Method for indicating the integrity of use-information of a computer program
View Patent ↗A method for indicating the integrity of the use-information of a program, comprising: providing a mechanism based on the state of a marker file (being one or more files dedicated especially for this purpose) for generating upon request an asymmetric (i.e. can be read by a user but cannot be altered by him) and unique or pseudo-unique value; instructing the mechanism to generate a value; sealing the use-information with the generated value; and indicating the integrity of the sealed data by the correspondence of the stored value with the current value returned by the mechanism. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the information is stored in a secure manner (e.g. encrypted, digitally signed, and so forth). The invention may be implemented in any licensing model in which the use-information is important, like a Try before you Buy model, renting a program, and so forth.
1. A method for indicating integrity of use-information of a program on a computer, comprising:
(a) providing a mechanism based on a state of a marker file accessible by the computer, for generating upon request an asymmetric, pseudo-unique value, said mechanism returning upon request said value that was most recently generated by said mechanism;
(b) instructing said mechanism to generate a said value;
(c) sealing the use-information with said generated value; and
(d) indicating the integrity of the use-information by a correspondence of said sealed value with a current value returned by said mechanism;
wherein said use-information is associated with an exhausting resource.
2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said generated value is derived at least from a file ID of said marker file.
3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said generated value is derived at least from a physical location of said marker file.
4. A method according to claim 3 , wherein said physical location of said marker file is derived from a number of a sector of said marker file.
5. A method according to claim 3 , wherein said physical location of said marker file is derived from a number of a cluster of said marker file.
6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said sealing is carried out by an operation selected from the group comprising: storing said use-information with said current value returned by said mechanism in an encrypted form, digitally signing said use-information with said current value returned by said mechanism, and storing out of the reach of a hacker said use-information with said current value returned by said mechanism.
7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said exhausting resource is based on at least one member selected from the group comprising: how many times the program is executed, an execution time of the program, a predefined period the program is allowed to run, and a trial period.
8. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said sealing of said use-information with the generated value is carried out at a stage selected from the group comprising: a start of an execution of the program, a termination of said execution of the program, during said execution of the program, while the program is idle, and periodically.
9. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said indicating the integrity of the use-information is carried out at a stage selected from the group comprising: a start of an execution of the program, a termination of said execution of the program, during said execution of the program, while the program is idle, and periodically.
10. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said sealed information is stored in a member of the group comprising: at least one file, at least one marker file, and at least one registry entry.
11. A method for indicating integrity of use-information of a program on a computer, comprising:
(a) providing a mechanism based on a state of a marker file accessible by the computer, for generating upon request an asymmetric, pseudo-unique value, said mechanism returning upon request said value that was most recently generated by said mechanism;
(b) instructing said mechanism to generate a said value;
(c) sealing the use-information with said generated value; and
(d) indicating the integrity of the use-information by a correspondence of said sealed value with a current value returned by said mechanism;
wherein an existing said marker file has a name, and wherein said generating a new value by said mechanism is carried out by steps including:
creating a new marker file with a different name from said existing marker file;
removing said existing marker file;
changing said name of said new marker file to said name of said removed marker file; and
retrieving an ID number of said new marker file.
12. A method for indicating integrity of use-information of a program on a computer, comprising:
(a) providing a mechanism based on a state of a marker file accessible by the computer, for generating upon request an asymmetric, pseudo-unique value, said mechanism returning upon request said value that was most recently generated by said mechanism;
(b) instructing said mechanism to generate a said value;
(c) sealing the use-information with said generated value; and
(d) indicating the integrity of the use-information by a correspondence of said sealed value with a current value returned by said mechanism;
wherein an existing said marker file has a name, and wherein said generating a new value by said mechanism is carried out by steps including:
creating a new marker file with a different name from said existing marker file;
removing said existing marker file;
changing said name of said new marker file to said name of said removed marker file; and
retrieving a parameter with relevance to a physical location of said new marker file.
13. A method for indicating integrity of use-information of a program on a computer, comprising:
(a) providing a mechanism based on a state of a marker file accessible by the computer, for generating upon request an asymmetric, pseudo-unique value, said mechanism returning upon request said value that was most recently generated by said mechanism;
(b) instructing said mechanism to generate a said value;
(c) sealing the use-information with said generated value; and
(d) indicating the integrity of the use-information by a correspondence of said sealed value with a current value returned by said mechanism;
wherein said generating of a value by said mechanism is carried out by the steps of:
removing an existing marker file; and
creating a new marker file; and
retrieving an ID number of said new marker file.
14. A method for indicating integrity of use-information of a program on a computer, comprising:
(a) providing a mechanism based on a state of a marker file accessible by the computer, for generating upon request an asymmetric, pseudo-unique value, said mechanism returning upon request said value that was most recently generated by said mechanism;
(b) instructing said mechanism to generate a said value;
(c) sealing the use-information with said generated value; and
(d) indicating the integrity of the use-information by a correspondence of said sealed value with a current value returned by said mechanism;
wherein said generating of a value by said mechanism is carried out by the steps of:
removing an existing marker file; and
creating a new marker file; and
retrieving a parameter with relevance to a physical location of said new marker file.
15. A method for indicating integrity of use-information of a program on a computer, comprising:
(a) providing a mechanism based on a state of a marker file accessible by the computer, for generating upon request an asymmetric, pseudo-unique value, said mechanism returning upon request said value that was most recently generated by said mechanism;
(b) instructing said mechanism to generate a said value;
(c) sealing the use-information with said generated value; and
(d) indicating the integrity of the use-information by a correspondence of said sealed value with a current value returned by said mechanism;
wherein said use-information is used in a license model in which usage information of the program is involved.