Method for updating data in accordance with rights management policy
Disclosed is a computerized system and method for dynamically applying a rights management policy to a message by allowing an administrator to associate certain rights management policies with certain senders and recipients of messages, with groups of users possessing certain common criteria which define the users and groups of users, with certain attributes of the message, and with certain environmental attributes. In some embodiments, an administrator is allowed to automatically update a rights management protected message as it passes through a message transfer agent. The administrator may determine either on a regular interval or an ad-hoc basis that the message transfer agent scan the messages stored to determine whether or not the content has expired. If the content has indeed expired the administrator may take steps to have the expired content deleted entirely, refreshed with more current content, or replaced with a tombstone indicating that the original content has expired.
1. A computerized system for updating content in an electronic document, wherein the updating relies on the existence of a persisted policy scheme, said system comprising:
a rights management server operatively connected to a data communication network, said rights management server storing the persisted policy schema, and
a message transfer agent computing device operatively connected to the data communication network, said agent computing device having a document store associated therewith, said agent computing device configured to execute instructions for:
accepting the electronic document into the document store via the data communication network;
accessing the persisted policy schema stored on the rights management server via the data communication network;
identifying one or more rights management protections associated with content of the electronic document, said rights management protections being defined by the persisted policy scheme;
pre-licensing the accepted electronic document by obtaining, on behalf of a user, a use license associated with the content of the electronic document, said use license being obtained from the rights management server via the data communication network and being defined by the persisted policy scheme;
determining whether the content of the electronic document has exceeded the rights management protections defined by the persisted policy scheme;
modifying a portion of the content corresponding to the exceeded right management protections when the content of the electronic document has exceeded the rights management protections; and
permitting use of the modified content of the electronic document in accordance with the defined restrictions of the obtained use license.
2. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein the electronic document is an electronic mail (e-mail) communication.
3. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein the agent computing device determines whether the content of the electronic document has exceeded the rights management protections defined by the persisted policy scheme and modifies the portion of the content corresponding to the exceeded right management protections on a scheduled interval.
4. The computerized system of claim 1 , wherein the agent computing device determines whether the content of the electronic document has exceeded the rights management protections defined by the persisted policy scheme and modifies the portion of the content corresponding to the exceeded right management protections on an ad-hoc basis.
5. The computerized system of claim 1 , further comprising a message sender computing device operatively connected to the data communication network, said sender computing device configured to execute instructions for transmitting the electronic document via the data communication network.
6. The computerized system of claim 5 , wherein said sender computing device comprises a mobile computing device, and wherein said data communication network comprises a wireless communication network.
7. The computerized system of claim 1 , further comprising a message recipient computing device, and wherein the agent computing device is further configured to execute instructions for transmitting the electronic document to the recipient computing device via the data communication network in response to permitting use of the modified content of the electronic document.
8. The computerized system of claim 7 , wherein said recipient computing device is configured to execute instructions for receiving the transmitted electronic document via the data communication network, said recipient computing device using the modified content of the electronic document in accordance with the defined restrictions of the obtained use license.
9. A computerized method for updating content in an electronic document, wherein the updating relies on the existence of a persisted policy scheme on a rights management server, said rights management server operatively connected to a data communication network, said method comprising:
accepting, by a transfer agent computing device, the electronic document into a document store associated with said transfer agent computing device, said transfer agent operatively connected to the data communication network and said document store located remotely from the rights management server and connected therewith via the data communications network;
identifying, by the transfer agent computing device, one or more rights management protections associated with content of the electronic document, said rights management protections being defined by the persisted policy scheme on the rights management server;
obtaining, by the transfer agent computing device on behalf of a user, a use license associated with the content of the electronic document to pre-license the electronic document, said use license being defined by the persisted policy scheme;
determining, by the transfer agent computing device, whether the content of the electronic document has exceeded the rights management protections defined by the persisted policy scheme;
modifying, by the transfer agent computing device, a portion of the content corresponding to the exceeded right management protections when the content of the electronic document has exceeded the rights management protections; and
permitting, by the transfer agent computing device, use of the modified content of the electronic document in accordance with the defined restrictions of the obtained use license.
10. The computerized method of claim 9 , wherein the electronic document is an electronic mail (e-mail) communication.
11. The computerized method of claim 9 , wherein the determining and modifying are performed on a scheduled interval.
12. The computerized method of claim 9 , wherein the determining and modifying are performed on an ad-hoc basis.
13. The computerized method of claim 9 , further comprising transmitting, by a message sender computing device, the electronic document.
14. The computerized method of claim 13 , wherein said message sender computing device comprises a mobile computing device.
15. The computerized method of claim 9 , further comprising transmitting, by the transfer agent computing device, the electronic document to a message recipient computing device in response to permitting use of the modified content of the electronic document.
16. The computerized method of claim 15 , further comprising receiving, by the message recipient computing device, the transmitted electronic document, said message recipient computing device using the modified content of the electronic document in accordance with the defined restrictions of the obtained use license.
17. One or more computer storage media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for updating content in an electronic document, wherein the updating relies on the existence of a persisted policy scheme on a rights management server, said computer-executable instructions comprising instructions for:
accepting the electronic document into a document store associated with a transfer agent computing device;
identifying one or more rights management protections associated with content of the electronic document, said rights management protections being defined by the persisted policy scheme on the rights management server;
obtaining a use license associated with the content of the electronic document to pre-license the electronic document, said use license being defined by the persisted policy scheme;
determining whether the content of the electronic document has exceeded the rights management protections defined by the persisted policy scheme;
modifying a portion of the content corresponding to the exceeded right management protections when the content of the electronic document has exceeded the rights management protections; and
permitting use of the modified content of the electronic document in accordance with the defined restrictions of the obtained use license.
18. The one or more computer storage media of claim 17 , wherein the electronic document is an electronic mail (e-mail) communication.
19. The one or more computer storage media of claim 17 , further comprising computer-executable instructions for transmitting the electronic document to a recipient computing device in response to permitting use of the modified content of the electronic document.
20. The one or more computer storage media of claim 19 , wherein said recipient computing device is configured to execute instructions for receiving the transmitted electronic document, said recipient computing device using the modified content of the electronic document in accordance with the defined restrictions of the obtained use license.