Techniques for protected viewing of digital files

1. A computer program product tangibly stored on a hardware digital media carrier device, the computer program product for unlocking digital content embodied in digital readable form on the hardware digital media carrier device, the computer program product comprising executable instructions to:

load into a computing device from the hardware digital media carrier device, digital media unlocking software;

receive by the computing system a selection of a file having locked content that is stored on the hardware digital media carrier device, with the selection received in response to a user insertion of the hardware digital media carrier device into the computing device;

generate by the loaded digital media unlocking software, in response to receipt of the selection, a user interface that is rendered on a display device of the computing system populated with a random test based on text that is printed in a physical copy of the digital content, with the digital media unlocking software selecting the random test based on a randomly selected page and randomly selected text on the selected page;

receive by the loaded digital media unlocking software from the user interface a user input of text;

evaluate by the loaded digital media unlocking software whether the user entered the correct text input; and upon receiving the correct text input,

unlock by the loaded digital media unlocking software the digital content on the hardware digital media carrier device.

2. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the text is a word on the page of the book and instructions to evaluate comprise instructions to:

compare the user entered text to a stored version of a text file, corresponding to at least a portion of the physical copy, which is stored on the hardware digital media carrier device, to determine whether the user has entered the correct text.

3. The computer program product of claim 2 wherein instructions to generate comprise instructions to:

retrieve a combination of page numbers and words that appear on the pages corresponding to the page numbers from a list of paired page numbers and words.

4. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein instructions to generate further comprise instructions to:

prompt the user to enter a printed number on the bottom of the specific page of the physical copy into the user interface;

generate a number by applying the page number to an algorithm; and

compare the generated page number to the printed number entered by the user.

5. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the instructions to unlock the digital content, provide a text based searchable file stored on the hardware digital media carrier device.

6. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the test and the correct answer to the test are stored on the hardware digital media carrier device in an encrypted form.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 wherein the hardware digital media carrier device stores a list of questions along with correct answers to questions in the list of questions.

8. The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the instructions to receive the selection, receive the selection from a user input device.

9. Apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a display device operatively coupled to the processor;

a port to receive a hardware digital media carrier; and

a memory device operatively coupled to the processor, with the processor executing a computer program product for causing the processor to:

receive a selection of a file having locked digital content tangibly stored in digital readable form on a digital media carrier device that is inserted into the apparatus, with the selection received in response to a user insertion of the hardware digital media carrier device into the apparatus;

load into the memory device from the digital media carrier device, digital media unlocking software to unlock the locked digital content upon receiving a correct text input;

generate by the loaded digital media unlocking software, in response to receipt of the selection, a user interface that is rendered on the display device of the apparatus, and which is populated with a random test based on text that is printed in a physical copy of the digital content, with the digital media unlocking software selecting the random test based on a randomly selected page and randomly selected text on the selected page;

receive by the loaded digital media unlocking software, from the user interface a user input of text;

evaluate by the loaded digital media unlocking software, whether the user entered the correct text input; and upon receiving the correct text input,

unlock by the loaded digital media unlocking software, the digital content on the digital media carrier device to become unlocked on the digital media carrier device.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the text is a word on the page of the book and instructions to evaluate comprise instructions to:

compare the user entered text to a stored version of a text file, corresponding to at least a portion of the physical copy, which is stored on the digital media carrier device to determine whether the user has entered the correct text.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein instructions to generate comprise instructions to:

prompt the user to enter a printed number on the bottom of the specific page of the physical copy;

generate a number by applying the page number to an algorithm; and

compare the generated page number to the printed number entered by the user to determine whether there is a match.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the instructions to unlock the digital content, provide a text based searchable file stored on the digital media carrier device.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the instructions to receive the selection, receive the selection from a user input device.

14. A computer implemented method executing on a personal computing device for unlocking digital content embodied in digital readable form on a digital media carrier device inserted in the personal computing device, the computer implemented method comprising:

receiving a selection of a file having locked digital content tangibly stored in digital readable form on the digital media carrier device inserted into the personal computing device, with the selection received in response to a user insertion of the hardware digital media carrier device into the personal computing device;

loading into the personal computing device from the digital media carrier device digital media unlocking software to unlock the digital content stored on the digital media carrier device upon receiving of a correct text input;

generating by the digital media unlocking software executed on the computer, in response to receipt of the selection, a user interface that is rendered on the display device of the apparatus, and which is populated with a random test based on text that is printed in a physical copy of the digital content, with the random test based on a randomly selected page and randomly selected text on the selected page;

receiving by the digital media unlocking software from the user interface a user input of text;

evaluating by the digital media unlocking software executed on the computer, whether the user entered the correct text input; and upon receiving the correct text input,

unlocking by the digital media unlocking software executed on the computer, the digital content on the digital media carrier device by supplying an unlocking key to unlock the digital media on the digital media carrier device.

15. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein text is a word on the page of the book and the evaluating comprises:

comparing by the personal computing device, the user entered text to a stored version of a text file that corresponds to at least a portion of the physical copy, with the stored version stored on the digital media carrier device to determine whether the user entered the correct text.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 15 wherein generating comprises:

retrieving a combination of page numbers and words that appear on the pages corresponding to the page numbers from a list of paired page numbers and words.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein text is a printed number on a page of the book and generating comprises:

prompting the user to enter a printed number on the page of the physical copy;

generating a number by applying the page number to an algorithm; and

comparing the generated page number to the printed number entered by the user.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 17 wherein each page of the physical copy of the book has a number and the method further comprises:

reproducing the number for verification against a number that is entered by the user.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein unlocking the digital content comprises:

providing a text based searchable file.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein the digital content is a book stored on the digital media carrier device and the physical copy is a printed copy of the book.

21. The computer implemented method of claim 14 wherein the text is a pseudo random number.