A new patent has been granted to ContentGuard, a provider of
digital rights management technologies and solutions supported by
Xerox and Microsoft. The “digital tickets” patent creates what its
owners describe as a better way to track, access and distribute
electronic content such as e-books, images, music and video.
A digital ticket is a code, embedded in a computer or in a
plastic card similar to a credit card, that validates whether
someone has certain rights to access specific digital content. For
example, a person could use a digital ticket stored on a PC or
other device to display an image, print a book or play music. When
the ticket is presented, it is electronically "punched"' to
indicate that a right was used.
Digital ticketing also permits the ticket information, including
its "punches,'' to always be associated or transported with the
content whether the content is e-mailed, downloaded or copied. This
allows the content owner to be paid even if copies are made. The
invention covers use of digital tickets on-line and off-line, such
as a card that is inserted into a device.
A US district court ruling on the scope of a patent owned by
digital music company the Intouch Group may threaten the on-line
music industry’s attempts to offer music downloads. The court did
not fully accept the argument put forward by Intouch that its
patent covered almost all music downloads, but did acknowledge that
it affected the download of music samples that were “substantially
less” than the full length of music files.
A final decision on the scope of the patent will not be made
until the trial which has been set for 15th April 2002. If the
patent is upheld, Intouch may seek to impose licensing restrictions
on music downloading services planned by companies such as AOL Time
Warner and Amazon.com.
