Apparatus systems and methods for securely sharing content with a plurality of receiving devices

1. A system to facilitate secure content sharing between a plurality of set-top boxes, comprising:

a satellite communication system;

a plurality of set-top boxes communicatively coupled to the satellite communication system, each set-top box of the plurality of set-top boxes being located at a distinct respective customer premises; and

a distribution server communicatively coupled to the satellite communication system, the distribution server configured to provide access control information via the satellite communication system to a first set-top box of the plurality of set-top boxes and to at least a second set-top box, the access control information enabling the first set-top box to share content stored on the first set-top box with the second set-top box,

wherein the first set-top box

receives via the satellite communication system from the distribution server the access control information,

determines a first cryptographic key based on the access control information received by the first set-top box,

shares content stored on the first set-top box for use by the second set-top box,

and restricts access to the shared content by encrypting at least a portion of the shared content using the first cryptographic key; and

wherein the second set-top box

receives via the satellite communication system from the distribution server the access control information,

determines a second cryptographic key based on the access control information received by the second set-top box,

accesses the shared content stored on the first set-top box based at least in part on the access control information received by the second set-top box, and

decrypts the at least a portion of the shared content using the second cryptographic key.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first set-top box further generates the first cryptographic key based at least in part on the receiving the access control information.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first cryptographic key is received as at least part of the access control information received by the first set-top box.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first and second cryptographic keys are at least one of symmetric keys and an asymmetric key pair.

5. A method for securely sharing data, the method comprising:

under control of a first set-top box located at a first customer premises,

receiving first access control information via a content distribution system,

determining a first cryptographic key based at least in part on the first access control information, and

sharing data stored on the first set-top box for use by a second set-top box, the second set-top box being located at a distinct second customer premises, the second set-top box having received second access control information via the content distribution system; and

restricting, based at least in part on the first access control information, access to the shared data in such a manner that the second set-top box can access the shared data based at least in part on the second access control information, wherein the restricting access to the shared data includes encrypting at least a portion of the shared data using the first cryptographic key, such that the second set-top box may decrypt the at least a portion of the shared data based at least in part on the second access control information.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the determining the first cryptographic key includes generating the first cryptographic key in response to receiving the first access control information.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least a portion of the shared data is a decryption key that may be used to decrypt at least some other portion of the shared data.