Systems, methods, software, and apparatus are described for facilitating the distribution and management of fragmented content. In one embodiment, a packager packages content into fragments and generates a manifest including policies and metadata associated with the content. A downloader obtains the manifest, and uses it to obtain the content from one or more uploaders. For example, a downloader might forward a search request to one or more trackers, which, in turn, are operable to locate one or more uploaders that can meet the request, subject to any relevant policy limitations. The uploaders forward fragments to the downloader, subject to any relevant policy. The downloader assembles the content from the fragments. The operations and interactions of the entities can be subject to policy limitations associated with the fragments, the content as a whole, or the like.

There is provided a system for regulating access and managing distribution of content in a network, such as the Internet. The system includes communication gateways, installed at a subscriber site, internet control points, installed remotely, and various network elements installed throughout the network. The communication gateways and network elements operate in conjunction with the internet control points to restrict or allow access to specified Internet sites and to manage efficient distribution of content such as music, video, games, broadband data, real-time audio and voice applications, and software to subscribers.

A method for protecting content, comprising receiving, from a client device, a request for an encryption key for encrypting the content comprising a reference associated with the client device, identifying a set of supported security capabilities corresponding to the reference associated with the client device, identifying a set of required security capabilities corresponding to the content associated with the key request, determining if the set of supported security capabilities satisfy the set of required security capabilities, and in response to determining that the supported security capabilities satisfy the set of required security capabilities, transmitting the encryption key to the client device.

Systems and methods for protecting digital content using digital watermarks and for distributing that protected digital content are described. The digital watermark contains watermark information, fingerprint information, and any other information desired by the provider of the digital content. To insert the digital watermark in the digital content, a section of the digital content is selected, whether it is a random section or a desired section (such as the first or last section), and then that section is broken into a given number of individual slides. The digital watermark is created as an additional slide or frame and then placed between the slides of that section. These individual slides, which now contain the watermark, are re-combined and then re-attached to the remainder of the digital content when desired, such as on the fly or at the time of the user's purchase of the digital content. The user (or other viewer) receives only a single packet of information for the digital content, rather than numerous packets of information, preventing compression and decompression processes from avoiding the watermark since any such compression would not only diminish the slide with the watermark on it, but also the content and render the digital content unusable. Other embodiments are described.

Technologies related to contextual use and expiration of digital content are generally described. In some examples, a receiving device may connect with a sponsoring device having the digital content. A relationship property defines a relationship context between the receiving device and the sponsoring device. The receiving device may receive the digital content from the sponsoring device and use the digital content so long as allowed, as determined with reference to the relationship property.

Embodiments are directed towards managing play of at least one stream of digital content to reduce a time to a first frame or seek frame within the content by playing unencrypted portions of the digital content received at a client device at least until key negotiations and decryption actions are completed for corresponding encrypted digital content, at which point play is switched to the decrypted content in a seamless manner. In one embodiment, the unencrypted content is at a lower quality, resolution, or bit rate than the encrypted content. In one embodiment, the at least one stream is a stream of content that includes at least a first portion that is unencrypted, and a second portion that is encrypted. In another embodiment, the at least one stream includes a first stream that is unencrypted and played until a second, encrypted, stream is readied for play.

In a method for enabling support for backwards compatibility in a User Domain, in one of a Rights Issuer (RI) and a Local Rights Manager (LRM), a Rights Object Encryption Key (REK) and encrypted REK are received from an entity that generated a User Domain Authorization for the one of the RI and the LRM and the REK is used to generate a User Domain Rights Object (RO) that includes the User Domain Authorization and the encrypted REK.

A system for providing mobile content to a mobile communication device includes a first computing system including one or more servers to provide, via a communications network, a graphical user interface at a second computing system, the graphical user interface (i) enabling the user of the second computing system to edit a digital file to create the mobile content and (ii) prompting and enabling a user of the second computing system to provide a phone number associated with the mobile communication device, the mobile communication device being separate and remote from the first computing system and the second computing system. The first computing system receives, from the second computing system via the communications network, the mobile content and the phone number associated with the mobile communication device. The first computing system uses a the phone number received from the second computing system to cause the delivery of the mobile content to the mobile communication device via a wireless data network in a format compatible with one or more operational parameters of the mobile communication device, the one or more operational parameters including at least one of a mobile communication device type and a software platform type, wherein the using of the received phone number to cause the delivery of the mobile content to the mobile communication device is performed without the mobile communication device identifying the one or more operational parameters to the first computing system or the second computing system.

Tools are provided for distributing access-restricted content in an internet protocol television (IPTV) environment based on portable entitlement keys. Such tools can include a decoder, an encoder, and a network entitlement handler. The decoder may be configured to receive a key associated with entitlement information, and transmit the entitlement information over a network. The encoder may be configured to receive content from content providers, and to encode the content to create IP-compatible content, with access restrictions based on entitlement. The network entitlement handler may be configured to receive a request for requested content from the decoder; receive the access-restricted content (including the requested content) from the encoder; and transmit the requested content over the network to the decoder using IP, when the decoder is entitled to receive the requested content.

One or more content providers push data related to: movies, movie products, digital movie content over a network (e.g., a LAN, a WAN, the Internet, or a wireless network) onto an information filling station which, in turn, wirelessly transacts (over a network based on the 802.11b protocol) and transmits any requested data to a portable computer-based device (e.g., laptop, a pen-based computer device, a PDA, a wireless phone, or a pager). The portable device performs financial transactions for: purchasing movie tickets (directly or via auctions), downloading digital entertainment content of interest (e.g., copy of a movie of interest, copy of a movie identified based on a pre-stored profile, copy of soundtrack of a movie of interest), or movie related products. Any purchased digital content is either transferred wirelessly onto the portable device or, optionally, sent on a storage medium to a physical address associated with the profile.