New York-based Infosafe Systems Inc has won a patent by the US Patent & Trademark Office for its technology to provide a secure method for the commercial distribution and usage of digital products on a temporary or rental basis. The firm said the patent covers its method for retrieving secure digital information or product from an encrypted database for commercial rental. According to the company, the method limits access to authorised renters only, provides for the electronic collection of several different packets of information from the same secure database and discourages the re-use or permanent storage of the digital rental intellectual property. The system is based around a data-metering box that attaches to a personal computer and standard phone line. The unit keeps track of the packets of information accessed – video, graphics or text – and then keeps a running total, transmitted to a central facility for billing purposes. Infosafe’s first customer for its Mark IIIa box is New York-based International Typeface Corp, a firm that offers 4,000 typefaces, pieces of art and photographs to publishers and other graphic media firms. Infosafe licenses its system to customers.
