Systems and methods monitor copyrighted material and the proportion of a document accessed. A library of material in which copyright or related rights subsist is linked to copyright data for each item of material. A database contains rules for use of copyrighted material. The extent of a document in its entirety, including copyrighted material, can be quantified e.g. by an input counter counting its text, graphics and other content. The extent of a document accessed in each instance of use of the document can be quantified e.g. by an output counter. Use of copyrighted material can be metered based on the accessed extent. Document access can be permitted e.g. based on copyright use rules. A determination can be made as to whether the proportion of a document accessed is above a predetermined value. If fair use is unavailable or exhausted, a user may purchase a license to access copyrighted material.

An input device for an electronic device includes a first communication module comprising communication circuitry configured to communicate with a first electronic device, a second communication module comprising communication circuitry configured to communicate with a second electronic device, a battery, and a processor. The processor is configured to receive content from the first electronic device through the first communication module, to transmit the content to the second communication module without storing the content in a memory and to transmit the content to the second electronic device through the second communication module using power supplied from the battery.

An apparatus, method and computer program, the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry; and memory circuitry including computer program code, the memory circuitry and the computer program code configured to, with the processing circuitry, enable the apparatus to: enable a wireless connection to be established with an electronic device; capture an audio signal and enable the captured audio signal to be sent to the electronic device using the wireless connection to enable the captured audio signal to be used to create an enhanced audio signal; and wherein the apparatus is arranged to be removeably attachable to the electronic device.

An information storage device including one or more processors configured to store an encrypted content and to control access of an external device to the information storage device is provided. The one or more processors are further configured to store a converted title key obtained by converting a title key which is an encryption key to be applied to decryption of the encrypted content, and a user token obtained by converting binding secret information to be applied to calculate the title key from the converted title key. The one or more processors are further configured to allow the external device having a confirmed access right to the information storage device to read out the user token.

A system and method for first changing the encryption key on a self-encrypting disk drive followed by a complete disk wipe. Either process can be separately performed, and they can be performed in any order. In fact, one embodiment of the invention, resets the symmetric key, wipes the disk a predetermined number of times with different predetermined data patterns, and then resets the key a second time. This assures that there is absolutely no way to recover the original key or to read the original plain text data, even if some of it's encrypted values remain on unallocated tracks after wiping. A user can be assured that in milliseconds after starting the wiping process, the entire disk is rendered unreadable and unrecoverable. Verifiable data can be pre-written to a device that is later read back to assure that wiping or firmware-based erase commands have worked.

Certain aspects of the technology disclosed herein include generating a virtual sound field based on data from an ambisonic recording device. The ambisonic device records sound of a surrounding environment using at least four microphones having a tetrahedral orientation. An omnidirectional microphone having an audio-isolated portion can be used to isolate sound from a particular direction. Sound received from the plurality of microphones can be used to generate a virtual sound field. The virtual sound field include a dataset indicating a pressure signal and a plurality of velocity vectors. The ambisonic recording device can include a wide angle camera and generate wide angle video corresponding to the virtual sound field.

It is an object of the present invention to enhance convenience and service qualities in an information distribution system. In a server serving as an information distribution apparatus and an information communication terminal, contents are managed by using content identifiers (content IDs) managed as IDs conforming to a rule of uniformity. Particularly, in the information communication terminal, a content ripped from a recording medium such as a CD and stored in storage means such as an HDD is also managed by using a content identifier acquired from the information distribution apparatus. In this way, contents stored in the storage means can be managed by using content IDs each managed as an ID common to the information communication terminal and the information distribution apparatus. In communication between the information communication terminal and the information distribution apparatus, a content identifier conforming to a rule of uniformity is used for identifying a content to which the content identifier is assigned so that the terminal is capable of downloading the content as well as acquiring additional information relevant to the content from the apparatus, and the apparatus is capable of rendering a plurality of other services.

A configuration is realized that allows reproduction control on the basis of age at the time of reproduction by recording information regarding age permitted for reproduction corresponding to media recorded content. A clip AV stream file storing content to be reproduced acquired from input data including MPEG-2 TS format data or MMT format data and information regarding age permitted for reproduction corresponding to content acquired from the input data are placed into a playlist file, a clip information file, a usage control information file, or other file and recorded in media. A reproduction apparatus reads the information regarding age permitted for reproduction corresponding to the content to be reproduced from the playlist file or other file and compares the information regarding age permitted for reproduction with user's age information, thus allowing for content reproduction to be controlled.

Methods and systems are provided for enhanced audio experiences in VR/AR applications. The apparatuses of this disclosure are adapted to record multiple binaural stereo pairs and play back select binaural pairs corresponding to users' head positions. A substantially spherical microarray is utilized in various embodiments for recording multiple binaural stereo pairs. A VR/AR headset is further adapted to track a user's head positions and dynamically play back binaural sound pairs corresponding to the head positions.

A system and methods for permitting open access to data objects and for securing data within the data objects is disclosed. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for securing a data object is disclosed. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for securing a data object is disclosed. The method includes the steps of (1) providing a data object comprising digital data and file format information; (2) embedding independent data into a data object; and (3) scrambling the data object to degrade the data object to a predetermined signal quality level. The steps of embedding and scrambling may be performed until a predetermined condition is met. The method may also include the steps of descrambling the data object to upgrade the data object to a predetermined signal quality level, and decoding the embedded independent data.