructure 116 to provide a communication link
between the license server 108 and a remote computer 102. The
communication module receives 162 a software license key and a
current Internet Protocol (IP) address of the local computer 102.
The license server cross references 164 a geographic location to an
IP address database. The license server 108 also includes a license
database having a several license policies 120. Each license policy
is uniquely identified by a corresponding software license key.
This license policy specifies a use limitation for a software
application 119 within a geographic boundary. A license validation
mechanism is configured to cause the communication module to send a
valid license confirmation signal 166 to the remote computer 102
via the communication link. The license server sends such a signal
172 in response to: (i) identifying a current geographic location
for the received current IP address by performing a reverse IP
address lookup in the geographic location database, (ii) retrieving
a specific geographic boundary use limitation from the license
database based on the received software license key, and (iii)
determining that the current geographic location is within the
specific geographic boundary.
[0087] The license server 108 license validation mechanism 164, 170
is configured to cause the communication module to send a invalid
license confirmation signal 166, 172 to the remote computer via the
communication link, in response to: (i) identifying a current
geographic location for the received current IP address by
performing a reverse IP address lookup in the geographic location
database, (ii) retrieving a specific geographic boundary use
limitation from the license database based on the received software
license key, and (iii) determining that the current geographic
location is outside the specific geographic boundary.
[0088] An electronic storefront 106 also is provided for use by a
consumer operatively coupled via a pre-existing communication link
between a local computer 102 and the electronic storefront 106. The
electronic storefront 106 includes several computer software
license management system wrappers 104 available for download. Each
wrapper 104 includes a software application 119 encapsulated by
security software code to protect the software application file 119
from unauthorized access and a license policy specifying a use
limitation within a geographic boundary. The electronic storefront
106 also includes a software purchasing application for requesting
input of a billing information including a geographic location for
billing in response to a consumer selecting one of the of wrappers
104 for download. The software purchasing application prevents 153
download of the selected wrapper 104, if the billing geographic
location is outside of the geographic boundary specified in the
license policy of the selected wrapper 104.
[0089] It is to be understood that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of various embodiments of the
present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description,
together with details of the structure and function of various
embodiments of the invention, this disclosure is illustrative only,
and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of
structure and arrangement of parts within the principles of the
present invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general
meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
For example, the particular elements may vary depending on the
particular application for the web interface such that different
dialog boxes are presented to a user that are organized or designed
differently while maintaining substantially the same functionality
without departing from the scope and spirit of the present
invention.
* * * * *