| 摘要 |
The present invention comprises a method and apparatus for securely providing billable multicast data. The invention describes a solution that provides an architecture for enabling different types of security devices to operate interchangeably in very large consumer networks, corporate networks, for authentication and metered access to services, as well as payment. An embodiment of the invention comprises a mechanism for ensuring that only authorized parties may obtain access to a particular data stream. For example, the present invention provides a way build a restricted-channel system. In a restricted-channel system, a multicast server transmits encrypted information that can be deciphered by authorized multicast client programs or multicast client programs operating under authorized conditions. Access to the multicast data is allowed when the data is appropriately decrypted or otherwise verified and/or the payment is obtained from a portable device such as a smart card. |
