Method of distributing piracy protected computer software
Contents
1. receiving user authorisation information 5 10 15 20 35 40 45 50 55 60 12 using a processor within a peripheral device comparing the received user authorisation information with user authorisation information stored in memory of the peripheral device to produce a comparison result and if the comparison result is indicative of the authorised user of the software application providing data from the peripheral device to the computer the data indica tive of the authorised use of the software application on the computer executing a second portion of the software application only upon receipt of the data indicative of the autho rised use of the software application wherein the step of comparing the received user authori sation information with the user authorisation informa tion stored in memory of the peripheral device to produce a comparison result comprises the step of comparing the provided user authorisation information with a plurality of instances of user authorisation information stored in memory 3 A method for protecting a software application from piracy as defined in claim 2 wherein the step of providing data from the peripheral device comprises the step of selecting data indicative of the authorised use of the software application from a plurality of instances of data the selection based on the user authorisation information provided 4 A method for protecting a software applicat2. execution of the software application to one processor while allowing a user to resell software or change the processor on which the software is executed The difficulties involved in removing instructions requiring a presence of the smart card or the inherent difficulties of copying the smart card sub stantially prevent piracy of the software application Writing a serial number of a processor into a software application upon installation is disclosed in U S Pat No 5 790 663 Unfortunately this still allows copying and distribution of a software application prior to installation because the piracy protection the serial number is yet to be stored within the application Referring to FIGS 3a and 3b a preferred embodiment of a method for protecting a software application from piracy according to the invention is shown The software applica tion 20 is installed on a computer 10 A smart card reader 50 is connected through a first port 52 via a cable 70 to the computer 10 Asmart card 40 comprising a processor 42 and memory 44 is connected through a second port 54 to the smart card reader 50 Furthermore a contact imager 60 is disposed within the housing of the smart card reader 50 For example a smart card reader with a built in contact imager for use with a personal computer is available from American Biometric Corporation under the product name the Bio mouse Plus During execution the software application 20 requires that data i
3. software application providing data indicative of the authorised use of the software application and calculate a new second instance of data to replace the second instance of data
4. ware application 720 are stored on the server 702 A user is permitted to use a predetermined version of the software During start up of the software application data indicative 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 of an authorised use of a particular version are provided from the workstation 704 to the server 702 According to the provided data the indicated version is selected and provided to the workstation 704 for execution Alternatively the indicated version of the application is executed on the server 702 At intervals during execution of the software application provision of data indicating an authorised use of the version is required and execution of the software appli cation is interrupted when not provided Therefore accord ing to this embodiment limited use of a software application according to employee work profile is permitted In another embodiment of a method according to the invention shown in FIG 8 additional data comprising time varying data are stored in the form of an indication of a maximum number of executions of a software application and a number indicating a current count of performed executions At start up the two numbers are compared and if the number of performed executions is equal to the maximum number of executions further execution of the software application is disabled This method allows a software provider to rent a software application A user renting a software app
5. 1982 discloses an alternative kind of fingerprint sensor that uses a capacitive sensing approach The described sensor has a two dimensional row and column array of capacitors each comprising a pair of spaced electrodes carried in a sensing member and covered by an insulating film The sensors rely upon deformation to the sensing member caused by a finger being placed thereon so as to vary locally the spacing between capacitor electrodes according to the ridge trough pattern of the fingerprint and hence the capacitance of the capacitors In one arrangement the capacitors of each column are connected in series with the columns of capacitors connected in parallel and a voltage is applied across the columns In another arrangement a voltage is applied to each individual capacitor in the array Sensing in the respective two arrangements is accomplished by detecting the change of voltage distribution in the series connected capacitors or by measuring the voltage values of the individual capacitances resulting from local deforma tion To achieve this an individual connection is required from the detection circuit to each capacitor Before the advent of computers and imaging devices research was conducted into fingerprint characterisation and identification Today much of the research focus in biomet US 6 721 891 B1 3 rics has been directed toward improving the input transducer and the quality of the biometric input data Fingerprint
6. 721 891 B1 1 METHOD OF DISTRIBUTING PIRACY PROTECTED COMPUTER SOFTWARE FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to a method for disabling execution of a software application stored within a computer absent data indicative of an authorised use of the software application and more particularly relates to a method for disabling execution of a software application using a smart card BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Software piracy is causing huge losses in profits for companies developing and selling computer software The sale and distribution of software designed for general use is based on the assumption that a software provider only wishes to sell a right to use the software to one person or to a select group of people The seller specifically does not wish the purchaser to distribute the software to other users or to resell the software Various methods are employed to prevent the purchaser from distributing the software The most common method of software distribution is via a storage medium The user is often unrestricted from either copying the software from this storage medium to another one or installing the software from a same storage medium on different computers This results in undesirable software piracy In the past piracy protection schemes were implemented to prevent a purchaser from making a back up copy of a software application When a storage medium such as a floppy disk that is copy protected become
7. characterisation is well known and can involve many aspects of fingerprint analysis The analysis of fingerprints is dis cussed in the following references which are hereby incor porated by reference Xiao Qinghan and Bian Zhaogqi An approach to Fingerprint Identification By Using the Attributes of Feature Lines of Fingerprint IEEE Pattern Recognition pp 663 1986 C B Shelman Fingerprint Classification Theory and Application Proc 76 Carnahan Conference on Elec tronic Crime Countermeasures 1976 Feri Pernus Stanko Kovacic and Ludvik Gyergyek Minutaie Based Fingerprint Registration IEEE Pattern Recognition pp 1380 1980 J A Ratkovic F W Blackwell and H H Bailey Concepts for a Next Generation Automated Fingerprint System Proc 78 Carnahan Conference on Electronic Crime Countermeasures 1978 K Millard An approach to the Automatic Retrieval of Latent Fingerprints Proc 75 Carnahan Conference on Electronic Crime Countermeasures 1975 Moayer and K S Fu A Syntactic Approach to Fingerprint Pattern Recognition Memo Np 73 18 Purdue University School of Electrical Engineering 1973 Wegstein An Automated Fingerprint Identification System NBS special publication U S Department of Commerce National Bureau of Standards ISSN 0083 1883 no 500 89 1982 Moenssens Andre A Fingerprint Techniques Chilton Book Co 1971 and Wegstein and J F Rafferty The LX39 Latent Fi
8. of sers OK Package Key Transmit Key Continue Execution of SWA Figure 6 U S Patent Apr 13 2004 Sheet 8 of 10 US 6 721 891 B1 COMPUTER SMARTCARD Execute SWA Require Key Receive Request Receive Request Require User Authorisation Prompt User for Authorisation Receive User Authorisation from Input Device Transmit User Authorisation Receive User Authorisation Compare Received UA with Stored UA OK No No Is Key One of Plurality of Keys to Unlock SWA Package Key Transmit Key Select Version of SWA Related to the Provided Key Continue Execution with Selected Version of SWA Figure 7a U S Patent Apr 13 2004 Sheet 9 of 10 US 6 721 891 B1 2 aa D LL co oO Ne S O o ni c O L I O n gt Oo 720 702 U S Patent Apr 13 2004 Sheet 10 of 10 US 6 721 891 B1 COMPUTER SMARTCARD Execute SWA Require Key Receive Request Do Additional Data Permit Execution Receive Request Prompt User for Authorisation Receive User Authorisation from Input Device Transmit User Authorisation Require User Authorisation Receive User Authorisation Compare Received UA with Stored UA OK is Key the Key to Unlock SWA Yes Package Key Transmit Key Yes Continue Execution of SWA Figure 8 US 6
9. then customises the software application by packaging the biometric information in a smart card and sends the software application together with the smart card to the user The software application is executed only in presence of the smart card and the biometric information provided by the user In another method a software provider sells the software application together with a smart card the smart card comprising write once ROM Upon installation the user is prompted to store the biometric information in the smart card before completing same Of course when the smart card comprises rewritable ROM the software appli cation is transferable It is evident to those of skill in the art that because the smart card is needed to execute the software application a number of executable copies of a software application is effectively limited to a number of interwork ing smart cards Alternatively a software provider distributes a software application together with a smart card for a trial period and provides a user after registration with a registration file which is stored in the smart card Numerous other embodiments may be envisaged without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention What is claimed is 1 A method for protecting a software application from piracy comprising the steps of providing data indicative of an authorised use of the software application executing a first portion of the software application receivin
10. US006721891B1 United States Patent 12 10 Patent No US 6 721 891 B1 Borza 45 Date of Patent Apr 13 2004 54 METHOD OF DISTRIBUTING PIRACY 5 848 231 A 12 1998 Teitelbaum et al 713 200 PROTECTED COMPUTER SOFTWARE 5 893 910 A 4 1999 Martineau et al 707 10 5 933 498 A 8 1999 Schneck et al 705 54 75 Inventor Stephen J Borza Ottawa CA 6 044 471 A 3 2000 Colvin veecsseecesseeeeseees 713 202 6 087 955 A 7 2000 Gray 340 825 34 73 Assignee Activeard Ireland Limited Dublin 6 314 409 B2 11 2001 Schneck et al PEPEE T OEA 705 54 E OTHER PUBLICATIONS Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this Sanderson Distributed file systems stepping stone to dis patent is extended or adjusted under 35 tributed computing May 1991 LAN Technology vol 7 5 U S C 154 b by 0 days p 41 50 cited by examiner 21 Appl No 09 277 827 Primary Examiner Gail Hayes 22 Filed Mar 29 1999 Assistant Examiner Christopher Revak GD ne ass tt e aE poet 9 32 C Attorney Agent or Firm Freedman amp Associates PA DESE E EAA TATEN 713 202 57 ABSTRACT G8 Field of T eee Amethod and a system for disabling execution of a software 5 65 58 581 5 82 51 455 558 705 57 59 application stored within a computer absent data indicative e k ai of an authorized use of the software application are dis 56 References Cited closed At start up or during ex
11. are application 20 When the correct smart card 40 is not present the user is prompted to insert the correct smart card 40 and software execution is paused until the correct smart card 40 is detected FIGS 2a 2b and 2c show a simplified diagram of another method according to the invention During installation of a software application 20 a serial number of a processor 15 for executing the software application 20 is written on a write once ROM of a smart card 40 which is provided together US 6 721 891 B1 7 with the software During an initialisation of the software application 20 or at intervals during execution of the soft ware application 20 the authorised use of the software application 20 is validated The validation verifies a pres ence of the smart card 40 and the serial number of the processor 15 Providing secure access to the serial number of a processor is known to those of skill in the art for example as disclosed in U S Pat No 5 790 663 issued Aug 4 1998 to Lee et al Writing a serial number of a processor on a write once ROM of a smart card limits the execution of a software application to one processor In case a user wants to resell the software application or wants to change the processor for executing the software application he would contact a software provider for a new smart card Therefore this method provides a software provider with the ability to control distribution of a software application by limiting the
12. cation 20 with asymmetric encryption using the processor 42 of the smart card 40 prior to the transfer to the computer 10 Using the processor 42 of the smart card 40 for encryption provides a secure communication link for transferring the data and allows alterations to the encryption key for each data transfer thus preventing tampering with the data In another embodiment according to the invention the smart card reader 30 and the contact imager 60 are included in a computer pointing device such as a mouse Optionally the smart card reader 50 and the contact imager 60 are disposed within a keyboard connected to the computer 10 Further optionally the smart card reader 50 is included in a track pad wherein the pointing device of the track pad is used as a capacitive contact imager to provide fingerprint information FIG 4a shows another system for implementing the method according to the invention A smart card reader 30 is connected to computer 10 Furthermore a contact imager 80 is connected to the computer 10 Using this system for implementing a method according to the invention biomet ric information received at the contact imager 80 is trans ferred from the contact imager 80 via the computer 10 to smart card 40 Transferring the biometric information via the computer 10 enhances the risk of interference by a third party while the data is within the computer 10 The system shown in FIG 4b comprises a smart card 45 comprising a ca
13. cess providing personal information billing an individual etc Referring to FIGS 1a and 1b a simplified diagram of a method to protect a software application from piracy according to the invention is shown A software provider during packaging customises a software applica tion 20 to a particular smart card 40 The smart card 40 and the software application 20 are then packaged together for sale The smart card 40 and the software application 20 within the package function to provide a purchaser with operational software Absent the smart card 40 the software application 20 will not function Such a software package is not easily pirated Either the software instructions requiring the presence of the smart card are removed or the smart card is duplicated Neither of these is easily accomplished Therefore simple drag and drop piracy is prevented greatly reducing the amount of piracy Further pirated copies are more easily detected for enforcement of copyright in software The software application 20 is installed on a computer 10 to which a smart card reader 30 is connected In order to execute the software application 20 the smart card 40 is inserted into the smart card reader 30 in order to validate an authorised use of the software The validation occurs during start up of the software application 20 or every so often during start up or normal use The validation merely verifies a presence of the smart card 40 associated with the softw
14. d identifies the user by matching the information against information belonging to registered users of the system One such biometric identification system is a fin gerprint recognition system The use of a biometric imaging device with a personal computer is becoming widespread In a fingerprint input transducer or sensor the finger under investigation is usually pressed against a flat surface such as a side of a glass plate the ridge and valley pattern of the finger tip is sensed by a sensing means such as an interrogating light beam Various optical devices are known which employ prisms upon which a finger whose print is to be identified is placed The prism has a first surface a platen upon which a finger is placed a second surface disposed at an acute angle to the first surface through which the fingerprint is viewed and a third illumination surface through which light is directed into the prism In some cases the illumination surface is at an acute angle to the first surface as seen for example in U S Pat Nos 5 187 482 and 5 187 748 In other cases the illumina tion surface is parallel to the first surface as seen for example in U S Pat Nos 5 109 427 and 5 233 404 Fin gerprint identification devices of this nature are generally used to control the building access or information access of individuals to buildings rooms and devices such as com puter terminals USS Pat No 4 353 056 in the name of Tsikos issued Oct 5
15. e application and a peripheral device including a housing a port for interfacing the peripheral device to the computer memory within the housing the memory for storing user authorisation information indicative of an authorised user of the software application and a processor within the housing for receiving authorisation information provided by a user for comparing received authorisation information with the user authorisation information stored in the memory to produce a compari son result and if the comparison result is indicative of an authorised user of the software application providing data from the device to the computer the data indicative of an authorised use of the software application on the computer wherein the software application execution is at least par tially prevented until the data indicative of the authorised use of the software application is received Preferably the peripheral device comprises a smart card reader and a smart card More preferably the peripheral device also comprises a biometric sensor in the form of a fingerprint imager BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the attached drawings in which FIG 1a is a simplified diagram of a system according to the invention for protecting a software application from piracy using a smart card FIG 1b is a simplified flow diagram of a method accord ing to the inventi
16. ecution of a software appli cation a user is prompted for user authorization information U S PATENT DOCUMENTS Using a processor within a smart card the received user 4 658 093 A 4 1987 Hellman sssesssssssseseees 380 25 Pthorization information is compared with user authoriza 4 683 553 A 7 1987 Mollier eecccccccccccccce 380 4 tion information stored in memory of the smart card to 4 791 565 A 12 1988 Dunham et al 364 200 produce a comparison result If the comparison result is 5 260 999 A 11 1993 Wyman oe eeeeeereee 380 4 indicative of an authorized user of the software application 5 495 411 A 2 1996 Ananda 364 401 then data indicative of the authorized use of the software 5 509 070 A 4 1996 Schull 380 4 application is provided from the smart card to the computer 5 615 061 A 3 1997 Singh isiin seii 360 60 Upon receipt of the data indicative of the authorized use of 5 625 690 A 4 1997 Michel etal oita eistes 380 4 the software application execution of the software applica 32092 2717 A X 12 13975 Bien etal gs 439 225 tion is continued When the data is not data indicative of the S A re Pies Wyman n 7 a E authorized use of the software application further execution 5 757 907 A 5 1998 Cooper et al nn 380 4 Of the software application is disabled For example bio 5 790 663 A 8 1998 Lee et al esssssseessnesseee 380 4 metric information in the form of a fingerprint may be used 5 790 668 A 8 1998 Tomko 380 25 for us
17. er authorization 5 796 824 A 8 1998 Hasebe et al 380 4 5 841 868 A 11 1998 Helbig Sr oe 380 25 5 Claims 10 Drawing Sheets COMPUTER SMARTCARD Require Key Receive Request Receive Request Require User Authorisation Prompt User for Authorisation Receive User Authorisation from Input Device Transmit User Authorisation Receive User Authorisation Receive Key Is Key One of Plurality of Keys to Unlock SWA Yes Select Version of SWA Related to the Provided Key Continue Execution with Selected Version of SWA Package Key Transmit Key Compare Received UA with Stored UA OK U S Patent Apr 13 2004 Sheet 1 of 10 US 6 721 891 B1 COMPUTER SMARTCARD Execute Software Application Receive Request for Key Provide Key to Computer Prompt User for Correct Smartcard Figure 1b Yes Continue Execution U S Patent Apr 13 2004 Sheet 2 of 10 US 6 721 891 B1 Figure 2a COMPUTER SMARTCARD Start Installation of Software Provide Serial Number of Processor Serial Number Stored Continue Installation Store Serial Number of Processor in Write Once ROM Figure 2b U S Patent Apr 13 2004 Sheet 3 of 10 US 6 721 891 B1 COMPUTER SMARTCARD Provide Serial Number Serial Number OK Continue Executi
18. g user authorisation information using a processor within a peripheral device comparing the received user authorisation information with user authorisation information stored in memory of the peripheral device to produce a comparison result and if the comparison result is indicative of the authorised user of the software application providing data from the peripheral device to the computer the data indica tive of the authorised use of the software application on the computer executing a second portion of the software application only upon receipt of the data indicative of the autho rised use of the software application transmitting data related to the software application to the peripheral device and comparing the received data with data stored in memory of the peripheral device using the processor of the peripheral device and wherein the step of providing data from the peripheral device comprises the step of selecting the data indicative of the authorised use of the software application on the computer according to the data related to the software application the data selected from a plurality of instances of data each instance of data indicative of the authorised use of a different software application 2 A method for protecting a software application from piracy comprising the steps of providing data indicative of an authorised use of the software application executing a first portion of the software application
19. ing to the invention is described with reference to fingerprint registration it is applicable to other biometric information and methods of user authentication using that biometric information An individual s biometric information in the form of a fingerprint retinal scan palm print voice print etc from a biometric information source in the form of a fingertip eye hand voice etc is captured using a biometric information input device in the form of a contact imager eye scanner or a microphone Contact imager as described above are known in the art of electronic security Using a contact imager a fingerprint is digitised and using a processor the digitised fingerprint is characterised Characterisation of fingerprints is known in the art of fingerprint analysis and in general involves extracting features in a substantially global reference frame for comparison against template features The characterised digitised biometric information is reg istered with stored templates to locate a template that within a predetermined level of security in the form of a predeter mined false acceptance rate matches the characterised infor mation When a match is detected the individual is identi fied and a corresponding action is performed Alternatively when identification is not necessary the individual is authen ticated Some known actions performed based on biometric authentication include system access unlocking a door logging ac
20. ion from piracy as defined in claim 3 comprising the step of selecting a version of the software application based on the data indicative of the authorised use of the software application received from the peripheral device 5 A method for protecting a software application from piracy comprising the steps of providing data indicative of an authorised use of the software application executing a first portion of the software application receiving user authorisation information using a processor within a peripheral device comparing the received user authorisation information with user authorisation information stored in memory of the peripheral device to produce a comparison result and if the comparison result is indicative of the authorised user of the software application providing data from the peripheral device to the computer the data indica tive of the authorised use of the software application on the computer executing a second portion of the software application only upon receipt of the data indicative of the autho rised use of the software application storing a first instance of data in memory of the peripheral device storing a second instance of data in memory of the peripheral device and using the processor of the peripheral device comparing the second instance of data with the first instance of data to produce a comparison result and if the com parison result is indicative of an authorised use of the
21. isation Storage of data related to user autho 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 risation enables a software provider to require user regis tration prior to installation of the software Therefore this method provides a software provider with a substantially secure method to control distribution of a software applica tion and to protect it from piracy Since a smart card is required to execute the software application only those who purchase the smart card from the software provider have access to executable copies of the software At the same time it provides benefits to a user by securing a software appli cation from unauthorised use and additionally securing access to files for example when the software application is needed to open a file Optionally a processor is disposed within the smart card reader 50 Fingerprint information is received from the contact imager 60 and compared with fingerprint informa tion transmitted from the smart card 40 using the processor disposed within the smart card reader 50 to produce a comparison result If the comparison result is indicative of an authorised user of the software application 20 data indicating an authorised use of the software application are transmitted from the smart card 40 via the smart card reader 50 to the computer 10 Alternatively security is further enhanced by encrypting the data indicating an authorised use of the software appli
22. lication is provided with the software and a smart card The smart card com prises data indicating the maximum number of executions If the maximum number is reached and the user wants to continue renting the software application the software pro vider sends a new smart card or transfers a file to be stored on the smart card Alternatively the software is rented for a time period In this case a time signal provided by a processor in execution of the software application is com pared with time data stored in memory Of course it is preferred that the time data is provided by a timing circuit within the smart card in order to prevent clock tampering Alternatively some of the additional data and some commands for execution on a processor are programmable by an authorised user For example a system administrator programs smart cards for use by employees of a company with a time limitation in order to prevent the employees from using the software application outside their work hours It is evident to those of skill in the art that prompting a user is realised in different ways depending on design criteria One embodiment is to prompt the user for biometric information only during the installation of the software and to require a presence of a smart card during execution This embodiment protects a software application from piracy and increases user convenience by prompting only once for biometric information but it allows execution of the softwa
23. n authorised use of the soft ware application executing a first portion of the software application using a first processor 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 receiving user authorisation information from an input device disposed within a first housing transmitting the user authorisation information to a second processor within a second housing the second housing comprising memory wherein the user authorisation infor mation is unavailable to the first processor using the second processor comparing the received user authorisa tion information with user authorisation information stored in memory to produce a comparison result and if the comparison result is indicative of the authorised user of the software application providing data from the second processor to the first processor the data indicative of the authorised use of the software application on the first processor and executing a second portion of the software application only upon receipt of the data indicative of the authorised use of the software application In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a system for protecting a software application from piracy comprising a software application for execution on a computer the software application including executable commands for preventing execution of a portion of the software appli cation absent data indicative of an authorised use of the softwar
24. ndicative of an authorised use be provided from the smart card 40 Upon receipt of a request for the data indicative of an authorised use a user is prompted for fingerprint information The user provides the fingerprint information using the contact imager 60 The fingerprint information is provided to the smart card 40 Preferably the information is not accessible to the computer 10 The fingerprint information is compared with fingerprint infor mation stored in the memory 44 of the smart card 40 using the processor 42 If the comparison result is indicative of an authorised user of the software application data indicative of the authorised use in the form of a key to unlock the software application is provided to the computer 10 Using a processor 15 of the computer the received data is vali dated Validating the data ensures that only a smart card 40 for use with the software application is used Optionally validation includes decryption of the data using a known decryption key The method according to the invention is highly advantageous compared to prior art methods from the point of view of a software provider as well as a user It provides additional security by storing data related to user authorisation such as a password or preferably biometric information within a peripheral device for use in enabling and disabling software execution Use of biometric infor mation is preferred because it is a substantially secure form of user author
25. ngerprint Matcher NBS special publication U S Department of Commerce National Bureau of Stan dards no 500 36 1978 OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to disable execution of a software application stored within a computer absent data indicative of an authorised use of the software application using a smart card STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention there is provided a method for protecting a software application from piracy comprising the steps of providing data indicative of an authorised use of the soft ware application executing a first portion of the software application receiving user authorisation information using a processor within a peripheral device comparing the received user authorisation information with user autho risation information stored in memory of the peripheral device to produce a comparison result and if the com parison result is indicative of the authorised user of the software application providing data from the peripheral device to the computer the data indicative of the autho rised use of the software application on the computer and executing a second portion of the software application only upon receipt of the data indicative of the authorised use of the software application In accordance with the invention there is also provided a method for protecting a software application from piracy comprising the steps of providing data indicative of a
26. ods of preventing undesired proliferation of pirated software can not be applied users require some form of backup and this backup is easily distributed to other users Also interception of software by unauthorised third parties is a significant risk to software providers Computer security is fast becoming an important issue With the proliferation of computers and computer networks 10 15 20 25 30 35 50 55 60 65 2 into all aspects of business and daily life financial medical education government and communications the concern over secure file access is growing Using passwords is a common method of providing security Password pro tection is employed for computer network security auto matic teller machines telephone banking calling cards and telephone answering services These systems generally require knowledge of an entry code that has been selected by a user or has been configured in advance Examples of commonly used security codes for preventing software piracy include information from a user s manual and a serial number Unfortunately for use in copy protection security codes are unworkable since the software is easily transferred with the security code A security access system that provides substantially secure access and does not require a password or access code is a biometric identification system A biometric identifica tion system accepts unique biometric information from a user an
27. on Receive Serial Number Compare Serial Number with Stored Serial Number if OK Figure 2c 15 Figure 3a U S Patent Apr 13 2004 Sheet 4 of 10 US 6 721 891 B1 COMPUTER BIOMOUSE PLUS SMARTCARD Execute SWA Require Key Transmit Request Receive Request Display Prompt _ Transmit Prompt gt Prompt User for UA from User Compare UA Received with UA Stored OK No Yes Package Key Provide Key Transmit Key Figure 3b Yes Continue Execution U S Patent Apr 13 2004 Sheet 5 of 10 US 6 721 891 B1 Figure 4b U S Patent Apr 13 2004 Sheet 6 of 10 US 6 721 891 B1 COMPUTER SMARTCARD Execute SWA Seyi Provide SWA Data Receive Request and SWA Data Require User Authorisation Prompt User for Authorisation Receive User Authorisation from Input Device Transmit User Authorisation Receive User Authorisation Compare Received UA with Stored UA Yes Is Key the Key to Unlock SWA Continue Execution of SWA Package Key Transmit Key Figure 5 U S Patent Apr 13 2004 Sheet 7 of 10 US 6 721 891 B1 COMPUTER SMARTCARD Execute SWA Require Key Receive Request Receive Request Require User Authorisation Prompt User for Authorisation Receive User Authorisation from Input Device Transmit User Authorisation Receive User Authorisation Compare Received UA with Stored UA of Plurality
28. on for protecting a software application from piracy using the system described in FIG 1a FIG 2a is a simplified diagram of a system according to the invention for protecting a software application from piracy storing a serial number of a processor memory of a smart card FIG 25 is a simplified flow diagram of an installation of a software application using the system described in FIG 2a FIG 2c is a simplified flow diagram of an execution of a software application using the system described in FIG 2a US 6 721 891 B1 5 FIG 3a is a simplified diagram of a preferred embodiment of a system according to the invention for protecting a software application from piracy comprising a smart card reader with a contact imager disposed therein FIG 3b is a simplified flow diagram of a method accord ing to the invention for protecting a software application from piracy using the system described in FIG 3a FIG 4a is a simplified diagram of a system according to the invention for protecting a software application from piracy comprising a smart card reader and a contact imager connected to a computer FIG 4b is a simplified diagram of a system according to the invention for protecting a software application from piracy comprising a smart card with a contact imager FIG 5 is a simplified flow diagram of a method according to the invention for protecting a software application from piracy using one smart card for different software a
29. or distribution of piracy protected software The method relies on a periph eral device such as a smart card to unlock software in order to permit execution thereof The smart card is a credit card sized electronic device comprising memory a processor and an interface The processor provides for predetermined and or flexible execution of software within the smart card The memory comprises RAM for use during software execution and ROM for long term storage of information Preferably some electrically erasable ROM is provided to allow for reprogramming of the smart card A smart card is a suitable storage medium for storing data related to an authorised use of a software application The data are stored in ROM within the smart card and the ROM are only accessible to the software application Such a smart card is immutable and therefore prevents software piracy As such only an individual with the smart card for a particular software package may execute the software In an embodiment each software application is customised to operate with only one unique smart card thereby restricting 10 15 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 use of the application to systems in communication with the one unique smart card In a further embodiment the smart card is provided with security such as a password or biometric information veri fication to prevent theft of the software or unauthorised use thereof Though the method accord
30. pacitive contact imager 46 The smart card 45 is connected to a computer 10 via a smart card reader 30 The biometric information is captured and compared absent provision of the biometric data to the computer A major drawback of this system is the high cost manufacturing a capacitive contact imager thus making the smart card expensive FIG 5 shows another embodiment of a method according to the invention wherein one smart card is used for securing a plurality of software applications During execution of a software application data related to the software application and biometric information relating to a user of the software are provided to a smart card along with a request for data indicative of an authorised use of the software application After receipt of the request the biometric information and US 6 721 891 B1 9 the data the biometric information is compared with bio metric information stored within the smart card If the comparison is indicative of an authorised user of the soft ware application data indicating an authorised use of the software application is selected based on the data provided to the smart card from a plurality of data indicating an authorised use for different software applications This method enables a user to execute several software applica tions of a same software provider using only one smart card It is highly advantageous for simultaneous execution of several software applications Simultaneous e
31. pplica tions FIG 6 is a simplified flow diagram of a method according to the invention for protecting a software application from piracy using one smart card for different users FIG 7a is a simplified flow diagram of a method accord ing to the invention for protecting a software application from piracy using different versions of the software appli cation for different users FIG 7b is a simplified diagram of a computer network for implementing the method described in FIG 7a and FIG 8 is a simplified flow diagram of a method according to the invention for protecting a software application from piracy storing additional data on the smart card DETAILED DESCRIPTION With the advent of personal computers software piracy copying software in which copyright exists proliferated With the implementation of graphical user interfaces copy ing software has become a matter of dragging files from an original diskette to a blank diskette In fact software piracy is so prolific that it is estimated that more than one half of software in use today is pirated Obviously it is in the best interests of software providers to reduce software piracy In the specification and claims that follow all items peripheral to computer functionality such as disk drives including hard disk drives smart card readers scanners keyboards printers imaging devices etc are referred to as peripheral devices The invention provides a unique method f
32. re application to any user in possession of the smart card Other methods include prompting a user for biometric information at the start up of the software application and or during the execution of the software application Prompting during the execution of the software application is performed according to one of the following methods one prompt at the begin ning of software execution several prompts at intervals during the use of the software application and after breaks in use of the software application Prompting the user several times during execution of a software application creates user inconvenience but may be desirable for example in computer networks to prevent unauthorised use of a software application on a workstation within the net work When user authorisation information in the form of biometric information is to be provided frequently trans parent biometric data collection i e the user is identified by collecting biometric information such as voice recognition facial recognition keystroke intervals etc avoids the incon venience of a plurality of pauses in software application execution and prompts during the pauses which increase user convenience US 6 721 891 B1 11 As is evident to those of skill in the art there are numerous methods to distribute a piracy protected software application according to the invention For example a user sends biometric information to a software provider The software provider
33. s damaged the software provider must replace the storage medium Some software providers have included a backup copy of the software application along with the original copy to lessen inconvenience when the original copy is damaged but sometimes even these backup copies fail Some software providers have avoided software copy protection schemes Instead these software providers rely on the honesty of the purchaser the fact that the documentation is difficult to duplicate and or a license agreement that the purchaser is expected to honour The license agreement makes it illicit to distribute the software Many software providers view convenience as essential for software users and therefore are wary of software piracy protection meth ods that inconvenience users in any way Another method of software protection involves writing to an installation disk to indicate that installation has occurred This limits a disk to one use This has many of the aforementioned drawbacks and also is unworkable with CD ROM technology Using CD ROM technology a software provider writes a program and other information to a CD ROM which can be written to only once using special hardware for that purpose Therefore adding information to a CD ROM during installation is not possible With the increasing use of digital communications such as the Internet computer software is now commonly distrib uted using these means In this case the aforementioned meth
34. ware application data indicating an authorised use is provided by a user of the software The data is in the form of biometric information of the user After receipt and comparison of the biometric information data indicating an authorised use is provided to a computer in execution of the software application The data once received is used to determine a version of the software application for execution Alternatively if the provided data do not indicate an authorised use of a current version of the software application further execution of the version is disabled Referring to FIG 7b a simplified diagram of a computer network 700 is shown A plurality of workstations 704 each comprising a personal computer are connected by cables 706 to a server 702 The workstations 704 are computer systems for use by users The server 702 is for providing central file storage network applications and more powerful processors for processor intensive tasks Some common network applications include email Intranet employee phone list etc Other network peripherals comprise printers scanners etc not shown Asystem administrator maintains the computer network and authorises individual users thereof Networks are well known in the art of computer systems and computer network architectures They are installed in many businesses world wide The method shown in FIG 7a is highly advantageous for use with a computer network Different versions of a soft
35. xecution of applications is supported by many common computer oper ating systems In FIG 6 a method according to the invention is shown wherein biometric information of a plurality of users is stored on one smart card The method is similar to those set out above except that upon receipt of the biometric information it is compared with the stored biometric infor mation of the plurality of users If the biometric information is indicative of an authorised user of the software application from the plurality of authorised users data indicating an authorised use are provided to the computer This method is highly advantageous when a plurality of users have access to a same computer for example employees working at a same computer at different times during a day or system admin istrators in a corporation who wish to have access to all applications on all computers A same smart card is left inserted in a smart card reader connected to the computer permitting execution of the software application to autho rised employees FIG 7a shows yet another embodiment of a method according to the invention Different versions of a software application require different data indicating an authorised use of the software application Each user is provided with a smart card having data indicative of an authorised use stored in memory The data relates to a specific version of the software application At start up and at intervals during execution of the soft
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