US Patent 8010800 Search engine and digital rights management

DRM-encrypted content is opened up to “trusted search”, without compromising copyright control, thus allowing end users to locate DRM-encrypted content alongside upon unencrypted content. The indexer (or crawler) (216) of a search engine (214) is provided with a DRM module (302) for communication with a DRM server (306) so that the indexer (216) can access even the encrypted content nominally as if it were a human end user of the content. The indexer (216) may be issued with a DRM-recognized “identity” so as to distinguish itself from other end users and DRM-enabled search engines. Thus, the search engine (214) can programmatically access the content, subject to being able to obtain permission from the DRM solution.