Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Christopher Robert Richard Madonna

Marco A Demello

Attila Narin

Leroy B Keely

John L Beezer

Peter David Waxman

Yoram Yaacovi

David M Silver

Chandramouli Venkatesh

Kathryn E Hughes

Jeffrey A Alger

An architecture for an integrated shopping service that enables electronic shopping from within a software application. The software application includes web browsing functionality, with the capability to navigate to a limited set of web sites. The client machine on which the software runs maintains a local list of the limited set of web sites that can be accessed from within the software application. A directory server maintains a list of retail web sites that can be added to the client's local list of accessible web sites. Each client machine that runs the software application connects to the directory server in order to add web sites to the locally-maintained list of sites that can be accessed from within the integrated shopping service.

Architecture for an electronic shopping service integratable with a software application

A digital license corresponds to encrypted digital content and includes a content key for decrypting same. The content key is encrypted and is decryptable by a decryption key available only to the first persona, the license thereby being tied to the first persona. The license is a first license and further includes referral information specifying a first location at which a second persona may obtain a second license for the content tied thereto. The second persona requests to render the content by way of the first license and the request is denied because the first license is not tied to the second persona. The referral information is obtained from the first license and employed to initiate contact with the specified first location and obtain the second license tied to the second persona.

Digital license with referral information

This invention describes a system and method for branding software deployed over computer networks. A user contacts the distributor's web site and initiates a download of the software. When the user visits the download website, the identity of the particular web site from which the download was initiated is transmitted to a branding server and captured on the user's computer, preferably in the form of a cookie. Subsequently, the user contacts the branding server and branding instructions are provided to the user's computer in accordance with the cookie. Branding may take the form of featuring the distributor's web site more prominently in an 'integrated shopping service' or in a directory, or it may perform other alterations to the software. Branding is controlled by the software manufacturer's branding server, and can be modified at any time after the software is released.

Server controlled branding of client software deployed over computer networks

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Christopher Robert Richard Madonna