US005935243A
`5,935,243
`[11] Patent Number:
`p15
`United States Patent
`Hasebeetal.
`[45] Date of Patent:
`*Aug. 10, 1999
`
`
`[54] LICENSEE NOTIFICATION SYSTEM
`
`2 245 724
`
`1/1992 United Kingdom .
`
`[75]
`
`Inventors: Takayuki Hasebe; Naoya Torii, both
`of Kawasaki, Japan
`[73] Assignee: Fujitsu Ltd., Kawasaki, Japan
`e
`.
`.
`.
`.
`[*] Notice:
`This patent issued on a continued pros-
`ecution application filed under 37 CFR
`1.53(d), and is subject to the twenty year
`patent
`term provisions of 35 U.S.C.
`154(a)(2).
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 08/673,108
`[22]
`Filed:
`Jul. 1, 1996
`too. —
`.
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`[30]
`Aug. 31,1995
`[JP]
`Japan sececscsssseesessssessseeeseeses 7-224338
`
`6
`Int. Che oe G06F 11/00; HO4L 9/00
`(51)
`[52] ULS. Ce cceccccecssesetsnsesesesseneeasseseeee 713/200; 382/23
`[58] Field of Search ..0.00000. 380/3, 4, 23, 25,
`380/26; 395/186, 187.01, 188.01, 182.16,
`182.18, 183.12
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`European Search Report issued Oct. 6, 1997.
`Primary Examiner—Robert W. Beausoliel, Jr.
`Assistant Examiner—Nadeem Iqbal
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Staas & Halsey
`?
`?
`[57]
`ABSTRACT
`.
`.
`.
`.
`.
`There is disclosed a licensee notification system for imple-
`menting a software sales system wherein license information
`for converting to executable form software that is presented
`to a user in non-executable form is communicated to the user
`from a management center on condition of payment of a
`charge, and the software is converted into executable form
`at the user terminal using this license information. The
`subject of the licensee notification system is software that
`decides whether or not
`the correspondence relationship
`between user identification information and signature infor-
`mation stored in the license file is legitimate, and, if it is
`legitimate, displays the user identification information to the
`user before starting proper operation; or,
`if it
`is not
`legitimate, does not start proper operation. The licensee
`notification system is constituted by connecting the man-
`agement center and user terminals by communication cir-
`cuits. If license information is requested from the user
`terminal, the managementcenter transmits license informa-
`
`4,866,769—9/1989 Karp ..rescssesssssrerereecerrerererersseees 380/4 tion combining in integral form the user identification infor-
`5,103,476
`4/1992 Waite et al.
`.
`mation identifying the user and conversion information for
`
`5,204,897=4/1993 Wyman oo... ce eects ceeneeees 380/4 converting the software to executable form. The user termi-
`5,287,408
`2/1994 Samson... cecsesenesceeneeees 380/4
`nal enables the software using the conversion information
`5,291,598
`3/1994 Grundy.
`ined in
`this license information and writes user iden-
`
`
`
`
`
`5,319,705thisf6/1994 Halter et al. . contained in ;
`5,479,612 12/1995 Kenton et ale csssssscsessessseeseeee 385/186_‘tification information andsignature information whose con-
`5,757,907 seesssesssssssesseeneeseee 380/4_tent is determinedin accordance with the contentof the user5/1998 Cooper et al.
`
`
`identification information to a licensefile that is referred to
`when this software is operating.
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`0 367 700 A2
`5/1990 European Pat. Off.
`.
`0 613 073 Al
`8/1994 European Pat. Off.
`.
`
`14 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets
`
`12
`1
`!
`_!
`POTne tome 1 CT——
`yg USER TERMINAL
`{
`|
`MANAGEMENT CENTER
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`INFORMATION
`[LICENSE
`|
`INFORMATION
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`SOFTWARE
`NINFORMATION L--—-..-_--4
`DECODING
`|
`KEYE
`1
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`USER CHARACTERISTIC
`INFORMATION (CPU-—ID)
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`1
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 10, 1999
`
`Sheet 2 of 6
`
`5,935,243
`
`FIG. 2
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`MOOO11T11
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`TOKKYO TARO
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` CONTENTSID DECODING KEY
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`CONTENTSID
`
`USER NAME
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`SIGNATURE
`INFORMATION
`
`
`
`
`
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 10, 1999
`
`Sheet 3 of 6
`
`5,935,243
`
`LICENSE
`DISPLAY ROUTINE
`
`
` 26
`
`MAIN PROGRAM
`
`FIG. 5
`
`
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug.10, 1999
`
`Sheet 4 of 6
`
`5,935,243
`
`11
`_/
`ra ee en eeee hn ces cs ee ee
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`CONTENTS ID
`USER CHARACTERISTIC
`INFORMATION (CPU~ID)
`
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`
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`
`ENCODED LICENSE
`INFORMATION
`
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`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 10, 1999
`
`Sheet 5 of 6
`
`5,935,243
`
`25 a
`
`26
`
`
`
`
`
`LICENSE DISPLAY ROUTINE
`
`ENCODED USER NAM
`
`MAIN PROGRAM
`
`FIG. 8
`
`DECODE ENCODED USER NAME
`
`$201
`
`5202
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`
`DISPLAY DECODED USER NAME
`
`EXECUTE MAIN PROGRAM
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`

`USER TERMINAL
`
`CONTENTS ID
`
`USER
`CHARACTERISTIC
`INFORMATION
`
`Ks
`
`38
`
`DECODING KEY
`
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`(CPU-ID) ENCODING
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`UNIT
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`USER
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`INDIVIDUAL KEY
`INDIVIDUAL KEY
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`SOFTWARE
`RESTRICTIONS
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`REMOVAL CODE
`Cn ce ee es ee es ce ce ee ees ee ee ee a Ye eS
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`5,935,243
`
`1
`LICENSEE NOTIFICATION SYSTEM
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`
`The present invention relates to a licensee notification
`system employedfor the sale of software using a high speed
`communication network such as B-ISDN and a large-
`capacity storage medium such as a CD-ROM.
`2. Description of the Related Art
`With the development of high speed communication
`technology such as B-ISDN (broad-band integrated services
`digital network) and high-capacity storage media such as
`CD-ROMs(compact disk read only memory) such means
`can now beused to distribute computer programs or video
`data or audio data. For example, video works which were
`previously supplied on video tape are now being sold stored
`on CD-ROM. Also, game programs etc, which contain a
`large amount of picture data, are being sold stored on
`CD-ROM. The same applies to high speed communication
`networks, in which the software supplier can now distribute
`the software by various methods. One of these methods of
`software sales is the so-called “locked software” sales
`system. In the locked software sales system, a CD ROM on
`which are stored a large number of software items whose
`functionsare restricted is sold cheaply. By using the various
`items of software on the CD-ROM that is purchased, in a
`condition with the functional restrictions imposed, the end
`user is able to make a decision as to whether or not he needs
`each software item. Then, if the end user does require the
`software, he obtains (purchases) a restriction-removal code
`corresponding to this software from a management center
`operated by the software distributor, and is able to use this
`restriction-removal code to remove the functional restric-
`tions on the software.
`
`Such a sales system may be implemented, as a specific
`example, using the software sales system shown in FIG. 10.
`As shown in this Figure, this software sales system com-
`prises user terminals 31 and managementcenter 32. The user
`terminal 31 and the managementcenter 32 are connected by
`means of a communication circuit.
`
`When actually purchasing the software (i.e. when pur-
`chasing a restriction-removal code), the end user, using a
`user ID etc, sets up a communication path with the man-
`agement center and executes the prescribed procedure
`required to requestthat a restriction-removal cade be sent to
`the user terminal 31. This procedure includes the input of a
`“contents ID”, which is information for identifying the
`software item that is to be purchased actually. In response to
`the execution of such a procedure, the user terminal 31 sends
`to the management center 32 the contents ID and for
`example the characteristic information of the user, consist-
`ing of the ID of the CPU provided in user terminal 31.
`Within the management center 32, there is provided a
`software database (software DB) in which software decod-
`ing keys employed for encoding the various software items
`are stored in association with the contents ID. When a
`contents ID is received from user terminal 31, the software
`decoding key corresponding to the contents ID is read from
`software database 33. Also, encoding unit 34 in management
`center 32 generates a user individual key by encoding the
`user characteristic information from user terminal 31 by the
`key “Ks”. Encoding unit 35 sendsthe results of the encoding
`of the software decoding key from software database 33 to
`user terminal 31 as restriction-removal code, using the user
`individual key from encoding unit 34.
`Encoding unit 36 in user terminal 31 generates a user
`individual key by encoding the user characteristic informa-
`
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`tion with the key “Ks”. Decoding unit 37 uses the user
`individual key generated by encoding unit 36 to decode the
`restriction removal code from management center 32,
`thereby generating the software decoding key. Installation
`unit 38 then uses this software decoding key to decode the
`software in CD-ROM correspondingto the contents ID sent
`to center terminal 32: thus the software is put in a condition
`where it can be used with the functional restrictions
`removed,and,in this form,is installed on to a storage device
`such as a hard disk device.
`
`is possible to
`it
`With such a software sales system,
`determine the software item to be purchased after actually
`ascertaining its contents: thus, the possibility that the pur-
`chased software might be completely different from that
`intended, as could happen if the purchase were made solely
`on the basis of the details contained in a catalogue, can be
`completely eliminated. Also, since the software on the CD
`ROMis stored in a form which is not executable without
`knowing special information, illicit installation can be pre-
`vented.
`
`However, once the software has been installed, it is an
`extremely easy operation to copy this. Thus, the problem has
`arisen of unscrupulous persons copying the software without
`the consent of the software supplier. Various methods(so-
`called protection methods) of preventing suchillicit copying
`are known but there is no way to preventillicit copying by
`a person possessing knowledge at the level of the BIOS
`(basic input/output system). Whichever method is used, it
`can do no more than make it more difficult to perform illicit
`copying.
`For this reason, software is sold in which the nameof the
`authorized user is displayed on start-up, with the object of
`preventing illicit copying psychologically rather than physi-
`cally. That is, the aim is to preventillicit copying of software
`by displaying the nameof the authorized user of the software
`whenthe illicitly copied software is executed.
`However, even with such software,
`if the copying is
`inclusive of the installation software that sets the user name,
`whenthe software is run, it can be made to display the name
`of the person who made the illicit copy:
`thus, sufficient
`effectiveness in preventing illicit copying wasnot obtained.
`SUMMARYOF THE INVENTION
`
`An object of the present invention is to provide a licensee
`notification system whose psychological effectiveness in
`preventing illicit copying is very high.
`A first
`licensee notification system according to the
`present invention consists in a system for implementing a
`software sales system in which software in non-executable
`form is presented to a user, and license information for
`converting the software into executable form is informed to
`the user on condition of payment of a charge, and the
`software is converted into executable form usingthis license
`information.
`
`The first licensee notification system is constituted of a
`management center and user terminals; its subject is soft-
`ware whichincludesinstructions that command a terminal to
`read user identification information in a license file and to
`
`notify the user identification information to the user on
`commencement of its operation.
`The management center comprises a license information
`generating unit that generates license information combin-
`ing in integrated form user identification information that
`specifies a user and conversion information for converting
`software to executable form.
`
`The user terminal comprises a storage unit, a conversion
`unit, and license file creating unit. In more detail, the storage
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`5,935,243
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`3
`unit is employed for storing the license file and software
`converted to executable form. The license information,
`which is generated by the license information generating
`unit in the managementcenter, is given to the conversion
`unit. The conversion unit then converts the software to
`executable form using the license information andinstalls it
`in the storage unit. The license file creating unit creates the
`license file which contains the user identification informa-
`tion contained in the license information, and stores the
`license file in the storage unit.
`Thatis, in the first licensee notification system, software
`is installed in the user terminal so that the user identification
`information of the legitimate user is notified to the user on
`its start-up, using the license information which is generated
`in the management center and contains the user identifica-
`tion information.
`
`A second licensee notification system according to the
`present invention is constituted of a management center and
`user terminal; its subject is software which includes instruc-
`tions that commands the user terminal to read user identi-
`fication information in the prescribed location in the soft-
`ware andto notify the user identification information to the
`user on commencementofits operation.
`The management center comprises a license information
`generating unit that generates license information combin-
`ing in integrated form user identification information iden-
`tifying a user and conversion information for converting
`software into executable form.
`The user terminal comprises a storage unit, a conversion
`unit and a software rewriting unit. Of these, the storage unit
`is employed for storing the software after this has been
`converted to executable form. The conversion unit converts
`the software to executable condition using the license infor-
`mation generated by the license information generating unit
`in the managementcenter, and then installsit in the storage
`unit. The software rewriting unit rewrites the information of
`the prescribed location of the software that has been
`installed by the conversion unit with the user identification
`information contained in the license information.
`
`Thatis, in this second licensee notification system, instal-
`lation is performed with the content of the software rewritten
`suchthat the user identification information of the legitimate
`user is notified on start-up, using the license information
`which is generated in the managementcenter and contains
`the user identification information.
`
`The third licensee notification system according to the
`present invention has as its subject software that, on com-
`mencementof operation, includes instructions commanding
`the user terminal to read user identification information in a
`license file and to notify the user identification information
`to the user.
`
`The managementcenter in the third licensee notification
`system comprises a license information generating unit that
`generates license information consisting of an integral com-
`bination of conversion information for converting the soft-
`ware to executable form and user identification information
`identifying a user.
`The user terminal comprises a storage unit for storing a
`license file, a license file creating unit, and a software
`execution unit. The license file creating unit creates the
`license file containing the license information generated by
`the license information generating unit, and stores the
`license file in the storing unit. The software execution unit,
`when execution of the software is designated, converts the
`software to executable form using the license information
`stored in the license file and expands it into memory, and
`commences operation in accordance with the expanded
`software.
`
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`the
`in the third licensee notification system,
`is,
`That
`software, which is presented to the user in non-executable
`form, is converted to executable form in accordance with the
`license information containing the user identification infor-
`mation every time execution is designated.
`The fourth licensee notification system according to this
`invention is constituted of management center and user
`terminal. The subject of the system is software which judges
`the legitimacyof user identification information on the basis
`of signature information stored in a license file on com-
`mencementof operation and,if the user identification infor-
`mation is legitimate, commences proper operation after
`notifying this user identification informationto the user, and,
`if the user identification information is not legitimate, ter-
`minates operation.
`The management center comprises a license information
`generating unit that generates license information combin-
`ing in integral form the user identification information
`identifying the user and signature information whose content
`is determined in accordance with the user identification
`information.
`
`The user terminal comprises a storage unit for storing the
`license file and a license file creating unit that creates the
`license file containing the user identification information
`contained in the license information generated by the license
`information generating unit and stores the license file in the
`storage unit.
`That is,
`in the fourth licensee notification system, the
`license information which is necessary for running the
`software normally is generated on the basis of the user
`identification information in the management center and is
`informed to the user terminal.
`
`It may be noted that although in the first to the fourth
`licensee notification system any means could be employed
`for notification of the license information,if notification of
`license information is performed using a communication
`circuit, a system that is simple to operate can be formed.
`Also, it is possible to employ information including the
`name ofthe user as user identification information. It is also
`possible to employ a unit that generates license information
`including user identification information encoded with a
`characteristic key of the software. In this case, software is
`presented to user which includinginstructions that command
`the user terminal to notify to the user the result of decoding
`the user identification information using the characteristic
`key.
`In the first to the third licensee notification systems, it is
`also possible to make the software that is presented to the
`user encoded, and to make the conversion information for
`decoding the encoded software. Also,
`it
`is possible to
`employ,
`in such a licensee notification system,
`license
`information containing the user identification information in
`a form that cannot be separated without special information.
`For example,it is possible to employ information, as license
`information, which is the result of encoding the conversion
`information and useridentification information, combined in
`integrated manner.
`Also, it is possible to make the first to third licensee
`notification system a system whose subject is software that,
`if the signature information stored in the license file does not
`correspondto the user identification information, terminates
`operation, and, as the license file creating unit, to employ a
`unit that generates signature information whose content is
`determined in accordance with the content of the user
`identification information, and creates the license file con-
`taining the signature information. In this case, it can be made
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`5,935,243
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`5
`more difficult to alter the user identification information that
`is notified to the user on start-up of the software. Also, in the
`case of such software, it is possible to employ as license
`information generating unit a unit that generates license
`information containing signature information whose con-
`tents are determined in accordance with the contents of the
`user identification information, and, as license file creating
`unit, to employ a unit that creates the license file containing
`signature information contained in the license information.
`Also, it is possible to make the second licensee notifica-
`tion system a system whose subject
`is software that, if
`signature information stored in the second predetermined
`location does not correspond to user identification informa-
`tion stored in a prescribed location, terminates its operation,
`and, as software rewriting unit, to employ a unit that rewrites
`the information of the prescribed location of the software
`with the user identification information contained in the
`license information and that rewrites the information at the
`second prescribed location of the software with signature
`information whose content is determined in accordance with
`
`the user identification information. Also, in the case of such
`software,
`it is possible to employ as license information
`generating unit a unit that generates license information
`containing signature information whose content is deter-
`mined in accordance with the content of the user identifi-
`cation information, and, as software rewriting unit,
`to
`employ a unit that rewrites information of the prescribed
`location with user identification information contained in the
`license information and that rewrites the information at the
`
`second prescribed location in the software by signature
`information contained in the license information.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating the layout
`of a licensee notification system according to a first embodi-
`ment of the present invention;
`FIG. 2 is a diagram given in explanation of the content of
`the user database provided in the management center com-
`prised in the licensee notification system according to the
`first embodiment;
`FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the content of the software
`database provided in the management center comprised in
`the licensee notification system according to the first
`embodiment,
`FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the content of a licensefile
`provided in a user terminal comprised in the licensee noti-
`fication system according to the first embodiment;
`FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the structure of software
`that is the subject of the licensee notification system accord-
`ing to the first embodiment;
`FIG. 6 is a flow chart ilustrating the operating sequence
`of software that is the subject of the licensee notification
`system according to the first embodiment;
`FIG. 7 is a function block diagram illustrating the orga-
`nization of a user terminal employed in the licensee notifi-
`cation system according to a second embodiment;
`FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the structure of software
`that is the subject of the licensee notification system accord-
`ing to the second embodiment;
`FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the operating sequence of
`software that
`is the subject of the licensee notification
`system according to the second embodiment; and
`FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram showingthe struc-
`ture of the licensee notification system used in a prior art
`locked software sales system.
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`DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENTS
`
`The present invention is described in detail below with
`reference to the drawings.
`First embodiment
`
`FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a licensee noti-
`fication system according to a first embodiment of the
`present
`invention. This licensee notification system is a
`system where CD-ROMsstoring a large numberof software
`items of restricted function are sold cheaply, and software
`sales are effected by selling the information needed to cancel
`the function restrictions of the software in this CD-ROM.
`Payment of the fee could be effected by for example
`notification of the subscriber number of a cash card or
`notification of a bank account withdrawal number or the
`like.
`
`As shownin the drawings, the licensee notification sys-
`tem is constituted by user terminals 11 and management
`center 12 connected by means of a communication circuit.
`User terminals 11 and management center 12 may be
`described as computers and commence operation as an
`ensemble of the function blocksillustrated when prescribed
`programsare run.
`First of all, the operation of managementcenter 12 will be
`described.
`
`Managementcenter 12 is provided with two databases,
`called user database (user DB) 13 and software database
`(software DB) 14. As shownin FIG. 2, user DB 13 stores the
`correspondence relationship between the user ID, which is
`identification information given to users of this system by
`the manager, and the user name, whichis the identification
`information of the user as employed in ordinary society. As
`shown in FIG. 3, software DB 14 stores the correspondence
`relationship between the contents ID, which is the identifi-
`cation information of each software item supplied and stored
`in the CD ROM,andthe software decoding key, whichis the
`decoding information needed to decode this software item.
`A link-up unit 15 in management center 12 generates
`license information by combining the two data items: user
`name and software decoding key. An encoding unit 16
`generates a user’s individual key by encoding with key “Ks”
`the user characteristic information (details to be explained
`later) from user terminal 11. An encoding unit 17 generates
`coded license information by encoding the license informa-
`tion from link-up unit 15 using the user’s individual key
`generated by encoding unit 16.
`In the present
`licensee
`notification system, a DES (data encryption standard) algo-
`rithm is employed for encoding and decoding.
`The various function blocks that are not in management
`center 12 are arranged to operate synchronously when there
`is a request from user terminal 11 for information for
`removal of the function restrictions. Specifically, when
`managementcenter 12 receives a request for information for
`removal of function restrictions relating to a software item
`from user terminal 11, it transmits to user terminal 11 coded
`license information containing the user’s name and the
`software decoding key needed to remove the functional
`restrictions on the software item.
`
`Next, the operation of user terminal 11 will be described.
`When user terminal 11 runs the programs for communica-
`tion and installation,
`it executes the operation described
`below.
`
`A request transmission unit 18 in user terminal 11 trans-
`mits to management center 12 information including the
`user ID, contents ID, and user’s characteristic information.
`
`SAMSUNG Ex. 1007 - 10/14
`
`SAMSUNG EX. 1007 - 10/14
`
`

`

`5,935,243
`
`7
`Request transmission unit 18 commences operation when
`the keyboard (not shown) of user terminal 11 is operated in
`accordance with a prescribed procedure that is predeter-
`mined as the procedure for request of information for
`removal of functional restrictions. This request procedure
`includes keyboard input of the user ID and contents ID;
`request transmission unit 18 transmits to management center
`12 the keyboard input information and the user’s character-
`istic information, whichis constituted by the ID of the CPU
`which is employed in user terminal 11.
`As already explained, when a request for information for
`removal of functional restrictions is received from user
`
`terminal 11, managementcenter 12 sends to user terminal 11
`encoded license information. As a result, after request trans-
`mission unit 18 has been operated, user terminal 11 receives
`encoded license information from managementcenter 12.
`As shownin the drawings, the encoded license informa-
`tion is input
`to decoding unit 20 in user terminal 11.
`Decoding unit 20 also inputs the user’s individual key,
`which is generated by encoding unit 19 using the user’s
`characteristic information and “Ks”. Using this user’s indi-
`vidual key, decoding unit 20 decodes the encoded license
`information from center
`terminal 12. The license
`information, which is the result of this decoding, is input to
`separating unit 21, which is a unit that performs reverse
`processing against link-up unit 15 in managementcenter 12.
`Separating unit 21 separates and extracts the software
`decoding key and user name from the license information,
`and respectively supplies the extracted software decoding
`key and user nameto installation unit 22 and license file
`compilation unit 23.
`Installation unit 22, using the software decoding key from
`separating unit 21, removes the functionalrestrictions on the
`specific software item (details to be described later) in
`accordance with the contents ID transmitted by request
`transmission unit 18. License file compilation unit 23 com-
`piles a license file 24 using the user name and contents ID
`from separating unit 21.
`FIG. 4 shows diagrammatically the contents of licensefile
`24. As shown in the drawing, license file 24 stores infor-
`mation consisting of contents ID and user name, and signa-
`ture information, which is information encoded using a
`signature key.
`Further detailed description of the operation of installa-
`tion unit 22 and the operation of the software installed by
`installation unit 22 is given below using FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.
`Of these Figures, FIG. 5 is a view showing diagrammatically
`the structure of software that is the subject of the present
`licensee notification system and FIG. 6 is a flow chart
`showing the operating sequence of the CPU in the user
`terminal when the software that is the subject of the present
`licensee notification system is actuated.
`As shownin FIG. 5, the software that is the subject of the
`present system includes a license display routine 25 and
`main program 26. In the main program there are defined the
`operating proceduresrelating to the proper functions of this
`software; in license display routine 25, there is defined the
`content to be executed prior to execution of main program
`26.
`
`Whenthis software is actuated, as shown in FIG. 6, the
`CPU,first of all, by checking the contents ID in the license
`file, decides whether or not data corresponding to the
`software that is being actuated is present in the licensefile
`(step S101). Then, if the corresponding data exists (step
`$101:Y), the CPU performs a check of the legitimacy of the
`corresponding data (step 102). In this step, the CPU encodes
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`the information consisting of contents ID and user name
`stored in the licensefile using the signature key thatis set as
`data in license display routine 25, and if the result of this
`encoding agrees with the signature information, decides that
`the data is legitimate.
`If it is legitimate (step $102:OK), the CPU displays the
`user name which is read from the license file (step $103),
`and commences operation in accordance with the main
`program (step S104).
`Also, if the corresponding datais not presentin the license
`file (step S101:N)orif the contentof the licensefile is found
`to be not legitimate (step $102:NG), ie. if the content of the
`license file is found to be different from the result of the
`compilation performed by license file compilation unit 23,
`the CPU terminates operation without displaying the user
`name or executing the main program.
`As described above, with the licensee notification system
`according to the first embodiment,
`in the user terminal,
`installation of the software is performed such that the user
`name is displayed on start-up, using the encoded license
`information supplied from the managementcenter. Also, the
`installed software is executed only when the legitimacy of
`the license file is verified. As a result, with this licensee
`notification system, even if the software andlicensefile are
`c