Abstract: A method, apparatus and article of manufacture for a computer-implemented method of delayed secure data retrieval. Actual data entities are not packed into an information entity. Rather, the data entities are only retrieved upon request. Instead, the information entity contains a delayed retrieval description. The data entities which are eventually to be retrieved are encrypted to enforce the terms and conditions imposed upon accessing the entities. The encryption or content key used to encrypt the data item is determined when the information entity is packed and is stored in the cryptolope in an encrypted form. Finally, the content key is only stored in the cryptolope. The publisher does not need to maintain a database to store content keys and information regarding which content key has been used to encrypt which data entity.