PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem, wherein it is impossible for an electronic content information provider to provide commercially secure and effective method, for a configurable general-purpose electronic commercial transaction/distribution control system. SOLUTION: In this system, having at least one protected processing environment for safely controlling at least one portion of decoding of digital information, a secure content distribution method comprises a process for encapsulating digital information in one or more digital containers; a process for encrypting at least a portion of digital information; a process for associating at least partially secure control information for managing interactions with encrypted digital information and/or digital container; a process for delivering one or more digital containers to a digital information user; and a process for using a protected processing environment, for safely controlling at least a portion of the decoding of the digital information. COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a423264.pdf

Systems and Methods for Secure Transaction Management and Electronic Rights Protection

Rights management information is used at least in part in a matching, narrowcasting, classifying and/or selecting process. A matching and classification utility system comprising a kind of Commerce Utility System is used to perform the matching, narrowcasting, classifying and/or selecting. The matching and classification utility system may match, narrowcast, classify and/or select people and/or things, non-limiting examples of which include software objects. The Matching and Classification Utility system may use any pre-existing classification schemes, including at least some rights management information and/or other qualitative and/or parameter data indicating and/or defining classes, classification systems, class hierarchies, category schemes, class assignments, category assignments, and/or class membership. The Matching and Classification Utility may also use at least some rights management information together with any artificial intelligence, expert system, statistical, computational, manual, or any other means to define new classes, class hierarchies, classification systems, category schemes, and/or assign persons, things, and/or groups of persons and/or things to at least one class.

Systems and methods for matching, selecting, narrowcasting, and/or classifying based on rights management and/or other information

Documents and other items can be delivered electronically from sender to recipient with a level of trustedness approaching or exceeding that provided by a personal document courier. A trusted electronic go-between can validate, witness and/or archive transactions while, in some cases, actively participating in or directing the transaction. Printed or imaged documents can be marked using handwritten signature images, seal images, electronic fingerprinting, watermarking, and/or steganography. Electronic commercial transactions and transmissions take place in a reliable, “trusted” virtual distribution environment that provides significant efficiency and cost savings benefits to users in addition to providing an extremely high degree of confidence and trustedness. The systems and techniques have many uses including but not limited to secure document delivery, execution of legal documents, and electronic data interchange (EDI).

Trusted and secure techniques, systems and methods for item delivery and execution

A descriptive data structure provides an abstract representation of a rights management data structure such as a secure container. The abstract representation may describe, for example, the layout of the rights management data structure. It can also provide metadata describing or defining other characteristics of rights management data structure use and/or processing. For example, the descriptive data structure can provide integrity constraints that provide a way to state rules about associated information. The abstract representation can be used to create rights management data structures that are interoperable and compatible with one another. This arrangement preserves flexibility and ease of use without compromising security.

Techniques for defining, using and manipulating rights management data structures

Electronic steganographic techniques can be used to encode a rights management control signal onto an information signal carried over an insecure communications channel. Steganographic techniques ensure that the digital control information is substantially invisibly and substantially indelibly carried by the information signal. These techniques can provide end-to-end rights management protection of an information signal irrespective of transformations between analog and digital. An electronic appliance can recover the control information and use it for electronic rights management to provide compatibility with a Virtual Distribution Environment. In one example, the system encodes low data rate pointers within high bandwidth time periods of the content signal to improve overall control information read/seek times.

Steganographic techniques for securely delivering electronic digital rights management control information over insecure communication channels

The invention is a method and system which provides consultants, business process analysts, and application developers with a unified tool with which to conduct business process analysis, design, documentation and to generate business process definitions and workflow-enabled applications. The invention may be implemented using a software system which has two functional sets. One is a set of graphical tools that can be used by a developer or business analyst to map out business processes. The second is a set of tools that can be used to document and specify in detail the attributes of each workflow definition, including roles, cycle time, conditions, of satisfaction, cost and value, associated text, forms, application data as well as detail the attributes of links between workflows required to complete a business process map, and to generate a business process definition and a workflow-enabled application. In this manner, the invention provides the capability of performing application generation and generation of business process definitions in a definitions database. The invention also includes a workflow language scripting capability.

Method and apparatus for building business process applications in terms of its workflows

A system for analyzing and structuring business processes implemented in software to provides businesses with tools to manage business processes. The system i) notifies the user that he or she has a step to begin or to complete; ii) provides the user with the proper tools to complete a task; iii) provides the user with the proper information to complete a task; iv) allows the user to see where a task fits in the overall process; v) manages proper reminders, alerts, and follow-ups to keep the process moving; vi) automates certain standard procedures; vii) integrates with the organization's existing business systems; and viii) provides application program interfaces that allow developers to develop applications that are workflow-enabled. The system utilizes a workflow server including a transactions manager and a database.

Computerized method and system for managing business processes using linked workflows

The present invention is a method and apparatus which is used to enable application developers to generate workflow enabled applications which request services from the workflow server component of the workflow system, remotely and indirectly using messaging, shared databases or inter-process communications. The present invention provides a standard transaction format (STF) for accessing such a workflow system through STF processors via messaging, updates to the shared databases or inter-process communications. Workflow enabled applications are used by users to act and participate in business processes and enable users and managers to observe and query the status of workflows and business processes.

Method and apparatus for utilizing a standard transaction format to provide application platform and a medium independent representation and transfer of data for the management of business process and their workflows

A workflow management system which performs eight key functions: i) notifies the user that he or she has a step to begin or to complete (Names/Routings); ii) provides the user with the proper tools to complete a task (Transaction Manager); iii) provides the user with the proper information to complete a task (Workflow Server); iv) allows the user to see where a task fits in the overall process (Schedule); v) manages the proper reminders, alerts, and follow-ups to keep the process moving (Transaction Manager); vi) automates certain standard procedures; vii) integrates with the organization's existing business systems; and viii) provides simple application program interfaces that allow developers to develop new custom applications that are workflow-enabled (Workflow Updater)

Roy I. Gift

Papers

Method and apparatus for building business process applications in terms of its workflows

Computerized method and system for managing business processes using linked workflows

Method and apparatus for utilizing a standard transaction format to provide application platform and a medium independent representation and transfer of data for the management of business process and their workflows

Method and apparatus for managing business processes