Method and apparatus for on demand video and other content rental

摘要

A video on demand system in the context of the Internet, for video rentals. A user accesses an on-line store to rent a video program or movie. The rental is for a limited time (such as 30 days) and within that thirty days, the video program or movie can only be viewed for a 24 hour time window. The time limits are enforced by the on-line store which maintains a database of each rental transaction and allows supply of the needed keys for decrypting the (encrypted) video or movie only if within the time limits.

主权项

1. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program which when executed by at least one processing unit plays encrypted content on a client device, the program comprising sets of instructions for:
in response to sending a request for a content, receiving the requested content in encrypted form from a server, the content received from the server over a first period of time; when input to play the encrypted content is not received during the first period of time, receiving a rental key for the encrypted content, the rental key valid for a second period of time; and upon receiving input to play the encrypted content during one of the first period of time and the second period of time:
transmitting a request for a decryption key to the server; andreceiving the decryption key so long as the request is within one of the first period of time and the second period of time.