Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC

Time Warner Cable Inc.

David A Christman

William Lynn Helms

Michael T Hayashi

Kevin J Leddy

Kenneth Gould

Christopher Pierce Williams

Paul Alexander

A 'trusted domain' is established within which content received from a communications network, e.g., a cable TV network, is protected from unauthorized copying thereof, in accordance with the invention. In an illustrative embodiment, the trusted domain includes a device associated with a user which receives content from the cable TV network. The content may be encrypted using a content key in accordance, e.g., with a 3DES encryption algorithm before it is stored in the device. In addition, a first encrypted content key version and a second encrypted content key version are generated by respectively encrypting the content key with a public key associated with the device and another public key associated with the user, in accordance with public key cryptography. The first and second encrypted content key versions are stored in association with the encrypted content in the device storage. The encrypted content can be migrated from a first device to a second device, and can be decrypted in the second device in the second device is associated with the same user, and also provided with the second encrypted content key version.

Technique for securely communicating and storing programming material in a trusted domain

A 'trusted domain' is established within which content received from a communications network, e.g., a cable TV network, is protected from unauthorized copying thereof, in accordance with the invention. In an illustrative embodiment, the trusted domain includes a device associated with a user which receives content from the cable TV network. The content may be encrypted using a content key in accordance, e.g., with a 3DES encryption algorithm before it is stored in the device. In addition, a first encrypted content key version and a second encrypted content key version are generated by respectively encrypting the content key with a public key associated with the device and another public key associated with the user, in accordance with public key cryptography. The first and second encrypted content key versions are stored in association with the encrypted content in the device storage. The encrypted content can be migrated from a first device to a second device, and can be decrypted in the second device if the second device is associated with the same user, and also provided with the second encrypted content key version.

A system and method for controlling a digital video recorder on a cable network. Signaling associated with the answering or initiation of a digital telephone call by a digital telephone subscriber is used to issue commands to a digital video recorder (DVR). A signal is generated by an MTA when the telephone is enters an 'off-hook' state and sent to the DVR to initiate recording of a program being viewed by the called party. When the phone goes 'on-hook', the called party resumes watching the program from exactly where it was interrupted. The MTA may be connected directly to the VTD/DVR and the telephone state is determined by the DVR from information provided by the MTA. Alternatively, a soft switch monitors signaling from the MTA indicative of the state of the called telephone. A telephone state message comprising the telephone state information is then sent over an out-of-band channel/path to a DVR client within the VTD. The DVR client uses the telephone state information to control a DVR.

System and method for controlling a digital video recorder in response to a telephone state transition

System and method for controlling a digital video recorder on a cable network

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Rowayton, CT, United States of America

David A Christman