Method and device for exchanging digital content licenses
View Patent ↗Exchange of Digital Rights Management protected content between two devices without the need for a third party. Each user marks a license as unusable and the devices the trade licenses. A user then instructs the device to import the received license. The device verifies that a license has been rendered unusable and only then erases the unusable license and enables the device to use the new license. The content associated with a license may be traded before or after the license exchange, and may also be downloaded from a third party. Also provided is a device for exchanging licenses.
1. A method of exchanging a first license for a first item of digital content against a second license for a second item of digital content, the method comprising steps, being performed by a processor of a first content player, of:
storing the first license in a memory of the first content player
receiving the second license from a second content player;
verifying that the first license has been rendered unusable to the first content player, and
if the first license has been rendered unusable to the first content player:
erasing the first license; and
making the second license usable by the first content player.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising checking that the first license has been sent from the first content player.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the checking further comprises checking that the first license has been sent to the second content player.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising receiving a user instruction to import the second license after said receiving.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further sending the first license, unusable to the first content player, to the second content player.
6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising receiving a user instruction to render the first license unusable to the first content player.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a user instruction to import the second license just prior to said verifying.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
sending to the second content player the first item of content; and
erasing the first item of content.
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving the second item of content; and
storing the second item of content.
10. A first content player for exchanging a first license for a first item of digital content against a second license for a second item of digital content, the first content player comprising:
a memory device configured to store a plurality of licenses;
a user interface configured for communication with a user;
a device interface configured to receive the second license from a second content player, and
a processor configured to:
verify that the first license has been rendered unusable to the first content player; and
in case of positive verification:
erase the first license from the memory device; and
make the second license usable by the first content player.
11. The device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to verify that the first license has been sent to the second content player.