An apparatus and method for providing access rights information on computer accessible
content are provided. The apparatus and method provide a mechanism through which
access rights information is provided in association with information and content
such that use of the information and content is controlled based on the access
rights information. The apparatus and method include access rights information
tags being associated with information and content. A web browser is provided with
code, either in the web browser, or as a plugin application or browser extension,
to process the access rights information and thereby control the usage of the associated
information and content. In addition to being implemented as tags, the access rights
information may be inserted into a file such as in the file header. In such an
embodiment, the file header includes a pointer to the file data and thus, the inclusion
of the access rights information into the file header does not disrupt the processing
of the file. Moreover, with this embodiment, since the access rights information
is part of the file itself, it becomes more difficult for would-be hackers to remove
the access rights information.
