WO2003065181A1 - Method for controlling the use of digital contents by means of a security module or a chipcard comprising said module - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for controlling the use of digital contents. According to the invention, the above is achieved whereby any use of digital content is protected by an initial verification before any access of two types of access, the authorisation of the user himself and the authorisation associated with the digital content. The authorisations are stored on a security module provided for authorised users and controlled by the user security module. At least a private section of a digital content is stored in the security module and transmitted to the terminal after authorisation. The above finds application in the field of electronic commerce essentially concerning the management of digital authorisation for use of digital contents.

Description

 METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE EXPLOITATION OF CONTENT

NUMERICALS BY A SECURITY MODULE OR A CARD

CHIP COMPRISING SAID MODULE.

The invention relates to a method for controlling the exploitation of digital content in an electronic commerce context or in general when it is a question of managing digital rights of exploitation of digital content. Indeed, the invention finds an application each time that information is exchanged and that this information is considered as "sensitive" that is to say that they correspond to monetary values or that they are subjected to rights of author or that they are confidential.

Digital content includes any digitized information such as text, images, audio (sound), video, software (or computer programs), application programs, monetary information, confidential information (in the health field, in government agencies).

This digital content can be transported by any public or private computer network or any telecommunications network, whether it be the switched telephone network or telecommunications over the air.

By exploitation of digital content is meant access to digital content for use and / or distribution, use which may be different from one content to another depending on the nature of the digital content.

When it is a digital image, the use may consist in displaying this image. When it is audio (for example a piece of music), the use can consist in listening to this piece of music. In the case of a video, the use may consist of viewing the video.

In the case of a computer program, the use may consist of executing this program.

When it comes to confidential data, the use can consist in giving the key allowing to decrypt it.

It is known, for example, in the context of software stored on a server, to protect the downloading of this software to the terminal of a user by assigning an access right to each authorized user so that these users can, after control of their rights download the software for which they have a right. For this, the access rights are stored on a smart card issued to the user.

Thus, when a user seeks to access software stored on a server, this user inserts his smart card into a smart card reader in connection with his terminal and the rights contained on his card are verified by the server.

Protection is checked by the server, so it can only be done online (the terminal is connected to the server). In addition, this control does not allow monitoring rights over time. of digital content whatever the nature of the digital content since it is only software here.

The general problem which one seeks to solve with the present invention is that of protecting digital content over time against any unauthorized exploitation and of providing great flexibility in exploitation and in particular in distribution. It also allows verification of rights in offline mode and therefore gives the possibility of exploiting this content in offline mode.

The invention applies to the protection of digital content in the case of electronic commerce and in the more general context of the problem of managing rights to authorize the exploitation of digital content, whether it is content protected by copyright or content with monetary value or content corresponding to confidential data.

The invention applies to the management of rights to use digital content over time, and more particularly to that of managing the distribution of said digital content. To this end, the invention proposes to protect any exploitation of digital content by verifying, prior to any access to said content, two types of rights, the rights associated with the user himself and the rights associated with the digital content. Rights are stored on a security module issued to authorized users and are controlled by the module user security. Firstly, the rights associated with the user are stored on the security module and secondly or in parallel, the rights associated with the digital content are stored on the security module. These rights are transmitted with digital content or separately. The security module also stores the application program which is necessary for managing the rights associated with digital content.

The invention more particularly relates to a process for controlling the exploitation of digital content mainly characterized in that it comprises: - for a user: the allocation of rights associated with the profile of this user,

- for digital content: the allocation of rights associated with digital content, storage in a security module delivered to the user, first of all rights associated with the profile of the user and secondly or in parallel rights associated with digital content,

- then each time a content is used, the security module checks the rights assigned and, depending on the result, authorize or not the use. According to one characteristic, the rights associated with digital content include rules for using this content.

Preferably to ensure more security, the digital content and the rules of use which are attached to it are encrypted (terminology also used in known techniques: encrypted or scrambled) to be transmitted to the terminal of a user. The rules of use are then decrypted and stored in the user's security module. They can also be stored encrypted in the user module. In the latter case, they will only be decrypted when necessary, ie each time the content is used.

According to one embodiment, to increase security, the digital content is divided into at least two parts. A public part is decrypted in the case where this public part is encrypted, and stored in the user's terminal. At least one private part is decrypted in the case where this private part is encrypted and stored in the security module.

According to another embodiment, the private part can be stored on the terminal in an encrypted manner and only be sent to the security module when the need for decryption is necessary.

The exploitation of digital content can only be authorized if the public and private parties are brought together. According to another characteristic, the authorization to operate digital content includes access for the purposes of use and / or distribution. According to another characteristic, the rules of use include listening, or viewing or reading and / or recording, depending on the nature of the digital content. When the rights associated with the user profile include a frequency of use, a counter containing the information is decremented in the security module each time it is used.

According to a variant, after control of rights and authorization, the private part is encrypted by a session key generated by the security module to be transmitted to the terminal which decrypts it for

1 exploitation.

According to another variant, after control of the rights and use, the private part is transmitted in clear to the terminal for exploitation.

The invention also relates to an integrated circuit security module comprising a processing unit and at least one secure non-volatile memory mainly characterized in that the memory includes rights associated with the profile of a user, rights associated with digital content. and a program for controlling the exploitation of digital content capable of verifying the rights and authorizing the exploitation of this content according to the results of the verification.

The invention also relates to a smart card mainly characterized in that it comprises a security module as described above.

Other particularities and advantages of the invention will appear clearly on reading the description which is given below by way of nonlimiting example and with reference to the drawings in which, FIG. 1 represents the general diagram of a system for implementing the invention; Figure 2 shows the block diagram of the allocation of rights and their storage on the user's smart card according to a particular embodiment; Figure 3 shows the block diagram of implementation of the verification according to the example of Figure 2. - Figure 4 shows the block diagram of implementation of the method in the case of a request for distribution of digital content. In the following, electronic commerce is taken as an example, it being understood that the invention finds an application each time that information is exchanged and that this information is considered to be "sensitive", that is to say that it corresponds to values. that they are subject to copyright or that they are confidential. In addition, the terminals that can be used will be, depending on the application, either TF fixed terminals such as computers or players with a memory capacity that can store digital content. It may also be TM mobile terminals such as mobile phones or personal digital assistants (PDAs).

A user wishing to carry out electronic commerce is equipped with a telecommunications terminal TM or TF in FIG. 1 comprising a link with a telecommunications network. The link can be Hertzian or supported by a switched telephone network. A terminal equipped with means of access to a server S can generally access any server when access is free. For such servers there is no verification of access rights as long as the service provided by the server is free. Of course, when it is a paid service, a check must be made to authorize access to the server. This control consists precisely in verifying the rights of a user.

Until now, access control to content (downloaded from multimedia servers or from software servers) is carried out before downloading by the server itself.

It is proposed according to a characteristic of the present invention, that this control is carried out by a security module and before each operation including consequently when the digital content is stored in the terminal or on any medium connected to this terminal.

The security module is in the form of a protected integrated circuit embedded in a plastic support. Such a smart card module is called. A security module provides protection against hacking of the data they contain. Thanks to the presence of the security module, smart cards are protected in a logical and mechanical way against any malicious intrusion. To simplify the description, we will consider below the case where a smart card is used. C and that this smart card is given to the user whether it is a SIM card or the like.

The security module or smart card C can be installed in the terminal. Or the terminal can be connected to a smart card reader L, the user having the smart card provided with the security module. These two options are illustrated in Figure 1.

In the case where the terminal is a mobile telephone TM, it already has a chip card C in which the chip is a security module conventionally equipped with a processing unit UC and volatile and non-volatile memories M. This card is the subscriber identification card (SIM card) and may for example be used for implementing the method of the invention. It could also be another smart card since some mobile phones have a second slot.

In order to implement the method according to the invention, the user therefore has a smart card in which rights associated with the profile of this user are recorded, and rights associated with digital content to which he can access.

The rights are stored in the security module of the card issued to the user and are controlled by this security module.

Firstly, it is the rights associated with the user which are stored on the security module and secondly or in parallel, it is the rights associated with digital content which are stored on the security module. These rights are transmitted with digital content or separately.

The security module also stores the application program which is necessary for managing the rights associated with digital content.

The allocation of rights linked to the user profile allows in the context of a private or public company to manage the exploitation of digital content depending for example on the function (or qualification) of people or their belonging to a profession.

For example, Mr. X, is an employee of company Y and can access only part of the company's software tools, while Mr. Z, who is a senior manager of the company, can access the entire software library of the company. business. However, Mr. C, who is a consultant, will have no access rights.

Thus the profile can correspond to a profession: doctor, lawyers or to a category of people: retired or subscribed to a service. Simply responding to a profile opens corresponding access rights.

As for the attribution of rights linked to digital content, it is possible to manage the possible uses linked to the nature of the content itself: these are the rules for using digital content.

For example, if the content is an image, Mr. X has the right to access and view this image. Mr. Z has the right to access, view and store this image. If the digital content is software, Mr. X has the right to download this software, to start execution ,; Mr. Y has the right to download the software to launch the execution and to distribute it N times (to the people of his team or other for example to Mr. C who is a consultant).

Thus rules of use are assigned to each digital content.

As we have just seen through these examples, the authorization to exploit digital content includes access for the purposes of use and / or distribution.

The rules of use include listening, or viewing or reading and / or recording, depending on the nature of the digital content.

At each operation, a control of the rights assigned to the user and a control of the rules of use are operated by the smart card (the security module) and depending on the result the card authorizes access or not.

Preferably and to provide additional security, the digital content with the rules of use attached to it are encrypted and transmitted to the user's terminal. The rules of use are decrypted by the smart card and stored in a secure memory M of this card C which also contains the rights associated with the profile of the user.

The rules of use can also be stored encrypted in the user's smart card. In the latter case, they will not be decrypted only when necessary, ie each time the content is used.

In an exemplary embodiment in order to further reinforce security, the digital content is divided into at least two parts, a public part and a private, ie secret part. The public part is decrypted and stored in the user's terminal TM and the private part is directly decrypted and stored in the smart card C. The public part is decrypted if, of course, it is encrypted.

The private part is decrypted if it is encrypted and stored in the security module.

According to another embodiment, the private part can be stored on the terminal in an encrypted manner and only be sent to the security module when the need for decryption is necessary.

The exploitation of digital content can only be authorized if the public and private parties are brought together.

After control of rights and authorization by the card, the private part can be encrypted by a session key generated by the card to be transmitted to the terminal which decrypts it for operation. The private part can also be transmitted in clear to the terminal for operation.

It can be foreseen that the rights associated with the profile of the user include a frequency of use in this case, a counter containing the information is incremented in the security module at each use.

We will now describe the progress of the process according to a particular example allowing better understanding and with the aid of Figures 2 and 3. FIG. 2 illustrates the steps for assigning rights and storing on the smart card of a user A in the event that this user wishes to view an image. 00) storage of user rights before accessing content or in parallel,

10) - The encrypted digital content, ie the image, is transmitted to its TM terminal.

20) the terminal receives this content. 30) The content is transmitted to the terminal in three parts:

- an encrypted private part (decrypted or not in the module), intended for the security module, a public part, intended for the terminal (encrypted or not), the rules for using digital content encrypted (decrypted or not in the module) . These three parts can be transmitted simultaneously or dissociated over time. An application program is planned to carry out the distribution of the three parts as indicated.

40) The rules of use are transmitted to the card which decrypts and stores them.

The rules are for example “confidential content”, or “content limited to persons -X”. FIG. 3 illustrates the procedure for the verification of rights according to the example given in FIG. 2.

100) The user wishes to view the image he has received.

110) the card checks the registered rights:

- user rights rules of use 120) the card authorizes the viewing of the image because the rights saved are:

A is "person X".

Reading is always allowed. 130) The data is encrypted with a session key generated by the card and transmitted to the terminal.

140) the terminal decrypts private data, associates it with public data and displays the image.

FIG. 4 illustrates the progress of the verification according to the same example but this time in the case where user A wishes to send this image to user B.

200) The rights of the user and the rules of use are verified by the card. 210) The card authorizes the distribution of the image because the rights are: user A is a person X, he has the right to distribute 3 times.

220) The rules for using the image, public data and private data are encrypted to secure the transmission to user B.

230) The rights of user A are updated in the card to change the distribution right meter from 3 to 2.

Claims

1. Method for controlling the exploitation of digital content, comprising: - for a user: the assignment of rights associated with the profile of this user, - for digital content: the allocation of rights associated with digital content, the storage in a security module delivered to the user, firstly of the rights associated with the profile of the user and secondly or in parallel of the rights associated with the digital content, - then with each exploitation of a content, - the control by the security module of the rights allocated, and according to the result, authorize or not the exploitation, characterized in that the digital content is divided into at least two parts, one public part stored in the user's terminal and at least one private part stored encrypted or decrypted in the security module, this private part being transmitted to the terminal after authorization for operation. 2. Control method according to claim 1, characterized in that the rights associated with digital content include rules for using this content. 3. Control method according to claim 2, characterized in that the digital content and the rules of use which are attached to it are encrypted and transmitted to the terminal of a user. 4. Control method according to claim 3, characterized in that the rules of use are stored encrypted or decrypted in the user's security module. 5. Control method according to claim 1, characterized in that the exploitation of digital content can only be authorized if the public and private parties are combined. 6. Control method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the authorization to operate digital content includes access for use and / or distribution. 7. Control method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the rules of use include listening, or viewing or reading and / or recording, or storing data or performing software depending on the nature of the digital content. 8. Control method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when the rights associated with the profile of the user include a frequency of use, a counter containing the information is decremented in the security module each time it is used. 9. Control method according to claim 1, characterized in that, after control of rights and authorization, the private part is encrypted by a session key generated by the security module to be transmitted to the terminal which decrypts it for operation. . 10. Control method according to claim 1, characterized in that, after control of rights and use, the private part is transmitted in clear to the terminal for operation. 11. Integrated circuit security module comprising a processing unit (UC) and at least one secure non-volatile memory (M), the memory includes rights associated with the profile of a user, rights associated with digital content, a control program for the exploitation of digital content capable of verifying rights and authorizing the exploitation of this content according to the results of the verification, characterized in that the module includes in memory at least a private part of the digital content and a means transmission of this private part to a terminal for operation after authorization. 12. Chip card characterized in that it comprises a security module according to the preceding claim.