METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING PIRACY OF DIGITAL CONTENT.

摘要

A secure cryptographic rights unit (225) for cryptographically regulating access to digital content (215) includes an interface control processor (235) and a specialized cryptographic unit (260) that protects access to a memory (265). The cryptographic unit produces content decryption keys (267) by using stored rights keys to transform other data received from the control processor (235). Because the control processor (235) does not have the ability to directly access the protected memory (265), the security can remain effective even if the control processor (235) is compromised. To prevent reverse engineering of the cryptographic transformations, the invention provides for an algorithm generator that uses random sources to produce algorithm definitions in machine readable form. Because the generator itself does not contain any secrets, it can be submitted for open review. Other features allow for the content provider (200) to audit the access (296) of the user (290) who can obtain the decrypted content (275) through an output device (280).