Systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for secure transaction management and electronic rights protection. Electronic appliances such as computers equipped in accordance with the present invention help to ensure that information is accessed and used only in authorized ways, and maintain the integrity, availability, and/or confidentiality of the information. Such electronic appliances provide a distributed virtual distribution environment (VDE) that may enforce a secure chain of handling and control, for example, to control and/or meter or otherwise monitor use of electronically stored or disseminated information. Such a virtual distribution environment may be used to protect rights of various participants in electronic commerce and other electronic or electronic-facilitated transactions. Distributed and other operating systems, environments and architectures, such as, for example, those using tamper-resistant hardware-based processors, may establish security at each node. These techniques may be used to support an all-electronic information distribution, for example, utilizing the “electronic highway.”

1 . A secure component-based operating process including:
 (a) retrieving at least one component;   (b) retrieving a record that specifies a component assembly;   (c) checking said component and/or said record for validity;   (d) using said component to form said component assembly in accordance with said record; and   (e) performing a process based at least in part on said component assembly.   
   
   
       2 . A process as in  claim 1  wherein said step (c) comprises executing said component assembly. 
   
   
       3 . A process as in  claim 1  wherein said component comprises executable code. 
   
   
       4 . A process as in  claim 1  wherein said component comprises a load module. 
   
   
       5 . A process as in  claim 1  wherein:
 said record comprises:
 (i) directions for assembling said component assembly; and 
 (ii) information that at least in part specifies a control; and 
   said process further comprises controlling said step (d) and/or said step (e) based at least in part on said control.   
   
   
       6 . A process as in  claim 1  wherein said component has a security wrapper, and said controlling step comprises selectively opening said security wrapper based at least in part on said control. 
   
   
       7 . A process as in  claim 1  wherein:
 said permissions record includes at least one decryption key; and   said controlling step includes controlling use of said decryption key.   
   
   
       8 . A process as in  claim 1  including performing at least two of said steps (a) and (e) within a protected processing environment. 
   
   
       9 . A process as in  claim 1  including performing at least two of said steps (a) and (e) at least in part within tamper-resistant hardware. 
   
   
       10 . A method as in  claim 1  wherein said performing step (e) includes metering usage. 
   
   
       11 . A method as in  claim 1  wherein said performing step (e) includes auditing usage. 
   
   
       12 . A method as in  claim 1  wherein said performing step (e) includes budgeting usage. 
   
   
       13 . A secure component operating system process including:
 receiving a component;   receiving directions specifying use of said component to form a component assembly;   authenticating said received component and/or said directions;   forming, using said component, said component assembly based at least in part on said received directions; and   using said component assembly to perform at least one operation.   
   
   
       14 . A method comprising performing the following steps within a secure operating system environment:
 providing code;   providing directions specifying assembly of said code into an executable program;   checking said received code and/or said assembly directors for validity; and   in response to occurrence of an event, assembling said code in accordance with said received assembly directions to form an assembly for execution.   
   
   
       15 - 90 . (canceled)