DESCRIPTION
CONTENT REPRODUCTION APPARATUS, CONTENT REPRODUCTION
CONTROL METHODS, AND PROGRAMS
Technical Field
[0001]
The present invention relates to content
reproduction apparatus, content reproduction control
methods and programs. More particularly, the present
invention relates to a content reproduction apparatus, a
content reproduction control method and a program, which
conform to a plurality of copyright management methods.
Background Art
[0002]
A digital content such as a musical content is
different from the conventional content in that the
digital content can be copied a plurality of times
without deterioration of its quality. For this reason,
in recent years, the number of illegal acts such as acts
distributing and exchanging contents without permissions
given by the authors of the contents have been
increasing in accordance with popularization of the
Internet, increasing speeds of apparatus such as PCs
(Personal Computers) and rising capacities of storage
devices.
[0003]
In order to prevent these illegal acts, efforts
are made to popularize a copyright management system
utilizing a DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology
imposing limitations on distributions and utilizations
of contents. In the copyright management system, as
proposed in an SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative)
and the like, it is general that the copyright of a
content is managed in accordance with a method (referred
to hereafter as a check-in/check-out method). In the
method, utilization (reproduction and copying) of a
content is limited on the basis of usage rule
information described in a license (right information).
[0004]
As for the content reproduction apparatus, a PD
(Portable Device) having excellent portability has been
becoming popular. In a PD conforming to the conventional
SDMI, only copyright management is performed as follows.
The reproduction of the content is controlled based on a
license, which is attached to the content, checked out
from a PC or the like in accordance with the checkin/
check-out method cited above. For more information,
refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-312211.
Disclosure of Invention
[0005]
However, the conventional PD mentioned above
conforms only to one copyright management method so that
the PD has a problem that the PD is not capable of
controlling reproduction of a content created in
accordance with a plurality of copyright management
methods different from each other.
[0006]
Thus, in order to cope with differences between
foreign copyright management methods and domestic ones,
it has been necessary to develop and design a PD of a
different model. In particular, as is obvious from
intentions of users in both Japan and foreign countries,
the users desire a PD conforming to a user-friendly
copyright management method offering a high degree of
freedom to utilize contents rather than a PD conforming
to the check-in/check-out method based on the SDMI cited
above.
[0007]
It is thus an object of the present invention
addressing the problems described above to provide a
novel and improved content reproduction apparatus, a
content reproduction control method and a program that
are capable of executing control of reproduction of a
content conforming to a plurality of copyright
management methods different from each other.
[0008]
In order to solve the problems described above, in
accordance with a first aspect of the present invention,
the content reproduction apparatus includes:
a storage section for storing a source-ID list
showing sources of contents allowed to be reproduced and
method identification information each showing a method
to control reproduction of contents;
a reproduction control method determination
section for determining a method to control reproduction
of a content on the basis of the method identification
information;
a first reproducibility determination section for
producing a result of determination as to whether or not
a content to be reproduced is reproducible by
determining whether or not a source ID attached to the
content is a source ID included in the source-ID list in
case the reproduction control method determination
section determines that the method to control
reproduction of a content is a first reproduction
control method;
a second reproducibility determination section for
producing a result of determination as to whether or not
a content to be reproduced is reproducible on the basis
of usage rule information described in a license issued
to the content in case the reproduction control method
determination section determines that the method to
control reproduction of a content is a second
reproduction control method; and
a reproduction execution section for reproducing a
content indicated by the determination result produced
by the first reproducibility determination section or
the second reproducibility determination section as a
reproducible content.
[0009]
In addition, the source ID may include a group ID
generated as an ID unique to each of users registered in
a copyright management server. In addition, a group ID
for a user making a request for transmission of a
content from a content distribution server to a contentprocessing
apparatus may be added to the transmitted
content.
[0010]
As an alternative, the source ID may include a
recorder ID generated as an ID unique to each contentprocessing
apparatus having a ripping section for
ripping out a content from a recording medium. In
addition, the content-processing apparatus having a
ripping section may attach a recorder ID assigned to the
content-processing apparatus itself to a content ripped
off from a recording medium.
[0011]
The usage rule information may include a limit of
the number of times the content can be reproduced. In
addition, the usage rule information may also include a
deadline of a period in which the content can be
reproduced.
[0012]
The content reproduction apparatus may further
include a communication section for setting a connection
to a content-processing apparatus and communicating with
the content-processing apparatus. The content-processing
apparatus may be capable of updating the method
identification information.
[0013]
Furthermore, the content reproduction apparatus
may further include a display section for displaying the
title information of one content or a plurality of
contents held in the content reproduction .apparatus. The
display section may display title information of
contents determined by the first reproducibility
determination section or the second reproducibility
determination section to be reproducible contents and
title information of contents determined by the first
reproducibility determination section or the second
reproducibility determination section to be
irreproducible contents in such a way that the title
information of the reproducible contents can be
distinguished from the title information of the
irreproducible contents.
[0014]
The content reproduction apparatus may further
include a content select section for selecting at least
one title from those displayed on the display section as
title information of reproducible contents. The storage
section may also be used for storing content management
information associating the title information of every
content with location information at which the content
has been stored. The reproduction execution section may
read out a content indicated by title information
selected by the content select section on the basis of
the content management information and reproduce the
content.
[0015]
In addition, the display section may display a
title list showing title information of contents
determined to be reproducible contents with a color
and/or at a degree of luminance, which are different
from those for irreproducible-content title information.
[0016]
The display section may display a title list
showing title information of contents determined to be
reproducible contents and title information of contents
determined to be irreproducible contents in such a way
that the title information of the reproducible contents
and the title information of the irreproducible contents
can be distinguished from each other.
[0017]
Furthermore, the display section may display a
title list showing title information of contents
determined to be reproducible contents and title
information of contents determined to be irreproducible
contents by adding different icons to the displayed
title information of the reproducible contents and the
displayed title information of the irreproducible
contents, respectively.
[0018]
The content reproduction apparatus may further
include a communication section for setting a connection
to a content-processing apparatus and communicating with
the content-processing apparatus. In this' case, the
resource-ID list stored in the storage section may be
updated on the basis of a source-ID list owned by the
content-processing apparatus when the content
reproduction apparatus is registered through the
content-processing apparatus in the same equipment group
as the content-processing apparatus in a group
management server.
[0019]
The content reproduction apparatus may be a
portable content reproduction apparatus having a harddisk
drive.
[0020]
In addition, in order to solve the problems
described above, in accordance with another aspect of
the present invention, there is provided a content
reproduction control method for controlling reproduction
of a content in a content reproduction apparatus. The
content reproduction control method includes:
a reproduction control method determination step
of determining a method to control reproduction of a
content on the basis of method identification
information each showing a method to control
reproduction of contents;
a first reproducibility determination step of
producing a result of determination as to whether or not
a content to be reproduced is reproducible by
determining whether or not a source ID attached to the
content is a source ID included in the source-ID list in
case the method to control reproduction of a content is
determined to be a first reproduction control method at
the at the reproduction control method determination
step;
a second reproducibility determination step of
producing a result of determination as to whether or not
a content to be reproduced is reproducible on the basis
of usage rule information described in a license issued
to the content in case the method to control
reproduction of a content is determined to be a second
reproduction control method at the reproduction control
method determination step; and
a reproduction step of reproducing a content
indicated by the determination result produced at the
first reproducibility determination step or the second
reproducibility determination step as a reproducible
content.
[0021]
In addition, the source ID may include a group ID
generated as an ID unique to each of users registered in
a copyright management server.
[0022]
As an alternative, the source ID may include a
recorder ID generated as an ID unique to each contentprocessing
apparatus having a ripping section for
ripping out a content from a recording medium.
[0023]
The usage rule information may include a limit of
the number of times the content can be reproduced. In
addition, the usage rule information may also include a
deadline information of a period in which the content
can be reproduced.
[0024]
The content reproduction control method may
further include the step of updating the method
identification information.
[0025]
Furthermore, the content reproduction control
method may further include a display step of displaying
the title information of one content or a plurality of
contents held in the content reproduction apparatus. The
display step may be executed to display title
information of contents determined at the first
reproducibility determination step or the second
reproducibility determination step to be reproducible
contents or to be irreproducible contents in such a way
that the title information of the reproducible contents
can be distinguished from the title information of the
irreproducible contents.
[0026]
Moreover, the content representation step may
further include a select step of selecting at least one
title from those displayed on the display section as
title information of reproducible contents. The
reproduction step may be executed to read out a content
indicated by title information selected at the content
select step on the basis of the content management
information associating the title information of every
content with location information used for storing the
content and reproduce the content.
[0027]
In addition, the display step may be executed to
display a title list showing title information of
contents determined to be reproducible contents with a
color and/or at a degree of luminance, which are
different from those for irreproducible content titles
also shown on the title list as for title information of
contents determined to be irreproducible contents.
[0028]
The display step may be executed to display a
title list showing title information of contents
determined to be reproducible contents and title
information of contents determined to be irreproducible
contents in such a way that the title information of the
reproducible contents and the title information of the
irreproducible contents can be distinguished from each
other.
[0029]
Furthermore, the display step may be executed to
display a title list showing title information of
contents determined to be reproducible contents and
title information of contents determined to be
irreproducible contents by adding different icons to the
reproducible contents and the irreproducible contents,
respectively.
[0030]
In addition, the content reproduction control
method may further include the step of requesting a
copyright management server through a content-processing
apparatus connected to the content reproduction
apparatus to register the content reproduction apparatus
in the same apparatus group as the content-processing
apparatus and the step of updating the resource-ID list
owned by the content reproduction apparatus on the basis
of a source-ID list owned by the content-processing
apparatus.
[0031]
In order to solve the problems described above, in
accordance with a further aspect of the present
invention, a program for controlling reproduction of a
content in a content reproduction apparatus includes:
a reproduction control method determination
process of determining a method to control reproduction
of a content on the basis of method identification
information each showing a method to control
reproduction of contents;
a first reproducibility determination process of
producing a result of determination as to whether or not
a content to be reproduced is reproducible by
determining whether or not a source ID attached to the
content is a source ID included in the source-ID list in
case the method to control reproduction of a content is
determined to be a first reproduction control method in
the reproduction control method determination process;
a second reproducibility determination process of
producing a result of determination as to whether or not
a content to be reproduced is reproducible on the basis
of usage rule information described in a license issued
to the content in case the method to control
reproduction of a content is determined to be a second
reproduction control method in the reproduction control
method determination process; and
a reproduction process of reproducing a content
determined by the determination result produced in the
first reproducibility determination process or the
second reproducibility determination process as a
reproducible content.
[0032]
In accordance with the present invention described
above, a content reproduction apparatus is capable of
implementing control of reproduction of contents in
conformity with two different copyright management
methods. Thus, it is possible to not only raise the
degree of convenience provided to the user but also
increase the efficiency of the development work and
hence reduce the cost since the works to develop and
design a content reproduction apparatus of a different
model are no longer required.
[0033]
In addition, the content reproduction apparatus is
not only compatible with the conventional checkin/
check-out method, but also capable of keeping up with
a copyright management method scheme for controlling
reproduction of contents on the basis a source ID
assigned to every content and a source ID list. Thus,
the content reproduction apparatus is capable of keeping
up with a user-friendlier copyright management method
scheme offering a higher degree of freedom to utilize
contents to the user.
Brief Description of Drawings
[0034]
[Fig. 1]
Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline of a group-registering process in a contentsharing
system according to a first embodiment of the
present invention.
[Fig. 2]
Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing main
configuration elements composing the content-sharing
system provided by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 3]
Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of
the entire configuration of the content-sharing system
provided by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 4]
Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the hardware
configuration of the content-processing apparatus
provided by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 5]
Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing an outline of
functions of the content-processing apparatus provided
by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 6(a)]
Fig. 6(a) is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline of the structure of a content conforming to a
copyright management method provided by the same
embodiment and an outline of the structure of a content
conforming to a check-in/check-out method.
[Fig. 6(b)]
Fig. 6(b) is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline of the structure of a content conforming to the
copyright management method provided by the same
embodiment and an outline of the structure of a content
conforming to the check-in/check-out method.
[Fig. 7]
Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing an outline of
functions of a content reproduction section provided by
the same embodiment.
[Fig. 8]
Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing an outline of
the configuration of a list management section provided
by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 9]
Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing an outline of
the hardware configuration of the content reproduction
apparatus provided by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 10]
Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing an outline of
functions of the content reproduction apparatus provided
by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 11]
Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing an outline of
functions of servers provided by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 12]
Fig. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the data
structure of a group-registering database provided by
the same embodiment.
[Fig. 13]
Fig. 13 shows timing charts representing basic
flows of a content-sharing method provided by the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 14]
Fig. 14 shows timing charts representing a groupregistering
process to register a content-processing
apparatus (PC) provided by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 15]
Fig. 15 shows timing charts representing an
apparatus group-deregistering process to deregister a
content-processing apparatus (PC) provided by the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 16]
Fig. 16 shows timing charts representing a groupregistering
process to register a content reproduction
apparatus (PD) provided by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 17]
Fig. 17 shows timing charts representing a groupderegistering
process to deregister a content
reproduction apparatus (PD) provided by the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 18]
Fig. 18 shows a flowchart representing a content
reproduction control process carried out by a contentprocessing
apparatus (PC) provided by the same
embodiment, in accordance with a group management method.
[Fig. 19]
Fig. 19 shows a flowchart representing a process
to update a list of source IDs in a content-processing
apparatus provided by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 20 (a)]
Fig. 20(a) is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline configuration of a local-registering process
according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 20(b)]
Fig. 20(b) is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline configuration of a local-registering process
according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 20(c)]
Fig. 20(c) is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline configuration of a local-registering process
according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 21(a)]
Fig. 21(a) is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline configuration of a source-ID list in either of
the local-registering process and a service-registering
process, which are carried out in accordance with the
same embodiment.
[Fig. 2Kb)]
Fig. 21(b) is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline configuration of a source-ID list in either of
the local-registering process and the serviceregistering
process,, which are carried out in accordance
with the same embodiment.
[Fig. 21(c)]
Fig. 21(c) is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline configuration of a source-ID list in either of
the local-registering process and the serviceregistering
process, which are carried out in accordance
with the same embodiment.
[Fig. 22]
Fig. 22 is a block diagram showing an outline
configuration of a group-registering section employed in
a content-processing apparatus according to the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 23]
Fig. 23 shows a flowchart representing an outline
of a registering process for either of a content
reproduction apparatus and a content-processing
apparatus, which are provided by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 24]
Fig. 24 shows a flowchart representing an outline
of the registering process for either of a content
reproduction apparatus and a content-processing
apparatus, which are provided by the same embodiment.
[Fig. 25]
Fig. 25 shows a flowchart representing an outline
of another continuation of the registering process for
either of a content reproduction apparatus and a
content-processing apparatus, which are provided by the
same embodiment.
[Fig. 26]
Fig. 26 is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline of a warning screen provided by the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 27]
Fig. 27 is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline of a warning screen provided by the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 28]
Fig. 28 is an explanatory diagram showing an
outline of an input screen, which is displayed when a
service-registering process is carried out in accordance
with the same embodiment.
[Fig. 29]
Fig. 29 is a block diagram showing an outline
configuration of .a copyright management section employed
in a content-processing apparatus according to the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 30]
Fig. 30 is a diagram showing an outline sequence
of a service-registering process applied to a content
reproduction apparatus in accordance with the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 31]
Fig. 31 is a diagram showing an outline sequence
of a service-registering process applied to a contentprocessing
apparatus in accordance with the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 32]
Fig. 32 is a block diagram showing a functional
configuration of a content-processing apparatus
according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 33]
Fig. 33 shows a flowchart representing a process
to display a title list of contents in a content-
processing apparatus according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 34]
Fig. 34 shows a flowchart representing a process
to delete irreproducible contents from a contentprocessing
apparatus according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 35]
Fig. 35 shows a flowchart representing a process
to display a title list of contents in a content
reproduction apparatus according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 36]
Fig. 36 shows a flowchart representing a process
to delete irreproducible contents from a content
reproduction apparatus according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 37]
Fig. 37 shows a flowchart representing a process
carried out by a content-processing apparatus to drive a
content reproduction apparatus to reproduce a content in
the content reproduction apparatus in accordance with
the same embodiment.
[Fig. 38]
Fig. 38 shows a flowchart representing a process
to display a title list of contents in a content
reproduction apparatus according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 39]
Fig. 39 is a diagram showing a screen layout
displaying a typical title list of contents in a content
reproduction apparatus according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 40]
Fig. 40 is a diagram showing a screen layout
displaying a typical title list of contents in a content
reproduction apparatus according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 41]
Fig. 41 is a diagram showing a screen layout
displaying another typical title list of contents in
accordance with the same embodiment.
[Fig. 42]
Fig. 42 is a diagram showing a screen layout
displaying a further 'typical title list of contents in
accordance with the same embodiment.
[Fig. 43]
Fig. 43 is a diagram showing a screen layout
displaying a still further typical list of title
information of contents in accordance with the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 44]
Fig. 44 is a diagram showing a screen layout
illustrating a typical screen display in a process to
delete an irreproducible content in accordance with the
same embodiment.
[Fig. 45]
Fig. 45 is a block diagram showing a functional
configuration of a content-processing apparatus
according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 46]
Fig. 46 shows a flowchart representing a process
to transfer a content from a content reproduction
apparatus to a content-processing apparatus in
accordance with the same embodiment.
[Fig. 47]
Fig. 47 shows a flowchart representing a
determination process carried out in a transfer mode in
a content reproduction apparatus according to the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 48]
Fig. 48 shows a flowchart representing a process
to transfer a content from a content reproduction
apparatus to a content-processing apparatus by adoption
of a group management method in accordance with the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 49]
Fig. 49 shows a flowchart representing a process
to transfer a content from a content reproduction
apparatus to a content-processing apparatus by adoption
of a check-in/check-out method in accordance with the
same embodiment.
[Fig. 50]
Fig. 50 shows a flowchart representing a process
to transfer a content from a content-processing
apparatus to a content reproduction apparatus in
accordance with the same embodiment.
[Fig. 51]
Fig. 51 shows a flowchart representing a process
to transfer a content from a content-processing
apparatus to a content reproduction apparatus by
adoption of a copyright management method in accordance
with the same embodiment.
[Fig. 52]
Fig. 52 shows a flowchart representing a checkin/
check-out process from a content-processing apparatus
to a content reproduction apparatus by adoption of a
check-in/check-out method in accordance with the same
embodiment.
[Fig. 53]
Fig. 53 is a diagram showing a screen layout
displayed to request the user to transfer a transfer of
a content in accordance with the same embodiment.
[Fig. 54]
Fig. 54 shows a flowchart representing a typical
process to control reproduction of a content in a
content reproduction apparatus (PD) according to the
same embodiment.
[Fig. 55]
Fig. 55 shows a flowchart representing another
typical process to control reproduction of a content in
a content reproduction apparatus (PD) according to the
same embodiment.
[Fig. 56(a)]
Fig. 56(a) is an explanatory diagram showing a
typical title list appearing on a display apparatus
employed in a content reproduction apparatus (PD)
according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 56(b)]
Fig. 56(b) is an explanatory diagram showing a
typical title list appearing on a display apparatus
employed in a content reproduction apparatus (PD)
according to the same embodiment.
[Fig. 56(c)]
Fig. 56(c) is an explanatory diagram showing a
typical title list appearing on a display apparatus
employed in a content reproduction apparatus (PD)
according to the same embodiment.
Best Modes for Carrying out the Invention
[0035]
Preferred embodiments of the present invention are
explained in detail by referring to the figures, which
are described above, as follows. It is to be noted that
configuration elements virtually having functional
configurations identical with each other are denoted by
the same reference numeral throughout this specification
as well as the figures, and the explanation of the
identical elements is given only once.
[0036]
(FIRST EMBODIMENT)
A content-sharing system according to a.first
embodiment and its configuration elements are explained
as follows.
[0037]
1. Outline of Copyright Management According to a Group
Management Method
First of all, the following description explains a
content-sharing system for executing management of
copyrights by adoption of a group management method
according to an embodiment.
[0038]
The content-sharing system according to an
embodiment has been designed as a copyright management
system for managing utilization of contents in a
plurality of equipment (content-processing apparatus,
content reproduction apparatus, or the like) and
protecting copyrights of the contents. That is to say,
the content-sharing system limits sharing of contents
among equipment owned by different users in order to
reliably avoid illegal utilization of the contents
through acts to distribute a large number of contents by
way of the Internet.
[0039]
On the other hand, this content-sharing system has
also been designed as a system for rendering a contentsharing
service of allowing contents to be shared to a
certain degree among a plurality of equipment owned by
the same user (which also means a limited-range user
group such as a family, friends or employees of the same
company. In the following description, the user means
such a user group of a limited range).
[0040]
Such a content-sharing system according to the
embodiment allows contents to be shared in the range of
30
private use while managing copyrights of the contents.
The content-sharing system adopts a copyright management
method (or a copyright management scheme of a group
management method to be described later) capable of
enhancing the convenience of sharing contents among a
plurality of equipment owned by the same user and
raising the degree of freedom to utilize the contents.
[0041]
As described above, in the conventional copyright
management system adopting only the check-in/check-out
method conforming to the SDMI, illegal utilization of
contents is restrained by limiting the number of copies
made for a content (or the number of check-in/check-out
operations carried out on a content) for every content
on the basis of a license serving as right information
used for establishing an authority to utilize the
content. In such a system, every time a content is
copied from a content-processing apparatus to another,
(that is, each time check-in/check-out operations are
carried out) in the content-processing apparatuses, a
copyright management process must be performed. Thus,
the conventional system has shortcomings of a
complicated system configuration, a longer processing
time, a lower degree of freedom to utilize contents in
the range of private use and a lack of convenience. In
addition, in the case of the conventional copyright
management system adopting the check-in/check-out method,
the user must always utilize the system by being aware
of a copy source of a copied content and the number of
copy operations done so far for every content. Further,
it is impossible to achieve the original object of the
copyright management system to prevent a content from
being copied to equipment owned by others.
[0042]
On the other hand, the content-sharing system
according to the embodiment is characterized in that the
system is capable of implementing management of
copyrights on the basis of not only the conventional
check-in/check-out method, but also a group management
method. In a copyright management system based on the
group management method, a source of a content is used
as a content utilization management unit. To put it
concretely, a user initially owning a content or
equipment creating a content is taken as the content
utilization management unit. That is to say, management
of copyrights is executed to allow or disallow
reproduction of a content in each equipment on the basis
of the source of the content.
[0043]
To put it more concretely, in the copyright
management system based on the group management method,
a plurality of equipment owned by each user is
registered by a group management server in a group
assigned to the user. In each of the equipment
registered in a group, reproduction of a content is
controlled on the basis of a source ID identifying the
source of the content and a list of such source IDs.
Thus, contents pertaining to the same source can be
copied among the equipment registered in an apparatus
group assigned to equipment owned by the same user and
reproduced in each of the equipment with a high degree
of freedom.
[0044]
It is to be noted that the content mentioned above
can be any content including an audio content, a video
content, an electronic book (E-book), a game or software,
The audio content can be a piece of music, a speech or a
radio program whereas the video content includes a still
or moving image such as a movie, a television program, a
video program, a photo, a drawing or a figure. The
content in the following description is the audio
content or, to be more specific, an audio content
33
distributed by a server or an audio content ripped off
from a musical CD. However, the content in this present
invention is not limited to such an audio content.
[0045]
By referring to Fig. 1, the following description
explains an outline of a group-registering process
carried out in a content-sharing system 100 implemented
by the embodiment as a system for executing copyright
management based on the group management method
described above. It is to be noted that Fig. 1 is an
explanatory diagram showing the outline of the groupregistering
process carried out in the content-sharing
system 100 according to the embodiment.
[0046]
As shown in Fig. 1, PCs 10-1 and 10-2 each serving
as a content-processing apparatus as well as PDs 20-1
and 20-2 each functioning as a content reproduction
apparatus are put in respectively an equipment group
owned by user A and an equipment group owned by user B.
In the typical configuration shown in the figure, the
equipment group owned by user A includes the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1 and the content reproduction
apparatus 20-1 whereas the equipment group owned by user
B includes the content-processing apparatus 10-2 and the
content reproduction apparatus 20-2. A process to put
equipment in a group can be implemented in the group
management server 32 as a group-registering process
carried out for every user on a content-processing
apparatus 10 and a content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0047]
The group-registering process is exemplified by a
concrete example to put the PC functioning as the
content-processing apparatus 10-1 owned by user A in an
apparatus group. First, user A operates the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1 owned by itself to make an
access to the group management server 32, which then
authenticates the user. Subsequently, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1 transmits the equipment ID of
the content-processing apparatus 10-1 to the group
management server 32. The equipment ID is a terminal ID.
Then, the group management server 32 stores the
equipment ID of the content-processing apparatus 10-1 by
associating the ID with user A. In this way, the groupregistering
process is carried out to put the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1 in an equipment group assigned
to user A. Subsequently, the group management server 32
transmits identification information used for
identifying user A to the content-processing apparatus
10-1. The identification information is.a leaf ID to be
described later. The content-processing apparatus 10-1
stores the identification information received from the
group management server 32 in storage means of its own.
In the same way, any other content-processing apparatus
10 can be registered in a group. As for a content
reproduction apparatus 20 (PD), its group-registering
process is carried out through a content-processing
apparatus 10 (PC) as will be described later in detail.
[0048]
In a group-registering process described above,
one equipment (a content-processing apparatus 10 or a
content reproduction apparatus 20) can be registered
only in an equipment group assigned to a single user.
That is to say, one apparatus cannot be registered in
different apparatus groups of different users. Thus, if
the ownership of the content-processing apparatus 10-2
is changed from user A to user B, for example, it is
necessary to change the group to which the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-2 pertains. That is to say, the
content-processing apparatus 10-2 must be de-registered
from the equipment group assigned to user A and a groupregistering
process must be carried out to newly
register the content-processing apparatus 10-2 in an
apparatus group assigned to user B.
[0049]
In addition, when user A newly purchases a
content-processing apparatus 10-3, for example, the
content-processing apparatus 10-3 is initially to a
state of pertaining to no group. Thus, in the same way
as that described above, a group-registering process can
be carried out to register the content-processing
apparatus 10-3 in the equipment group assigned to user A.
On the other hand, the content-processing apparatus 10-1
can be de-registered from the group to put in a state of
pertaining to no group.
[0050]
As described above, in the content-sharing system
100, any equipment owned by a user can be registered in
a group assigned to the user in the group management
server 32, which manages such groups in user units. As a
result, a content can be freely shared by equipment
registered in the same equipment group assigned to the
same user. On the other hand, a content cannot be shared
by equipment registered in the different equipment
groups assigned to different users.
[0051]
In order to solve the above problem, a management
method to share a content in such a situation has been
proposed. An outline of this management method is
explained by referring to Fig. 2. It is to be noted that
Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing main configuration
elements composing the content-sharing system 100
provided by the embodiment.
[0052]
As shown in Fig. 2, the content-sharing system 100
according to the embodiment has main configuration
elements including a source-ID addition section 1, a
content reproduction section 2 and a list management
section 3.
[0053]
The source-ID addition section 1 provided in the
content-processing apparatus 10 has a function for
adding a source ID used for identifying the source of a
content to the content. It is to be noted that an
operation to add a source ID to the content means an
operation to associate the source ID with the content.
For example, the operation to add a source ID to the
content is an operation to add the source ID data to a
file (the content file) or an operation to associate a
file of the source ID data with a content file.
[0054]
The source of a content means an entity at an
individual-user level as an entity of the content shared
in the content-sharing system 100. To put it concretely,
the source of a content implies:
(1) a user who acquired the content by purchasing the
content through utilization of a content distribution
service; or
(2) a content-processing apparatus 10 or the like, which
created the content by carrying out a ripping or selfrecording
process.
Thus, the source ID is an identifier assigned to
every content source as an identifier unique to the
content source. By assigning a source ID to a content,
the source of the content distributed in the contentsharing
system 100 can be identified.
[0055]
In the case of the embodiment, examples of the
source ID are a recorder ID or a group ID. The recorder
ID is a source ID used for a case in which the source of
a content is a content-processing apparatus 10. The
group ID is a source ID used for a case in which the
source of a content is a user.
[0056]
Thus, a recorder ID is an identifier assigned to
each content-processing apparatus 10 (PC) or the like
having a content-ripping function as an identifier
unique to the content-processing apparatus 10. The
recorder ID is generated by the content-processing
apparatus 10 having a content-ripping function on the
basis of the equipment ID of the content-processing
apparatus 10, and stored in the content-processing
apparatus 10 with a high degree of safety. When the
content-processing apparatus 10 rips off a content from
a removable recording medium such as a musical CD, the
content-processing apparatus 10 adds the recorder ID
generated by the content-processing apparatus 10 itself
to the ripped-off content, which is referred to
hereafter as a rippling content. Thus, the recorder ID
added to a content can be used for identifying the
content-processing apparatus 10, which serves as the
source of the content.
[0057] :
A group ID is thus an identifier assigned to every
user owning a content-processing apparatus 10 and/or a
content reproduction apparatus 20 as an identifier
unique to the user. To put it concretely, the group ID
is an identifier assigned each user account of a
content-sharing service rendered by the content-sharing
system 100 according to the embodiment. Thus, the group
ID can be used for identifying an equipment group to
which a content-processing apparatus 10 and/or a content
reproduction apparatus 20 pertain and identifying the
owner of the content-processing apparatus 10 and/or the
content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0058]
In the case of the embodiment, a group ID is
generated by the content-processing apparatus 10 on the
basis of a leaf ID when the content-processing apparatus
10 is registered or when a distributed content is
received. The leaf ID is an identifier assigned to every
user. For example, when a user is registered in the
group management server 32, the group management server
32 generates a leaf ID assigned to the user. Thus, the
leaf ID is typical user identification information. When
equipment is registered or when a content is distributed,
the group management server 32 transmits a leaf ID to
the content-processing apparatus 10.
[0059]
The content-processing apparatus 10 generates a
group ID on the basis of a service ID and a leaf ID
received from the group management server 32. The
service ID is an ID assigned to every content
distribution service or ripping-content-sharing service
rendered in the content-sharing system 100 as an ID
unique to the service. The content distribution service
is a service distributing a content from a content
distribution server to the content-processing apparatus
10 whereas the ripping-content-sharing service is a
service of allowing a ripping content to be shared by a
plurality of content-processing apparatus 10 and a
plurality of content reproduction apparatus 20 as
apparatus owned by the same user through a process of
registering a group assigned to the user.
[0060]
For example, if the content distribution service
and the ripping-content-sharing service are not managed
separately, that is, if a service ID common to both the
content distribution service and the ripping-contentsharing
service is used, a service ID and a leaf ID are
combined to generate a combined group ID as described
above. The process of generating a group ID on the basis
of a service ID and a leaf ID is expressed by the
following equation:
Group ID = Service ID + Leaf ID
[0061]
If the content distribution service and the
ripping-content-sharing service are managed separately,
on the other hand, a content distribution service ID
unique to the content distribution service and a
ripping-content-sharing service ID unique to the
ripping-content-sharing service are both generated as
service IDs assigned the content distribution service
and the ripping-content-sharing service respectively.
Thus, in this case, the processes of generating group
IDs on the basis of service IDs and a leaf ID are
expressed by the following equations:
First group ID = Content distribution service ID +
Leaf ID
Second group ID = Ripping-content-sharing service
ID + Leaf ID
[0062]
The first group ID is added to a content
distributed by the content distribution server as a
group ID used for identifying a user purchasing the
content. On the other hand, the second group ID serves
as a criterion used in a process to register a recorder
ID on a source-ID list to be described later as a
criterion as to whether or not the recorder ID can be
added to the list. A recorder ID is registered on the
list of source IDs in order to allow a ripping content
to be shared by content-processing apparatus 10 and
content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0063]
The embodiment adopts the latter method for
generating the first and second group IDs. In order to
allow the description to be written with a high degree
of convenience, however, both the first and second group
IDs are expressed by a group ID without distinguishing
the first and second group IDs from each other.
[0064]
Such a group ID is added by the content-processing
apparatus 10 to a content distributed by the content
distribution server to the content-processing apparatus
10. By adding a group ID to a distributed content, it is
possible to identify the user serving as the purchaser
of the content, that is, it is possible to identify the
source of the content.
[0065]
As described above, a content with a source ID
added thereto by the source-ID addition section 1
employed in the content-processing apparatus 10 can be
copied from the content-processing apparatus 10 to the
content reproduction apparatus 20 or vice versa with a
high degree of freedom. As explained earlier, the source
ID is either a recorder ID or a group ID. That is to say,
in a copyright management system adopting the group
management method, unlike the conventional copyright
management system adopting the conventional checkin/
check-out method, an operation to copy a content with
a source ID added thereto is not subjected to a process
to limit the number of copy operations.
[0066]
The content reproduction section 2 implemented as
a machine for reproducing a content or software for
reproduction of a content is provided in a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 or a content reproduction
apparatus 20. The content reproduction section 2 has a
source-ID list L, which includes source IDs each
assigned to a content to indicate that reproduction of
the content in the content reproduction section is
allowed. The source-ID list L is provided for each
content reproduction section 2, and source-IDs included
on the list L vary in dependence on the content
reproduction section 2.
[0067]
When reproducing a content having a source ID
added thereto, the content reproduction section 2 checks
the source-ID list L to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not the content is a
reproducible content. That is to say, if the source ID
attached to the content is a source ID included on the
source-ID list L, the content reproduction section 2
produces a determination result indicating that the
content is a reproducible content. If the source ID
attached to the content is not a source ID included on
the source-ID list L, on the other hand, the content
reproduction section 2 produces a determination result
indicating that the content is not a reproducible
content. In this way, the content reproduction section 2
controls reproduction of contents for every source ID
unit, that is, for every content source.
[0068]
In addition, the content reproduction section 2 is
allowed to request the list management section 3 to add
a new source ID to the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction section 2 itself. That is to say,
in order for the content reproduction section 2 to
reproduce a content with its new source ID not added yet
to the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction section 2 itself, it is necessary to add
the new source ID to the source-ID list L. In order to
add the new source ID to the source-ID list L, the
content reproduction section 2 requests the list
management section 3 authorized to update the source-ID
list L to permit the addition of the new source ID.
[0069]
The list management section 3 is provided inside
the content-processing apparatus 10 as a unit for
updating the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction section 2. A process to update the source-
ID list L is an operation to add a source ID to the
source-ID list L or delete a source ID from the source-
ID list L. A source ID added to the source-ID list L by
the list management section 3 enables the content
reproduction section 2 to reproduce a content having the
source ID attached thereto. On the other hand, a source
ID deleted from the source-ID list L by the list
management section 3 disables the content reproduction
section 2 from reproducing a content having the source
ID attached thereto.
[0070]
The list management section 3 acquires an
apparatus group certificate G serving as shared
information indicating association of a group ID with a
recorder ID, updating the source-ID list L on the basis
of the group certificate G. To put it concretely, if the
group ID included in the group certificate G matches a
group ID included on the source-ID list L, the list
management section 3 adds the recorder ID included in
the group certificate G to the source-ID list L. In this
way, a recorder ID registered in an equipment group
assigned to a user as the recorder ID of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 can be added to the source-ID
list L so that it is possible to reproduce a ripping
content ripped off by the content-processing apparatus
10.
[0071]
In the content-sharing system 100 according to the
embodiment, the source-ID addition section 1, the
content reproduction section 2 and the list management
section 3 control reproduction of contents in every
content-processing apparatus 10 and content reproduction
apparatus 20 as described above in order to manage
copyrights of contents copied from any contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to any other content-processing
apparatus 10. It is to be noted that, as will be
described later in detail, the content-sharing system
100 has been designed as a system capable of executing
not only the copyright management based on the group
management method explained above, but also the
copyright management based on the conventional checkin/
check-out method.
[0072]
2. System Configuration
Next, the entire configuration of the contentsharing
system 100 according to the embodiment is
explained by referring to Fig. 3. It is to be noted that
Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an outline of the
entire configuration of the content-sharing system 100
provided by the embodiment.
[0073]
As shown in Fig. 3, the content-sharing system 100
includes a plurality of content-processing apparatus 10-
1, 10-2, . and 10-n, a plurality of content
reproduction apparatus 20-1, 20-2, ..., 20-m and 20-n,
servers 30, a network 5, local lines 9 and a storage
medium 7. In some cases, the content-processing
apparatus 10-1, 10-2, ..., and 10-n may each be denoted
by generic reference numeral 10. By the same token, in
some cases, the content reproduction apparatus 20-1, 20-
2, . 20-m and 20-n may each be denoted by generic
reference numeral 20. The network 5 and local lines 9
are means for connecting the content-processing
apparatus 10-1, 10-2, ..., and 10-n, the content
49
reproduction apparatus 20-1, 20-2, ..., 20-m and 20-n
and the servers 30 to each other. The servers 30 include
a WWW (World Wide Web) server 31, a group management
server 32, a content distribution server 34, a
certificate management server 36 and a charging server
[0074]
The content-processing apparatus 10 is an
apparatus capable of recording and reproducing a content.
To put it more concretely, the content-processing
apparatus 10 is implemented as a computer such as a PC
(Personal Computer), which can be a note PC or a desktop
PC. However, the implementation of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is not limited to the computer.
That is to say, the content-processing apparatus 10 can
be any apparatus having a function for carrying out
communications through the network 5. Examples of the
apparatus are a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a home
game machine and an information electrical appliance.
[0075]
The content-processing apparatus 10 can be
connected to the servers 30 by the network 5 and is thus
capable of communicating with the servers 30. It is
possible to install software for a content distribution
service and software for a ripping-content-sharing
service in the content-processing apparatus 10. Thus,
the content-processing apparatus 10 is capable of
receiving a content distributed by the content
distribution server 34 and recording the received
content in storage means such as a storage unit or the
storage medium 7.
[0076]
In addition, the content-processing apparatus 10
is also capable of creating a new content by carrying
out a self-recording process such as an audio selfrecording
process or a video self-recording process, a
ripping process or another process, and recording the
created content onto a storage unit or the storage
medium 7. It is to be noted that the self-recording
process is a process carried out by an image-taking
apparatus or sound collection apparatus employed in the
content-processing apparatus 10 itself to record an
image taken by the image-taking apparatus or a sound
collected by the sound collection apparatus as digital
data, respectively. On the other hand, the ripping
process is a process to extract digital content data
such as digital audio data or digital video data from a
recording medium such as a musical CD, a video DVD or a
software CD-ROM, convert the extracted data into fileformatted
data, which can be processed by a computer,
and record the file-formatted data onto a storage
apparatus or the storage medium 7.
[0077]
The content-processing apparatus 10 encodes the
distributed content or the ripping content by
compression in accordance with a predetermined
encoding/compression method such as an ATTRAC3 (Advanced
Transform Acoustic Coding 3, which is a trademark of
Sony Corporation) method or an MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3)
method, encrypts the encoded/compressed content in
accordance with an encryption method such as a DES (Data
Encryption Standard) method and records the encrypted
data onto a storage unit or the storage medium 7.
[0078]
In addition, the content-processing apparatus 10
is capable of exchanging a distributed content or a
ripping content with another content-processing
apparatus 10 or a content reproduction apparatus 20 by
way of the network 5 or local lines 9 or by storing the
content in a storage medium 7 serving as exchange means.
Thus, a content can be presented to or acquired from any
of a plurality of content-processing apparatus 10 and
content reproduction apparatus 20. As a result, the
content can be shared by the content-processing
apparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0079]
The content-processing apparatus 10 is registered
in an apparatus group in the group management server 32
connected to the content-processing apparatus 10 by the
network 5. Furthermore, the content-processing apparatus
10 includes configuration elements corresponding to the
source-ID addition section 1, the content reproduction
section 2 and list management section 3, which have been
described earlier. As such, the content-processing
apparatus 10 has been designed into a configuration
conforming to the group management method adopted as a
copyright management method. Moreover, as will be
described later in detail, the content-processing
apparatus 10 is also compatible with the conventional
check-in/check-out method adopted as a copyright
management method.
[0080]
The content reproduction apparatus 20 is a PD
(Portable Device) having a function for a portable
content reproduction apparatus. To put it more
concretely, the content reproduction apparatus 20 has
the configuration of a portable audio player having an
HDD (hard-disk drive) with a typical storage capacity of
several tens of GBs. However, the configuration of the
content reproduction apparatus 20 is not limited to such
a portable audio player. For example, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 can be implemented as any one
of a variety of portable apparatus such as a portable
audio/video player, a PDA, a hand phone and a PHS. In
addition, the storage unit employed internally in the
content reproduction apparatus 20 and the externally
mountable storage medium 7 are not limited to an HDD.
That is to say, the internal storage unit and the
external storage medium 7 can each be a randomly
accessible recording medium such as an optical disk, a
magneto-optical disk, a flash memory, an FeRAM or a
magnetic memory. It is to be noted that the content
reproduction apparatus 20 can also be an apparatus
capable of only reproducing a content.
[0081]
A content reproduction apparatus 20 can be
connected locally to a content-processing apparatus 10
by for example a local line 9 so that various kinds of
data can be communicated between the content
reproduction apparatus 20 and the content-processing
apparatus 10. The local line 9 is a wire cable such as a
USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable or an SCSI (Small
Computer System Interface) cable. It is to be noted that
the content-processing apparatus 10 and the content
reproduction apparatus 20 can also each be designed so
that various kinds of data can be communicated between
the content reproduction apparatus 20 and the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 by radio communication.
[0082]
The content reproduction apparatus 20 is capable
of reproducing a content transmitted by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 through local line 9 or a
content received from the storage medium 7.
[0083]
In addition, the content reproduction apparatus 20
can be registered in an apparatus group in the group
management server 32 through the content-processing
apparatus 10. Furthermore, the content reproduction
apparatus 20 has a configuration corresponding to the
content reproduction section 2 described earlier. Thus,
the content reproduction apparatus 20 has a
configuration capable of keeping up with the group
management method adopted as a copyright management
method. The content reproduction apparatus 20 is also
compatible with the conventional check-in/check-out
method adopted as a copyright management method. As will
be described later in detail, by properly setting the
content reproduction apparatus 20, the copyright
management method can be switched from the group
management method to the conventional check-in/check-out
method or vice versa.
[0084]
The servers 30 have the configuration of a
computer provided with functions of a server. As
described earlier, the servers 30 include the WWW server
31, the group management server 32, the content
distribution server 34, the certificate management
server 36 and the charging server 38.
[0085]
The WWW server 31 is a server for establishing a
communication with the content-processing apparatus 10
through a connection to the network and carrying out
processing such as a user-registering process and a user
authentication process. After authentication of the user
is completed, the WWW server 31 connects the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to the group management server
32 or the content distribution server 34.
[0086]
As described before, for every user, the group
management server 32 is a server for registering a
content-processing apparatus 10 or content reproduction
apparatus 20 owned by a registered user in an apparatus
group assigned to the user at a request received from
the content-processing apparatus 10 as a request for an
apparatus-registering process.
[0087]
The content distribution server 34 is a server for
rendering a content distribution service. At a request
received from a content-processing apparatus 10 owned by
a registered user as a request for distribution of a
content, the content distribution server 34 transmits
the content to the content-processing apparatus 10 by
way of the network 5. The content distribution server 34
is designed as an EMD (Electronic Music Distribution)
server for rendering an EMD service. The content
distribution server 34 encodes a musical content to be
distributed by compression in accordance with an
encoding/compression method such as the ATTRAC3 method
or the MP3 method, and encrypts the encrypted/compressed
content in accordance with an encryption method such as
the DES method before transmission to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. In addition, the content
distribution server 34 encrypts a content key for
decrypting the encrypted content to be distributed and
transmits the encrypted content key to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 along with the encrypted content.
[0088]
The certificate management server 36 is a server
for acquiring group certificates G issued by contentprocessing
apparatus 10, managing the acquired group
certificates G and distributing an apparatus group
certificate G to content-processing apparatus 10
pertaining to the same apparatus group as the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 issuing the certificate G. In
this way, any specific content-processing apparatus 10
is capable of sharing a ripping content of another
content-processing apparatus 10 if the recorder ID of
the other content-processing apparatus 10 pertaining to
the same apparatus group as the specific contentprocessing
apparatus 10 has been added to a source-ID
list.
[0089]
The charging server 38 is a server for charging
the price of a content distributed by the content
distribution server 34 to a user purchasing the content.
[0090]
Each of the WWW server 31, the group management
server 32, the content distribution server 34, the
certificate management server 36 and the charging server
38 can be partially or wholly implemented by hardware
and they can be servers physically separated from each
other.
[0091]
The network 5 is a communication line for
connecting content-processing apparatus 10 to the
servers 30 in such a way that the content-processing
apparatus 10 and the servers 30 are capable of
communicating with each other in two directions. The
network 5 can be a public line network or a dedicated
line network and may be a radio or wire network.
Examples of the public line network are the Internet, a
telephone line network and a satellite communication
network, whereas examples of the dedicated line network
are a WAN, a LAN and an IP-VPN.
[0092]
In addition, the network 5 also includes a private
network. From the copyright-management point of view,
the private network is perceived as a network for
connecting a plurality of content-processing apparatus
10 to each other as content-processing apparatus 10
sharing contents in a private domain. To put it
concretely, examples of the private network are a
network for connecting a plurality of content-processing
apparatus 10 used by the same user to each other, a home
network for connecting a plurality of content-processing
apparatus 10 used in the same home to each other and a
LAN for connecting a plurality of content-processing
apparatus 10 used in a small-scale limited group to each
other. Examples of the small-scale limited group are a
particular society and an association of friends.
[0093]
The storage medium 7 is a removable medium that
can be used for storing various kinds of data such as a
content, an apparatus group certificate G and a program.
Examples of the storage medium 7 are an optical disk, a
magnetic disk and a variety of semiconductor memories.
Examples of the optical disk are a DVD-R, a DVD-RW, a
DVD-RAM, a CD-R, a CD-RW and a magnetic-optical disk. On
the other hand, examples of the magnetic disk are a
flexible disk and a hard disk. It is to be noted that
the storage medium 7 can be a recording medium having a
copyright management function for restricting operations
such as processes to copy and reproduce a content by,
for example, encrypting the content to be copied and
reproduced before storing the content into the storage
medium 7.
[0094]
The storage medium 7 functions as a medium for
facilitating presentation and acquisition of a content
among content-processing apparatus 10. For example, the
content-processing apparatus 10-1 writes a content into
the storage medium 7 and the content-processing
apparatus 10-2 reads out the content from the storage
medium 7. In this case, the content-processing apparatus
10-1 provides the content to the content-processing
apparatus 10-2. In addition, the content-processing
apparatus 10-1 is also capable of providing a content to
a content reproduction apparatus 20 not connected to the
network 5 by way of the storage medium 7 and acquiring a
content from the content reproduction apparatus 20 by
way of the storage medium 7. The storage medium 7 also
functions as a medium for facilitating presentation and
acquisition of an apparatus group certificate G among
content-processing apparatus 10. Furthermore, the
storage medium 7 can be inserted into a content sales
terminal (not shown in the figure) provided at the
storefront of a store. The user operates the sales
terminal to store a purchased content into the storage
medium 7 to be eventually provided to a contentprocessing
apparatus 10.
[0095]
3. Content-Processing Apparatus (PC)
Next, the configuration of the content-processing
apparatus 10 (PC) according to the embodiment is
explained in detail as follows.
[0096]
First of all, the hardware configuration of the
content-processing apparatus 10 according to the
embodiment is explained by referring to Fig. 4. It is to
be noted that Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the
hardware configuration of the content-processing
apparatus 10 provided by the embodiment.
[0097]
As shown in Fig. 4, the content-processing
apparatus 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit)
101, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access
Memory) 103, a host bus 104, a bridge 105, an external
bus 106, an interface 107, an input apparatus 108, an
output apparatus 110, an HDD serving as a storage
apparatus 111, a drive 112, a connection port 114 and a
communication apparatus 115.
[0098]
The CPU 101 is a component functioning as a
processing apparatus as well as a control apparatus. The
CPU 101 operates in accordance with a variety of
programs to control the other components employed in the
content-processing apparatus 10. The ROM 102 is a memory
used for storing the programs to be executed by the CPU
101 and data such as processing parameters. The RAM 103
is a memory used for temporarily storing a program being
executed by the CPU 101 and data such as parameters
changing in the course of execution of the program. The
CPU 101, the ROM 102 and the RAM 103 are connected to
each other by the host bus 104 including a CPU bus.
[0099]
The host bus 104 is connected by the bridge 105 to
the external bus 106 such as a PCI (Peripheral Component
Interconnect/Interface) bus.
[0100]
The input apparatus 108 includes operation means
and an input control circuit for passing on an input
signal to the CPU 101. The operation means includes a
mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, buttons, switches and
a lever. The user of the content-processing apparatus 10
is capable of operating the input apparatus 108 to enter
various kinds of data to the content-processing
apparatus 10 and a command making a request for an
operation.
[0101]
The output apparatus 110 includes a display
apparatus and an audio output apparatus. Examples of the
display apparatus are a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), display
apparatus, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) apparatus and
lamps. On the other hand, an example of the audio output
unit is a speaker. The output apparatus 110 outputs a
reproduced content. To put it concretely, the display
apparatus shows various kinds of information such as
reproduced video data in the form of texts and images.
On the other hand, the audio output apparatus generates
reproduced audio data.
[0102]
The storage apparatus 111 is an apparatus included
in the content-processing apparatus 10 according to the
embodiment as a typical storage apparatus for storing
data. The storage apparatus 111 is implemented as an HDD
(Hard Disk Drive). The storage apparatus 111 drives a
hard disk used for storing programs to be executed by
the CPU 101 and various kinds of data. In addition, the
storage apparatus 111 is also used for storing, among
others, a source-ID list L, a content database 116, a
self-ID database 117 and a content management
information database 118 as shown in Fig. 5 to be
described later.
[0103]
The drive 112 is a reader and writer for reading
out data from a recording medium and writing data onto
the recording medium 7. The drive 112 is incorporated in
the content processing apparatus 10 or is externally
provided. The removable storage medium 7 includes a
magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk
or a semiconductor memory. That is to say, the drive 112
reproduces various kinds of data from the storage medium
7 mounted on the content-processing apparatus 10 and
records data onto the storage medium 7. The reproduced
and recorded data includes contents, group certificates
G and programs.
[0104]
To put it concretely, the drive 112 reads out data
from the removable storage medium 7 and transfers the
data to the RAM 103 by way of the interface 107, the
external bus 106, the bridge 105 and the host bus 104.
If necessary, the CPU 101 stores the data into a memory
such as the ROM 102 or the storage apparatus 111. On the
other hand, the drive 112 receives data recorded in a
memory such as the ROM 102 or the storage apparatus 111,
newly reproduced data or data acquired from an external
apparatus from the CPU 101, and stores the data into the
removable storage medium 7.
[0105]
The connection port 114 is a port for connecting
the content-processing apparatus 10 to an external
peripheral apparatus such as the content reproduction
apparatus 20. The connection port 114 has a connection
terminal such as a USB terminal or an IEEE1394 terminal.
The connection port 114 is connected to the CPU 101
through components including the interface 107, the
external bus 106, the bridge 105 and the host bus 104.
By virtue of the connection port 114, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is capable of exchanging various
kinds of data with the content reproduction apparatus 20
by way of a local line 9.
[0106]
The communication apparatus 115 is a communication
interface implemented by components including a
communication device for connecting the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to the network 5. By virtue of
the communication apparatus 115, the content-processing
apparatus 10 is capable of exchanging various kinds of
data with external apparatus such as other contentprocessing
apparatus 10 and the servers 30 by way of the
network 5. The exchanged data includes a content, a
source-ID list L, an apparatus group certificate G and a
control signal.
[0107]
Next, main functions of the content-processing
apparatus 10 according to the embodiment are explained
by referring to Fig. 5. It is to be noted that Fig. 5 is
a block diagram showing an outline of functions of the
content-processing apparatus 10 provided by the
embodiment.
[0108]
As shown in Fig. 5, the content-processing
apparatus 10 includes a data communication section 120,
a group-registering section 130, a list management
section 140, a certificate issuance section 150, a
distribution-service utilization section 152, a source-
ID addition section 154, a content-processing section
160, an ICV-data management section 190, the content
database 116, the self-ID database 117 and the content
management information database 118.
[0109]
The data communication section 120 is a unit for
allowing the content-processing apparatus 10 to exchange
various kinds of data with external apparatus. For
example, the data communication section 120 allows the
content-processing apparatus 10 to exchange data with
other content-processing apparatus 10 or the servers 30
by way of the network 5 by using the communication
apparatus 115. In addition, the data communication
section 120 allows the content-processing apparatus 10
to exchange data with the content reproduction apparatus
20 by way of a local line 9 by using the connection port
114.
[0110]
The group-registering section 130 is a unit for
carrying out a user-registering process to register a
user in the group management server 32 and carrying out
a group-registering process (or an apparatus-registering
process) to register the content-processing apparatus 10
in a group managed by the group management server 32. In
the group-registering process, the group-registering
section 130 transmits group-registering request
information to the group management server 32. The
group-registering request information includes a groupregistering
request notice, a user ID, a password, a
terminal ID and a recorder ID. The terminal ID is an ID
used for uniquely identifying the content-processing
apparatus 10, which is implemented by a PC. The terminal
ID and the recorder ID are each generated in each
content-processing apparatus 10 uniquely on the basis of
a random number generated originally, the device ID of
the content-processing apparatus 10 or other data.
[0111]
Following the group-registering process to
register the content-processing apparatus 10 in an
apparatus group, the group-registering section 130
receives service data from the group management server
32. The service data includes a leaf ID and a service
common key. The group-registering section 130 further
passes Leaf ID received from the group management server
32 to list management section 140 and the received
service common key to the content-processing section 160.
The service common key also referred to as a secret key
is a key necessary for decrypting a content, which has
been encrypted to allow the content to be stored with a
high degree of safety and, hence, prevent the content
from being interpolated.
[0112]
In addition, the group-registering section 130
also carries out a group de-registering process to de-
register the content-processing apparatus 10 from an
apparatus group managed by the group management server
32. Also in this group-de-registering process, much like
the group-registering process, the group-registering
section 130 transmits group-de-registering request
information to the group management server 32. The
group-de-registering request information includes an
apparatus group-de-registering request notice, a user ID,
a password and a terminal ID. Upon completion of the
group-de-registering process, the group-registering
section 130 notifies list management section 140 that
the group-de-registering process has been completed.
[0113]
In addition, the group-registering section 130 is
also capable of registering the content reproduction
apparatus 20 connected to the content-processing
apparatus 10 in an apparatus group managed by the group
management server 32. The processes carried out by the
group-registering section 130 to register the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 and the content reproduction
apparatus 20 in an apparatus group managed by the group
management server 32 and de-register the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 and the content reproduction
apparatus 20 from the apparatus group will be described
later in detail.
[0114]
List management section 140 is a configuration
element corresponding to list management section 3 shown
in Fig. 2. List management section 140 has a function to
update the source-ID list L owned by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10.
[0115]
For example, at a group-registering time to
register a group ID on the source-ID list L, list
management section 140 adds a service ID to a leaf ID
received from the group-registering section 130 and
converts source-ID list Leaf ID including the service ID
added thereto into a group ID. Then, list management
section 140 registers the group ID on the source-ID list
L. List management section 140 compares a group ID
included in an apparatus group certificate G acquired
from the group management server 32 or another contentprocessing
apparatus 10 with group IDs on the source-ID
list L. If the source ID included in the group
certificate G matches any of the group IDs on the
source-ID list L, a recorder ID included in the group
certificate G is added to the source-ID list L. It is to
be noted that, if validity term information is set in a
source ID such as a group ID or a recorder ID, list
management section 140 also writes the validity term
information of the source ID on the source-ID list L
when registering the source ID on the source-ID list L.
[0116]
In addition, list management section 140 deletes
all source IDs from the source-ID list L at a time
referred to as an apparatus group-de-registering time.
Furthermore, list management section 140 is capable of
updating the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. It is to be noted that the
process carried out by list management section 140 to
update the source-ID list L as described above will be
explained in detail later.
[0117]
It is also worth noting that the source-ID list L
is stored with a high degree of safety in either of the
storage apparatus 111 and the ROM 102, which are
employed in the content-processing apparatus 10. To put
it concretely, the source-ID list L is stored in a state
of being encrypted or including a digital signature to
prevent a user from interpolating the source-ID list L.
[0118]
In the embodiment, at a group-registering time, a
group ID generated on the basis of a leaf ID is
registered on the source-ID list L, which is then stored
in the content-processing apparatus 10. By registering
the group ID on the source-ID list L in this way, the
group ID can be utilized as a source ID for allowing
reproduction of a distributed content including the
group ID added thereto so that the reproduction of the
distributed content can be controlled on the basis of
the group ID. It is to be noted that, for example,
instead of using a group ID as such a source ID as
described above, the group ID can be used only as a
second group ID, which is merely generated for a
ripping-content-sharing service as a reference
additional to a recorder ID for a source ID to be
recorded on the source-ID list L. That is to say, the
second group ID itself is not always recorded on the
source-ID list L. In this case, the group ID may be
stored in another storage area of the storage apparatus
111. For example, the group ID can be stored in the
self-ID database 117 or the ROM 102.
[0119]
The certificate issuance section 150 has a
function to issue an apparatus group certificate G for
certifying an apparatus group including the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 employing the certificate
issuance section 150. To put it concretely, with the
content-processing apparatus 10 registered in an
apparatus group identified by a group ID-A, for example,
the certificate issuance section 150 issues a group
certificate G, which associates the recorder ID1 of the
content-processing apparatus 10 with the group ID-A.
Such a group certificate G can be used for proving that
that the content-processing apparatus 10 having the
recorder ID1 pertains to the apparatus group identified
by the group ID-A as an apparatus group owned by the
user of the content-processing apparatus 10. In addition,
the group certificate G includes an interpolation
detection digital signature such as a MAC (Message
Authentication Code). Thus, the group certificate G
itself can be prevented from being interpolated.
[0120]
A process to issue a group certificate G is
carried out as follows. The certificate issuance section
150 reads out the recorder ID of the content-processing
apparatus 10 and the group ID from the storage apparatus
111, puts a digital signature on the recorder ID and the
group ID, and carries out an encoding process on the
recorder ID and the group ID with the digital signature
put thereon.
[0121]
The certificate issuance section 150 may issue a
group J© with any arbitrary timing after a group registering
process. For example, the certificate
issuance section 150 may issue a group certificate G for
the content-processing apparatus 10 in response to an
input entered by the user of the content-processing
apparatus 10 or at a request received from another
content-processing apparatus 10 as a request for a group
certificate G. In addition, after a group-registering
process, the certificate issuance section 150 may issue
a group certificate G and transmit the issued group
certificate G to the certificate management server 36.
[0122]
Furthermore, the certificate issuance section 150
may add validity term information to an issued group
certificate G. Thus, the content-processing apparatus 10
acquiring the group certificate G is capable of adding a
recorder ID included in the group certificate G to the
source-ID list L only before the validity term
information included in the group certificate G is
expired.
[0123]
Moreover, the certificate issuance section 150 is
capable of arbitrarily setting a route through which a
group certificate G issued as described above is to be
transmitted to another content-processing apparatus 10.
For example, the certificate issuance section 150 may
set a route passing through the certificate management
server 36 as a route through which a group certificate G
is to be transmitted to another content-processing
apparatus 10. By using such a route, the certificate
management server 36 is capable of executing uniform
management on group certificates G distributed to
content-processing apparatus 10 before passing on the
group certificates G to the content-processing apparatus
10 pertaining to the same apparatus group.
[0124]
A method for distributing group certificates G can
also be set arbitrarily. For example, a group
certificate G can be directly transmitted to a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 by way of the network 5 or local
lines 9, or transmitted by attaching the group
certificate G to an electronic mail. As an alternative,
a group certificate G may be posted on a home page. As
another alternative, a group certificate G can be
transferred to a content-processing apparatus 10 by
storing the group certificate G on a storage medium 7
and then delivering the storage medium 7 to the other
content-processing apparatus 10. As a further
alternative, the group certificate G can be recorded on
the storage medium 7 along with a content and the
storage medium 7 is then delivered to another contentprocessing
apparatus 10. In this way, a ripping content,
a recorder ID added to the ripping content and the group
ID of the content-processing apparatus 10 ripping off
the content from a recording medium can be delivered to
the other content-processing apparatus 10. Thus, a
content-processing apparatus 10 pertaining to the same
apparatus group as a content-processing apparatus 10 is
capable of immediately reproducing the ripping content.
[0125]
A group certificate G given to another contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is used in the other contentprocessing
apparatus 10 in a content-sharing process,
that is, a process to add a recorder ID to the source-ID
list L. That is to say, the other content-processing
apparatus 10 receiving a group certificate G from a
specific content-processing apparatus 10 pertaining to
the same apparatus group as the other content-processing
apparatus 10 is capable of obtaining the recorder ID of
the specific content-processing apparatus 10 having the
same group ID and adding the recorder ID to the source-
ID list L.
[0126]
Thus, by issuing a group certificate G associating
the group ID with the recorder ID and giving the group
certificate G to another content-processing apparatus 10
pertaining to the same apparatus group as the specific
content-processing apparatus 10, the recorder ID can be
shared with the other content-processing apparatus 10
without directly connecting the specific contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to the other content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0127]
It is to be noted that a certificate management
section not shown in the figure can be provided as a
section for storing group certificates G in the
certificate database also not shown in the figure and
managing the group certificates G stored in the
certificate database. The group certificate G is a group
certificate G issued by the certificate issuance section
150, a group certificate G received from another
content-processing apparatus 10 or a group certificate G
received from the certificate management server 36. Thus,
the certificate management section is capable of reading
out a group certificate G obtained in the past from the
certificate database and giving the group certificate G
read out from the certificate database to another
content-processing apparatus 10.
[0128]
The distribution-service utilization section 152
is a unit for carrying out processing related to a
content distribution service in conjunction with the
content distribution server 34.
[0129]
To put it concretely, the distribution-service
utilization section 152 is a unit for exchanging various
kinds of information with the content distribution
server 34 and for supporting operations to input and
output the information. The information includes user
authentication information, charging information and
content distribution request information. Examples of
the user authentication information are a user ID and a
password.
[0130]
In addition, the distribution-service utilization
section 152 also receives a distributed content and its
license, which are transmitted by the content
distribution server 34 by way of the network 5 and the
communication apparatus 115. To put it concretely, when
the user of the content-processing apparatus 10
purchases a content by using a content distribution
service, the distribution-service utilization section
152 downloads a file containing the distributed content
and a file containing a license defining usage rule
information from the content distribution server 34 as
separate files. In the case of a content according to
copyright management adopting the group management
method, license of the distributed content includes a
leaf ID assigned to the user in a group-registering
process. In the case of a content according to copyright
management adopting the check-in/check-out method, on
the other hand, license of the distributed content
includes information describing content usage rule
information such as a limit of the number of checkin/
check-out operations, a limit of the number of
reproductions and a reproducibility term.
[0131]
The distribution-service utilization section 152
reprocesses the data of the distributed content and the
data of license issued for the content to create a
single content file including both the content and
license.
[0132]
At that time, in the case of the distributed
content adopting the group management method, the
source-ID addition section 154 adds a group ID to the
content data of the distributed content. The source-ID
addition section 154 is a configuration element
corresponding to the source-ID addition section 1
described before. Thus, the source-ID addition section
154 attaches a group ID to the distributed content. To
put it concretely, the source-ID addition section 154
carries out a process to convert a leaf ID included in
license issued for the distributed content into a group
ID. In the process to convert a leaf ID into a group ID,
a service ID of the content distribution service is
added to leaf ID. Thus, by attaching a group ID
representing the user and the service to the distributed
content, the distributed content can be associated with
the user and the service.
[0133]
As described above, the distribution-service
utilization section 152 and the source-ID addition
section 154 create a content file as a result of
combining the file containing a distributed content with
a file containing a license for the distributed content.
[0134]
To put it concretely, as shown in Fig. 6(a), a
content file Fl conforming to the group management
method includes a content ID, content data encrypted by
using a content key, the content key encrypted by using
a system common key and a license including a source ID
such as a group ID. The system common key is a key that
can be used only by the content-sharing system 100.
[0135]
As shown in Fig. 6(b), on the other hand, a
content file F2 conforming to the check-in/check-out
method includes a content ID, content data encrypted by
using a content key, the content key encrypted by using
a system common key and a license describing usage rule
information. Licenses included in the content files Fl
and F2 are each a license encrypted so that
interpolation of license will be detected. Thus, a
source ID or a usage rule can be associated with a
license with a high degree of safety. In addition, the
content-processing apparatus 10 also holds common secret
information so that the content-processing apparatus 10
is capable of decrypting an encoded content key and
82
checking whether or not a license has been interpolated.
Thus, even if a content is shared in the content-sharing
system 100, it is possible to prevent a source ID and
usage rule added to the content from being interpolated.
[0136]
The distribution-service utilization section 152
stores a content file created as described above in the
content database 116 of the storage apparatus 111. In
this way, in this embodiment, a content and its license
are managed as a single file stored in the content
database 116. It is to be noted, however, that the
management of contents and their licenses is not limited
to such management of single files. For example, a
content and its license can also be managed as separate
files. In this case, the file of the content may be
stored in the content database 116 while the file of its
license may be stored in a license database, and the
content can be associated with license by using a
content ID, which is included in both the content and
license.
[0137]
In addition, when a content is distributed from
the content distribution server 34 to a contentprocessing
apparatus 10, the distribution-service
utilization section 152 receives also attribute
information of the distributed content. The attribute
information includes the title information of the
distributed content, the content ID of the distributed
content, a distribution time and date of the distributed
content, the data size of the distributed content, the
data format of the distributed content and the type of
the copyright management method. The title information
of a distributed content includes the title information
of the song, the name of the artist (or the singer), the
name of the album, the genre of the content and a
reproduction duration of the song. The distributionservice
utilization section 152 stores the attributes of
the distributed content, the recording location of the
distributed content and other data in the content
management information database 118 as content
management information. An example of the recording
location of the distributed content is an address in the
content database 116.
[0138]
The distribution-service utilization section 152
described above is implemented by software installed in
the content-processing apparatus 10 as software for a
content distribution service corresponding to the
content distribution service utilized by the user. It is
to be noted that the distribution-service utilization
section 152 can be provided for each of a plurality of
content distribution services utilized by the user.
[0139]
The source-ID addition section 154 is a unit for
adding the group ID of the content-processing apparatus
10 to a ripping content, which is defined as a content
ripped off from a musical CD7a by a ripping section 184
to be explained later. To put it concretely, the source-
ID addition section 154 reads out the recorder ID of the
content-processing apparatus 10 from the self-ID
database 117, creates a license including this recorder
ID and associates license with the data of the ripping
content. That is to say, the source-ID addition section
154 creates the file Fl including a content ID,
encrypted data of a ripping content, an encrypted
content key and a license including a recorder ID as
shown in Fig. 6(a). The source-ID addition section 154
then stores the ripping content including the recorder
ID in the content database 116.
[0140]
It is to be noted that, typically, the completion
time of a process to rip off a content is taken as an
ideal timing to add the recorder ID. By immediately
adding a recorder ID to a ripping content in this way,
the recorder ID can be added to the rippling content
with a high degree of reliability before the ripping
content requiring copy management propagates inside the
content-sharing system 100. It is to be noted that the
timing to add a recorder ID to a ripping content is not
limited to the timing explained in this example. For
example, when the ripping content is reproduced for the
first time or when the ripping content is copied to
another content-processing apparatus 10, a recorder ID
may be added to the ripping content.
[0141]
The self-ID database 117 is a database used for
storing IDs assigned to the content-processing apparatus
10 employing the self-ID database 117. The IDs assigned
to the content-processing apparatus 10 include the
device ID, recorder ID and terminal ID of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10.
[0142]
The device ID is an identifier assigned to every
apparatus such as a content-processing apparatus 10 or a
content reproduction apparatus 20 as an identifier
unique to the apparatus. The device ID is assigned to
the content-processing apparatus 10 for example at a
shipping time at the factory and stored in the self-ID
database 117 of the content-processing apparatus 10 with
a high degree of safety.
[0143]
On the other hand, the terminal ID is an ID
assigned to every content-processing apparatus 10 (PC)
as an ID unique to the PC. As described above, the
recorder ID is an ID assigned to every contentprocessing
apparatus 10 having a ripping function as an
ID unique to the content-processing apparatus 10. The
terminal ID and the recorder ID are each generated by
the content-processing apparatus 10 on the basis of the
device ID or a random number as an ID unique to the
content-processing apparatus 10, encrypted to avoid
illegal interpolation and stored in the self-ID database
117 with a high degree of safety.
[0144]
The content-processing section 160 is a unit for
carrying out a variety of processes on a content. The
content-processing section 160 is implemented by
installation of an application program in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 as an application program for
utilizing contents, and/or installation of a DRM module
87
in the content-processing apparatus 10 as a DRM module
for executing copyright management on applications of
the contents. In this case, by utilizing contents,
reproduction or transfer of the contents is implied. The
content-processing section 160 has a content
reproduction section 170, a content-providing section
180, a content acquisition section 182 and the ripping
section 184 cited above.
[0145]
The content reproduction section 170 is a
configuration element corresponding to the content
reproduction section 2 shown in Fig. 2. The contentprocessing
section 170 is implemented by content
reproduction software installed in a reproduction
apparatus having a content reproduction function or the
content-processing apparatus 10 having a content
reproduction function so that the content reproduction
section 170 is capable of reproducing a variety of
contents. Data of a content reproduced by the content
reproduction section 170 is output from the output
apparatus 110.
[0146]
In addition, the content reproduction section 170
is compatible with both a content conforming to the
group management method and a content conforming to the
check-in/check-out method and capable of executing both
reproduction control based on the group management
method and reproduction control based on the checkin/
check-out method. To put it concretely, in the case
of the reproduction control based on the group
management method, the content reproduction section 170
controls reproduction of a processed content on the
basis of a result of determination as to whether or not
a source ID added to the content is included on the
source-ID list L. In the case of the reproduction
control based on the check-in/check-out method, on the
other hand, the content reproduction section 170
controls reproduction of a processed content on the
basis of a result of determination as to whether or not
usage rule information described in a license issued for
the content is satisfied. The detail of the content
reproduction 170 will be described later.
[0147]
It is to be noted that two or more content
reproduction sections 170 can be provided in one
content-processing apparatus 10. For example, two or
more pieces of content reproduction software are
installed in one content-processing apparatus 10 to
implement two or more content reproduction sections 170.
As an alternative configuration, two or more
reproduction apparatuses are provided, or a piece of
content reproduction software is used in conjunction
with reproduction apparatuses in one content-processing
apparatus 10 to implement two or more content
reproduction sections 170 according to content
distribution services and/or copyright management
methods.
[0148]
The content-providing section 180 is a unit for
providing a content to another content-processing
apparatus 10 or a content reproduction apparatus 20. On
the other hand, the content acquisition section 182 is a
unit for acquiring a content from another contentprocessing
apparatus 10 or a content reproduction
apparatus 20. The content-providing section 180 and the
content acquisition section 182 carry out a process to
provide or acquire a content by way of the network 5 or
a local line 9 or by using a recording medium 7 as
content transfer media.
[0149]
It is to be noted that, when a content is
reproduced, provided or acquired, the content-processing
section 160 may control the above process to provide or
acquire a content on the basis of content management
information stored in the content management information
database 118 and display the content management
information on the output apparatus 110.
[0150]
The ripping section 184 is a unit for ripping off
a musical or video content recorded in the recording
medium 7a such as a CD or a DVD. To put it concretely,
the ripping section 184 controls the drive 112 in
accordance with a user input to retrieve musical or
video data from the recording medium 7a and creates a
content by conversion of the musical or video data into
data having a format that can be processed by the
content-processing apparatus 10. An example of the
format that can be processed by the content-processing
apparatus 10 is the ATRAC3 format. Then, the source-ID
addition section 154 adds the recorder ID of the
content-processing apparatus 10 to the content ripped
off from the recording medium 7a in this way.
[0151]
It is to be noted that, in addition to the ripping
section 184, the content-processing apparatus 10 may be
provided with a self-recording section not shown in the
figure as a section for creating a new content by
carrying out a self-audio/video recording process. The
self-recording section may collect sounds from
surroundings of the content-processing apparatus 10,
take a picture of a photographing object, generate audio
and video data and carry out a predetermined process on
the data in order to create a new content. As an
alternative, the self-recording section converts the
format of audio/video data of a radio/television program
received through the communication apparatus 115 into a
recordable format in order to create a new content. By
adding a recorder ID to a content created by the selfrecording
section, the content can be subjected to the
copyright management adopting the group management
method.
[0152]
The ICV-data management section 190 is a unit for
managing ICV (Integrity Check Value) data of the
content-processing apparatus 10 and ICV data of a
content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the
content-processing apparatus 10. The ICV data is data
used for checking validity of a content process at a
content-process execution time.
[0153]
In the case of the copyright management adopting
the group management method, the ICV data includes a
hash value with a key as a MAC value of the source-ID
list L. Thus, on the basis of the ICV data, the ICV-data
management section 190 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the source-ID list L
is valid, that is, whether or not the source-ID list L
has been interpolated illegally. In the case of the
copyright management adopting the check-in/check-out
method, on the other hand, the ICV data includes a hash
value with a key as a MAC value of license issued for
the content. Thus, on the basis of the ICV data, the
ICV-data management section 190 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not license is valid,
that is, whether or not license has been interpolated
illegally.
[0154]
If the result of determination indicates that the
source-ID list L or license is valid, the ICV-data
management section 190 allows the content-processing
section 160 to carry out the content process. If the
result of determination indicates that the source-ID
list L or license is not valid, on the other hand, the
ICV-data management section 190 does not allow the
content-processing section 160 to carry out the content
process.
[0155]
In addition, the ICV data includes a flag used as
a typical method indicator showing whether the copyright
management method is the group management method or the
check-in/check-out method. For example, the flag set at
"0" indicates that the copyright management method is
the group management method. On the other hand, the flag
set at "1" indicates that the copyright management
method is the check-in/check-out method. Thus, the
content-processing section 160 processes the content in
accordance with a copyright management method indicated
by the flag.
[0156]
The ICV-data management section 190 is capable of
managing not only the ICV data regarding the contentprocessing
apparatus 10, but also the ICV data regarding
a content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the
content-processing apparatus 10 as well. Thus, the ICVdata
management section 190 is capable of setting the
copyright management method of the content reproduction
apparatus 20 by having the content-processing apparatus
10 set the flag included in the ICV data of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 as a typical method indicator.
At that time, the process to set the copyright
management method of the content reproduction apparatus
20 may be carried out on the basis of region information
showing a region in which the content-sharing system 100
is used. If the content reproduction apparatus 20 is
used in the US, for example, the group management method
is adopted as the copyright management method. If the
content reproduction apparatus 20 is used in Japan, on
the other hand, the check-in/check-out method is adopted
as the copyright management method.
[0157]
In addition, the content-processing apparatus 10
may be provided with a transfer control section not
shown in the figure as a section for controlling
transfers of contents between the content-processing
apparatus 10 (PC) and the content reproduction apparatus
20 (PD). To be more specific, at a request based on a
user input, the transfer control section controls a
transfer of a content stored in the content-processing
apparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20 or
a transfer of a content stored in the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0158]
The transfer control section is capable of
executing not only control of transfers of contents
subjected to copyright management, that is, contents
each including a source ID added thereto, but also
control of contents exempted from copyright management,
that is, contents each including no source ID added
thereto. In the case of the control of contents exempted
from copyright management, for example, when a request
for a transfer of a content from the content-processing
apparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20 or
a request for a transfer of a content from the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the content-processing
apparatus 10 is entered, the transfer control section
compares group IDs on the source-ID list L of the
content-processing apparatus 10 with group IDs on the
source-ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus
20. If the result of the comparison indicates that the
group IDs on the source-ID list L of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 match the group IDs on the
source-ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus
20, the transfer control section allows the requested
transfer. If the result of the comparison indicates that
the group IDs on the source-ID list L of the content-
processing apparatus 10 do not match the group IDs on
the source-ID list L of the content reproduction
apparatus 20, on the other hand, the transfer control
section does not allow the requested transfer. Thus, the
transfer control section is capable of restricting not
only control of transfers of contents subjected to
copyright management, but also control of contents
exempted from copyright management, that is, contents
for which there is no limit of the number of executable
operations to copy the contents from one apparatus to
another apparatus.
[0159]
The configuration elements employed in the
content-processing apparatus 10 have been described
above. The data communication section 120, the groupregistering
section 130, list management section 140,
the certificate issuance section 150, the distributionservice
utilization section 152, the source-ID addition
section 154, the content-processing section 160, the
ICV-data management section 190 and the transfer control
section may each be implemented as hardware having the
functions of the section, or by installing a program in
the content-processing apparatus 10 as a program to be
executed by a computer for carrying out the functions of
the section.
[0160]
Next, by referring to Fig. 7, the content
reproduction section 170 provided by the embodiment is
explained in detail. It is to be noted that Fig. 7 is a
block diagram showing an outline of functions of the
content reproduction section 170 provided by the
embodiment.
[0161]
As shown in Fig. 1, the content reproduction
section 170 includes a reproducibility determination
section 172, a reproduction execution section 174 and a
list-updating request section 176.
[0162]
The reproducibility determination section 172 is a
unit for controlling reproduction of a requested content,
The reproducibility determination section 172 is capable
of executing both reproduction control based on the
group management method and reproduction control based
on the check-in/check-out method.
[0163]
In execution of the reproduction control based on
the group management method, the reproducibility
determination section 172 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not a requested content
can be reproduced on the basis of a source ID added to
the content and the source-ID list L. In this case, the
source ID can be a recorder ID or a group ID.
[0164]
To put it concretely, first of all, when the
reproducibility determination section 172 receives a
request for reproduction of a content from the input
apparatus 108, the reproducibility determination section
172 reads out the requested content from the content
database 116 and produces a result of determination as
to whether or not the content includes a source ID added
thereto, that is, a result of determination as to
whether or not a license in the content file of the
content includes the source ID. If the result of the
determination indicates that the content does not
include a source ID, the reproducibility determination
section 172 recognizes the content as a content exempted
from the copyright management and, hence, allows the
content to be reproduced. In this case, the
reproducibility determination section 172 outputs a
content-reproduction request signal to the reproduction
execution section 174. If the result of the
determination indicates that the content includes a
source ID, that is, the content includes a recorder ID
or a group ID, on the other hand, the reproducibility
determination section 172 recognizes the content as a
content subjected to the copyright management. In this
case, the reproducibility determination section 172
carries out a process described as follows.
[0165]
First of all, the reproducibility determination
section 172 reads out or extracts a source ID from the
license included in the content file with the source-ID
list L, the contents of which are to be compared with
the source ID. Then, the reproducibility determination
section 172 compares the source ID >read out from the
content file with source IDs on the source-ID list L in
order to determine as to whether or not the source ID
read out from the content file matches any one of source
IDs on the source-ID list L. If the result of the
comparison indicates that the source ID read out from
the content file matches any one of the source IDs on
the source-ID list L, the reproducibility determination
section 172 checks the validity term of the source ID.
If the validity term of the source ID has not been
expired yet, the reproducibility determination section
172 allows the content to be reproduced. In this case,
the reproducibility determination section 172 outputs a
content-reproduction request signal to the reproduction
execution section 174. If the result of the comparison
indicates that the source ID read out from the content
file does not match any one of the source IDs on the
source-ID list L or the validity term of the source ID
has been already expired, on the other hand, the
reproducibility determination section 172 does not allow
the content to be reproduced. In this case, the
reproducibility determination section 172 does not
output a content-reproduction request signal to the
reproduction execution section 174. Thus, the
reproduction execution section 174 is not capable of
reproducing the content. It is to be noted that, in this
case, an error notice may be displayed to indicate that
the reproduction condition is not satisfied.
[0166]
As described above, the reproducibility
determination section 172 provided by the embodiment
imposes a limitation on reproduction of a content by
completely prohibiting the reproduction of the content
contained in a file including a source ID not registered
on the source-ID list L. However, the limitation on
reproduction of a content is not limited to the complete
prohibition of the reproduction of the content contained
in a file including a source ID not registered on the
source-ID list L. For example, the limitation imposed by
the reproducibility determination section 172 on
reproduction of a content can be permission of partial
reproduction of the content contained in a file
including a source ID not registered on the source-ID
list L, permission of reproduction of such a content at
a degraded picture or sound quality or other quality or
permission of reproduction of such a content only a
predetermined number of times such as once and
prohibition of reproduction of the content thereafter.
By partial reproduction of a content, reproduction of a
part of the content or reproduction of the content only
during a predetermined period of time is implied.
[0167]
In addition, if the source ID included in the
content is not a source ID registered on the source-ID
list L, typically, the reproducibility determination
section 172 supplies the source ID to the list-updating
request section 176.
[0168]
In execution of the reproduction control based on
the check-in/check-out method, on the other hand, the
reproducibility determination section 112 produces a
result of determination as to whether or not
reproduction of a requested content is to be permitted
on the basis of usage rule information described in a
license issued for the content. As described before, the
usage rule information includes a limit of the number of
allowed reproductions and a reproduction validity term.
If the result of the determination indicates that the
usage rule information is satisfied, the reproducibility
determination section 172 allows the content to be
reproduced. In this case, the reproducibility
determination section 172 outputs a content-reproduction
request signal to the reproduction execution section 174.
If the result of the determination indicates that the
usage rule information is not satisfied, on the other
hand, the reproducibility determination section 172 does
not allow the content to be reproduced. In this case,
the reproducibility determination section 172 does not
output a content-reproduction request signal to the
reproduction execution section 174.
[0169]
In accordance with a content-reproduction request
signal received from the reproducibility determination
section 172, the reproduction execution section 174
reproduces the content specified by the signal. To put
it concretely, first of all, the reproduction execution
section 174 decrypts an encrypted content key by using a
service common key. Then, the reproduction execution
section 174 decrypts the encrypted content by using the
decrypted content key. Finally, the reproduction
execution section 174 decodes the decrypted content,
reproduces the decoded content and outputs the
reproduced content from the output section 110.
[0170]
The list-updating request section 176 is a unit
for requesting the list management section 140 to
register a recorder ID on the source-ID list L. A
process to make a request for registering a recorder ID
on the source-ID list L is carried out by the listupdating
request section 176 by outputting an IDregistering
request signal specifying the recorder ID to
be registered to the list management section 140.
[0171]
To put it concretely, when the list-updating
request section 176 receives a source ID not registered
on the source-ID list L from the reproducibility
determination section 172, for example, the listupdating
request section 176 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the source ID is a
recorder ID or a group ID. If the result of the
determination indicates that the source ID is a recorder
ID, the list-updating request section 176 requests the
list management section 140 to register the recorder ID
on the source-ID list L. The list-updating request
section 176 may automatically carry out the process to
make a request for registering a recorder ID on the
source-ID list L or at a request made by the user in
response to an inquiry issued by the list-updating
request section 176 to the user as an inquiry about
whether or not the user desires the registration of the
recorder ID. If the result of the determination
indicates that the source ID is a group ID, on the other
hand, the list-updating request section 176 does not
request the list management section 140 to register the
group ID on the source-ID list L. This is because a
content-processing apparatus 10 can only be registered
in one apparatus group owned by a user.
[0172]
Next, the list management section 140 provided by
the embodiment is explained in detail by referring to
Fig. 8. It is to be noted that Fig. 8 is a block diagram
showing an outline of the configuration of the list
management section 140 provided by the embodiment.
[0173]
As shown in Fig. 8, the list management section
140 has a certificate request section 141, a certificate
acquisition section 142, a recorder-ID-updating section
144, a list synchronization section 146, a self-ID
addition section 148 and a group-ID-updating section 149,
[0174]
The certificate request section 141 is a unit for
transmitting a certificate request signal automatically
or at a request made by the user to another contentprocessing
apparatus 10 or to the certificate management
server 36 as a signal to make a request for a group
certificate G issued for the other content-processing
apparatus 10 pertaining to the same apparatus group. For
example, the certificate request section 141 transmits
the certificate request signal to the other contentprocessing
apparatus 10 or the certificate management
server 36 by specifying the recorder ID received from
the content reproduction section 170 as described above
as a signal making a request for a group certificate G
including the specified recorder ID. In addition, with
any timing, the certificate request section 141 may
transfer a group ID assigned to the content-processing
apparatus 10 employing the certificate request section
141 to another content-processing apparatus 10 or the
certificate management server 36 to make a request for
one or more group certificates G each including a
recorder ID associated with the group ID as recorder IDs
of other content-processing apparatus 10 pertaining to
the same apparatus group as the content-processing
apparatus 10 employing the certificate request section
141.
[0175]
The certificate acquisition section 142 is a unit
for acquiring a group certificate G from another
content-processing apparatus 10 or the certificate
management server 36. To put it concretely, the
certificate acquisition section 142 is capable of
receiving and acquiring a group certificate G
transmitted by another content-processing apparatus 10
or the certificate management server 36 by way of the
network 5 and the communication apparatus 115. In
addition, the certificate acquisition section 142 is
capable of acquiring a group certificate G from another
content-processing apparatus 10 by requesting the drive
112 to read out the group certificate G from the storage
medium 7 provided from the other content-processing
apparatus 10. The certificate acquisition section 142
supplies the group certificate G acquired as described
above to the recorder-ID-updating section 144.
[0176]
The recorder-ID-updating section 144 is a unit for
registering a recorder ID on the source-ID list L on the
basis of a group certificate G received from the
certificate acquisition section 142. To put it
concretely, first of all, the recorder-ID-updating
section 144 reads out a group ID included in the group
certificate G and compares the group ID with those on
the source-ID list L in order to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not the group ID matches
any of those on the source-ID list L. If the result of
the determination indicates that the group ID matches
any of those on the source-ID list L, the recorder-IDupdating
section 144 reads out a recorder ID included in
the group certificate G as a recorder ID of another
content-processing apparatus 10 and registers the
recorder ID included in the group certificate G on the
source-ID list L. If the result of the determination
indicates that the group ID does not match any one of
those on the source-ID list L, on the other hand, the
recorder-ID-updating section 144 does not register the
recorder ID included in the group certificate G on the
source-ID list L.
[0177]
In this way, the recorder-ID-updating section 144
is capable of registering the recorder ID of a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 pertaining to the same apparatus
group as the content-processing apparatus 10 on the
source-ID list L. It is to be noted that the recorder-
ID-updating section 144 may impose limitation on the
operation to register a recorder ID on the source-ID
list L by setting an upper limit of the number of
recorder IDs that can be registered on the source-ID
list L.
[0178]
The list synchronization section 146 is a unit
provided with a function for synchronizing a plurality
of source-ID lists L. The function for synchronizing a
plurality of source-ID lists L is a function to merge a
plurality of source-ID lists L different from each other
into a synchronized source-ID list L containing all
recorder IDs included in the original source-ID lists L
without duplications.
[0179]
A process of synchronizing a plurality of source-
ID lists L can only be carried out by any of specific
content-processing apparatus 10 each having a group ID
identifying an apparatus group common to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. To put it concretely, the list
synchronization section 146 acquires a source-ID list L
owned by another content-processing apparatus 10 or the
content reproduction apparatus 20 and compares group IDs
on the acquired source-ID list L with group IDs on the
source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10 employing the list synchronization section
146. Only if the group IDs on the acquired the source-ID
list L match the group IDs on the source-ID list L owned
by the content-processing apparatus 10 employing the
list synchronization section 146, does the list
synchronization section 146 synchronize the source-ID
lists L.
[0180]
The process of synchronizing a plurality of
source-ID lists L results in a synchronized source-ID
list L containing recorder IDs included in the original
source-ID lists L owned by a plurality of apparatus
registered in the same apparatus group. Thus, the
specific content-processing apparatus 10 are capable of
sharing a ripping content and reproducing the content.
[0181]
It is to be noted that the process of
synchronizing a plurality of source-ID lists L can be
carried out by the list synchronization section 146
employed in any of the specific content-processing
apparatus 10 connected to each other by a private
network periodically or with any arbitrary timing. As an
alternative, the process of synchronizing a plurality of
source-ID lists L may be carried out by the list
synchronization section 146 employed in any of the
specific content-processing apparatus 10 connected to
each other by a private network in accordance with a
command entered by the user. In addition, the process of
synchronizing a plurality of source-ID lists L may be
carried out by the list synchronization section 146
employed in not only any of the specific contentprocessing
apparatus 10 connected to each other by a
private network and any of the content-processing
apparatus 10 connected to each other by local lines 9,
but also any of the specific content-processing
apparatus 10 placed at remote locations and connected to
each other by the network 5.
[0182]
The self-ID addition section 148 is a unit for
registering the recorder ID of the content-processing
apparatus 10 on the source-ID list L, for example,
unconditionally. To put it concretely, the self-ID
addition section 148 reads out the recorder ID of the
content-processing apparatus 10 from the self-ID
database 117 and records the recorder ID on the source-
ID list L. Thus, without regard to whether or not a
group-registering process has been done, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is capable of reproducing a
ripping content ripped off by itself from a recording
medium. It is to be noted that a group ID can be
generated by a self-ID addition section on the basis of
a random number or the like and stored in the self-ID
database 117.
[0183]
The group-ID-updating section 149 is a unit for
registering a group ID, which is received from the
group-registering section 130 for example when the
content-processing apparatus 10 is subjected to a groupregistering
process, on the source-ID list L. Thus, the
content-processing apparatus 10 is capable of
reproducing a distributed content contained in a file
including the registered group ID.
[0184]
When a group-de-registering notice is received
from the group-registering section 130, the group-IDupdating
section 149 deletes all source IDs, which can
be recorder IDs or group IDs, from the source-ID list L.
However, only the recorder ID of the content-processing
apparatus 10 is left on the source-ID list L. With only
the recorder ID of the content-processing apparatus 10
left on the source-ID list L, the content-processing
apparatus 10 is capable of reproducing only a ripping
content created by itself and a content exempted from
the copyright management.
[0185]
It is to be noted that the recorder-ID-updating
section 144 and the group-ID-updating section 149 are
also capable of updating a source-ID list L received
from a content reproduction apparatus 20 and returning
the updated source-ID list L to the content reproduction
apparatus 20.
[0186]
The list management section 140 provided by the
embodiment has been explained so far. As described above,
the list management section 140 registers a group ID
obtained as a result of a group-registering process on
the source-ID list L. In addition, the list management
section 140 also registers the recorder ID of another
content-processing apparatus 10 on the source-ID list L
if the other content-processing apparatus 10 pertains to
the same group ID as the content-processing apparatus 10,
Thus, content-processing apparatus 10 pertaining to the
same apparatus group are capable of reproducing a copied
distributed content and a copied ripping content with a
high degree of freedom. As for a content-processing
apparatus 10 pertaining to another apparatus group or a
content-processing apparatus 10 not registered in an
apparatus group, reproduction of a copied content is
restricted in order to prevent the content from being
utilized illegally.
[0187]
It is also possible to provide a configuration in
which only one list management section 140 is provided
as a representative to a selected content-processing
apparatus 10 among a plurality of content-processing
apparatus 10 and content reproduction apparatus 20
connected to each other by a private network. The
representative list management section 140 may then
update the source-ID lists L for the content-processing
apparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20
in an integrated manner in a bulk operation. In this
case, it is desirable to provide the representative list
management section 140 in a server connected to the
private network.
[0188]
4. Content feocess-i-frg- Apparatus (PD)
Next, the configuration of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) according to the
embodiment is explained in detail.
[0189]
First of all, a hardware configuration of the
content reproduction apparatus 20 according to the
embodiment is explained by referring to Fig. 9. It is to
be noted that Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing an
outline of the hardware configuration of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 provided by the embodiment.
[0190]
As shown in Fig. 9, the content reproduction
apparatus 20 includes a main control apparatus 201, a
flash memory 202, a RAM 203, a data-processing apparatus
204, a bus 206, an input apparatus 208, a display
apparatus 210, a storage apparatus (or an HDD) 211, a
decoder 213, a communication apparatus 215, an audio
output circuit 216, a remote controller 218 and a
headphones 219.
[0191]
The main control apparatus 201 functions as a
control apparatus for controlling the other components
of the content reproduction apparatus 20. The flash
memory 202 is a memory used for storing programs each
used for prescribing an operation of the main control
apparatus 201 and various kinds of data. The RAM 203 is
an SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) used for temporarily storing
various kinds of data related to operations carried out
by the main control apparatus 201.
[0192]
The data-processing apparatus 204 is a system LSI
or the like for processing data transferred among
components in the content reproduction apparatus 20. The
bus 206 is data lines for connecting components such as
the main control apparatus 201, the flash memory 202,
the RAM 203, the data-processing apparatus 204, the
input apparatus 208, the display apparatus 210, the
storage apparatus (or the HDD) 211, the decoder 213, the
communication apparatus 215 and the audio output circuit
216 to each other.
[0193]
The input apparatus 208 and the remote controller
218 each include operation means and an input control
circuit. The operation means includes a touch panel,
button keys, a lever and a dial. On the other hand, the
input control circuit is a circuit for generating an
input signal in accordance with an operation carried out
by the user on the operation means and supplying the
input signal to the main control apparatus 201. The user
of the content reproduction apparatus 20 operates the
input apparatus 208 and/or the remote controller 218 to
be described later to enter various kinds of data and a
command making a request for processing to the content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0194]
The display apparatus 210 includes an LCD panel
and an LCD control circuit. In accordance with control
executed by the main control apparatus 201, the display
apparatus 210 displays various kinds of information as
texts or images. As will be described later, for example,
the display apparatus 210 is capable of displaying the
title information of every content in the content
reproduction apparatus 20 along with information
revealing whether or not the content can be reproduced.
[0195]
The storage apparatus 211 is an apparatus included
in the content reproduction apparatus 20 according to
the embodiment as a typical storage apparatus for
storing various kinds of data. Typically, the storage
apparatus 211 is implemented as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
having a typical storage capacity of several tens of GB.
The stored data includes compressed contents, programs
to be executed by the main control apparatus 201 and
processing data.
[0196]
The decoder 213 is a unit for carrying out
processing including a process to decrypt an encrypted
content, a decoding process, a surround process and a
process to convert processed content data into PCM data.
[0197]
The communication apparatus 215 has a
configuration including a USB controller and a USB
terminal. The communication apparatus 215 is a unit for
exchanging various kinds of data with a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 connected to the content
reproduction apparatus 20 by a local line 9 such as a
USB cable. The exchanged data includes a content, a
source-ID L, ICV data, content management information
and a control signal.
[0198]
The audio output circuit 216 is a unit for
outputting analog audio data to the remote controller
218. The analog audio data is data obtained as a result
of a decryption process carried out by the decoder 213
on a content and a DA conversion process carried out by
the CPU 201 on a decrypted content. The remote
controller 218 passes the analog audio data to the
headphones 219 to be finally output by a speaker
embedded in the headphones 219.
[0199]
The following description explains main data flows
in the content reproduction apparatus 20 having the
hardware configuration described above.
[0200]
The description begins with data flows, which
occur when the content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD)
receives a content from the content-processing apparatus
10 (PC). Typically, the content-processing apparatus 10
and the content reproduction apparatus 20 are connected
to each other by a local line 9 such as a USB cable. To
the content-processing apparatus 10, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 appears as a removable HDD. In
this state, when the content-processing apparatus 10
transmits a content and control information such as ICV
data to the content reproduction apparatus 20, the
communication apparatus 215 receives the content and the
control information. The communication apparatus 215
stores the content directly into the storage apparatus
211. On the other hand, the communication apparatus 215
supplies the control information to the main control
apparatus 201 by way of the data-processing apparatus
204 to be stored in a predetermined storage area.
[0201]
Next, the description explains data flows, which
occur when the content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD)
reproduces a content. First of all, the main control
apparatus 201 receives a request for reproduction of a
content. If the main control apparatus 201 allows the
reproduction of the content, the data-processing
apparatus 204 reads out the content from the storage
apparatus 211 and transfers the content to the RAM 203.
Concurrently with the transfer of the content to the RAM
203, the content already transferred to the RAM 203 is
supplied to the decoder 213. Then, the decoder 213
carries out processing including a process to decrypt
the encrypted content, a decoding process, a surround
process and a process to convert processed content data
into PCM data, transferring the PCM data to the main
control apparatus 201. The main control apparatus 201
drives a DA converter not shown in the figure to convert
the PCM data into analog audio data while adjusting the
volume, and supply the analog audio data to an amplifier
employed in the audio output circuit 216. The audio
output circuit 216 passes the analog audio data to the
headphones 219 by way of the remote controller 218 to be
eventually output from the headphones 219.
[0202]
Next, main functions of the content reproduction
apparatus 20 according to the embodiment are explained
by referring to Fig. 10. It is to be noted that Fig. 10
is a block diagram showing an outline of the functions
executed by the content reproduction apparatus 20
provided by the embodiment.
[0203]
As shown in Fig. 10, the content reproduction
apparatus 20 has a data communication section 220, a
storage section 230, a reproduction-control-method
recognition section 240, a reproducibility determination
section 242, a reproduction execution section 244, a
title-list creation section 250 and a content select
section 252.
[0204]
The data communication section 220 is a unit for
exchanging data with the content-processing apparatus 10
through a local line 9 by utilizing the communication
apparatus 215.
[0205]
The storage section 230 includes the storage
apparatus 211 cited above and the flash memory 202,
which are used for storing various kinds of data in the
content reproduction apparatus 20. The storage section
230 is also used for storing ICV data 231, the source-ID
list L, a content database 234 and a content management
control information database 236.
[0206]
The ICV data 231 is data generated by the ICV-data
management section 190 employed in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10, which then transmits the data
to the content reproduction apparatus 20. The ICV data
231 is used as data for checking validity of a content
reproduction process to be carried out in the content
reproduction apparatus 20. The ICV data 231 includes a
1-bit flag 232 in its head and a MAC value 233.
[0207]
The flag 232 is typical method recognition
information indicating which reproduction control method
(or which copyright management method) is adopted by the
content reproduction apparatus 20. If the group
management method is adopted by the content-processing
apparatus 10 as the reproduction control method of the
content reproduction apparatus 20, the flag 232 is reset
for example to "0 . If the check-in/check-out method is
adopted by the content-processing apparatus 10 as the
reproduction control method of the content reproduction
apparatus 20, on the other hand, the flag 232 is set at
"1 .
[0208]
In addition, if the group management method is
adopted by the content-processing apparatus 10 as the
reproduction control method of the content reproduction
apparatus 20, the MAC value 233 is set at a value equal
to the MAC value of the source-ID list L. If the checkin/
check-out method is adopted by the content-processing
apparatus 10 as the reproduction control method of the
content reproduction apparatus 20, on the other hand,
the MAC value is set at a value generated in accordance
with each license including usage rule information for a
content.
[0209]
Furthermore, the source-ID list L stored in the
storage section 230 is about identical with the source-
ID list L of the content-processing apparatus 10. When
the content reproduction apparatus 20 is registered in
an apparatus group, a group ID assigned to the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is added to the source-ID list
L stored in the storage section 230. Moreover, the
source-ID list L stored in the storage section 230 also
includes the recorder ID of every content-processing
apparatus 10 pertaining to the same apparatus group as
the content reproduction apparatus 20. In this
embodiment, the source-ID list L stored in the storage
section 230 is updated by the list management section
140 employed in the content-processing apparatus 10.
However, a list management section can also be
incorporated in the content reproduction apparatus 20 as
a section for updating the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 itself.
[0210]
The content database 234 is a database used for
storing a content transferred from the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. If the group management method
is adopted as the reproduction control method of the
content reproduction apparatus 20, the content database
234 is used for storing contents each having an added
license including a source ID as shown in Fig. 6(a). If
the check-in/check-out method is adopted as the
reproduction control method of the content reproduction
apparatus 20, on the other hand, the content database
234 is used for storing contents each having an added
license including usage rule information as shown in Fig,
6(b) .
[0211]
Much like the content management control
information database 118 included in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10, the content management control
information database 236 is a database used for storing
attribute information and recording location information
of every content stored in the content database 234. The
attribute information of a content includes the ID and
title information of the content. The title information
of a content can be any of a song name, artist name and
album name of the content. An example of the recording
location is an address in the content database 234.
[0212]
The database of the self ID, which is not shown in
the figure, in the storage section 230 stores, for
example, a device ID of the content reproduction
apparatus 20. The device ID is the ID added in units of
the content reproduction apparatus 20 before factory
shipment. The device ID is used at group registering
process of the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0213]
The reproduction-control-method recognition
section 240 is a unit for reading out the flag 232 from
the ICV data 231 at a content reproduction time and
recognizing a method adopted as the reproduction control
method of the content reproduction apparatus 20 set by
the content processing apparatus 10 on the basis of the
flag 232. To put it concretely, if the flag 232 is "0 ,
the reproduction-control-method recognition section 240
recognizes the group management method (a first
reproduction control method) as the reproduction control
method of the content reproduction apparatus 20. If the
flag 232 is "1 , on the other hand, the reproductioncontrol-
method recognition section 240 recognizes the
check-in/check-out method (a second reproduction control
method) as the reproduction control method of the
content reproduction apparatus 20. The reproductioncontrol-
method recognition section 240 supplies the
recognized reproduction control method of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the reproducibility
determination section 242.
[0214]
The reproducibility determination section 242 is a
unit for producing a result of determination as to
whether or not a content requested as a content to be
reproduced in accordance with a reproduction control
method recognized by the reproduction-control-method
recognition section 240 can be reproduced. The
reproducibility determination section 242 has a first
reproducibility determination section 242a for executing
reproduction control according to the group management
method adopted as a copyright management scheme and a
second reproducibility determination section 242b for
executing reproduction control according to the checkin/
check-out method adopted as a copyright management
scheme.
[0215]
If the reproduction-control-method recognition
section 240 recognizes the group management method (or
the first reproduction control method) as the
reproduction control method of the content reproduction
apparatus 20, the reproducibility determination section
242 drives the first reproducibility determination
section 242a to produce a result of determination as to
whether or not a content to be reproduced is
reproducible on the basis of a source ID added to the
content and the source-ID list L. It is to be noted that,
if a validity term has been set in the source ID on the
source-ID list L and the validity term has not been
expired, reproduction of the content is permitted.
[0216]
If the reproduction-control-method recognition
section 240 recognizes the check-in/check-out method (or
the first reproduction control method) as the
reproduction control method of the content reproduction
apparatus 20, on the other hand, the reproducibility
determination section 242 drives the second
reproducibility determination section 242b to produce a
result of determination as to whether or not a content
to be reproduced is reproducible on the basis of usage
rule information described in a license added to the
content. The usage rule information includes a limit of
the number of permitted reproductions and a reproduction
validity term. It is to be noted that, since the
reproducibility determination section 242 has about the
same functions as the reproducibility determination
section 172 employed in a content-processing apparatus
10, details of the reproducibility determination section
242 are not explained.
[0217]
The reproduction execution section 244 is a unit
for reproducing a content determined by the
reproducibility determination section 242 to be a
reproducible content and supplying the reproduced
content to the audio output circuit 216. It is to be
noted that, since the reproduction execution section 244
has about the same functions as the reproduction
execution section 174 employed in a content-processing
apparatus 10, details of the reproduction execution
section 244 are not explained.
[0218]
The title-list creation section 250 is a unit for
reading out title information of all or some contents
stored in the content database 234 from the content
management control information database 236 and creating
a list of content title information. In the following
description, the list of content title information is
referred to as a content-title list. The content-title
list is a table of song names each representing a
musical content. The content-title list also includes
additional information such as the artist name, album
name and reproduction duration of every musical content
on the list. The title-list creation section 250
displays a created content-title list on the display
apparatus 210. Thus, the user is capable of viewing the
content-title list, selecting the title information of a
content to be reproduced from the list, specifying the
selected title by operating the input apparatus 208 and
making a request for reproduction of the content
represented by the specified title. As described above,
the title-list creation section 250 and the display
apparatus 210 are configured to function as a typical
display section for displaying titles of one or more
contents held by the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0219]
The content select section 252 is a unit for
selecting a content to be reproduced on the basis of an
input entered by the user via the input apparatus 208
and supplying information on the selected content to the
reproducibility determination section 242. To put it
concretely, text information is generated as a text
representing the content, the reproduction of which is
desired by the user, and the content select section 252
reads out the ID and storage location of the desired
content from the content management control information
database 236 and supplies the ID and the storage
location to the reproducibility determination section
242. The reproducibility determination section 242 then
produces a result of determination as to whether or not
the selected content to be reproduced is reproducible
and requests the reproduction execution section 244 to
reproduce the content only if the content is found
reproducible.
[0220]
The title-list creation section 250 is also
capable of creating a content-title list to be displayed
on the display apparatus 210 as a list distinguishing
title information of reproducible contents from title
information of irreproducible ones. In this case, first
of all, the title-list creation section 250 requests the
reproducibility determination section 242 to produce a
result of determination as to whether or not every
content to be reproduced is reproducible. Then, on the
basis of the result of the determination, the title-list
creation section 250 creates a content-title list to be
displayed on the display apparatus 210 as a list
distinguishing title information of reproducible
contents from title information of irreproducible ones.
Thus, the user is capable of selecting a content to be
reproduced among the reproducible ones by specifying the
title information of the desired content. If the user
selects the title information of a content to be
reproduced among the reproducible ones displayed on the
display apparatus 210, in this way, the content select
section 252 outputs the ID and storage location of the
content corresponding to the selected title information
to the reproducibility determination section 242. The
content can be reproduced without the need to produce a
result of determination in the reproducibility
determination section 242 as a determination of whether
or not the content is reproducible.
[0221]
The functional configuration of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 according to the embodiment
has been explained so far. The content reproduction
apparatus 20 is capable of selectively executing
reproduction control based on the group management
method or reproduction control based on the checkin/
check-out method in accordance with setting made by
the content-processing apparatus 10. Thus, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 not only enhances the
convenience provided to the user of the content
reproduction apparatus 20, but also allows the
development work to be carried out with a higher degree
of efficiency and, hence, the cost of the development
work to be reduced due to the fact that it is no longer
necessary to develop and design a variety of models of
the content reproduction apparatus 20 as models tailored
to a variety of reproduction control methods.
[0222]
In addition, the content reproduction apparatus 20
is compatible with the group management method adopted
as a copyright management method for controlling
reproduction of contents on the basis of a source ID
added to each of the content and the source-ID list L.
Thus, the user is allowed to download a content from the
content-processing apparatus 10 owned by the user to the
content reproduction apparatus 20 with a high degree of
freedom and reproduce the downloaded content in the
content reproduction apparatus 20. As a result, the
degree of freedom of content usability is increased,
resulting in a user-friendlier system in comparison with
the conventional check-in/check-out method.
[0223]
It is to be noted that the units such as the data
communication section 220, the reproduction-controlmethod
recognition section 240, the reproducibility
determination section 242, the reproduction execution
section 244, the title-list creation section 250 and the
content select section 252 can each be implemented as
hardware having the functions of the unit. As an
alternative, each of the units can also be realized by
installing a program in the content reproduction
apparatus 20 as a program to be executed by a computer
of the content reproduction apparatus 20 to carry out
the functions of the unit.
[0224]
In addition, in the embodiment described above, if
no source ID is added to a content, the reproducibility
determination section 242 employed in the content
reproduction apparatus 20 produces a determination
result indicating that the content is exempted from the
copyright protection. In this case, the reproducibility
determination section 242 permits reproduction of the
content and outputs a signal making a request for
reproduction of the content to the reproduction
execution section 244. That is to say, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is designed into a
configuration allowing a content exempted from the
copyright protection such as a content having no source
ID to be reproduced with a high degree of freedom. The
group management method described earlier is possible to
implement limitations on utilization of contents
exempted from the copyright protection as explained
below.
[0225]
First of all, at step 1, when a transfer control
section employed in the content-processing apparatus 10
as a section shown in none of the figures receives a
request for a transfer of a content stored in the
content database 116 as a content exempted from the
copyright protection to a content reproduction apparatus
20 by a local line 9, the transfer control section
acquires a the source-ID list L stored in the content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0226]
Then, at step 2, the transfer control section
compares group IDs included on the source-ID list L
acquired from the content reproduction apparatus 20 with
group IDs included on the source-ID list L owned by the
content-processing apparatus 10 employing the transfer
control section.
[0227]
If the result of the comparison indicates that the
group IDs included on the source-ID list L acquired from
the content reproduction apparatus 20 match the group
IDs included on the source-ID list L owned by the
content-processing apparatus 10, at step 3, the transfer
control section allows the content received the transfer
request and exempted from the copyright protection to be
transferred from the content-processing apparatus 10 to
the content reproduction apparatus 20. If the result of
the comparison indicates that the two group IDs do not
match each other, on the other hand, the transfer
control section does not allow the transfer.
[0228]
In addition, while a transfer of a content
exempted from the copyright protection from a content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the content-processing
apparatus 10 is basically prohibited, it is possible to
provide a configuration allowing such a transfer by
adoption of the group management method. The technique
adopted in the configuration is explained as follows.
[0229]
First of all, at step 1, when the transfer control
section employed in the content-processing apparatus 10
receives a request from the content reproduction
apparatus 20 as a request for a transfer of a content
stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20
connected by a local line 9 to the content-processing
apparatus 10. The content is exempted from the copyright
protection and stored the content reproduction apparatus
136
20. Received the transfer request, the transfer control
section acquires a the source-ID list L stored in the
content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0230]
Then, at step 2, the transfer control section
compares group IDs included on the source-ID list L
acquired from the content reproduction apparatus 20 with
group IDs included on the source-ID list L owned by the
content-processing apparatus 10 employing the transfer
control section.
[0231]
If the result of the comparison indicates that the
group IDs included on the source-ID list L acquired from
the content reproduction apparatus 20 match the group
IDs included on the source-ID list L owned by the
content-processing apparatus 10, at step 3, the transfer
control section allows the content received the transfer
request and exempted from the copyright protection to be
transferred from the content reproduction apparatus 20
to the content-processing apparatus 10. If the result of
the comparison indicates that the two group IDs do not
match each other, on the other hand, the transfer
control section does not allow the transfer.
[0232]
As described above, the group management method
provided by the embodiment can be adopted to control
transfers of contents between the content-processing
apparatus 10 and a content reproduction apparatus 20.
Thus, utilization of contents can be restricted by
imposing limitations on transfers of copied contents
exempted from the copyright protection.
[0233]
5. Servers
Next, the configuration of the servers 30 is
explained in detail by referring to Fig. 11. It is to be
noted that Fig. 11 is a block diagram showing an outline
of functions of the servers 30 provided by the
embodiment.
[0234]
As shown in Fig. 11, the servers 30 include the
WWW server 31, the group management server 32, the
content distribution server 34, the certificate
management server 36 and the charging server 38.
[0235]
The WWW server 31, the group management server 32
and the certificate management server 36 form a section
for executing a content-sharing service to register a
plurality of content-processing apparatus 10 and content
reproduction apparatus 20 owned by the same user in an
apparatus group and allow a content to be shared by the
registered content-processing apparatus 10 and the
registered content reproduction apparatus 20. On the
other hand, the WWW server 31, the content distribution
server 34 and the charging server 38 form a section for
executing a content distribution service to distribute a
paid content to the user of the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0236]
Each of the functional configurations of the WWW
server 31, the group management server 32, the content
distribution server 34, the certificate management
server 36 and the charging server 38 is explained below.
It is to be noted that, since the hardware
configurations of the WWW server 31, the group
management server 32, the content distribution server 34,
the certificate management server 36 and the charging
server 38 are similar to the hardware configuration
shown in Fig. 4 as the hardware configuration of the
content-processing apparatus 10 (PC), these hardware
configurations are not described.
[0237]
First of all, the WWW server 31 is explained. The
WWW server 31 accepts a request made by a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 making an access to the WWW
server 31 by way of the network 5, and controls
communications between the content-processing apparatus
10 and the servers 30. The WWW server 31 has a userregistering
section 312 and a user authentication
section 314.
[0238]
The user-registering section 312 is a unit for
carrying out a registering process, registrationchanging
process and de-registering process for a new
user desiring utilization of the content-sharing service
and/or the content distribution service. The userregistering
section 312 is also a unit for executing
management of user account information of such a new
user. The user account information includes a user ID, a
credit number and a password. For each user registered
as a user entitled to the services, a leaf ID unique to
the user is provided. Various kinds of user account
information determined in a registering process carried
out by the user-registering section 312 and the leaf ID
are stored in a group-registering database 324. However,
implementation of the servers 30 is not limited to this
typical scheme. For example, a user-registering database
can be provided in the WWW server 31 as a database used
for managing user account information and leaf IDs.
[0239]
The user authentication section 314 is a unit for
carrying out a user authentication process to
authenticate a user owning a content-processing
apparatus 10, which has made a request for a connection
between the content-processing apparatus 10 and the
servers 30, in order to verify that the user is indeed
the registered user entitled to the content-sharing
service and/or the content distribution service as
described above. The request for a connection can be a
request for a group-registering process, request or a
group-de-registering process, a request for distribution
of a content, a request for a certificate, a request for
a change of user account information or another request.
The user authentication process is carried out on the
basis of user account information entered by the user
and user account information stored in the groupregistering
database 324. An authenticated user is
capable of making a login to the group management server
32, the content distribution server 34, the certificate
management server 36 or another resource.
[0240]
Next, the group management server 32 is explained.
The group management server 32 is a server for
registering a plurality of content-processing apparatus
10 and content reproduction apparatus 20 owned by the
same user in an apparatus group. The group management
server 32 has an apparatus-registering section 322 and
the group-registering database 324 mentioned before.
[0241]
The group-registering database 324 is a database
stored in a storage apparatus not shown in the figure.
The storage apparatus is an HDD incorporated in the
group management server 32. As shown in Fig. 12, for
each user, the group-registering database 324 is
associated with user account information, a leaf ID 3243,
an apparatus ID 3244, and a recorder ID 3245. In this
example, the user account information includes a user ID
3241 and a credit-card number 3242. The leaf ID 3243 is
a leaf ID assigned to the user. The apparatus ID 3244 is
an apparatus ID assigned to either of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 or the content reproduction
apparatus 20, which have been registered in an apparatus
group. The recorder ID 3245 is a recorder ID assigned to
a content-processing apparatus 10 registered in an
apparatus group as a content-processing apparatus 10
having a ripping function.
[0242]
Typically, a user ID (or a user account) 3241 is
associated with a leaf ID 3243. However, a leaf ID 3243
may be associated with apparatus IDs 3244 of one or more
content-processing apparatus 10 or content reproduction
apparatus 20 pertaining to an apparatus group assigned
to a user represented by the leaf ID 3243. In this case,
an apparatus ID can be a terminal ID or a device ID. To
be more specific, in the case of the content-processing
apparatus 10 (PC), the apparatus ID 3244 is a terminal
ID assigned to the PC. In the case of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 (PD), on the other hand, the
apparatus ID 3244 is a device ID assigned to the PC. In
the case of a terminal ID, the terminal ID is associated
with a recorder ID, which is a recorder ID assigned to a
content-processing apparatus 10 having a ripping
function.
[0243]
The apparatus-registering section 322 is a unit
for registering a content-processing apparatus 10 or a
content reproduction apparatus 20 in an apparatus group,
which is owned by a user authenticated by the user
authentication section 314, in accordance with a
registering request made by the content-processing
apparatus 10 or the content reproduction apparatus 20.
This group-registering process is carried out, for
example, when group-registering request information is
received from the group-registering section 130 employed
in the content-processing apparatus 10 after a user
authentication process has been done. Typically, the
group-registering request information includes a groupregistering
request notice, a terminal ID or a device ID
and a recorder ID. In the process to register an
apparatus in an apparatus group, an apparatus ID
(terminal ID, device ID and recorder ID) assigned to the
content-processing apparatus 10 or the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is recorded on the column of
the apparatus ID 3244 in the group-registering database
324, being associated with the authenticated user. In
this way, the apparatus ID of the apparatus registered
in the apparatus group is associated with a leaf ID
(apparatus group) assigned to the authenticated user.
[0244]
In addition, the apparatus-registering section 322
prohibits registration of a same content-processing
apparatus 10 in different apparatus groups. Thus, the
apparatus-registering section 322 searches the group-
registering database 324. If the apparatus-registering
section 322 found that the apparatus ID of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is already stored, the
apparatus-registering section 322 rejects the request
for a group-registering process to register the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 or a content reproduction
apparatus 20 in an apparatus group so that the apparatus
ID is not registered again in the group-registering
database 324. Thus, a content-processing apparatus 10 or
a content reproduction apparatus 20 can be registered
only in one apparatus group.
[0245]
The apparatus-registering section 322 is also
capable of setting an upper limit of the number of
content-processing apparatus 10 or content reproduction
apparatus 20 that can be registered in an apparatus
group. To put it concretely, the apparatus-registering
section 322 is also capable of setting an upper limit of
the number of content-processing apparatus 10 that can
be associated with a leaf ID assigned to a user. For
example, the apparatus-registering section 322 may set
an upper limit of the number of content-processing
apparatus 10 that can be registered in an apparatus
group at a predetermined number (for example, three) so
that only up to the upper limit number of (for example,
three) terminal IDs can be associated with a leaf ID. In
this case, if the content-processing apparatus 10 (PC)
having a terminal ID as its apparatus ID makes a request
for a group-registering process that would exceed the
upper limit, the apparatus-registering section 322 will
reject the request. Thus, since the number of contentprocessing
apparatus 10 that can be registered in the
same apparatus group can be limited, for example to
three or less, the number of content-processing
apparatus 10 registered in a same apparatus group and
each capable of receiving distributed content can be
limited.
[0246]
As another example of the upper limit, for example,
the apparatus-registering section 322 may set the upper
limit of recorder IDs that can be associated with a leaf
ID in the same group ID at a typical number of 10. In
this case, if the content-processing apparatus 10 (PC)
having a recorder ID makes a request for a groupregistering
process that would exceed the upper limit,
the apparatus-registering section 322 will reject the
request. Thus, since the number of content-processing
apparatus 10 that has a ripping function and can be
registered in the same apparatus group can be limited,
the number of content-processing apparatus 10 that is
capable of serving as a source of a sharable ripping
content in the same apparatus group can be limited.
[0247]
In addition, when the apparatus-registering
section 322 registers a content-processing apparatus 10
in a predetermined apparatus group as described above,
the apparatus-registering section 322 transmits service
data to the registered content-processing apparatus 10
as a notice. The service data includes a leaf ID
assigned to the authenticated user owning the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 (or assigned to the
predetermined apparatus group) and a service common key
for utilizing a content. The content-processing
apparatus 10 registered in the predetermined apparatus
group receives the leaf ID and converts the leaf ID into
a group ID before registering the group ID onto the
source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0248]
It is to be noted that, instead of transmitting a
leaf ID from the apparatus-registering section 322
employed in the group management server 32 to the
content-processing apparatus 10 as a notice as described
above, the apparatus-registering section 322 may
generate a group ID on the basis of information such the
leaf ID in advance and then transmit the generated group
ID to the content-processing apparatus 10 as a notice.
In this case, the content-processing apparatus 10 does
not have to generate the group ID by itself. The
content-processing apparatus 10 needs only to register
the group ID received from the group management server
32 on the source-ID list L as it is.
[0249]
In addition, the apparatus-registering section 322
removes a content-processing apparatus 10 making a
request for a group-de-registering process from an
apparatus group owned by the authenticated user of the
content-processing apparatus 10. This group-deregistering
process is carried out when group-deregistering
request information is received from the
group-registering section 130 employed in the contentv
processing apparatus 10 after a user authentication
process has been done. Typically, the group-registering
request information includes a de-registering request
notice, a terminal ID or a device ID and a recorder ID.
In the process to de-register a content-processing
apparatus 10 or a content reproduction apparatus 20 from
an apparatus group, an apparatus ID (terminal ID or
device ID) assigned to the content-processing apparatus
10 or the content reproduction apparatus 20 is deleted
from the column of the apparatus ID 3244 in the groupregistering
database 324. However, a recorder ID
assigned to the de-registered content-processing
apparatus 10 (PC) is not removed from the groupregistering
database 324. Thus, even if some contentprocessing
apparatus 10 have been de-registered from an
apparatus group, another content-processing apparatus 10
having the ripping function, the group-registering
process of which would cause the predetermined upper
limit of 10 to be exceeded, cannot be registered in the
group-registering database 324 as a new contentprocessing
apparatus 10. As a result, the number of
content-processing apparatus 10 that can each be
registered as a content-processing apparatus 10 capable
of creating a sharable ripping content can be limited,
allowing the management of copyrights of ripping
contents to be executed strictly.
[0250]
Next, the certificate management server 36 is
explained. The certificate management server 36 is a
server for collecting group certificates G issued by
content-processing apparatus 10, managing the collected
group certificates G and distributing each of the group
certificates G to other content-processing apparatus 10
pertaining to an apparatus group owned by the same user
as the content-processing apparatus 10 issuing the group
certificate G. The certificate management server 36 has
a certificate management section 362 and a certificate
database 364.
[0251]
The certificate database 364 is stored in a
storage apparatus (not shown in the figure) as an HDD
incorporated in the certificate management server 36.
The certificate database 364 is a database used for
storing group, certificates G issued by contentprocessing
apparatus 10 by associating each of the group
certificates G with the user of the content-processing
apparatus 10 issuing the group certificates G, that is,
by associating each of the group certificates G with a
leaf ID.
[0252]
The certificate management section 362 is a unit
for acquiring group certificates G, which are issued by
content-processing apparatus 10, through the network 5
and storing the group certificates G by associating each
of the group certificates G with the user of the
content-processing apparatus 10 issuing the group
certificates G. In addition, the certificate management
section 362 reads out group certificates G issued by one
or more content-processing apparatus 10 pertaining to an
apparatus group owned by a certain user from the
certificate database 364, and distributes the group
certificates G to other content-processing apparatus 10
pertaining to the same user group.
[0253]
For example, after a content-processing apparatus
10 is registered in an apparatus group by the group
management server 32, the certificate management section
362 acquires a group certificate G, which associates the
recorder ID and group ID of the content-processing
apparatus 10 with each other, from the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 and saves the group certificate
G in the certificate database 364. Furthermore, after
another content-processing apparatus 10 is newly
registered in the same apparatus group, the certificate
management section 362 delivers the group certificate G
acquired from the previously registered contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to the newly registered other
content-processing apparatus 10. Thus, the newly
registered other content-processing apparatus 10 is
capable of obtaining the recorder ID of the previously
registered content-processing apparatus 10 from the
group certificate G and registering the recorder ID on
the source-ID list L of the newly registered other
content-processing apparatus 10 so as to allow a ripping
content to be shared by the previously registered
content-processing apparatus 10 and the newly registered
other content-processing apparatus 10.
[0254]
In addition, if the certificate management section
362 receives a request for a delivery of a group
certificate G from any specific content-processing
apparatus 10 or any specific content-processing
apparatus 10 makes an access to the servers 30, the
certificate management section 362 may transmit the
group certificate G of another content-processing
apparatus 10, which pertains to the same apparatus group,
to the specific content-processing apparatus 10.
[0255]
Furthermore, when a content-processing apparatus
10 is de-registered from an apparatus group, the
certificate management section 362 deletes the group
certificate G of the de-registered content-processing
apparatus 10 from the certificate database 364.
[0256]
In this way, the certificate management section
362 employed in the certificate management server 36
manages group certificates G issued by contentprocessing
apparatus 10 in an integrated manner and
distributes a group certificate G issued by any
particular content-processing apparatus 10 to other
content-processing apparatus 10 pertaining to the same
apparatus group. Thus, any specific content-processing
apparatus 10 is capable of obtaining a group certificate
G from another content-processing apparatus 10
pertaining to the same apparatus group without the need
to connect the specific content-processing apparatus 10
and the other content-processing apparatus 10 to each
other directly. Since group certificates G are managed
in an integrated manner in the certificate management
server 36, a previously registered content-processing
apparatus 10 is always capable of acquiring the group
certificate G of another content-processing apparatus 10
most recently registered in the same apparatus group. In
this way, a previously registered content-processing
apparatus 10 is capable of acquiring the group
certificates G of all other content-processing apparatus
10 registered in the same apparatus group and records
the recorder IDs of all the other content-processing
apparatus 10 on the source-ID list L of the previously
registered content-processing apparatus 10.
[0257]
Next, the content distribution server 34 is
explained. The content distribution server 34 is a
server for distributing a paid content to a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 owned by every user registered
as a user entitled to the content distribution service.
The content distribution server 34 has a configuration
capable of distributing both a content conforming to the
copyright management scheme adopting the group
management method and a content conforming to the
copyright management scheme adopting the check-in/checkout
method.
[0258]
The content distribution server 34 has a license
issuance section 342, a content distribution section 344,
a license database 346 and a content database 348.
[0259]
The license database 346 and the content database
348 are each a database stored in a storage apparatus
shown in none of the figures as a storage section such
as an HDD employed in the content distribution server 34
The license database 346 is a database used for storing
a license issued for a content as a license in
accordance with distribution of the content. On the
other hand, the content database 348 is a database used
for storing a plurality of contents to be distributed in
a content distribution service.
[0260]
The content distribution section 344 is a unit for
distributing a list of distributable contents to
authenticated users so as to allow the users to view the
list and select a content from the list as a content,
the distribution of which is desired. The content
distribution section 344 also transmits such a desired
content to a content-processing apparatus 10, which is
being utilized by a user desiring the content, by way of
the network 5. It is to be noted that a process to
transmit such a desired content to a desiring user is
carried out with, for example, a charging process taken
as a precondition. The charging process will be
described later.
[0261]
In addition, the content distribution section 344
also transmits information on a distributed content
stored in the content database 348 by associating with
the distributed content. The information in a
distributed content includes the ID of the content and
title information. The title information can be any of a
song name, artist names, album name and reproduction
duration.
[0262]
The license issuance section 342 is a unit for
issuing a license describing information on a usage
right to utilize a content to be distributed by the
content distribution section 344 for the content. The
license issuance section 342 is capable of issuing
licenses of different types according to the type of the
copyright management method.
[0263]
In the case of the copyright management adopting
the group management method, for example, the license
issuance section 342 issues a license including a leaf
ID issued for a user purchasing a distributed content,
associating the license with the content. At that time,
the license issuance section 342 may acquire the leaf ID
issued for the user from the group-registering database
324 or from the user authentication section 314.
[0264]
As the license issuance section 342 issues a
license in this way, the content distribution server 34
associates a file containing the distributed content
with a file of the license including a leaf ID issued
for a 'user purchasing the distributed content, and then
transmits the files to the content-processing apparatus
10 of the user. The content-processing apparatus 10
receiving the distributed content and the license
converts the leaf ID into a group ID and adds the group
ID to the content in order to execute the copyright
management adopting the group management method by using
the leaf ID as the source ID for the distributed content,
[0265]
In the case of the copyright management adopting
the check-in/check-out method, on the other hand, the
license issuance section 342 issues a license describing
usage rule information including a limit on the number
of allowable check-in/check-out operations, a limit on
the number of allowable reproduction operations and
reproduction validity term, associating the license with
the content to be distributed. At that time, the license
issuance section 342 may create a license of a usagerule
type desired by the user on the basis of license-
patterned information stored in the license database 346,
[0266]
When the license issuance section 342 issues a
license for a content to be distributed to a content- .
processing apparatus 10 as described above, the content
distribution server 34 associates a file containing the
content to be distributed with a file containing the
license describing usage rule information, and then
transmits the files to the content-processing apparatus
10. The content-processing apparatus 10 receiving the
distributed content and the license describing usage
rule information executes the copyright management
adopting the check-in/check-out method on the basis of
the license.
[0267]
The license issuance section 342 manages issued
licenses by storing them in the license database 346.
[0268]
As described above, the content distribution
server 34 transmits a distributed content and a license
associated with the content to a content-processing
apparatus 10 as one set. In this case, in a process to
transmit a distributed content according to the group
management method, the content distribution server 34
includes a leaf ID in the license and, in a process to
transmit a distributed content according to the checkin/
check-out method, on the other hand, the content
distribution server 34 includes usage rule information
in the license.
[0269]
It is to be noted that, as described above, the
content distribution server 34 transmits a distributed
content and a license associated with the content to a
content-processing apparatus 10 as separate files.
However, the content distribution server 34 may also
transmit a distributed content and a license associated
with the content to a content-processing apparatus 10 as
a single joint file. In addition, as described above, in
a process to transmit a distributed content according to
the group management method to a content-processing
apparatus 10, the content distribution server 34
notifies the content-processing apparatus 10 of a leaf
ID, on the basis of which, the content-processing
apparatus 10 generates a group ID. However, the
generation of a group ID is not limited to this
technique provided by the embodiment. For example,
instead of transmitting a leaf ID to a contentprocessing
apparatus 10, the content distribution server
34 may generate a group ID on the basis of a leaf ID in
advance and inform the content-processing apparatus 10
of the generated group ID.
[0270]
Next, the charging server 38 is explained. The
charging server 38 is a server for carrying out a
charging process in accordance with distribution of a
content from the content distribution server 34 to a
content-processing apparatus 10. The charging server 38
has a charging process section 382 and a charging
information database 384.
[0271]
The charging information database 384 is a
database composed of information on charging for every
user. The charging information database 384 is a
database stored in a storage apparatus (not shown in the
figures) such as an HDD employed in the charging server
38.
[0272]
The charging process section 382 is a unit for
carrying out a charging process of requesting payment
with an amount determined by a distributed content.
Charging information resulting from a charging process
is stored in the charging information database 384. The
charging information includes the requested amount of
payment, a payment-amount computation method and a
charging date.
[0273]
6. Content-Sharing Method
By referring to Fig. 13, the following description
explains basic flows of a content-sharing method in the
content-sharing system 100 described above. Fig. 13
shows timing charts representing basic flows of the
content-sharing method provided by the embodiment.
[0274]
As shown in Fig. 13, first of all, at a step S2, a
new user utilizes any of a content-processing apparatus
10-1 (PC) owned by itself to request the WWW server 31
functioning as one of the servers 30 to carry out a
user-registering process as a content-sharing service
according to the copyright management scheme based on
the group management method. Then, at a step S4, the WWW
server 31 carries out a user authentication process to
authenticate the user, assigns a leaf ID to the
successfully authenticated user and registers the
successfully authenticated user. It is to be noted that
the user-registering process of the content-sharing
service can be carried out also as a content
distribution service as well. In addition, the userregistering
process can also be carried out by the group
management server 32 in place of the WWW server 31.
[0275]
Then, at steps S8 and S12, the user utilizes any
of the content-processing apparatus 10-1 (PC) owned by
itself and a content-processing apparatus 10-2 to
request the servers 30 to carry out an apparatusregistering
process. Subsequently, at steps S10 and S14,
the group management server 32 registers the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1 and the content-processing
apparatus 10-2 in an apparatus group assigned to the
user at the requests made by the content-processing
apparatus 10-1 and the content-processing apparatus 10-2
respectively. The group management server 32 also
transmits the leaf ID assigned to the user to the
content-processing apparatus 10-1 and the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-2. In addition, each of the
content-processing apparatus 10-1 and the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-2 converts the leaf ID received
from the group management server 32 into a group ID and
registers the group ID on the source-ID list L of its
own. It is to be noted that the apparatus-registering
process to register the content-processing apparatus 10-
1 in an apparatus group does not have to be carried out
at the same time as the apparatus-registering process to
register the content-processing apparatus 10-2 in the
same apparatus group. That is to say, the apparatusregistering
process can be carried out with their
respective arbitrary timings different from each other.
[0276]
Then, at a step S16, the content-processing
apparatus 10-2 issues a group certificate G associating
the group ID of the content-processing apparatus 10-2
with a recorder ID owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10-2 and transmits the group certificate G to
the certificate management server 36 functioning as one
of the servers 30. Subsequently, at a step S18, the
certificate management server 36 transmits the group
certificate G of the content-processing apparatus 10-2
to the content-processing apparatus 10-1. It is to be
noted that the group certificate G of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-2 .does not have to be
transmitted to the content-processing apparatus 10-1 by
way of the certificate management server 36 as described
above, but the group certificate G can also be
transmitted from the content-processing apparatus 10-2
to the content-processing apparatus 10-1 directly. By
the same token, the group certificate G of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1 can also be transmitted to the
content-processing apparatus 10-2 as well.
[0277]
Then, at a step S20, the content-processing
apparatus 10-1 receiving the group certificate G of the
content-processing apparatus 10-2 updates the source-ID
list L owned by the content-processing apparatus 10-1.
In the apparatus-registering processes described above,
the content-processing apparatus 10-1 and the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-2 were registered in the same
apparatus group so that the content-processing apparatus
10-1 and the content-processing apparatus 10-2 have the
same group ID. Thus, the content-processing apparatus
10-1 adds a recorder ID included in the group
certificate G of the content-processing apparatus 10-2
to the source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10-1. If the content-processing apparatus 10-1
and the content-processing apparatus 10-2 have been
registered in different apparatus groups, on the other
hand, the content-processing apparatus 10-1 and the
content-processing apparatus 10-2 will have different
group IDs. In this case, the content-processing
apparatus 10-1 is not allowed to add a recorder ID
included in the group certificate G of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-2 to the source-ID list L owned
by the content-processing apparatus 10-1.
[0278]
With the above processes completed, the following
description explains a case in which the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1 acquires a content provided by
the content-processing apparatus 10-2 and shares the
content.
[0279]
The description begins with an explanation of a
case in which a content to be shared is a ripping
content or the like. First of all, at a step S22, the
content-processing apparatus 10-2 creates a content by
carrying out a ripping or self-recording process. Then,
at the next step S24, the content-processing apparatus
10-2 adds a recorder ID assigned to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-2 to the created content.
Subsequently, at the next step S26, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-2 provides the created content
including the recorder ID added thereto to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1 by way of the network 5 and a
local line 9, or by using a storage medium 7.
[0280]
Then, at a step S28, the content-processing
apparatus 10-1 receives the created content and, at the
next step S30, the content-processing apparatus 10-1
carries out a process to control reproduction of the
created content, for example, at a request made by the
user as a request for the reproduction of the created
content. To be more specific, if the recorder ID
included in the created content is an ID included on the
source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10-1, the content-processing apparatus 10-1 is
capable of reproducing the created content. If the
recorder ID included in the created content is not an ID
included on the source-ID list L owned by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1, on the other hand, the
content-processing apparatus 10-1 is not capable of
reproducing the created content.
[0281]
The following description explains a case in which
the distributed content is shared. First of all, at a
step S32, the content-processing apparatus 10-2
transmits a request to the group management server 32 as
a request for distribution of a content. Then, at a step
S34, the group management server 32 transmits the
requested content and its license including a leaf ID
assigned to the content-processing apparatus 10-2 to the
content-processing apparatus 10-2. Subsequently, at a
step S36, the content-processing apparatus 10-2 converts
the leaf ID included in the received license into a
group ID and adds the group ID to the received content.
Then, at the next step S38, the content-processing
apparatus 10-2 provides the distributed content
including the group ID added thereto to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1 in the same way as the created
content described above. Subsequently, at a step S40,
the content-processing apparatus 10-1 receives the
distributed content and, at the next step S42, the
content-processing apparatus 10-1 carries out a process
to control reproduction of the distributed content, for
example, at a request made by the user as a request for
the reproduction of the distributed content. To be more
specific, if the group ID included in the distributed
content is an ID included on the source-ID list L owned
by the content-processing apparatus 10-1, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10-1 is capable of reproducing the
distributed content. If the group ID included in the
distributed content is not an ID included on the source-
ID list L owned by the content-processing apparatus 10-1,
on the other hand, the content-processing apparatus 10-1
is not capable of reproducing the distributed content.
[0282]
At a step S44, the content-processing apparatus
10-1 makes a request for a de-registering process. In
this case, the group management server 32 removes the
content-processing apparatus 10-1 from the apparatus
group at a step S46. By the same token, at a step S48,
the content-processing apparatus 10-2 makes a request
for a de-registering process. In this case, the group
management server 32 removes the content-processing
apparatus 10-2 from the apparatus group at a step S50.
[0283]
As described above, in accordance with a contentsharing
method in the content-sharing system 100, by
registering a plurality of content-processing apparatus
10 owned by the same user in the same apparatus group,
the content-processing apparatus 10 are capable of
sharing created and distributed contents with a
relatively high degree of freedom.
[0284]
7. Group-Registering/De-Registering Processes
The following description explains processes to
register or de-register the content-processing apparatus
10 (PC) and the content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD)
in or from an apparatus group managed by the group
management server 32. It is to be noted that processing
flows described below are started after a process to
register a user owning content-processing apparatus 10
in the group management server 32 as a content-sharing
service has been completed and a leaf ID has been
assigned to the user.
[0285]
The description begins with an explanation of a
group-registering process to register the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 (PC) provided by the embodiment
in an apparatus group managed by the group management
server 32 with reference to Fig. 14. Fig. 14 shows
timing charts representing the group-registering process
to register the content-processing apparatus 10 (PC) of
the embodiment.
[0286]
As shown in Fig. 14, first of all, at steps S60 to
S70, a communication connection through the network 5
between the content-processing apparatus 10 making a
request for a group-registering process and the servers
30 is safely established, and the user of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is authenticated. The processes
of the steps S60 to S70 are carried out by the browser
of the content-processing apparatus 10 in conjunction
with the WWW server 31 functioning as one of the servers
30.
[0287]
To put it concretely, first of all, at the step
S60, the content-processing apparatus 10 making a
request for a group-registering process transmits a user
ID and a password to the WWW server 31. Then, at a step
S62, the WWW server 31 authenticates the user by
verifying the received user ID and the received password
with every user ID and password stored in the groupregistering
database 324. If the result of the user
authentication indicates that the user was not
authenticated successfully, the WWW server 31 does not
permit the login, aborting the group-registering process.
If the result of the user authentication indicates that
the user has been authenticated successfully, on the
other hand, the WWW server 31 permits the login. In this
case, at the next step S64, the WWW server 31 transmits
a message indicating that the user has been
authenticated successfully and session information used
for carrying out safe communications to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. Then, at a step S66, the
content-processing apparatus 10 transmits a registering
request notice to the WWW server 31. The registering
request notice informs the WWW server 31 that the
content-processing apparatus 10 has made an access to
the servers 30, making a request for a group-registering
process. Then, at a step S68, the WWW server 31
generates a transaction ID. Subsequently, at the next
step S70, the WWW server 31 transmits the generated
transaction ID and a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to
the content-processing apparatus 10. The URL is typical
address information assigned to the group management
server 32. Thus, the content-processing apparatus 10 is
capable of making an access to the group management
server 32 at the received URL.
[0288]
At subsequent steps S72 to S86, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is actually registered in the
group management server 32. Processes of the steps S72
to S86 are carried out by the copyright management
section employed in the content-processing apparatus 10
in conjunction with the group management server 32
functioning as one of the servers 30.
[0289]
To put it concretely, first of all, at the step
S72, the content-processing apparatus 10 transmits a
request for service data to the group management server
32. Then, at a step S74, at the request, the group
management server 32 transmits the service data to the
content-processing apparatus 10. The service data
includes a leaf ID assigned to the authenticated user
and a service common key mentioned earlier. Subsequently,
at a step S76, the content-processing apparatus 10
transmits the transaction ID received at the step S70 as
well as terminal and recorder IDs assigned to the
content-processing apparatus 10 to the group management
server 32 in order to make a request for a groupregistering
process. The terminal and recorder IDs are
each an ID generated by the content-processing apparatus
10 itself. It is to be noted that, since the information
exchanged at the steps S74 and S76 is protected by using
the session information against external interpolations,
the exchanged information can be transmitted and
received with a high degree of safety.
[0290]
Then, at a step S78, the group management server
32 produces a result of determination as to whether or
not the content-processing apparatus 10 can be
registered in an apparatus group. The group management
server 32 determines whether or not the content-
processing apparatus 10 can be registered in the
apparatus group by checking if the registration would
cause an upper limit of the number of content-processing
apparatus 10 that can be registered in the apparatus
group to be exceeded. The upper limit of the number of
content-processing apparatus 10 that can be registered
in the apparatus group may be actually represented -by an
upper limit of the number of terminal IDs (for example,
three) and an upper limit of the number of recorder IDs
(for example, 10). To put it in more detail, let us
assume for example that three content-processing
apparatus 10 with the terminal IDs thereof different
from each other have already been registered in the
apparatus group of the authenticated user. In this case,
the group management server 32 will reject a request for
a group-registering process to register a new contentprocessing
apparatus 10in the apparatus group. As
another example, let us assume that 10 contentprocessing
apparatus 10 with the recorder IDs thereof
different from each other have once been registered in
the apparatus group of the authenticated user in the
past (it doesn't matter whether or not some of the
content-processing apparatus 10 may have been registered
in the apparatus group at the present time). In this
case, the group management server 32 will reject a
request for a group-registering process to register a
new content-processing apparatus 10 in the apparatus
group.
[0291]
If the determination result produced at the step
S78 indicates the requested group-registering process is
not permitted, the group management server 32 transmits
an error message indicating that the requested groupregistering
process is not permitted to the content processing
apparatus 10. If the determination result
produced at the step S78 indicates the requested groupregistering
process is permitted, on the other hand, at
the next step S80, the group management server 32
registers the content-processing apparatus 10 making the
request for a group-registering process in the apparatus
group. To put it concretely, the group management server
32 writes and registers the terminal and recorder IDs
received from the content-processing apparatus 10 making
the request for a group-registering process in a record
included in the group-registering database 324 as a
record allocated to the authenticated user. Then, at the
next step S82, the group management server 32 transmits
a registering completion notice to the registered
content-processing apparatus 10.
[0292]
Subsequently, receiving the registering completion
notice at a step S84, the content-processing apparatus
10 validates the service data received at the step S74.
Then, at the next step S86, the content-processing
apparatus 10 generates group IDs, that is, both the
first group ID and the second group ID, on the basis of
the leaf ID included in the validated service data. The
content-processing apparatus 10 then registers the
generated group IDs on the source-ID list owned by the
content-processing apparatus 10. Thus, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 becomes capable of reproducing a
distributed content having the registered group ID added
thereto. In addition, the content-processing apparatus
10 is also capable of registering a recorder ID included
in a group certificate G having the registered group ID
on the source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0293]
After the group-registering process to register a
content-processing apparatus 10 in an apparatus group
has been completed, a process to issue a certificate and
a process to distribute the issued certificate may be
carried out at subsequent steps described as follows.
First of all, at a step S88 the newly registered
content-processing apparatus 10 issues a group
certificate G including leaf and recorder IDs assigned
to the newly registered content-processing apparatus 10,
transmitting the issued group certificate G to the
certificate management server 36. Then, at a step S90,
the certificate management server 36 stores the received
group certificate G in the certificate database 364.
Thus, if another content-processing apparatus 10 has
been registered in the same apparatus group a_s the newly
registered content-processing apparatus 10, the group
certificate G distributed to the other contentprocessing
apparatus 10 allows the other contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to share the recorder ID
included in the group certificate G.
[0294]
In addition, one or more other content-processing
apparatus 10 may have already been registered in the
same apparatus group as the newly registered contentprocessing
apparatus 10. In this case, at the next step
S92, the certificate management server 36 transmits the
group certificates G of the other already registered
content-processing apparatus 10 to the newly registered
content-processing apparatus 10. Then, at a step S94,
the newly registered content-processing apparatus 10
reads out a recorder ID from each of the group
certificates G and stores the recorder ID on the source-
ID list L owned by the newly registered contentprocessing
apparatus 10. In this way, the newly
registered content-processing apparatus 10 becomes
capable of reproducing a ripping content ripped off by
any of the other content-processing apparatus 10 already
registered in the same apparatus group.
[0295]
By referring to Fig. 15, the following description
explains a group-de-registering process to remove the
content-processing apparatus 10 (PC) provided by the
embodiment from an apparatus group, in which the
content-processing apparatus 10 has been registered. Fig.
15 shows timing charts representing the group-deregistering
process to de-register the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 (PC) of the embodiment.
[0296]
As shown in Fig. 15, first of all, at steps S100
to S110, a communication connection through the network
5 between the content-processing apparatus 10 making a
request for a group-de-registering process and the
servers 30 is safely established, and the user of the
content-processing apparatus 10 is authenticated. The
processes of the steps S100 to S110 are carried'out by
the browser of the content-processing apparatus 10 in
conjunction with the WWW server 31 functioning as one of
the servers 30. It is to be noted that, except a process
carried out by the content-processing apparatus 10 at a
step S106 to transmit a notice making a request for a
group-de-registering process to the WWW server 31,
processes carried out at the steps S100 to S110 are
about the same as the processes carried out at the steps
S60 to S70 of the timing charts explained earlier by
referring to Fig. 14 to register a content-processing
apparatus 10 in an apparatus group. Thus, the detailed
descriptions of the processes are not repeated.
[0297]
At subsequent steps S112 to S120, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is actually de-registered from
the group management server 32. Processes of the steps
S112 to S120 are carried out by the copyright management
section employed in the content-processing apparatus 10
in conjunction with the group management server 32
functioning as one of the servers 30.
[0298]
To put it concretely, first of all, at the step
S112, the content-processing apparatus 10 invalidates
the service data received from the group management
server 32 and stored in the content-processing apparatus
10 in a group-registering process. To put it more
concretely, the content-processing apparatus 10 deletes
group and recorder IDs from the source-ID list L owned
by the content-processing apparatus 10. By deleting
these source IDs, the content-processing apparatus 10
becomes no longer capable of reproducing a content
having any of these source IDs added thereto.
[0299]
Then, at the next step S114, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 transmits the transaction ID
received at the step S110 as well as terminal and
recorder IDs owned by the content-processing apparatus
10 itself to the group management server 32 in order to
request the group management server 32 to de-register
the content-processing apparatus 10 from the apparatus
group. It is to be noted that, since the information
transmitted at the step S114 is protected by using the
session information against external interpolations, the
transmitted information can be delivered with a high
degree of safety.
[0300]
When the group management server 32 receives the
request for a group-de-registering process from the
content-processing apparatus 10 at a step S116, the
group management server 32 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 can be de-registered from the
apparatus group. If the content-processing apparatus 10
making the request for a group-de-registering process
has not been registered, the request is an illegal
request or the like, for example, the group management
server 32 does not accept the request.
[0301]
If the determination result produced at the step
S116 indicates that the content-processing apparatus 10
cannot be de-registered, the group management server 32
transmits a message indicating that the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 cannot be de-registered to the
content-processing apparatus 10.
[0302]
If the determination result produced at the step
S116 indicates that the content-processing apparatus 10
can be de-registered, on the other hand, the group
management server 32 carries out the process to de-
register the content-processing apparatus 10 from the
apparatus group at the next step S118. To put it
concretely, the group management server 32 deletes the
terminal ID of the content-processing apparatus 10
making the request for the group-de-registering process
from a record stored in the group-registering database
324 as the record allocated to the authenticated user
owning the content-processing apparatus 10. At that time,
the recorder ID of the content-processing apparatus 10
making the request for the group-de-registering process
is not deleted from the record stored in the groupregistering
database 324, being left in the groupregistering
database 324. Thus, in offering the rippingcontent-
sharing service, it is possible to avoid an
operation to register too many content-processing
apparatus 10 each having a ripping function. As a result,
it is possible to solve a problem caused by sharing of
ripping contents generated by too many contentprocessing
apparatus 10 each having a ripping function.
[0303]
Then, at the next step S120, the group management
server 32 transmits a de-registering process completion
notice to the content-processing apparatus 10 that has
just been de-registered from the apparatus group.
[0304]
As described above, in a process to de-register a
content-processing apparatus 10 from an apparatus group,
first of all, the content-processing apparatus 10
invalidates the service data at the step S112. Then, the
group management server 32 carries out the process to
de-register the content-processing apparatus 10 from the
/
apparatus group at the step S118. Thus, with regard to
the content-processing apparatus 10 de-registered from
the apparatus group, the service data held by the
content-processing apparatus 10 is certainly invalidated
by deletion of group and recorder IDs from the source-ID
list L owned by the content-processing apparatus 10. As
a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which
the service data is not actually invalidated in the
content-processing apparatus 10 in spite of the fact
that the content-processing apparatus 10 has been deregistered
from the group management server 32.
[0305]
The processes to register and de-register a
content-processing apparatus 10 (PC) have been described
so far. It is to be noted that an already registered
content-processing apparatus 10 cannot be re-registered
unless the content-processing apparatus 10 is once de-
registered.
[0306]
By referring to Fig. 16, the following description
explains a group-registering process to register a
content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) provided by the
embodiment in an apparatus group managed by the group
management server 32. Fig. 16 shows timing charts
representing the group-registering process to register
the content reproduction apparatus (PD) provided by the
embodiment.
[0307]
In a process to register a content reproduction
apparatus 20 (PD), first of all, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is connected to an already
registered a content-processing apparatus 10 (PC) by a
local line 9. Then, the content-processing apparatus 10
(PC) registers the content reproduction apparatus 20
(PD) in an apparatus group.
[0308]
As shown in Fig. 16, first of all, at steps S132
to S142, operations are carried out to safely establish
a connection through the network 5 between the servers
30 and the content-processing apparatus 10 already
connected to the content reproduction apparatus 20 to be
registered. During these operations, the user of the
content-processing apparatus 10 actually making a
request for a group-registering process is authenticated.
The processes of the steps S132 to S142 are carried out
by the browser of the content-processing apparatus 10 in
conjunction with the WWW server 31 functioning as one of
the servers 30. It is to be noted that, except a process
carried out by the content-processing apparatus 10 at a
step S138 to transmit a notice making a request for a
group-registering process of registering the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the WWW server 31,
processes carried out at the steps S132 to S142 are
about the same as the processes carried out at the steps
S60 to S70 of the timing charts explained earlier by
referring to Fig. 14 to register a content-processing
apparatus 10 in an apparatus group. Thus, the detailed
descriptions of the processes are not repeated.
[0309]
Then, at subsequent steps S144 to S164, the
content-processing apparatus 10 carries out processes to
actually register the content reproduction apparatus 20
in the group management server 32. The processes of the
steps S144 to S164 are carried out jointly by the
content reproduction apparatus 20, the copyright
management section employed in the content-processing
apparatus 10 and the group management server 32
functioning as a server included in the servers 30.
[0310]
To put it concretely, first of all, at the step
S144, the content-processing apparatus 10 acquires the
device ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20 to be
registered from the content reproduction apparatus 20
through a local line 9. Then, at a step S146, the
content-processing apparatus 10 transmits the
transaction ID received at the step S142, a terminal ID
assigned to the content-processing apparatus 10 and the
recorder ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20 to
the group management server 32 in order to request the
group management server 32 to carry out a groupregistering
process to register the content reproduction
apparatus 20. It is to be noted that, since the
information exchanged at the step S144 is protected by
using the session information against external
interpolations, the exchanged information can be
transmitted and received with a high degree of safety.
[0311]
Then, at a step S148, the group management server
32 produces a result of determination as to whether or
not the content reproduction apparatus 20 can be
registered in an apparatus group. In this embodiment,
there is no limit on the number of content reproduction
apparatus 20 that can be registered in the group
management server 32. Thus, the content reproduction
apparatus 20 is registered in an apparatus group
unconditionally. However, the implementations of the
present invention are not limited to this embodiment.
That is to say, it is possible to set a limit on the
number of content reproduction apparatus 20 that can be
registered in the group management server 32. In
addition, if the content-processing apparatus 10 making
the request for a group-registering process is an
apparatus not registered yet in the group management
server 32, the group management server 32 will turn down
the request.
[0312]
If the determination result produced at the step
S148 indicates the requested group-registering process
is not permitted, the group management server 32
transmits an error message indicating that the requested
group-registering process is not permitted to the
content-processing apparatus 10.
[0313]
If the determination result produced at the step
S148 indicates the requested group-registering process
is permitted, on the other hand, at the next step S150,
the group management server 32 carries out the process
to register the content reproduction apparatus 20 in the
apparatus group. To put it concretely, first of all, the
group management server 32 identifies a record included
in the group-registering database 324 as a record
provided for the authenticated user on the basis of
information including a terminal ID assigned to the
content-processing apparatus 10 making the request for
the group-registering process. Then, the group
management server 32 writes the device ID assigned to
the content reproduction apparatus 20 to be registered
in the record. Furthermore, at the next step S152, the
group management server 32 transmits a registering
completion notice to the content-processing apparatus 10
making the request for the group-registering process.
[0314]
Subsequently, receiving the registering completion
notice at a step S154, the content-processing apparatus
10 generates group IDs, that is, both the first group ID
and the second group ID, on the basis of the leaf ID
included in the validated service data received in a
process to register the content-processing apparatus 10
itself in the apparatus group.
[0315]
Then, at the next step S156, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 acquires a source-ID list L and
ICV data, which are owned by the registered content
reproduction apparatus 20, from the content reproduction
apparatus 20.
[0316]
Subsequently, at the next step S158, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 checks validity of the source-ID
list L received at the step S156 on the basis of the ICV
data also received at the step S156. As described above,
in accordance with the copyright management scheme
adopting the group management method, the ICV data
includes a MAC value, which is the hash value of the
source-ID list L. Thus, the content-processing apparatus
10 computes the MAC value of the source-ID list L
received from the 3 3ing apparatus V$s and
compares the computed MAC value with the MAC value
included in the ICV data in order to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not the source-ID list L
has been interpolated.
[0317]
If the process carried out at the step S158 to
check the validity of the source-ID list L produces a
determination result indicating that the source-ID list
L is invalid, that is, the source-ID list L has been
interpolated, the invalidity of the source-ID list L is
regarded as occurrence of an error. In this case, the
source-ID list L is not updated.
[0318]
If the process carried out at the step S158 to
check the validity of the source-ID list L produces a
determination result indicating that the source-ID list
L is valid, on the other hand, the content-processing
apparatus 10 updates the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 at the next step S160.
To put it concretely, the content-processing apparatus
10 adds the group ID generated at the step S154 to the
source-ID list L received from the content reproduction
apparatus 20. At that time, the content-processing
apparatus 10 may also add the recorder ID included in
its own source-ID list L to the source-ID list L
received from the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0319]
Then, at the next step S162, the content processing
apparatus 10 further updates the ICV data of
the content reproduction apparatus 20. To put it
concretely, the content-processing apparatus 10 computes
the MAC value of the source-ID list L, which was updated
at the step S160 into a new source-ID list L of the
content reproduction apparatus 20, and generates new ICV
data to include the computed MAC value.
[0320]
Later on, at the next step S164, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 transmits the source-ID list L
updated at the step SI60 and the ICV data updated at the
step S162 to the content reproduction apparatus 20,
which then stores the source-ID list L and the ICV data
in a storage section employed in the content
reproduction apparatus 20. It is to be noted that, at
the steps S156 and S164, the ICV data is exchanged
between the content-processing apparatus 10 and the
content reproduction apparatus 20 by using session
information to prevent the ICV data from being
interpolated.
[0321]
By carrying out a group-processing process to
register a content reproduction apparatus 20 in an
apparatus group as described above, the group ID is
added to the source-ID list L of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 so that the content
reproduction apparatus 20 becomes capable of reproducing
a distributed content having the group ID added thereto.
[0322]
By referring to Fig. 17, the following description
explains a group-de-registering process to remove the
'content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) provided by the
embodiment from an apparatus group, in which the content
reproduction apparatus 20 has been registered. Fig. 17
shows timing charts representing the group-deregistering
process to de-register the content
reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) of the embodiment.
[0323]
Much like the group-registering process to
register the content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD)
provided by the embodiment into an apparatus group, the
group-de-registering process to remove the content
reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) provided by the
embodiment from an apparatus group is carried out by the
content-processing apparatus 10 (PC) requesting the
servers 30 to carry out the group-de-registering process
after the PD has been connected to the PC by a local
line 9.
[0324]
As shown in Fig. 17, first of all, at steps S170
to S180, operations are carried out to safely establish
a connection through the network 5 between the servers
30 and the content-processing apparatus 10 making a
request for a group-de-registering process. During these
operations, the user of the content-processing apparatus
10 actually making a request for a group-registering
process is authenticated. The processes of the steps
S170 to S180 are carried out by the browser of the
content-processing apparatus 10 in conjunction with the
WWW server 31 functioning as one of the servers 30. It
is to be noted that, except a process carried out by the
content-processing apparatus 10 at a step S176 to
transmit a notice making a request for a group-deregistering
process of de-registering the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the WWW server 31,
processes carried out at the steps S170 to S180 are
about the same as the processes carried out at the steps
S60 to S70 of the timing charts explained earlier by
referring to Fig. 14 to register a content-processing
apparatus 10 in an apparatus group. Thus, the detailed
descriptions of the processes are not repeated.
[0325]
Then, at subsequent steps S182 to S198, processes
are actually carried out to de-register the content
. The processes of the steps S182
to S198 are carried out jointly by the copyright
management section employed in the content-processing
apparatus 10 making the request for a group-deregistering
process and the group management server 32
functioning as a server included in the servers 30.
[0326]
To put it concretely, first of all, at the step
S182, the content-processing apparatus 10 acquires the
source-ID list L and the ICV data, which are owned by
the content reproduction apparatus 20 to be deregistered,
from the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0327]
Then, at the next step S184, in the same way as
the step S158, the content-processing apparatus 10
checks validity of the source-ID list L received at the
step S182 on the basis of the ICV data also received at
the step S182. If the process to check the validity of
the source-ID list L produces a determination result
indicating that the source-ID list L is invalid, that is,
the source-ID list L has been interpolated, the
invalidity of the source-ID list L is regarded as
occurrence of an error. In this case, the source-ID list
L is not updated.
[0328]
If the process carried out at the step S184 to
check the validity of the source-ID list L produces a
determination result indicating that the source-ID list
L is valid, on the other hand, the content-processing
apparatus 10 updates the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 at the next step S186.
To put it concretely, the content-processing apparatus
10 deletes the group ID from the source-ID list L
received from the content reproduction apparatus 20. At
that time, the content-processing apparatus 10 may also
delete its recorder ID from the source-ID list L. Thus,
the content reproduction apparatus 20 is no longer
capable of reproducing a content including these deleted
source IDs.
[0329]
Then, at the next step S188, the content processing
apparatus 10 further updates the ICV data of
the content reproduction apparatus 20. To put it
concretely, the content-processing apparatus 10 computes
the MAC value of the source-ID list L updated at the
step S186 into a new source-ID list L of the content
reproduction apparatus 20, and generates new ICV data to
include the computed MAC value.
[0330]
Later on, at the next step S190, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 transmits the source-ID list L
updated at the step S186 and the ICV data updated at the
step S188 to the content reproduction apparatus 20,
which then stores the source-ID list L and the ICV data
in a storage section employed in the content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0331]
Then, at the next step S192, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 requests the group management
server 32 to carry out a process to remove the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to be de-register from the
apparatus group. To put it concretely, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 transmits the transaction ID
received at the step S180, the terminal ID of its own
and the device ID of the content reproduction apparatus
20 to be de-registered to the group management server 32
in order to request the group management server 32 to
carry out a group-de-registering process. It is to be
noted that, since the information transmitted at the
step S192 is protected by using the session information
against external interpolations, the transmitted
information can be delivered with a high degree of
safety.
[0332]
When the group management server 32 receives the
request for a group-de-registering process from the
content-processing apparatus 10 at a step S194, the
group management server 32 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the content
reproduction apparatus 20 can be de-registered from the
apparatus group. If the request for a group-deregistering
process is an illegal request, for example,
the group management server 32 does not accept the
request.
[0333]
If the determination result produced at the step
S194 indicates that the content reproduction apparatus
20 cannot be de-registered, the group management server
32 transmits a message indicating that the content
reproduction apparatus 20 cannot be de-registered to the
content-processing apparatus 10.
[0334]
If the determination result produced at the step
S194 indicates that the content reproduction apparatus
20 can be de-registered, on the other hand, the group
management server 32 carries out the process to deregister
the content reproduction apparatus 20 from the
apparatus group at the next step S196. To put it
concretely, first of all, the group management server 32
identifies a record included in the group-registering
database 324 as a record provided for the authenticated
user on the basis of information including a terminal ID
assigned to the content-processing apparatus 10 making
the request for the group-registering process. Then, the
group management server 32 deletes the device ID of the
content reproduction apparatus 20 to be de-registered
from the apparatus group.
[0335]
Then, at the next step 5198, the group management
server 32 transmits a de-registering process completion
notice to the content-processing apparatus 10 making the
request for a group-de-registering process.
[0336]
As described above, in a process to de-register a
content reproduction apparatus 20 from an apparatus
group, first of all, the content-processing apparatus 10
deletes the group ID from the source-ID list L of the
content reproduction apparatus 20 at the step S186. Then,
at the step S196, the group management server 32 carries
out the process to de-register a content reproduction
apparatus 20 from the apparatus group. Thus, with regard
to the content reproduction apparatus 20 de-registered
from the apparatus group by the group management server
32, the group ID can be certainly deleted from the
source-ID list L of the content reproduction apparatus
20. As a result, it is possible to get rid of a
situation in which the group ID is left in the actual
source-ID list L owned by the content reproduction
apparatus 20 regardless of the fact that the content
reproduction apparatus 20 has been de-registered from
the group management server 32.
[0337]
The above descriptions have explained basic flows
of the group-registering/de-registering processes to
register and de-register a content-processing apparatus
10 (PC) and a content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD).
The group-registering/de-registering processes allow the
owner of the content-processing apparatus 10 and the
content reproduction apparatus 20 to be changed. That is
to say, the group of the content-processing apparatus 10
can be changed by carrying out the group-de-registering
process and, then, the group-registering process.
[0338]
It is to be noted that, even when a content processing
apparatus 10 having a ripping function is
newly registered in an apparatus group or when the group
of the content-processing apparatus 10 is changed, the
recorder ID assigned to the content-processing apparatus
10 does not change. Thus, even after the content processing
apparatus 10 is newly registered in an
apparatus group or after the group of the content processing
apparatus 10 is changed, any apparatus
pertaining to the same apparatus group as the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is capable of freely reproducing
a content, which is ripped off by the content-processing
apparatus 10 before the content-processing apparatus 10
is newly registered in an apparatus group or before the
group of the content-processing apparatus 10 is changed.
As a result, convenience offered by a content-processing
apparatus 10 having a ripping function to the user is
enhanced and there is a merit to purchase such a
content-processing apparatus 10.
[0339]
8. Reproduction Control Adopting the Group Management
Method
By referring to Fig. 18, the following description
explains processing to control reproduction of a content
by adoption of the group management method in a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 provided by the embodiment. Fig.
18 shows a flowchart representing a content reproduction
control process carried out by a content-processing
apparatus 10 (PC) provided by the embodiment, in
accordance with the group management method. The
processing to control reproduction of a content by
adoption of the group management method is a process to
control reproduction of a content on the basis of a
source ID added to the content and a source-ID list L.
[0340]
As shown in Fig. 18, first of all, at a step S202,
for example, a user makes a request for reproduction of detail, at the step 5204, first of all, the
reproducibility determination section 172 employed in
the content reproduction section 170 reads out the
content, the reproduction of which is desired, from the
content database 116, a storage medium 7 or other
storage means. Then, the reproducibility determination
section 172 reads out a source ID included in a license
added to the content.
[0342]
Then, at the next step S206, the source ID read
out from the content is compared with those included on
the source-ID list L of the content-processing apparatus
10 in order to determine as to whether or not the source
ID matches any one of those on the source-ID list L. To
put it concretely, at the step S206, first of all, the
reproducibility determination section 172 employed in
the content reproduction section 170 reads out the
source-ID list L from the storage section 111. Then, the
reproducibility determination section 172 compares the
source ID read out from the content with those included
on the source-ID list L in order to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not the source ID is
included on the source-ID list L.
[0343]
If the result of the determination indicates that
the source ID read out from the content is included on
the source-ID list L, the reproducibility determination
section 172 permits the reproduction of the content. In
this case, the flow of the content-reproduction control
processing goes on to a step S208. If the result of the
determination indicates that the source ID read out from
the content is not included on the source-ID list L, on
the other hand, the reproducibility determination
section 172 does not permit the reproduction of the
content. In this case, the content-reproduction control
processing is ended.
[0344]
At the step S208, the present time is acquired.
To put it in detail, at the step S208, the
reproducibility determination section 172 acquires the
present time from a timer apparatus (not shown in the
figure) embedded in the content-processing apparatus 10.
[0345]
At the next step S210, the acquired present time
is examined to produce a result of determination as to
whether or not the present time is still within a
validity term of the source ID read out from the content.
To put it concretely, at the step S210, first of all,
the reproducibility determination section 172 reads out
a validity term for a source ID, which has been read out
from the content, from the source-ID list L. The
validity term for the source ID read out from the
license has been stored on the source-ID list L by for
example being associated with the source ID.
[0346]
Then, the reproducibility determination section
172 produces a result of determination as to whether or
not the acquired present time is still within the
validity term of the source ID. If the result of the
determination indicates that the acquired present time
is no longer within the validity term of the source ID,
the validity term of the source ID is determined to have
been expired. In this case, the reproducibility
determination section 172 doe not permit reproduction of
the content, ending the content-reproduction control
processing.
[0347]
If the result of the determination indicates that
the acquired present time is still within the validity
term of the source ID, on the other hand, the
reproducibility determination section 172 permits
reproduction of the content. Then, the flow of the
content-reproduction control processing goes on to a
step 5212. At the step S212, the reproduction execution
section 174 reproduces the content.
[0348]
As described above, the processing to control
reproduction of a content by adopting the group
management method provided by the embodiment is carried
out on the basis of a source ID included on the source-
ID list L as a source ID added to the content and a
validity term of the source ID. In accordance with the
processing to control reproduction of contents, for each
source ID, the validity term is set as the validity term
of reproduction of a content to which the source ID is
added and used as a criterion as to whether or not the
content is a content that can be reproduced. It is to be
noted that such a validity term is not always set for
each source ID.
[0349]
9. Processing to Update a Source-ID List According to
the Group Management Method
By referring to Fig. 19, the following description
explains a process carried out by a content-processing
apparatus 10 (PC) provided by the embodiment, to update
a source-ID list L. Fig. 19 shows a flowchart
representing the process to update a source-ID list L in
a content-processing apparatus 10 provided by the
embodiment. The process to update a source-ID list L as
represented by the flowchart shown in the figure is a
typical process carried out by a content-processing
apparatus 10 to update its own source-ID list L or the
source-ID list L of a content reproduction apparatus 20
connected to the content-processing apparatus 10 by a
local line on the basis of a received group certificate
G.
[0350]
The flowchart shown in Fig. 19 begins with a step
S220 at which the content-processing apparatus 10
receives a group certificate G distributed from another
content-processing apparatus 10 or the certificate
management server 36. The content-processing apparatus
10 receives the group certificate G distributed by way
of the network 5 and/or a local line 9, or by means of a
storage medium 7. In the case of a storage medium 7 used
as means for distributing the group certificate G, the
content-processing apparatus 10 is capable of acquiring
the group certificate G by reading out the group
certificate G from the storage medium 7 delivered to the
content-processing apparatus 10.
[0351]
Then, at the next step S222, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the validity term of
the received group certificate G has been expired. To
put it concretely, at the step S222, first of all, the
list-updating section 140 employed in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 reads out a validity term from
the group certificate G and acquires the present time
from a timer apparatus embedded in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. Then, the list-updating section
140 produces a result of determination as to whether or
not the present time is still within the validity term
of the group certificate G. If the result of
determination indicates that the present time is still
within the validity term of the group certificate G, the
flow of the list-updating processing goes on to a step
S224. If the result of determination indicates that the
present time is no longer within the validity term of
the group certificate G, on the other hand, the listupdating
section 140 ends the list-updating processing
without updating the source-ID list L.
[0352]
If the flow of the list-updating processing goes
on to the step S224, the list-updating section 140 reads
out a group ID from the received group certificate G at
the step S224.
[0353]
Then, at the next step S226, the list-updating
section 140 acquires a group ID of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 employing the list-updating
section 140. In the case of this embodiment, in a
content-processing apparatus 10, group IDs are kept on
the source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10. Thus, at the step S226, the list-updating
section 140 reads out a group ID of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 from the source-ID list L.
[0354]
Then, at the next step S228, the list-updating
section 140 compares the group ID read out from the
received group certificate G with the group ID read out
from the source-ID list L as the group ID of the
content-processing apparatus 10 in order to produce a
result of determination as to whether or not the group
ID read out from the received group certificate G
matches the group ID of the content-processing apparatus
10. If the result of the determination indicates that
the group ID read out from the received group
certificate G matches the group ID of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10, the list-updating section 140
permits the processing to update the source-ID list L.
In this case, the flow of the list-updating processing
goes on to a step S230. If the result of the
determination indicates that the group ID read out from
the received group certificate G does not match the
group ID of the content-processing apparatus 10, on the
other hand, the list-updating section 140 does not
permit the processing to update the source-ID list L. In
this case, the flow of the list-updating processing is
ended.
[0355]
At the step S230, the list-updating section 140
adds a recorder ID included in the group certificate G
to the source-ID list L. To put it concretely, at the
step S230, the list-updating section 140 reads out the
recorder ID from the received group certificate G and
writes the recorder ID into the source-ID list L. Thus,
the content-processing apparatus 10 becomes capable of
reproducing a ripping content including the recorder ID
added thereto. Upon completion of the process carried
out at this step, the processing to update the source-ID
list L on the basis of a group certificate G is ended.
[0356]
The descriptions given so far have explained basic
configurations of the content-sharing system 100 and the
content-sharing method adopted in the content-sharing
system 100. In the content-sharing system 100, it is
possible to implement the copyright management adopting
the group management method and the copyright management
based on the check-in/check-out method conforming to the
SDMI.
[0357]
If the copyright management based on the group
management method is implemented in the content-sharing
system 100, contents to be shared by a plurality of
apparatus in the content-sharing system 100 are managed
in content-source units, that is, in content-providinguser
units or content-providing-apparatus units. To be
more specific, reproduction of contents in a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is restricted in accordance with
sources providing the contents in order to execute
management of copyrights of the contents. That is to say,
a process to share contents among apparatus is allowed
or disallowed in management, which is executed with the
content-providing source used as a unit of management.
[0358]
Thus, if the source providing a content is an
illegal content-providing source, the content-processing
apparatus 10 acquiring contents is capable of
prohibiting reproduction of all contents acquired from
the illegal source providing the contents. As s result,
illegal acts can be avoided effectively. Examples of the
illegal acts are an act to distribute a large number of
ripping contents to a large number of unspecified users
and an act to make a distributed content downloadable to
the public by way of the Internet.
[0359]
If the source providing a specific content is a
legal content-providing source, on the other hand, once
the source ID of the legal source providing the specific
content is registered on the source-ID list L to allow
the specific content to be shared by the apparatus
owning the source-ID list L, any other content provided
by this legal content-providing source can be reproduced
by the apparatus with a high degree of freedom even if
the other content is different from the specific content.
Thus, a content can be copied from an apparatus to
another one among a plurality of apparatus in the domain
of private use. As a result, it is possible to implement
copyright management close to the conventional analog-
content distribution system allowing a content to be
copied an unlimited number of times as long as the
copies of the content are used in the domain of private
use.
[0360]
Accordingly, the content-sharing system 100
according to the embodiment is capable of:
(1) carrying out a copyright management function to
avoid illegal content utilization such as making no
payment to a content distribution service or other
services; and
(2) increasing the degree of freedom to properly utilize
paid contents in the domain of private use of the
contents.
[0361]
In addition, in the copyright management
processing based on the group management method, as a
rule, a process to register the source ID of a content
source on the source-ID list L of an apparatus needs to
be carried out only once at a registering time in the
content distribution service or the ripping-contentsharing
service. Thus, the copyright management
processing based on the group management method can be
made efficient in comparison with the copyright
management processing based on the conventional checkin/
check-out method whereby a copyright of a content is
controlled each time the content is copied, that is,
every time the content is checked out and checked in.
[0362]
Content-processing apparatus 10 and content
reproduction apparatus 20 are registered in an apparatus
group provided for the user owning the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 or the content reproduction
apparatus 20 so that a content can be copied from any
one of the content-processing apparatus 10 or the
content reproduction apparatus 20 to another one within
the same apparatus group with a high degree of freedom
to be utilized in the other content-processing apparatus
10 or content reproduction apparatus 20. Furthermore,
since it is not necessary to be aware of the copy source
of the content and the number of copying operations
carried out so far, the user hardly feels the existence
of the copyright management system. In the domain of
private use of contents, it is thus possible to raise
the degree of freedom given to the user as well as the
level of convenience offered to the user and, hence,
carry out user-friendly copyright management.
[0363]
10. Local Registration
By referring to Figs. 20 (a) to 20 (c), the
following description explains details of a local
registering process carried out in a copyright
management system (that is, the content-sharing system
100) adopting the group management method provided by
the embodiment. Figs. 20(a) to 20(c) are explanatory
diagrams each showing an outline configuration of a
local-registering process according to the embodiment.
[0364]
As shown in Figs. 20(a) to 20(c), as a premise of
a local registering process, the recorder ID of only one
content-processing apparatus 10 can be registered on the
source-ID list L owned by a content reproduction
apparatus 20 by carrying out the local registering
process. That is to say, the content reproduction
apparatus 20 is capable of identifying only one contentprocessing
apparatus 10 and reproducing a content data
(or a content) ripped off by the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0365]
To put it in detail, when the content-processing
apparatus 10 having recorder ID1 as its recorder ID is
connected to the content reproduction apparatus 20 by a
cable (a local line 9) through an interface such as the
USB as shown in Fig. 20(a), recorder IDl is registered
on the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20. That is to say, it is
possible to carry out a local registering process on the
content reproduction apparatus 20 for the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 having recorder ID1 in order to
register recorder IDl on the source-ID list L owned by
the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0366]
It is to be noted that a series of local
registering processes according to the embodiment will
be described later. As explained above, however, the
recorder ID of only one content-processing apparatus 10
can be registered on the source-ID list L owned by a
content reproduction apparatus 20. Thus, for example, if
another recorder ID has been recorded on the source-ID
list L and a content related to the recorder ID has been
stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20, a local
registering process cannot be carried out.
[0367]
By registering recorder IDl of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 on the source-ID list L held by
the content reproduction apparatus 20 as shown in Fig.
20 (a), the content reproduction apparatus 20 becomes
capable of reproducing a content generated in a ripping
process carried out by the content reproduction
apparatus 20 having recorder ID1. It is to be noted that,
as shown in Fig. 20 (a), recorder ID1 is attached to the
content generated in a ripping process carried out by
the content reproduction apparatus 20 having recorder
ID1.
[0368]
Next, as shown in Fig. 20 (b), a local registering
process has been applied to the content reproduction
apparatus 20 for a content-processing apparatus lOa
connected to the content reproduction apparatus 20 by a
local line 9a as a content-processing apparatus 10
having recorder ID1. In this state, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is connected a contentprocessing
apparatus lOb having recorder ID2 by a local
line 9b. When the content reproduction apparatus 20
makes an attempt to acquire a content including recorder
ID2 in order to reproduce the content, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is not capable of reproducing
the content. This is because the recorder ID that has
been registered on the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 is recorder ID1.
[0369]
Even if the content reproduction apparatus 20
makes an attempt to register recorder ID2 on the source-
ID list L, the content reproduction apparatus 20 is not
capable of registering this recorder ID thereon since
recorder ID1 has been registered on the source-ID list L.
Thus, a local registering process cannot be applied to
the content reproduction apparatus 20 for a contentprocessing
apparatus lOb having recorder ID2 in order to
register recorder ID2 on the source-ID list L owned by
the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0370]
In order for the content reproduction apparatus 20
to reproduce the content including recorder ID2, it is
necessary to erase recorder IDl, which has already been
registered on the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20, from the source-ID list L and
delete the content including recorder IDl from the
content reproduction apparatus 20. That is to say, it is
necessary to carry out a local de-registering process on
the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0371]
The local de-registering process applied to the
content reproduction apparatus 20 for the content-
processing apparatus lOa is a process to delete the
recorder ID of the content-processing apparatus lOa from
the source-ID list L owned by the content reproduction
apparatus 20. The local de-registering process can be
initiated by not only a content-processing apparatus 10
identified by the recorder ID to be deleted from the
source-ID list L, but also any other content-processing
apparatus 10 connected to the content reproduction
apparatus 20 by a local line 9.
[0372]
In addition, the operation to delete the recorder
ID can be carried out as part of a process to initialize
a recording section such as an HDD employed in the
content reproduction apparatus 20 by deleting all data
including data recorded on the source-ID list L from the
recording section. By deleting the recorder ID from the
source-ID list L, a local de-registering process can be
newly carried out.
[0373]
If the operations are carried out to erase
recorder IDl from the source-ID list L and delete the
content including recorder IDl from the recording
section, the content-processing apparatus lOb is capable
of having recorder ID2 of the content-processing
apparatus lOb itself registered on the source-ID list L
owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20. That is
to say, a local registering process can be applied to
the content reproduction apparatus 20 for the contentprocessing
apparatus lOb.
[0374]
It is to be noted that, if the content
reproduction apparatus 20 already subjected to a local
registering process is subjected to another local
registering process for another content-processing
apparatus 10 in order to register the recorder ID of the
other content-processing apparatus 10 on the source-ID
list L, as described above, as a typical implementation
of the local registering process, it is necessary to
erase the recorder ID of the specific content
reproduction apparatus 20 from the source-ID list L and
delete the content including the recorder ID from the
recording section. However, the local de-registering
process is not limited to this typical implementation.
For example, it is also possible to provide a
configuration in which a local registering process is
carried out by merely deleting the recorder ID from the
source-ID list L owned by the content reproduction
apparatus 20 and, by carrying out a local de-registering
process in this way, another local registering process
can be carried out for another content-processing
apparatus, 10 in order to register the recorder ID of the
other content-processing apparatus 10 on the source-ID
list L.
[0375]
As shown in Fig. 20(c), recorder ID1 is deleted
from the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 and recorder ID2 of the
content-processing apparatus lOb is then registered on
the source-ID list L so that the content reproduction
apparatus 20 becomes capable of reproducing a content
acquired from the content-processing apparatus lOb as a
content including recorder ID2.
[0376]
By referring to Figs. 21(a) to 21 (c), the
following description explains a source-ID list L owned
by a content-processing apparatus 10 already subjected
to a group-registering process or a content reproduction
apparatus 20 already subjected to a local registering
process.
[0377]
As shown in Fig. 21(a), a content-processing
apparatus lOa has recorder'ID1, a content-processing
apparatus lOb has recorder ID2 and a content
reproduction apparatus 20 has already been subjected to
a local registering process. It is to be noted that the
local registering process has been applied to the
content reproduction apparatus 20 for the contentprocessing
apparatus lOa having recorder ID1 in order to
register recorder IDl on the source-ID list L owned by
the content reproduction apparatus 20 so that a content
including recorder IDl has been stored in the content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0378]
Then, as shown in Fig. 21(b), the contentprocessing
apparatus lOa having recorder IDl carries out
a service-registering process, which is also referred to
as the group-registering process, for apparatus group
IDA in order to add apparatus group IDA to the source-ID
CL
list L owned by the content-processing apparatus 10K. It
is to be noted that, since recorder IDl is the own
recorder ID, recorder IDl is already included.
[0379]
By the same token, the content-processing
apparatus lOb having recorder ID2 carries out a serviceregistering
process for apparatus group IDA in order to
add apparatus group IDA to the source-ID list L owned by
the content-processing apparatus lOb.
[0380]
As described above, apparatus group IDA is created
on the source-ID list L owned by each of the apparatus
as an apparatus group of the apparatus having the same
group ID. Then, a group-registering process can be
carried on the apparatus to add the recorder ID of each
of the apparatus to the apparatus group created on the
source-ID list L owned by each of the apparatus.
[0381]
To put it concretely, as shown in Fig. 21(b),
recorder ID1 of the content-processing apparatus 10 is
added to apparatus group IDA created on the source-ID
list L owned by the content-processing apparatus lOb
having recorder ID2. By the same token, recorder ID2 is
added to the source-ID list L owned by the contentprocessing
apparatus lOa having recorder ID1.
[0382]
It is to be noted that the timing to add recorder
ID to the source-ID list L owned by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 as shown in Fig. 21 (b) can be
for example a timing with which the content-processing
apparatus 10 makes an access to the group management
server 32 and receives a group certificate G from the
group management server 32. However, the timing to add
another recorder ID to the source-ID list L is not
limited to such an example. In addition, when a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 receives a group certificate G,
the content-processing apparatus 10 can add all recorder
IDs associated with a group ID included in the group
certificate G to the source-ID list L owned by the
content-processing apparatus 10. It is needless to say
that all the recorder IDs include the newly added
recorder ID mentioned above.
[0383]
The access cited above is a generic term of
processing to process information by using the network 5
as means for communicating the information. Examples of
the processing to process information by using the
network 5 as means for communicating the information are
utilization of the content-sharing system 100,
connection to a server, reference to a file, saving of a
file, deletion of a file and modification of a file.
[0384]
As described above, the content-processing
apparatus lOa has already been subjected to a serviceregistering
process with respect to apparatus group IDA.
Then, if a service-registering process with respect to
apparatus group IDA is further applied to the content
reproduction apparatus 20 already subjected to a local
registering process for the content-processing apparatus
lOa having recorder ID1 in order to register recorder
ID1 in the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20, apparatus group IDA is
registered on the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20. Then, recorder ID2 of the
content-processing apparatus lOb is added to the source-
ID list L owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20
as shown in Fig. 21(c).
[0385]
Thus, the content reproduction apparatus 20
already subjected to a service-registering program with
respect to apparatus group IDA is capable of reproducing
contents stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20
as contents resulting from ripping processes carried out
by the content-processing apparatus lOa having recorder
ID1 and the content-processing apparatus lOb having
recorder ID2.
[0386]
It is to be noted that by carrying out a serviceregistering
process on the content reproduction
apparatus 20, first of all, apparatus group IDA is
registered on the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 as described above. Then,
other recorder IDs included in apparatus group IDA such
as the recorder ID2 are all added on the source-ID list
L owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20. The
timing to add recorder ID2 to the source-ID list L owned
by the content reproduction apparatus 20 is for example
the timing to connect the content reproduction apparatus
20 to the content-processing apparatus lOb having
recorder ID2 by using a local line 9. However, the
timing is not limited to the case with this example.
[0387]
By referring to Fig. 22, the following description
explains configuration elements related to a groupregistering
section employed in a content-processing
apparatus 10. Fig. 22 is a block diagram showing an
outline configuration of a group-registering section
employed in a content-processing apparatus 10 according
to the embodiment.
[0388]
As shown in Fig. 22, the group-registering section
employed in a content-processing apparatus 10 includes
an acquisition section 401, a detection section 403, a
recorder-ID addition section 405, a registering request
information transmission section 407, a registering end
reception section 409, a notification section 411 and a
group-ID addition section 413.
[0389]
The acquisition section 401 is a unit for
acquiring a source-ID list L owned by a content
reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. The source-ID list L owned by a
content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the
content-processing apparatus 10 is also referred to as a
second source-ID list L. It is to be noted that the ICV
data of the content reproduction apparatus 20 is also
acquired along with the source-ID list L and the MAC
value of the source-ID list L is computed to be compared
with a MAC value included in the ICV data. That is to
say, the computed MAC value is compared with the MAC
value included in the ICV data acquired separately from
the source-ID list L as data used for detection of
interpolation in order to make sure that the source-ID
list L has not been interpolated. The data used for
detection of interpolation is generated in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 on the basis of the acquired
source-ID list L.
[0390]
The detection section 403 is a unit for producing
a result of determination as to whether or not the
content reproduction apparatus 20, the source-ID list L
of which has been acquired by the acquisition section
401, has been subjected to a service-registering process,
In addition, the detection section 403 also produces a
result of determination as to whether or not the
recorder ID of its own content-processing apparatus 10
is on the source-ID list L acquired from the content
reproduction apparatus 20. Its own content-processing
apparatus 10 is the content-processing apparatus 10
employing the detection section 403 or the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 acquiring the source-ID list L
owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0391]
The recorder-ID addition section 405 is a unit for
adding the recorder ID of its own content-processing
apparatus 10 to the source-ID list L acquired by the
acquisition section 401 from the content reproduction
apparatus 20, which serves as a source providing the
source-ID list L, and storing the source-ID list L
including the added recorder ID in a storage apparatus.
[0392]
A condition imposed by the recorder-ID addition
section 405 as a condition for adding the recorder ID to
the source-ID list L will be described later. As a
typical condition for adding the recorder ID to the
source-ID list L, the recorder-ID addition section 405
may impose a condition requiring that, as indicated by a
determination result produced by the detection section
403, the content reproduction apparatus 20 serving as a
source providing the source-ID list L has not been
subjected to a service-registering process and recorders
ID other than the recorder of its own content-processing
apparatus 10 have not been registered on the source-ID
list L. In this case, its own content-processing
apparatus 10 is the content-processing apparatus 10
employing the recorder-ID addition section 405 or the
content-processing apparatus 10 acquiring the source-ID
list L owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0393]
As described above, the recorder-ID addition
section 405 is a unit for adding the recorder ID of its
own content-processing apparatus 10 to the source-ID
list L received from the content reproduction apparatus
20. It is to be noted, however, that the recorder-ID
addition section 405 does not necessarily carry out this
function. For example, the recorder-ID addition section
405 may also add the recorder ID of its own contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to the source-ID list L already
held by the content-processing apparatus 10.
The registering request information transmission
section 407 is a unit for receiving a request entered to
the content-processing apparatus 10 by the user
operating an input section such as a mouse as a request
for execution of a service-registering process on the
content-processing apparatus 10 or a content
reproduction apparatus 20. The registering request
information transmission section 407 passes the request
for execution of a service-registering process to a
transmission section. It is to be noted that the
transmission section transmits the request for execution
of a service-registering process to the group management
server 32 by way of a network.
[0394]
The registering end reception section 409 is a
unit for receiving a notice transmitted by the group
management server 32 receiving the request for execution
of a service-registering process by way of the network
as a registering completion notice revealing completion
of the service-registering process. It is to be noted
that, if the execution of the service-registering
process applied to the content-processing apparatus 10
or the content reproduction apparatus 20 is not
completed normally, however, such a registering
completion notice will not be received from the group
management server 32. That is to say, the group
management server 32 will transmit a registering error
notice in place of a registering completion notice to
the content-processing apparatus 10.
[0395]
The notification section 411 is a unit for
displaying information such as recommendation of a
service-registering process on a display screen employed
in the content-processing apparatus 10. In addition, the
information displayed on the display screen may include
recommendation to delete a content from a content
reproduction apparatus 20 as a content associated with a
recorder ID not relevant to the content-processing
apparatus 10. An operation to delete a content is also
referred to as an operation to initialize the content.
It is to be noted that the displayed information such as
recommendation of a service-registering process not only
appears on the display screen employed in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 but the information may also
appear on the display screen employed in the content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0396]
The group-ID addition section 413 is a unit for
adding a group ID recorded on the source-ID list L owned
by the content-processing apparatus 10 to the source-ID
list L owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20
upon reception of the registering completion notice by
the registering end reception section 409. To put it
concretely, the group-ID addition section 413 adds the
group ID to the source-ID list L acquired by the
acquisition section 401.
[0397]
In addition, a function almost identical with the
function of the group-ID addition section 413 can also
be implemented in a configuration including the group-
ID-updating section 149 explained earlier by referring
to Fig. 8. That is to say, the group-ID-updating section
149 may for example add a group ID to the source-ID list
L.
[0398]
By referring to Figs. 23 to 25, the following
description explains a series of registering processes
including an automatic local registering process for a
content reproduction apparatus 20 provided by the
embodiment.
[0399]
A flowchart shown in Fig. 23 begins with a step
S301 at which, as the content reproduction apparatus 20
is connected to a content-processing apparatus 10 by a
cable (a local line 9), the acquisition section 401
employed in the content-processing apparatus 10 acquires
a source-ID list L owned by the content reproduction
apparatus 20 connected to the content-processing
apparatus 10 by the local line 9.
[0400]
Then, after the acquisition section 401 acquires
the source-ID list L from the content reproduction
apparatus 20, at the next step S302, the detection
section 403 produces a result of determination as to
whether or not the content reproduction apparatus 20 has
been subjected to some registering processes on the
basis of the source-ID list L. For example, the
detection section 403 produces a result of determination
as to whether or not the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 includes the source ID
or a recorder ID assigned to its own content-processing
apparatus 10 serving as the content-processing apparatus
10 acquiring the source-ID list L.
[0401]
If the group ID is included on the source-ID list
L owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20, the
detection section 403 produces a determination result
indicating that the content reproduction apparatus 20
has been subjected to a service-registering process,
which is also referred to as a group-registering process,
If the recorder ID is not included on the source-ID list
L, on the other hand, the detection section 403 produces
a determination result indicating that the content
reproduction apparatus 20 has been subjected to a local
registering process.
[0402]
If the determination result produced at the step
S302 indicates that the content reproduction apparatus
20 has been subjected to some registering processes such
as a local registering process or a service-registering
process, the flow of the registering processing goes on
to a step S303 at which the detection section 403
produces a result of determination as to whether or not
the content reproduction apparatus 20 has been subjected
to a local registering process. If the determination
result produced at the step S303 indicates that the
content reproduction apparatus 20 has not been subjected
to a local registering process, the flow of the
registering processing goes on to a step S304 at which
the detection section 403 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 has been subjected to a serviceregistering
process. It is to be noted that the
detection section 403 produces a result of determination
as to whether or not the content-processing apparatus 10
has been subjected to a service-registering process by
determining whether or not the source-ID list L owned by
the content-processing apparatus 10 includes the group
ID. As described before, the source-ID list L owned by
the content-processing apparatus 10 is referred to as
the first source-ID list.
[0403]
If the determination result produced by the
detection section 403 at the step S304 indicates that
the content-processing apparatus 10 has not been
subjected to a service-registering process, that is, if
the content reproduction apparatus 20 connected by a
cable (a local line 9) to the content-processing
apparatus 10 has not been subjected to a local
registering process and the content-processing apparatus
10 has not been subjected to a service-registering
process, the flow of the registering processing goes on
to a step S305 at which the notification section 411
generates a service-registering warning to prompt the
group management server 32 to carry out a serviceregistering
process on the content-processing apparatus
10 and displays the service-registering warning on the
display screen of the content-processing apparatus 10.
[0404]
At the step S305, the user sees the serviceregistering
warning displayed by the notification
section 411 on the display screen and let us assume for
example that the user wants the content-processing
apparatus 10 to be subjected to a service-registering
process. In this case, the flow of the registering
processing goes on to a step S306 at which the
notification section 411 displays a registering window
for a service-registering process on the display screen.
[0405]
Let us assume for example that the user operates
the input section such as a mouse in accordance with the
registering window appearing on the display screen to
enter a command making a request for a serviceregistering
process to the registering request
information transmission section 407. In this case, the
registering request information transmission section 407
transmits the request for a service-registering process
to the group management server 32.
[0406]
Then, at the next step S307, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 receives a registering
completion notice indicating completion of the serviceregistering
process from the group management server 32
and generates a group ID on the basis of a leaf ID.
Subsequently, the group-ID addition section 413 adds the
group ID to the source-ID list L owned by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 and ends the service-registering
process. It is to be noted that a recorder ID pertaining
to the group ID is registered on the source-ID list L
owned by the content-processing apparatus 10 when the
group ID is added to the source-ID list L.
[0407]
If the user enters a. response to the inquiry
displayed on the screen at the step S305 to indicate
that the user does not want the content reproduction
apparatus 2*0 to be subjected to a service-registering
process, on the other hand, the flow of the registering
processing goes on to a step S308 at which a warning
message like one shown in Fig. 26 is displayed on the
display screen of the content-processing apparatus 10.
The warning message shown in Fig. 26 notifies the user
that the content reproduction apparatus 20 has not been
registered correctly.
[0408]
If the determination result produced by the
detection section 403 at the step S304 indicates that
the content-processing apparatus 10 has been subjected
to a service-registering process, on the other hand, the
flow of the registering processing goes on to a step
S309 at which the detection section 403 compares the
group ID registered on the source-ID list L owned by the
content-processing apparatus 10 with the group ID
registered on the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20. If the result of the
comparison indicates that the group ID registered on the
source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10 is the same as the group ID registered on
the source-ID list L owned by the content reproduction
apparatus 20, the flow of the registering processing
goes on to a step S310 at which the content-processing
apparatus 10 transmits a content indicated by the group
ID registered on the source-ID list L owned by the
content-processing apparatus 10 to the content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0409]
If the comparison result produced at the step S309
indicates that the group ID registered on the source-ID
list L owned by the content-processing apparatus 10 is
not the same as the group ID registered on the source-ID
list L owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20,
on the other hand, the flow of the registering
processing goes on to a step S311 at which the warning
message shown in Fig. 26 as described earlier is
displayed on the screen. In this case, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is not allowed to transmit a
content distributed by the content distribution server
34 to the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0410]
If the determination result produced at the step
S302 indicates that the content reproduction apparatus
20 has not been subjected to any registering process, on
the other hand, the flow of the registering processing
goes on to a step S312 of the flowchart shown in Fig. 24.
At this step, first of all, the notification section
displays a message recommending a service-registering
process to the user on the display screen of the
content-processing apparatus 10 along with a query about
whether or not the content reproduction apparatus 20 is
to be subjected to a service-registering process. If the
user enters a response indicating that the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is to be subjected to a
service-registering process as the response, the flow of
the registering processing goes on to a step S313 at
which the detection section 403 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 connected to the cable (local
lines 9) has been subjected to a service-registering
process.
[0411]
If the determination result produced by the
detection section 403 at the step S313 indicates that
the content-processing apparatus 10 has been subjected
to a service-registering process, the flow of the
registering processing goes on to a step S314 at which a
registering window for a service-registering process to
be applied to the content reproduction apparatus 20 is
displayed on the screen of the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0412]
Let us assume for example that the user operates
the input section such as a mouse in accordance with the
registering window appearing on the display screen to
enter a command making a request for a serviceregistering
process to be applied to the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the registering request
information transmission section 407. In this case, the
registering request information transmission section 407
transmits the request for a service-registering process
to the group management server 32.
[0413]
Then, at the next step S315, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 receives a registering
completion notice indicating completion of the serviceregistering
process from the group management server 32.
Subsequently, the group-ID addition section 413 adds a
group ID to which the content-processing apparatus 10
pertains to the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 and ends the serviceregistering
process. It is to be noted that a recorder
ID pertaining to the group ID is registered on the
source-ID list L owned by the content reproduction
apparatus 20 when the group ID is added to the source-ID
list L.
[0414]
After the service-registering process carried out
at the step S315 on the content reproduction apparatus
20 is completed, the content-processing apparatus 10 is
allowed to transmit any content stored in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 as a content with the same group
ID as that added to the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 to the content
reproduction apparatus 20 at the next step S316.
[0415]
If the determination result produced by the
detection section 403 indicates that the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 has not been subjected to a
service-registering process, on the other hand, the flow
of the registering processing goes on to a step S317.
Then, the flow of the registering processing goes on to
a step S318 to display a registering window for applying
a service-registering process to the content-processing
apparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20
on the display screen of the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0416]
Let us assume for example that the user operates
the input section such as a mouse in accordance with the
registering window appearing on the display screen to
enter a command making a request for a service-
registering process to the registering request
information transmission section 407. In this case, the
registering request information transmission section 407
transmits the request for a service-registering process
to the group management server 32.
[0417]
It is to be noted that, at the step S318, a
service-registering process is applied to both the
content reproduction apparatus 20 and the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. Information on the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is entered to the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to generate a request for the
service-registering process and, by the same token,
information on the content-processing apparatus 10 is
entered to the content-processing apparatus 10 to
generate a request for the service-registering process.
The information includes a user ID and a password. As an
alternative, in the case of a service-registering
process to be applied to both the content reproduction
apparatus 20 and the content-processing apparatus 10,
information such as a user ID and password common to
both the content reproduction apparatus 20 and the
content-processing apparatus 10 is entered to
automatically generate a request for the service-
registering process. In accordance with the alternative,
the operation carried out by the user to enter the
information is simplified and the time to generate the
request for the service-registering process is shortened.
[0418]
To put it in detail, at the step S318, the
content-processing apparatus 10 receives a registering
completion notice revealing completion of the serviceregistering
process applied to the content-processing
apparatus 10 and the content reproduction apparatus 20
from the group management server 32 and generates a
group ID on the basis of a leaf ID. Subsequently, the
group-ID addition section 413 adds the group ID to the
source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10 as well as the source-ID list L owned by
the content reproduction apparatus 20 and ends the
service-registering process. It is to be noted that a
recorder ID pertaining to the group ID is registered on
the source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10 and the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 when the group ID is
added to the source-ID list L.
[0419]
After the service-registering process carried out
at the step S318 on the content reproduction apparatus
20 and the content-processing apparatus 10 is completed,
the content-processing apparatus 10 is allowed to
transmit any content stored in the content-processing
apparatus 10 as a content with the same group ID as that
added to the source-ID list L owned by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to the content reproduction
apparatus 20 at the next step S319.
[0420]
If the user enters a response indicating that the
content-processing apparatus K) is not to be subjected
to a service-registering process as a response to the
service-registering recommendation information displayed
by the notification section 411 on the screen at the
step S312 after the user views the message, that is, the
user does not want the content reproduction apparatus 20
to be subjected to a service-registering process in
spite of the fact that the content reproduction
apparatus 20 has not been subjected to any registering
process, on the other hand, the flow of the registering
processing goes on to a step S320, at which the
recorder-ID addition section 405 employed in the
content-processing apparatus 10 adds the recorder ID of
the content-processing apparatus 10 employing the
recorder-ID addition section 405 to an already acquired
source-ID list L owned by the content reproduction
apparatus 20. Then, the recorder-ID addition section 405
finds a MAC value of the updated source-ID list L as a
MAC value to be included in ICV data associated with the
updated source-ID list L, and generates the ICV data
including the MAC value as data for detection of
interpolation. Subsequently, the recorder-ID addition
section 405 transmits the source-ID list L including the
recorder ID and the data for detection of interpolation
to the content reproduction apparatus 20 to be stored in
the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0421]
As the local registering process is completed at
the step S320 as described above, the content-processing
apparatus 10 is allowed to transmit any content stored
in the content-processing apparatus 10 as a content with
the same recorder ID as that added to the source-ID list
L to the content reproduction apparatus 20 at the next
step S321. A content having a recorder ID is referred to
as a ripping content.
[0422]
Thus, if the content reproduction apparatus 20 has
not been subjected to any registering process, the
content-processing apparatus 10 automatically carries
out a local registering process on the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. The content reproduction
apparatus 20 completing a local registering process is
capable of acquiring a content stored in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 and reproducing the content even
if the content reproduction apparatus 20 does not have a
function to communicate with the content-processing
apparatus 10 through a network such as the Internet. It
is to be noted, however, that the content reproduction
apparatus 20 is not capable of reproducing a content
distributed by the content distribution server 34 unless
the content reproduction apparatus 20 has completed a
service-registering process.
[0423]
If the determination result produced at the step
S302 of the flowchart shown in Fig. 23 indicates that
the content reproduction apparatus 20 has completed some
registering processes and the determination result
produced at the step S303 of the same flowchart
indicates that the content reproduction apparatus 20 has
completed a local-registering process, on the other hand,
the flow of the registering processing goes on to a step
S322 of a flowchart shown in Fig. 25. At this step, the
content reproduction apparatus 20 is examined in order
to produce a result of determination as to whether or
not the content reproduction apparatus 20 is actually
connected by a cable (a local line 9) to a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 that has carried out the localregistering
process on the content reproduction
apparatus 20.
[0424]
To put it in detail, the detection section 403
examines the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 in order to produce a result
of determination as to whether or not the source-ID list
L includes the same recorder ID as the recorder ID of
the content-processing apparatus 10. If the result of
the determination indicates that the source-ID list L
owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20 includes
the same recorder ID as the recorder ID of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10, the detection section 403
determines that the content reproduction apparatus 20 is
actually connected by a cable (a local line 9) to a
content-processing apparatus 10 that has carried out the
local-registering process on the content reproduction
apparatus 20.
[0425]
If the determination result produced at the step
S322 indicates that the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 includes a recorder ID
different from the recorder ID of the content-processing
apparatus 10, the flow of the registering processing
goes on to a step S323 at which a warning message is
displayed on the screen of the content-processing
apparatus 10. Then, the flow of the registering
processing goes on to a step S324 to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not a content has been
stored in a storage apparatus employed in the content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0426]
If the determination result produced at the step
S324 indicates that no content has been stored in a
storage section employed in the content reproduction
apparatus 20, the flow of the registering processing
goes on to a step S325 at which the notification section
411 generates a message recommending a serviceregistering
process for prompting the group management
server 32 to carry out a service-registering process for
the content reproduction apparatus 20 and displays the
message on the screen of the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0427]
If the determination result produced at the step
S324 indicates that a content has been stored in a
storage section employed in the content reproduction
apparatus 20, on the other hand, the flow of the
registering processing goes on to a step S326 at which a
message for prompting the user to enter an input as to
whether or not to select initialization as shown in Fig.
27 is displayed on the screen of the content-processing
apparatus 10. As the user operates the input section to
press an Initialize button appearing on the screen shown
in Fig. 27, the flow of the registering processing goes
on to a step S327 at which an initialization process is
carried out to delete all data stored in the storage
apparatus employed in the content reproduction apparatus
20.
[0428]
As the process carried out at the step S327 to
initialize the content reproduction apparatus 20 is
completed, the flow of the registering processing goes
on to a step S328 at which the recorder-ID addition
section 405 employed in the content-processing apparatus
10 carries out a local registering process on the
content reproduction apparatus 20. To put it concretely,
at the step S328, first of all, the recorder-ID addition
section 405 adds a recorder ID of the content-processing
apparatus 10 employing the recorder-ID addition section
405 to the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20. Then, the recorder-ID
addition section 405 finds a MAC value of the updated
source-ID list L as a MAC value to be included in ICV
data associated with the updated source-ID list L, and
generates the ICV data including the MAC value as data
for detection of interpolation. Subsequently, the
recorder-ID addition section 405 transmits the source-ID
list L including the recorder ID and the data for
detection of interpolation to the content reproduction
apparatus 20 to be stored in the content reproduction
apparatus 20.
[0429]
Thus, by carrying out the process to initialize
the content reproduction apparatus 20 at the step S327,
a local de-registering process is carried out to deregister
another content-processing apparatus 10 having
a different recorder ID. Then, at the next step S328, a
local registering process is carried out automatically
on the content reproduction apparatus 20 to register the
recorder ID of the content-processing apparatus 10,
which is connected to the content reproduction apparatus
20 by a cable (a local line 9) as the content-processing
apparatus 10 employing the recorder-ID addition section
405, on the source-ID list L.
[0430]
If the determination result produced at the step
S322 indicates that the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 includes the same
recorder ID as the recorder ID of the content-processing
apparatus 10, on the other hand, the flow of the
registering processing goes on to a step S329 at which
the notification section 411 displays a message
recommending a service-registering process on the screen.
If the user determines that a service-registering
process is not to be applied to the content reproduction
apparatus 20 after viewing the message displayed at the
step S329, the flow of the registering processing goes
on to a step S330 at which the content-processing
apparatus 10 is capable of for example transmitting only
a content, which has been stored in the storage
apparatus employed in the content-processing apparatus
10 as a ripping content having the recorder ID of the
content-processing apparatus 10 added thereto, to the
content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0431]
If the user determines that a service-registering
process is to be applied to the content reproduction
apparatus 20 after viewing the message displayed at the
step S329, on the other hand, the flow of the
registering processing goes on to a step S331 at which
the detection section 403 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 has been subjected to a serviceregistering
process. If the result of the determination
indicates that the content-processing apparatus 10 has
been subjected to a service-registering process, the
flow of the registering processing goes on to a step
S332 at which a window for a service-registering process
to be applied to the content reproduction apparatus 20
is displayed on the screen of the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0432]
Then, when the user operates the input section
such as a mouse in accordance with the registering
window appearing on the display screen to enter a
command making a request for a service-registering
process to be applied to the content reproduction
apparatus 20 to the registering request information
transmission section 407, the registering request
information transmission section 407 transmits the
request for a service-registering process to the group
management server 32.
[0433]
As the content-processing apparatus 10 receives a
registering completion notice revealing the completion
of the service-registering process carried on the
content reproduction apparatus 20 from the group
management server 32 at the next step S333, the group-ID
addition section 413 adds the group ID of an apparatus
group, to which the content-processing apparatus 10
pertains, to the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20, completing the serviceregistering
process in the content-processing apparatus
10.
[0434]
After the service-registering process applied to
the content reproduction apparatus 20 is completed at
the step S333, the flow of the registering processing
goes on to a step S334 at which the content-processing
apparatus 10 is capable of transmitting a content, which
has been stored in the content-processing apparatus 10
as a content having the same group ID as that added to
the source-ID list L owned by the content-p-rococoing
apparatus KJ, to the content-processing apparatus 10.
[0435]
If the determination result produced at the step
S331 indicates that the content-processing apparatus 10
has not been subjected to a service-registering process,
on the other hand, the flow of the registering
processing goes on to a step S335 at which a window for
a service-registering process to be applied to the
content-processing apparatus 10 and the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is displayed on the screen of
the content-processing apparatus 10.
[0436]
When the user operates the input section such as a
mouse in accordance with the registering window
appearing on the display screen to enter a command
making a request for a service-registering process to be
applied to the content-processing apparatus 10 and the
content reproduction apparatus 20 to the registering
request information transmission section 407, the
registering request information transmission section 407
transmits the request for a service-registering process
to the group management server 32.
[0437]
As the content-processing apparatus 10 receives a
registering completion notice revealing completion of
the service-registering process carried on the content processing
apparatus 10 and the content reproduction
apparatus 20 from the group management server 32 at the
next step S336, the content-processing apparatus 10
generates a group ID on the basis of a leaf ID, and the
group-ID addition section 413 adds the generated group
ID to the source-ID lists L owned by the content processing
apparatus 10 and the content reproduction
apparatus 20, completing the service-registering process
in the content-processing apparatus 10. It is to be
noted that, when the group ID is added to the source-ID
lists L, a recorder ID pertaining to the group ID is
also added to the source-ID lists L.
[0438]
After the service-registering process applied to
the content-processing apparatus 10 and the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is completed at the step S336,
the flow of the registering processing goes on to a step
S337 at which the content-processing apparatus 10 is
capable of transmitting a content, which has been stored
in the content-processing apparatus 10 as a content
having the same group ID as that added to the source-ID
list L owned by the content-processing apparatus 10, to
the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0439]
In this embodiment, a content is transmitted from
the content-processing apparatus 10 to the content
reproduction apparatus 20 as is the case with the
example described above. It is to be noted, however,
that the embodiment is not limited to this typical
implementation. That is to say, the embodiment can also
be implemented into a configuration in which a content
is transmitted from the content reproduction apparatus
20 to the content-processing apparatus 10.
[0440]
In addition, in this embodiment, the acquisition
section 401, the detection section 403, the recorder-ID
addition section 405, the registering request
information transmission section 407, the registering
end reception section 409, the notification section 411
and the group-ID addition section 413, which together
serve as a group-registering section in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10, are each implemented by
hardware as described above. However, the embodiment is
not limited to this typical implementation. For example,
at least one of these members can each be implemented by
a program composed of one or more modules or components.
[0441]
In addition, the series of processes described
above can be carried out by special hardware or
implemented by software. If the series of processes
described above is implemented by software, programs
composing the software are installed in contentprocessing
apparatus 10, content reproduction apparatus
20, the servers 30 and other apparatus.
[0442],
In this specification, processing steps of each of
programs executed by computers of content-processing
apparatus 10, content reproduction apparatus 20, the
group management server 32 and other apparatus to carry
out various kinds of processing do not have to be
executed in an order prescribed by a flowchart along the
time axis. That is to say, the steps may include
processes carried out concurrently and/or individually
as parallel processing or processing based on objects.
[0443]
11. Registering Content-Processing Apparatus or Content
Reproduction Apparatus Having the Same ID
By referring to Figs. 28 to 31, the following
description explains a service-registering process
applied to content-processing apparatus 10 or content
reproduction apparatus 20 for the same user ID. Fig. 28
is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an input
screen, which is displayed when a service-registering
process is carried out in accordance with the embodiment.
Fig. 29 is a block diagram showing an outline
configuration of a group management section employed in
a content-processing apparatus according to the
embodiment. Fig. 30 is a diagram showing an outline
sequence of a service-registering process applied to a
content reproduction apparatus 20 in accordance with the
embodiment. Fig. 31 is a diagram showing an outline
sequence of a service-registering process applied to a
content-processing apparatus 10 in accordance with the
embodiment.
[0444]
First of all, as described above, when a serviceregistering
process is applied to a content-processing
apparatus 10 or a content reproduction apparatus 20, the
content-processing apparatus 10 makes an access to the
group management server 32 through a network to transmit
information necessary for the service-registering
process to the group management server 32, which is a
management server provided by the embodiment.
[0445]
An access is a generic term of information
processing to process information by utilizing a
communication network. Examples of the information
processing are utilization of the system, connection to
a server, reference to a file, saving of a file,
deletion of a file and modification of a file.
[0446]
As described above, subsequently, the group
management server 32 transmits a leaf ID to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10, which then generates a group ID
on the basis of the leaf ID. Then, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 adds the group ID to the source-
ID list L owned by the content-processing apparatus 10
or the content reproduction apparatus 20 to carry out
the so-called service-registering process.
[0447]
An input window shown in Fig. 28 as a window
transmitted from the group management server 32 is
displayed on the screen. The input window is used as a
window for requesting the user to enter a password and a
user ID, which is an ID of the user. The user then needs
to enter a user ID and a password to the input window.
Even in the case of a service-registering process
applied to content-processing apparatus 10 and content
reproduction apparatus 20 of the same user ID, the user
ID must be transmitted to the group management server 32
for each of the content-processing apparatus 10 and the
content reproduction apparatus 20. Thus, the efficiency
of the service-registering process is poor.
[0448]
The following description explains a serviceregistering
process, which can be carried out without
the need to transmit a user ID and a password from a
content-processing apparatus 10 to the group management
server 32.
[0449]
As shown in Fig. 29, the group management section
employed in the content-processing apparatus 10 includes
at least a user-information transmission section 430, a
registering request information transmission section 433
and the list-updating section 140 described earlier. It
is to be noted that the group management section may
include the acquisition section 401 and the detection
403, which have been explained earlier in the
description of the configuration of the group management
section but not shown in the figure.
[0450]
The user-information transmission section 430 is a
unit for receiving information entered by the user by
operating an input section as user information including
a user ID and a password and transmitting the user
information to the group management server 32 by way of
a transmission section.
[0451]
The registering request information transmission
section 433 is a unit for generating a request for a
service-registering process and transmitting the request
to the group management server 32 by way of the
transmission section. The request for a serviceregistering
process includes a device ID or a terminal
ID.
[0452]
When a service-registering process is applied to a
content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the
content-processing apparatus 10 by a local line 9, the
registering request information transmission section 433
generates a request including a device ID of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 as a request for a service registering
process. The device ID of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 has been acquired by the
acquisition section 401.
In addition, when a service-registering process is
applied to a content-processing apparatus 10, the
registering request information transmission section 433
generates a request including a terminal ID generated by
the content-processing apparatus 10 as a request for a
service-registering process.
[0454]
The list-updating section 140 is a unit for
receiving a leaf ID transmitted by the group management
server 32 in response to a request received by the group
management server 32 as a request for a serviceregistering
process, generating a group ID on the basis
of the leaf ID and registering the group ID on the
source-ID list L owned by either of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 and a content reproduction
apparatus 20, which are being subjected to the requested
service-registering process.
[0455]
Next, a service-registering process applied to a
content reproduction apparatus 20 is explained by
referring to Fig. 30. It is to be noted that, as a
prerequisite for the service-registering process, the
content-processing apparatus 10 connected to the content
reproduction apparatus 20 has been already subjected to
a service-registering process carried out in the group
management server 32.
[0456]
When the content reproduction apparatus 20 is
connected to the content-processing apparatus 10 by a
cable (a local line 9), as described before, the
content-processing apparatus 10 acquires the source-ID
list L owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20
from the content reproduction apparatus 20 in order to
produce a result of determination as to whether or not
the content reproduction apparatus 20 has been subjected
to a service-registering process.
[0457]
If the content-processing apparatus 10 produces a
determination result indicating that the content
reproduction apparatus 20 has not been subjected to a
service-registering process, first of all, at a step
S340 shown in Fig. 30, the content-processing apparatus
10 transmits a notice to the servers 30 by way of a
network as a request for a service-registering process.
[0458]
To be more specific, at the step S340, the
content-processing apparatus 10 makes an access to the
WWW server 31 functioning as one of the servers 30. The
WWW server 31 passes the notice used as a request for a
service-registering process to the group management
server 32.
[0459]
Then, at a step S341, the servers 30 transmit
registering activation information including data
required for execution of the service-registering
process to the content-processing apparatus 10 in
response to the notice received from the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 as a request for the serviceregistering
process. The registering activation
information includes a transaction ID and a URL. The
transaction ID is an ID required for example in
retransmission of data. The URL is information showing a
location used for storing, among others, a leaf ID
required in generation of a group ID. The leaf ID is
user identification information managed by the group
management server 32.
[0460]
When the content-processing apparatus 10 receives
the registering activation information, the acquisition
section 401 employed in the content-processing apparatus
10 acquires a device ID from the content reproduction
apparatus 20 at a step S342.
[0461]
After receiving the device ID at the step S342,
the content-processing apparatus 10 obtains a terminal
ID held by itself at a step S343.
[0462]
Then, at a step S344, the registering request
information transmission section 433 employed in the
content-processing apparatus 10 generates a registering
request, which includes the transaction ID, the terminal
ID and the device ID, and transmits the registering
request to the servers 30.
[0463]
At a step S345, the user-registering section 312
employed in the WWW server 31 functioning as one of the
servers 30 obtains a record (a registering record) of
the content-processing apparatus 10, which has already
been subjected to a service-registering service, on the
basis of the terminal ID in order to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not a service-registering
process can be applied to the content reproduction
apparatus 20 and, if the result of determination
indicates that a service-registering process can be
applied to the content reproduction apparatus 20, the
user-registering section 312 newly adds the device ID to
the registering record. It is to be noted that, in the
registering record of the content-processing apparatus
10, user information such as a user ID and a password is
associated with a terminal ID or the like. Normally, the
group management server 32 uniquely identifies the
registering record of the content-processing apparatus
10 by using a user ID and a password, which must be
received in advance from the content-processing
apparatus 10. If a terminal ID is received from the
content-processing apparatus 10, however, the group
management server 32 is also capable of uniquely
identifying the registering record of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 by using the terminal ID so that
the service-registering process can be completed in a
short period of time and a high degree of efficiency.
[0464]
It is to be noted that registering records are
treated like the group-registering database 324
explained before by referring to Fig. 12. A registering
record composed of columns 3241 to 3245 is a record,
which is generated when an apparatus such as a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is registered in the group
management server 32. As described earlier, a
registering record is used for recording information
such as a user ID, a password, a terminal ID, a device
ID and a recorder ID.
[0465]
First of all, the WWW server (or the management
server) 31 receives user information from the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. The user information includes a
user ID and a password. Then, the user authentication
section (or the authentication section) 314 employed in
the WWW server 31 authenticates the user information and
transmits a successful-authentication notice to the
content-processing apparatus 10. The content-processing
apparatus 10 is not allowed to transmit a registering
request to the WWW server 31 functioning as one the
servers 30 unless the content-processing apparatus 10
has received the successful-authentication notice. In
accordance with the sequence shown in the figure,
however, the registering request including at least a
terminal ID is transmitted from the content-processing
apparatus 10 to the servers 30 without the need to
transmit the user information. Thus, the group
management server 32 is capable of uniquely identifying
the registering record of the content-processing
apparatus 10 by using the terminal ID. As a result, the
service-registering process can be completed in a short
period of time and a high degree of efficiency.
[0466]
After the user-registering section 312 newly adds
the device ID of the content reproduction apparatus 20
to the registering record in the group-registering
database 324 managed by the group management server 32
at the step S345 as described above, the servers 30
transmit a registering completion notice indicating that
the service-registering process has been ended to the
content-processing apparatus 10 at the next step S346.
[0467]
After the content-processing apparatus 10 receives
the registering completion notice, the acquisition
section 401 employed in the content-processing apparatus
10 acquires the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 at a step S347. It is to be
noted that, in order to detect interpolation of the
source-ID list L acquired from the content reproduction
apparatus 20, the acquisition section 401 computes the
MAC value of the source-ID list L to be compared with a
MAC value extracted from ICV data received along with
the source-ID list L as data for detection of
interpolation to make sure that the MAC values equal to
each other.
[0468]
Then, at a step S348, the list-updating section
140 adds the group ID of the content-processing
apparatus 10 already subjected to the serviceregistering
process to the source-ID list L acquired at
the step S347. Subsequently, at a step S349, the listupdating
section 140 generates data for detection of
interpolation on the basis of the updated source-ID list
L, storing the data and the source-ID list L in a
storage apparatus employed in the content reproduction
apparatus 20.
[0469]
The above step is the end of the service registering
process applied to the content reproduction
apparatus 20. As described above, if the content processing
apparatus 10 has been subjected to a service registering
process, it is not necessary to take the
time to enter user information in order to apply a
service-registering process to the content reproduction
apparatus 20 owned by the same user as the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. Thus, the service-registering
process can be carried out with a high degree of
efficiency. As described above, the information on a
user includes a user ID and a password.
[0470]
Next, a service-registering process applied to a
content-processing apparatus 10 is explained by
referring to Fig. 31. It is to be noted that, as a
prerequisite for the service-registering process, a
content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the
content-processing apparatus 10 shall have been already
subjected to a service-registering process carried but
to register the content reproduction apparatus 20 in the
group-registering database 324 of the group management
server 32.
[0471]
When the content reproduction apparatus 20 is
connected to the content-processing apparatus 10 by a
cable (local line 9), as described above, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 acquires the source-ID list L
owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20 in order
to produce a result of determination as to whether or
not the content reproduction apparatus 20 has been
already subjected to a service-registering process.
[0472]
It is possible to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not the content-
processing apparatus 10 has been already subjected to a
service-registering process by determining whether or
not the group ID of the content-processing apparatus 10
has been registered on the source-ID list L owned by the
content-processing apparatus 10 in the same way as the
determination of whether or not the content reproduction
apparatus 20 has been already subjected to a serviceregistering
process.
[0473]
If the content-processing apparatus 10 produces a
determination result indicating that the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 has not been subjected to a
service-registering process, as shown in Fig. 31, first
of all, the content-processing apparatus 10 transmits a
notice to the servers 30 as a request for a serviceregistering
process to be applied to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 itself at a step S350.
[0474]
Then, at a step S351, the servers 30 transmit
registering activation information including data
required for execution of the service-registering
process to the content-processing apparatus 10 in
response to the notice received from the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 as a request for the service-
registering process. The registering activation
information includes a transaction ID and a URL. The
transaction ID is an ID required for example in
retransmission of data. The URL is information showing a
location used for storing, among others, a leaf ID
required in generation of a group ID. It is to be noted
that the transaction ID is an ID managed by the WWW
server 31 and the leaf ID is user identification
information managed by the group management server 32.
[0475]
When the content-processing apparatus 10 receives
the registering activation information, the acquisition
section 401 employed in the content-processing apparatus
10 acquires a device ID from the content reproduction
apparatus 20 at a step S352.
[0476]
After receiving the device ID at the step S352,
the content-processing apparatus 10 obtains a terminal
ID held by itself at a step S353.
[0477]
Then, at a step S354, the registering request
information transmission section 433 employed in the
content-processing apparatus 10 generates a registering
request, which includes the transaction ID, the terminal
ID and the device ID, and transmits the registering
request to the servers 30.
[0478]
Receiving the registering request, at a step S355,
the user-registering section 312 employed in the WWW
server 31 obtains a record (a registering record) of the
content reproduction apparatus 20, which has already
been subjected to a service-registering service, on the
basis of the device ID in order to produce a result of
determination as to whether or .not a service-registering
process can be applied to the content-processing
apparatus 10 and, if the result of determination
indicates that a service-registering process can be
applied to the content-processing apparatus 10, the
user-registering section 312 newly adds the terminal ID
to the registering record. It is to be noted that, in
the registering record of the content reproduction
apparatus 20, user information such as a user ID and a
password is associated with a device ID or the like.
Normally, the servers 30 uniquely identify the
registering record of the content reproduction apparatus
20 by using a user ID and a password, which must be
received in advance from the content-processing
apparatus 10. If a device ID is received from the
content-processing apparatus 10, however, the servers 30
are also capable of uniquely identifying the registering
record of the content reproduction apparatus 20 by using
the device ID so that the service-registering process
can be completed in a short period of time and a high
degree of efficiency.
[0479]
After the user-registering section 312 newly adds
the terminal ID of the content-processing apparatus 10
to the registering record in the group-registering
database 324 managed by the group management server 32
at the step S355 as described above, the servers 30
transmit a registering completion notice indicating that
the service-registering process has been ended to the
content-processing apparatus 10 at the next step S356.
[0480]
After the content-processing apparatus 10 receives
the registering completion notice, the acquisition
section 401 employed in the content-processing apparatus
10 acquires the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 at a step S357. It is to be
noted that, in order to detect interpolation of the
source-ID list L acquired from the content reproduction
apparatus 20, the acquisition section 401 computes the
MAC value of the source-ID list L to be compared with a
MAC value extracted from ICV data received along with
the source-ID list L as data for detection of
interpolation to make sure that the MAC values equal to
each other.
[0481]
Then, at a step S358, the group ID of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 already subjected to the
service-registering process is extracted from the
source-ID list L acquired at the step S357. Subsequently,
the list-updating section 140 writes the group ID into
the source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0482]
The above step is the end of the serviceregistering
process applied to the content-processing
apparatus 10. As described above, if the content
reproduction apparatus 20 has been subjected to a
service-registering process (for example, the device ID
is stored in the registering record), it is not
necessary to take the time to enter user information in
order to apply a service-registering process to the
content-processing apparatus 10 owned by the same user
as the content reproduction apparatus 20. Thus, the
service-registering process can be carried out with a
high degree of efficiency. As described above, the
information on a user includes a user ID and a password.
[0483]
In addition, the series of processes described
above can be carried out by special hardware or
implemented by software. If the series of processes
described above is implemented by software, programs
composing the software are installed in contentprocessing
apparatus 10, content reproduction apparatus
20, servers 30 and other apparatus.
[0484]
In this specification, processing steps of each of
programs executed by the computers to carry out various
kinds of processing do not have to be executed in an
order prescribed by a flowchart along the time axis.
That is to say, the steps may include processes carried
out concurrently and/or individually as parallel
processing or processing based on objects.
[0485]
In addition, in this embodiment, as described
above, the user-information transmission section 430,
the registering request information transmission section
433 and the list-updating section 140, which are
employed in the content-processing apparatus 10, are
each implemented by a program composed of one or more
modules or components. However, the embodiment is not
limited to this typical implementation. For example, the
user-information transmission section 430, the
registering request information transmission section 433
and the list-updating section 140, which are employed in
the content-processing apparatus 10, can also each be
implemented by hardware.
[0486]
12. Method of Creating a Title List Based on Contents
Reproducibility
By referring to Figs. 32 to 44, the following
description explains a method of creating a list of
title information as a list based on content
reproducibility.
[0487]
A content-processing apparatus 10 provided by the
embodiment produces a result of determination as to
whether or not each content stored and held in the
content-processing apparatus 10 can be reproduced in
accordance with copyright management executed in the
content-processing apparatus 10 and creates a list of
title information as a list revealing whether or not the
content identified by each of the title information can
be reproduced. In the following description, such a list
of title information is referred to simply as a title
list. In addition, the content-processing apparatus 10
also displays the created title list on a display unit,
which is one of output apparatus employed in the
content-processing apparatus 10. The content-processing
apparatus 10 is capable of deleting a content, which is
determined to be a content that cannot be reproduced in
accordance with the copyright management executed in the
content-processing apparatus 10, from the contentprocessing
apparatus 10.
[0488]
In addition, the content-processing apparatus 10
provided by the embodiment also produces a result of
determination as to whether or not each content stored
and held in a content reproduction apparatus 20
connected to the content-processing apparatus 10 can be
reproduced in accordance with copyright management
executed in the content reproduction apparatus 20 and
creates a list of title information as a list revealing
whether or not the content identified by each of the
title information can be reproduced. Furthermore, the
content-processing apparatus 10 also displays the
created title list on the display unit, which is one of
the output apparatus employed in the content-processing
apparatus 10. The content-processing apparatus 10 is
capable of deleting a content, which is determined to be
a content that cannot be reproduced in accordance with
the copyright management executed in the content
reproduction apparatus 20, from the content reproduction
apparatus 20. The following description explains details
of a functional configuration adopted by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 as a configuration for carrying
out the functions described above.
[0489]
As shown in Fig. 32, in order to carry out the
functions described above, the content-processing
apparatus 10 is further provided with functional
elements such as plug-in modules 502, a content
acquisition section 504, a source ID list acquisition
section 506, a content management information
acquisition section 508, a title-list display section
510, a title-list creation section 512, the
reproducibility determination section 172 cited before
and a deletion section 516. In addition, the storage
section 111 is used for storing the content management
information database 118, the content database 116 and
the source-ID list L.
[0490]
A plurality of aforementioned plug-in modules 502
is a plurality of plug-in modules included in the data
communication section 120. By installing the plug-in
modules 502 in the content-processing apparatus 10 in
accordance with the types of content reproduction
apparatus 20, the content-processing apparatus 10 is
capable of identifying connection with a variety of
content reproduction apparatus 20 and exchanging data
with the content reproduction apparatus 20. Different
types of content reproduction apparatus 20 include a PC,
a PDA, a mobile video player, an MP3 player, an 1C
player, a CD player and an MD player.
[0491]
A type set in each of the plug-in modules is the
type of the copyright management to be executed with
respect to a content reproduction apparatus 20, which
recognizes connection with the plug-in module and carry
out communications with the module. To be more specific,
a type is set in a plug-in module for the group
management method or the check-in/check-out method. Thus,
if a plug-in module set for the group management method
is operating, the content-processing apparatus 10 is
capable producing a result of determination as to
whether or not a content stored in the content
reproduction apparatus 20 can be reproduced in
accordance with the module management method, which is
based on the source ID. If a plug-in module set for the
check-in/check-out method is operating, on the other
hand, the content-processing apparatus 10 is capable
producing a result of determination as to whether or not
a content stored in the content reproduction apparatus
20 can be reproduced in accordance with the checkin/
check-out "method, which is based on a license issued
for the content.
[0492]
The content management information acquisition
section 508 is a unit having a function to acquire
management information, which has been stored in a
content reproduction apparatus 20 as management
information of a content, from the content reproduction
apparatus 20 by way of a plug-in module 502. The
management information of a content includes a content
ID, the address of the content identified by the content
ID and the title information given to the content. If
the content is a musical content, for example, the title
information includes the title information of a song and
the names of artists.
[0493]
The content acquisition section 504 is a unit
having a function to obtain the content ID of a content
stored in a content reproduction apparatus 20 as well as
the address of the content from the reproducibility
determination section 172 and acquire the content from
the content reproduction apparatus 20 by way of a plugin
module 502 on the basis of either the content ID or
the address.
[0494]
The source ID list acquisition section 506 is a
unit having a function to acquire the source-ID list L
owned by a content reproduction apparatus 20 from the
content reproduction apparatus 20 by way of a plug-in
module with the group management method set therein.
[0495]
There are a first source-ID list and a second
source-ID list as source-ID lists L to be referred to by
the content-processing apparatus 10 in producing a
result of determination as to whether or not a content
can be reproduced. An example of the first source-ID
list is a source-ID list L owned by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 as a list showing providers of
contents that can be reproduced by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. An example of the second
source-ID list is a source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 as a list showing
providers of contents that can be reproduced by the
content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0496]
The reproducibility determination section 172 is a
unit having a function to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not a content stored in
the content database 116 of the content-processing
apparatus 10 can be reproduced in accordance with
copyright management executed in the content-processing
apparatus 10. In addition, the reproducibility
determination section 172 also has a function to produce
a result of determination as to whether or not a content
stored in a content reproduction apparatus 20 can be
reproduced in accordance with copyright management
executed in the content reproduction apparatus 20. First
of all, the former function is explained as follows.
[0497]
The reproducibility determination section 172
obtains the content ID of a content, the reproducibility
of which is to be determined, from the title-list
creation section 512, and acquires the content
identified by the content ID from the content database
116. In addition, the reproducibility determination
section 172 also acquires a source-ID list L stored in a
storage apparatus employed in the content-processing
apparatus 10. The reproducibility determination section
172 then reads out a source ID added to the content
acquired from the content database 116 from the content,
and compares the source ID read out from the content
with source IDs on the source-ID list L in order to
produce a result of determination as to whether or not
the source-ID list L includes the source ID read out
from the content. If the result of the determination
indicates that the source-ID list L includes the source
ID read out from the content, the content including the
source ID added thereto is determined to be a content
that can be reproduced. If the result of the
determination indicates that the source-ID list L does
not include the source ID read out from the content, on
the other hand, the content including the source ID
added thereto is determined to be a content that cannot
be reproduced.
[0498]
As described above, the reproducibility
determination section 172 reads out a source ID from a
content acquired from the content database 116. However,
the embodiment is not limited to such a typical
implementation. For example, a source ID and a content
ID are stored in advance in the content management
information database 118 by associating the source ID
and the content ID with each other. In this case, the
reproducibility determination section 172 is capable of
!
acquiring a source ID from the content management
information database 118 on the basis of its content ID
instead of obtaining the source ID from a content
acquired from the content database 116.
[0499]
The following description explains the latter
function to produce a result of determination as to
whether or not a content stored in the content
reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 can be reproduced in accordance
with copyright management executed in the content
reproduction apparatus 20. The reproducibility
determination section 172 carries out a selected one of
processes in accordance with whether the content
reproduction apparatus 20 executes copyright management
by adopting the group management method or the check-
in/check-out method. The processes to be selected by the
reproducibility determination section 172 are explained
separately as follows.
[0500]
In the case of the group management method, the
reproducibility determination section 172 acquires the
content ID or address of a content stored in the content
reproduction apparatus 20 from the title-list creation
section 512 and requests the content acquisition section
504 to obtain the content from the content reproduction
apparatus 20 on the basis of the content ID or the
address. Then, the reproducibility determination section
172 requests the source ID list acquisition section 506
to obtain the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 from the content reproduction
apparatus 20. Subsequently, the reproducibility
determination section 172 acquires the source-ID list L
from the source ID list acquisition section 506 and the
content from the content acquisition section 504. The
reproducibility determination section 172 then reads out
a source ID added to the content from the content and
compares the source ID read out from the content with
source IDs on the source-ID list L in order to produce a
result of determination as to whether or not the source-
ID list L includes the source ID read out from the
content. If the result of the determination indicates
that the source-ID list L includes the source ID read
out from the content, the content including the source
ID added thereto is determined to be a content that can
be reproduced. If the result of the determination
indicates that the source-ID list L does not include the
source ID read out from the content, on the other hand,
the content including the source ID added thereto is
determined to be a content that cannot be reproduced.
[0501]
As described above, the reproducibility
determination section 172 reads out a source ID from a
content acquired from the content reproduction apparatus
20. However, the embodiment is not limited to such a
typical implementation. For example, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 may include a database used
for storing the source ID and the content ID by
associating the source ID and the content ID with each
other. In this case, the reproducibility determination
section 172 is capable of acquiring the database
including the source ID and referring to the source ID
required in producing a result of determination as to
whether or not the content is a content that can be
reproduced.
[0502]
Next, the check-in/check-out method is explained
as follows. The reproducibility determination section
172 acquires the content ID or address of a content
stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20 from the
title-list creation section 512 and requests the content
acquisition section 504 to obtain the content from the
content reproduction apparatus 20 on the basis of the
content ID or the address. Subsequently, the
reproducibility determination section 172 acquires the
content from the content acquisition section 504 and
reads out restrictions set information in a license
added to the content as restrictions on reproduction of
the content. To put it concretely, let us assume for
example that, as a restriction set in the license as a
restriction on reproduction of the content, a limit of
the number of times the content can be reproduced is
prescribed. In this case, the number of remaining times
the content can be reproduced is examined in order to
produce a result of determination as to whether or not
the content can still be reproduced, that is, whether or
not the number of remaining times the content can be
reproduced is greater than 0. If the result of the
determination indicates that the number of remaining
times the content can be reproduced is positive, the
content is determined to be a content that can still be
reproduced. As another example, a reproducibility term
is prescribed as a restriction set in the license as a
restriction on reproduction of the content. In this case,
the reproducibility term is examined in order to produce
a result of determination as to whether or not the
reproducibility term has been expired. To put it
concretely, the present time retrieved from a system
timer employed in the content-processing apparatus 10 is
compared with the reproducibility term in order to
produce a result of determination as to whether or not
the present time is still within the reproducibility
term. If the result of the determination indicates that
the present time is still within the reproducibility
term, the content is determined to be a content that can
still be reproduced.
[0503]
It is to be noted that, as described above, the
reproducibility determination section 172 acquires a
content from the content reproduction apparatus 20 and
reads out restrictions set in a license added to the
content as restrictions on reproduction of the content.
However, the embodiment is not limited to such a typical
implementation. Instead of adding a license to a content,
a license can be stored in another database in the
content reproduction apparatus 20 to be managed by being
associated with a content ID. In this case, the content processing
apparatus 10 does not acquire the content.
Instead, the content-processing apparatus 10 acquires
the license to be used in producing a result of
determination as to whether or not the content is a
content that can be reproduced.
[0504]
The deletion section 516 is a unit having a
function to delete a content, which is determined by the
reproducibility determination section 172 to be
irreproducible in the content-processing apparatus 10,
from the content database 116. In addition, the deletion
section 516 also has a function to delete a content,
which is determined by the reproducibility determination
section 172 to be irreproducible in the content
reproduction apparatus 20, from the content reproduction
apparatus 20. To put it concretely, when the user enters
a command by pressing an all-delete button of the input
apparatus 108 to delete a content, the deletion section
516 produces a result of determination as to whether or
not the content to be deleted is a content in the
content reproduction apparatus 20 or a content in the
content-processing apparatus 10. Then, the
reproducibility determination section 172 is requested
to produce a result of determination as to whether or
not the content is a content that cannot be reproduced
in the content-processing apparatus 10 or the content
reproduction apparatus 20 in dependence on the
determination result produced by the deletion section
516. The determination result produced by the
reproducibility determination section 172 as a
determination result indicating for example that the
content is an irreproducible content includes the
content ID of the content.
[0505]
On the basis of the content ID received from the
reproducibility determination section 172 as the content
ID of the irreproducible content and on the basis of the
determination result produced by the deletion section
516 that the irreproducible cannot be reproduced in the
content-processing apparatus 10 or the content
reproduction apparatus 20, the deletion section 516
deletes the content from the content database 116 or the
content reproduction apparatus 20. If the content is to
be deleted from the content database 116, the content is
found on the basis of the content ID added to the
content. If the content is to be deleted from the
content reproduction apparatus 20, on the other hand,
the content ID and a request for deletion are
transmitted to the content reproduction apparatus 20 by
way of a plug-in module 502. Then, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 deletes a content selected
from those stored in the content reproduction apparatus
20 as a content identified by the content ID.
[0506]
For each content stored in the content database
116, the content management information database 118
includes a content ID assigned uniquely to the content,
the address of the content and the title information of
the content by associating the content ID, the address
and the title information with each other.
[0507]
The title-list creation section 512 is a unit
having a function to create a title list of contents on
the basis of inputs entered via the input apparatus 108.
The title list includes information used for identifying
each of the contents. If the content is a musical
content, for example, the information includes the title
information of a song and the names of artists. To put
it concretely, when the user enters a command via the
input apparatus 108 to display a list of a plurality of
contents included in a group (or an album), for example,
the title-list creation section 512 reads out content
IDs of the contents included in the group from the
content management information database 118 and supplies
the content IDs to the reproducibility determination
section 172, which then produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the contents are
contents reproducible in the content-processing
apparatus 10 on the basis of the content IDs. Then, the
title-list creation section 512 acquires the result of
the determination from the reproducibility determination
section 172, and uses title information included in the
content management information database 118 to create
such a title list of the contents that each of the
contents can be recognized as a content that can be
reproduced or not. To put it concretely, on such a title
list of the contents shown in such a way that each of
the contents can be recognized as a content that can be
reproduced or not, for example, a reproducible content
is displayed at a luminance level different from the
luminance level of an irreproducible content or a
reproducible content is displayed as an icon different
from the icon of an irreproducible content. As an
alternative, reproducible contents are put in a group
separated from a group for contents that cannot be
reproduced.
[0508]
The title-list display section 510 is a unit
having a function to display a title list created by the
title-list creation section 512 on a display unit, which
is one of units composing the output section 110. When
the user enters a command via the input apparatus 108 to
make a request for a display of a plurality of contents
included in a group (or an album), for example, such a
title list is displayed to the user to allow the user to
view a list of title information as a list including
information indicating whether or not each of the
content can be reproduced in the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0509]
In addition, when the user enters a command via
the input apparatus 108 to make a request for a display
of a plurality of contents held in the content
reproduction apparatus 20, the title-list creation
section 512 requests the content management information
acquisition section 508 to acquire content management
information from the content reproduction apparatus 20.
As requested, the content management information
acquisition section 508 supplies the acquired content
management information to the title-list creation
section 512. The title-list creation section 512
supplies each content ID and each address, which are
included in the content management information as the
content ID or address of every content, to the
reproducibility determination section 172 in order to
request the reproducibility determination section 172 to
produce a result of determination as to whether or not
each of the contents stored in the content reproduction
apparatus 20 as a content identified by the content ID
or a content located at the address is a content that
can be reproduced. The reproducibility determination
section 172 acquires a content identified by every
supplied content ID or a content located at every
supplied address from the content reproduction apparatus
20 by way of the content acquisition section 504. Later
on, the reproducibility determination section 172
produces a result of determination as to whether or not
each of the contents acquired from the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is a content that can be
reproduced, and supplies the result of the determination
to the title-list creation section 512. The result of
the determination includes at least each of the content
IDs and information indicating whether or not each of
the contents is a content that can be reproduced. On the
basis of content IDs included in both the content
management information and the result of the
determination, title information included in the content
management information and information included in the
result of the determination as the information
indicating whether or not each of the contents is a
content that can be reproduced, the title-list creation
section 512 creates a title list distinguishing
reproducible contents from irreproducible ones.
Reproducible and irreproducible contents are
distinguished from each other in the way described above.
[0510]
By referring to Fig. 33, the following description
explains a flowchart representing processing to display
a list of contents stored in the content-processing
apparatus 10 in such a way that it is possible to
distinguish reproducible contents from ones that cannot
be reproduced.
[0511]
The flowchart begins with a step S410 at which an
instruction is issued to display a list of contents
stored in the content-processing apparatus 10. To put it
concretely, at the step S4.10, as described earlier, the
title-list creation section 512 specifies contents to be
displayed in accordance with the instruction entered by
the user via the input apparatus 108, and requests the
reproducibility determination section 172 to produce a
result of determination as to whether or not each of the
contents can be reproduced. Then, at the next step S412,
the reproducibility determination section 172 acquires
the source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10. Subsequently, at a step S413 following the
step S412, the reproducibility determination section 172
selects the first one of the contents specified by the
title-list creation section 512 as contents to be
displayed. To put it concretely, the reproducibility
determination section 172 acquires one or more content
IDs from the title-list creation section 512 and, after
the first content selected at the step S413, every time
a step S419 is executed, the reproducibility
determination section 172 selects a next content
identified by one of the content IDs from the content
database 116 in accordance with the order of the
acquired content IDs or any other order.
[0512]
Acquiring the content, the reproducibility
determination section 172 reads out a source ID from the
acquired content at a step S414. Then, at the next step
S415 following the step S414, the reproducibility
determination section 172 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the source-ID list L
includes the source ID. If the result of the
determination indicates that the source-ID list L
includes the source ID, the flow of the list-displaying
processing goes on to a step S417 at which the
reproducibility determination section 172 notifies the
title-list creation section 512 that the content having
the source ID added thereto is a content that can be
reproduced. If the determination result produced at the
step S415 indicates that the source-ID list L does not
include the source ID, on the other hand, the flow of
the list-displaying processing goes on to a step S416 at
which the reproducibility determination section 172
notifies the title-list creation section 512 that the
content having the source ID added thereto is a content
that cannot be reproduced. At the steps S416 and S417,
the title-list creation section 512 creates a title list
in accordance with the notice received from the
reproducibility determination section 172, and the
title-list display section 510 displays the title
information of a content, indicating that the content is
reproducible or irreproducible in accordance with the
title list created by the title-list creation section
512. Then, the flow of the list-displaying processing
goes on to a step S418 to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not the titles of all the
contents have been displayed.
[0513]
The above description explains the flowchart of
the processing to display a list of contents stored in a
content-processing apparatus 10 by showing information
indicating whether or not each of the contents is a
content that can be reproduced. By referring to Fig. 34,
the following description explains a flowchart of
processing to delete a content that cannot be reproduced
in accordance with copyright management from a contentprocessing
apparatus 10.
[0514]
The flowchart begins with a step S420 at which the
user presses an all-delete button of the input apparatus
108 for example. When this button is pressed at the step
S420, the deletion section 516 requests the
reproducibility determination section 172 to produce a
result of determination as to whether or not a content
stored in the content database 116 of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 is a content that can be
reproduced. As requested, first of all, the
reproducibility determination section 172 obtains the
source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10 at the next step S421. At a step S422
following the step S421, a first content is selected.
The reproducibility determination section 172 selects
contents from the content database 116 sequentially.
That is to say, at a step S427, the reproducibility
determination section 172 selects a next content from
the content database 116. Then, the reproducibility
determination section 172 reads out a source ID from the
selected content at a step S423. Subsequently, at the
next step S424, the reproducibility determination
section 172 produces a result of determination as to
whether or not the source-ID list L includes the source
ID. If the result of the determination indicates that
the source-ID list L does not includes the source ID,
the flow of the content deletion processing goes on to a
step S425 at which the reproducibility determination
section 172 notifies the deletion section 516 that the
content having the source ID added thereto is a content
which cannot be reproduced. In accordance with the
notice, the deletion section 516 deletes the content
from the content database 116. Then, the flow of the
content deletion processing goes on to a step S426 to
produce a result of determination as to whether or not
the processes to determine reproducibility of a content
and delete an irreproducible content have been carried
out on all contents stored in the content database 116.
[0515]
The above description explains the flowchart of
processing to delete a content that cannot be reproduced
in accordance with copyright management from a contentprocessing
apparatus 10. By referring to Fig. 35, the
following description explains a flowchart representing
processing to display a list of contents stored in the
content reproduction apparatus 20 in such a way that it
is possible to distinguish reproducible contents from
ones that cannot be reproduced.
[0516]
The flowchart begins with a step S430 at which an
instruction is issued to display a list of contents
stored in the content reproduction apparatus. To put it

a desired content. The step S202 is referred to as a
content-reproduction request step. To put it concretely,
the user operates the input apparatus 108 of the
content-processing apparatus 10 to select the desired
content and enters a command to the content reproduction
section 170 as a command requesting the content
reproduction section 170 to reproduce the selected
content.
[0341]
Then, at the next step S204, a source ID added to
the content is read out from the content. To put it in

concretely, at the step S430, as described earlier, the
title-list creation section 512 requests the content
management information acquisition section 508 to
acquire management information of contents to be
displayed from the content reproduction apparatus 20 in
accordance with the instruction entered by the user via
the input apparatus 108. The title-list creation section
512 then requests the reproducibility determination
section 172 to produce a result of determination as to
whether or not each of the contents can be reproduced on
the basis of the content management information acquired
by the content management information acquisition
section 508.
[0517]
Then, at the next step S431, the reproducibility
determination section 172 acquires the source-ID list L
from the content reproduction apparatus 20 by way of the
source ID list acquisition section 506. Subsequently, at
a step S432 following the step S431, the reproducibility
determination section 172 selects the first one of
contents, which are associated with the management
information acquired in accordance with a request made
by the title-list creation section 512 as contents to be
displayed. To put it concretely, the reproducibility
determination section 172 acquires one or more content
IDs from the title-list creation section 512 and, after
the first content selected at the step S432, every time
a step S438 is executed, in accordance with the order of
the acquired content IDs or any other order, the
reproducibility determination section 172 acquires a
next content identified by one of the content IDs from
the content reproduction apparatus 20 by way of the
content acquisition section 504.
[0518]
Acquiring the content, the reproducibility
determination section 172 reads out a source ID from the
acquired content at a step S433. Then, at the next step
S434 following the step S433, the reproducibility
determination section 172 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the source-ID list L
includes the source ID. If the result of the
determination indicates that the source-ID list L
includes the source ID, the flow of the list-displaying
processing goes on to a step S436 at which the
reproducibility determination section 172 notifies the
title-list creation section 512 that the content having
the source ID added thereto is a content that can be
reproduced. If the determination result produced at the
step S434 indicates that the source-ID list L does not
include the source ID, on the other hand, the flow of
the list-displaying processing goes on to a step S435 at
which the reproducibility determination section 172
notifies the title-list creation section 512 that the
content having the source ID added thereto is a content
that cannot be reproduced. At the steps S435 and S436,
the title-list creation section 512 creates a title list
in accordance with the notice received from the
reproducibility determination section 172 and the title
information of a content is displayed as a title
indicating that the content is a content that can or
cannot be reproduced. Then, the flow of the listdisplaying
processing goes on to a step S437 to produce
a result of determination as to whether or not the
titles of all the contents have been displayed.
[0519]
It is to be noted that, if the source-ID list L
includes the validity term of the source ID, the
reproducibility determination section 172 produces a
result of determination that the as to whether or not a
content added the source ID of which the validity term
is expired is a content that cannot be reproduced.
[0520]
The above description explains the flowchart
representing the processing to display a list of
contents stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20
in such a way that it is possible to distinguish
reproducible contents from ones that cannot be
reproduced. By referring to Fig. 36, the following
description explains a flowchart of processing to delete
a content that cannot be reproduced in a content
reproduction apparatus 20 in accordance with copyright
management from the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0521]
The flowchart begins with a step S440 at which the
user presses an all-delete button of the input apparatus
108 for example. When this button is pressed at the step
S440, the deletion section 516 requests the
reproducibility determination section 172 to produce a
result of determination as to whether or not a content
stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20 is a
content that can be reproduced. As requested, first of
all, the reproducibility determination section 172
obtains the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 by way of the source ID list
acquisition section 506 at the next step S441. At a step
S442 following the step S441, a first content is
acquired from the content reproduction apparatus 20 by
way of the content acquisition section 504. The
reproducibility determination section 172 acquires
contents from the content reproduction apparatus 20
sequentially. At a step S447, the reproducibility
determination section 172 acquires a next content. Then,
the reproducibility determination section 172 reads out
a source ID from the acquired content at a step S443.
Subsequently, at the next step S444, the reproducibility
determination section 172 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the source-ID list L
includes the source ID. If the result of the
determination indicates that the source-ID list L does
not includes the source ID, the flow of the content
deletion processing goes on to a step S445 at which the
reproducibility determination section 172 notifies the
deletion section 516 that the content having the source
ID added thereto is a content which cannot be reproduced.
In accordance with the notice, the deletion section 516
deletes the content from the content database 116. Then,
the flow of the content deletion processing goes on to a
step S446 to perform the processes on all contents
stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0522]
The above description explains the flowchart of
processing to delete a content that cannot be reproduced
in accordance with copyright management from a content
reproduction apparatus 20. By referring to Fig. 37, the
following description explains flows of processing
carried out by a content-processing apparatus 10 to
reproduce a content in a content reproduction apparatus
20.
[0523]
First of all, at a step S450, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is connected to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. At a step S451 following the
step S450, the user enters a command via the input
apparatus 108 as a command to display a list of contents
stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20. Then,
at a step S452, the content-processing apparatus 10
acquires a source-ID list L, content management
information and contents from the content reproduction
apparatus 20. Subsequently, at the next step S453, the
content-processing apparatus 10 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not each of the contents
is a content that can be reproduced in the same way as
the processing explained earlier by referring to the
flowchart shown in Fig. 35. Then, at the next step S454,
a the title list is displayed as a list revealing
whether or not each of contents represented by the
titles on the list is a content that can be reproduced.
Subsequently, at a step S455, the user selects a
reproducible content from the displayed title list. The
title list can also be displayed in such a way that the
user is not capable of selecting an irreproducible
content from the displayed title list. As the user
selects a reproducible content from the displayed title
list, the content-processing apparatus 10 gives a
command to the content reproduction apparatus 20 to
reproduce the selected content at a step S456. Since the
selected content has been determined to be a
reproducible content on the basis of the source ID and
the source-ID list L, the content reproduction apparatus
20 needs not to again produce a result of determination
as to whether or not the selected content is a content
that can be reproduced. Finally, at a step S457, the
content reproduction apparatus 20 reproduces the
requested content.
[0524]
The above description explains the flows of the
processing carried out by a content-processing apparatus
10 to reproduce a content in a content reproduction
apparatus 20. By referring to Fig. 38, the following
description explains a flowchart representing processing
to display a list of contents stored in a content
reproduction apparatus 20 executing copyright management
based on the check-in/check-out method as a list
distinguishing reproducible contents from ones that
cannot be reproduced.
[0525]
The flowchart begins with a step S460 at which an
instruction to display a list of contents stored in a
content reproduction apparatus 20 is received. To put it
concretely,, at the step S460, as described earlier, the
title-list creation section 512 requests the content
management information acquisition section 508 to
acquire management information of contents to be
displayed from the content reproduction apparatus 20 in
accordance with the instruction entered by the user via
the input apparatus 108. The title-list creation section
512 then requests the reproducibility determination
section 172 to produce a result of determination as to
whether or not each of the contents can be reproduced on
the basis of the content management information acquired
by the content management information acquisition
section 508.
[0526]
Subsequently, at a the next step S461, the
reproducibility determination section 172 selects the
first one of contents, which are associated with the
management information acquired in accordance with a
request made by the title-list creation section 512 as
contents to be displayed. To put it concretely, the
reproducibility determination section 172 acquires one
or more content IDs or addresses from the title-list
creation section 512 and, after the first content
selected at the step S461, every time a step S468 is
executed, in accordance with the order of the acquired
content IDs, or the order of the acquired addresses any
other order, the reproducibility determination section
172 acquires a next content identified by one of the
content IDs or a next content located at one of the
addresses from the content reproduction apparatus 20 by
way of the content acquisition section 504.
[0527]
Then, at the next step S463, the reproducibility
determination section 172 reads out restrictions on
reproduction of the acquired content from a license
attached to the acquired content. Subsequently, at a
step S464 following the step S463, the reproducibility
determination section 172 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the content is
reproducible on the basis of the reproduction
restrictions read out from the license. To put it
concretely, as described before, if the reproduction
restrictions includes a reproducibility term, the
reproducibility determination section 172 compares the
present time obtained from a system timer employed in
the content-processing apparatus 10 with the
reproducibility term in order to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not the present time is
still within the reproducibility term. If the result of
the determination indicates that the present time is
still within the reproducibility term, the flow of the
list-displaying processing goes on to a step S466 at
which the reproducibility determination section 172
notifies the title-list creation section 512 that the
content associated with the license is a content that
can be reproduced. If the determination result produced
at the step S464 indicates that the present time is no
longer within the reproducibility term, on the other
hand, the flow of the list-displaying processing goes on
to a step S465 at which the reproducibility
determination section 172 notifies the title-list
creation section 512 that the content associated with
the license is a content that cannot be reproduced. At
the steps S465 and S466, the title-list creation section
512 creates a title list in accordance with the notice
received from the reproducibility determination section
172 and the title information of a content is displayed
as a title revealing that the content is a content that
can or cannot be reproduced. Then, the flow of the listdisplaying
processing goes on to a step S467 to produce
a result of determination as to whether or not the
titles of all the contents have been displayed.
[0528]
The above description explains the flowchart
representing processing to display a list of contents
stored in a content reproduction apparatus 20 executing
copyright management based on the check-in/check-out
method as a list distinguishing reproducible contents
from irreproducible ones. By referring to Figs. 39 to 44,
the following description explains examples of title
lists appearing on the display unit employed in the
content-processing apparatus 10.
[0529]
Fig. 39 is a diagram showing a screen layout
displaying a typical list of titles of contents in the
content-processing apparatus 10 according to the
embodiment. The title list 520 shows title information
such as the name of a song, the names of artists, a
performance duration and a genre. As shown in the figure,
a reproducible content and an irreproducible content are
displayed as respectively a reproducible icon 522 and an
irreproducible icon 524, which have attributes
distinguished different from each other. The attributes
include colors, shapes and sizes. Each of these icons is
placed at the beginning of the title information of a
content represented by the icon.
[0530]
Fig. 40 is a diagram showing a screen layout
displaying a typical list of titles of contents in a
content reproduction apparatus 20 according to the
embodiment. As shown in the figure, a title list 530 of
on a portion of the display screen for example. Also as
shown in the figure, a reproducible content and an
irreproducible content are displayed as respectively a
reproducible icon 532 and an irreproducible icon 534,
which are different from each other. Each of these icons
is placed at the beginning of the title information of a
content represented by the icon.
[0531]
Figs. 41, 42 and 43 are each a diagram showing
another typical screen layout showing reproducible and
irreproducible icons, which can be distinguished from
each other. In the case of the layout shown in Fig. 41,
the reproducible and irreproducible icons are
distinguished from each other by their colors or levels
of luminance. As shown in the figure, for example,
information on the title information of a reproducible
content and information on the title information of a
irreproducible content are displayed in areas 540 and
542, which have different colors or different levels of
luminance so that the user is capable of distinguishing
a reproducible content and an irreproducible content
from each other. In addition, if reproducible and
irreproducible contents are mixed in one album, the user
is also capable of distinguishing reproducible contents
in the album from irreproducible contents of the same
album.
[0532]
In the case of the layout shown in Fig. 42,
reproducible contents and irreproducible contents are
distinguished from each other by collecting the
irreproducible contents in the display. In such a
display, irreproducible contents are displayed as a
group of non-reproducible songs to allow the user to
distinguish reproducible contents and irreproducible
contents from each other. In addition, on the display
screens of the content-processing apparatus and the
content reproduction apparatus, the since irreproducible
contents are put in a group different from the group of
reproducible contents, the user is capable of verifying
irreproducible contents in the content-processing
apparatus and the content reproduction apparatus.
[0533]
Much like Figs. 39 and 40, in the layout shown in
Fig. 43, an icon representing reproducible contents is
different from an icon representing irreproducible
contents.
[0534]
Fig. 44 is a diagram showing a screen layout
illustrating a typical screen display in a process that
the user deletes an irreproducible content in accordance
with the embodiment. When the user presses, for example,
an all-delete button 550 appearing on a display screen
as a button of the input apparatus 108, an
irreproducible content is deleted from the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 or the content reproduction
apparatus 20. At the same time, the title information of
the deleted content also disappears from the title list
520 or 530 displayed on the screen.
[0535]
The above descriptions explain the functional
configuration, processing flow and typical screen
display of the content-processing apparatus 10. In the
content-processing apparatus 10 provided by this
embodiment, titles of contents are displayed in such a
way that contents that can be reproduced in accordance
with the copyright management can be distinguished from
irreproducible ones. Thus, the user is capable of
determining whether or not a content is reproducible
without actually making an attempt to reproduce the
content. Since the display also shows the title
information of contents that cannot be reproduced, the
user is capable of knowing information on each of the
irreproducible contents.
[0536]
13. Content Transfer Method
By referring to Figs. 45 to 53, the following
description explains a content transfer method adopted
by a content-processing apparatus 10 according to the
embodiment. A content-processing apparatus 10 according
to the embodiment exchanges contents with a content
reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 in accordance with a copyright
management method adopted by the content reproduction
apparatus 20. To put it concretely, if the copyright
management method adopted by the content reproduction
apparatus 20 is the group management method, the
content-processing apparatus 10 receives a content held
by the content reproduction apparatus 20 from the
content reproduction apparatus 20. In addition, the
content-processing apparatus 10 also transmits a content
held by itself to the content reproduction apparatus 20.
If the copyright management method adopted by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 is the check-in/checkout
method, on the other hand, the content-processing
apparatus 10 carries out check-in/check-out processes
with the content reproduction apparatus 20. The
following description explains details of the functional
configuration adopted by the content-processing
apparatus 10 as a configuration for implementing the
above functions.
[0537]
In order to implement the functions described
above, the content-processing apparatus 10 is provided
with a first display section 602 for example, a second
display section 604, a first operation display section
606, a second operation display section 608, a plurality
of plug-in modules, a select section 610, a request
section 612, a transfer-mode recognition section 616, a
transfer control section 614, a first transferprocessing
section 618, a second transfer-processing
section 622, a third transfer-processing section 620, a
fourth transfer-processing section 624 and a check-out
log storage section 626.
[0538]
The first display section 602 is a unit having a
function to display title information of contents stored
in a content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the
content-processing apparatus 10 on a display unit
included in an output apparatus employed in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. The second display section 604
is a unit having a function to display title information
of contents stored in the content database 116 of the
content-processing apparatus 10 on the same display unit.
The first display section 602 and the second display
section 604 are capable of displaying the title
information on the display unit at the same time in a
screen layout to be described later. Thus, by viewing
the same layout screen, the user is capable of
confirming both the titles of contents stored in the
content-processing apparatus 10 and the title
information of contents stored in a content reproduction
apparatus 20 connected to the content-processing
apparatus 10.
[0539]
The select section 610 is a unit having a function
to provide the request section 612 with a content ID
entered by the user via an input apparatus as a content
ID corresponding to title information specified by the
user among the title information of contents stored in
the content-processing apparatus 10 and the title
information of contents stored in a content reproduction
apparatus 20. To put it concretely, the content
management database is searched for the content ID
corresponding to title information specified by the user
and the content ID found in the search operation is
supplied to the request section 612.
[0540]
The first operation display section 606 is a unit
having a function to display an operation item used by
the user for carrying out a first operation on the
display unit. The first operation is an operation
carried out to transfer a content from the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the content-processing
apparatus 10. The operation item is an icon displayed by
the first operation display section 606 on the display
unit to be clicked by the user by using a mouse or the
like. When the user operates the operation item via the
input apparatus, the request section 612 is notified of
the operation carried out by the user on the operation
item.
[0541]
The second operation display section 608 is a unit
having a function to display an operation item used by
the user for carrying out a second operation on the
display unit. The second operation is an operation
carried out to transfer a content from the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to the content reproduction
apparatus 20. The operation item is an icon displayed by
the second operation display section 608 on the display
unit to be clicked by the user by using a mouse or the
like. When the user operates the operation item via the
input apparatus, the request section 612 is notified of
the operation carried out by the user on the operation
item.
[0542]
Receiving a content ID from the select section 610
and a notice of a first operation from the first
operation display section 606, the request section 612
requests the transfer control section 614 to transfer a
content identified by the content ID from the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the content-processing
apparatus 10. To put it concretely, the request section
612 supplies a flag or the like to the transfer control
section 614 as an indication of the existence of a
request for a transfer of a content identified by the
content ID provided by the select section 610 from the
content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10.
[0543]
Receiving a content ID from the select section 610
and a notice of a first operation from the second
operation display section 608, the request section 612
requests the transfer control section 614 to transfer a
content identified by the content ID from the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to the content reproduction
apparatus 20. To put it concretely, the request section
612 supplies a flag or the like to the transfer control
section 614 as an indication of the existence of a
request for a transfer of a content identified by the
content ID provided by the select section 610 from the
content-processing apparatus 10 to the content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0544]
Receiving a request for a transfer of a content
from the request section 612, the transfer control
section 614 requests the transfer-mode recognition
section 616 to recognize the transmission mode adopted
by the content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to
the content-processing apparatus 10. As requested, the
transfer-mode recognition section 614 identifies an
operating plug-in module among a plurality of plug-in
modules and recognizes the copyright management method
set in the operating plug-in module. To put it
concretely, for example, a file or the like is stored in
advance in a storage apparatus of the content-processing
apparatus 10 as means associating the identifiers of the
plug-in modules with the copyright management methods
set in the plug-in modules. In this case, by referring
to the file, the transfer-mode recognition section 616
is capable of recognizing the copyright management
method set in the operating plug-in module. A content
reproduction apparatus 20 associated with the operating
plug-in module executes copyright management in
accordance with the copyright management method set in
the plug-in module. Thus, by recognizing the copyright
management method set in the operating plug-in module,
the transfer-mode recognition section 616 is capable of
determining whether the copyright management method of
the content reproduction apparatus 20 connected to the
content-processing apparatus 10 is the group management
method or the check-in/check-out method.
[0545]
In accordance with a recognition result received
from the transfer-mode recognition section 616 and the
request made by the request section 612, the transfer
control section 614 requests the first transferprocessing
section 618, the second transfer-processing
section 622, the third transfer-processing section 620
or the fourth transfer-processing section 624 to carry
out a process to transfer a content.
[0546]
If the request made by the request section 612 is
a request for transmission of a content from a content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the content-processing
apparatus 10 and the recognition result received from
the transfer-mode recognition section 616 indicates that
the copyright management method of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is the check-in/check-out
method (which is also referred to as a first mode), the
transfer control section 614 requests the first
transfer-processing section 618 to carry out a process
to transfer the content.
[0547]
If the request made by the request section 612 is
a request for transmission of a content from the
content-processing apparatus 10 to a content
reproduction apparatus 20 and the recognition result
received from the transfer-mode recognition section 616
indicates that the copyright management method of the
content reproduction apparatus 20 is the check-in/checkout
method, the transfer control section 614 requests
the third transfer-processing section 620 to carry out a
process to transfer the content.
[0548]
If the request made by the request section 612 is
a request for transmission of a content from a content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the content-processing
apparatus 10 and the recognition result received from
the transfer-mode recognition section 616 indicates that
the copyright management method of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is the group management method
(which is also referred to as a second mode), the
transfer control section 614 requests the second
transfer-processing section 622 to carry out a process
to transfer the content.
[0549]
If the request made by the request section 612 is
a request for transmission of a content from the
content-processing apparatus 10 to a content
reproduction apparatus 20 and the recognition result
received from the transfer-mode recognition section 616
indicates that the copyright management method of the
content reproduction apparatus 20 is the group
management method, the transfer control section 614
requests the fourth transfer-processing section 624 to
carry out a process to transfer the content.
[0550]
The third transfer-processing section 620 is a
unit for carrying out check-out processes in a transfer
of a content from the content-processing apparatus 10 to
a content reproduction apparatus 20. A check-out process
is a process carried out by the content-processing
apparatus 10 to make a copy of a content stored in the
content database 116, attaches a license to the copy of
the content. The license includes right information for
the copy of the content. The content-processing
apparatus 10 transmits the copy of the content and the
license from the content-processing apparatus 10 to the
content reproduction apparatus 20 so that the content
can be reproduced in the content reproduction apparatus
20, However, the check-out process is also a process to
restrict the right of the content-processing apparatus
10 to transfer the content to other informationprocessing
apparatus.
[0551]
To put it concretely, the third transferprocessing
section 620 searches the content database 116
for a content identified by a content ID received from
the transfer control section 614. Then, the third
transfer-processing section 620 refers to the number of
permissible check-out operations set in a license
attached to the content. If the number of permissible
check-out operations is greater than zero, the third
transfer-processing section 620 is allowed to carry out
a check-out operation on the content. In this case, the
third transfer-processing section 620 creates a copy of
the content and a new license for the content, attaching
the license to the copy of the content. Then, the third
transfer-processing section 620 transmits the created
copy of the content and the created license to the
content reproduction apparatus 20 by way of the transfer
control section 614. Subsequently, the third transferprocessing
section 620 decrements the number of
permissible check-out operations set in the license
attached to the content stored in the content database
116 serving as the source of the content transmitted to
the content reproduction apparatus 20. In addition, by
way of the transfer control section 614, the third
transfer-processing section 620 acquires a device ID
assigned to the content reproduction apparatus 20
serving as the recipient of the transmitted content and
stores the device ID in a check-out log storage section
626 as a check-out log associating the device ID with
the content ID identifying the transmitted content.
[0552]
The first transfer-processing section 618 is a
unit for carrying out a check-in process on a content
transferred from a content reproduction apparatus 20 to
the content-processing apparatus 10. The check-in
process is a process to deprive the content reproduction
apparatus 20 of the right to reproduce a content, which
has been transferred from the content-processing
apparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20 in
a check-out process described above. However, the check-
in process is also a process to restore the right given
to the content-processing apparatus 10 as a right to
carry out a check-out process to transfer the content
from the content-processing apparatus 10 to another
information-processing apparatus.
[0553]
When a content transferred from a content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the content-processing
apparatus 10, the first transfer-processing section 618
acquires the content ID of the content from the transfer
control section 614. The first transfer-processing
section 618 also obtains a device ID of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 from the content reproduction
apparatus 20 by way of the transfer control section 614.
The first transfer-processing section 618 then searches
a check-out log stored in the check-out log storage
section 626 as a log associating device IDs with content
IDs for a log entry corresponding to the acquired
content ID and the obtained device ID. If a log entry
corresponding to the acquired content ID and the
obtained device ID is found in the operation to search
the check-out log stored in the check-out log storage
section 626, the log entry indicates that the content
identified by the acquired content ID is a content
already experiencing a check-out process to transfer the
content from the content-processing apparatus 10 to the
content reproduction apparatus 20. In this case, the
first transfer-processing section 618 carries out a
check-in process on the content transferred from the
content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. To put it concretely, the first
transfer-processing section 618 transmits a request to
the content reproduction apparatus 20 as a request to
delete the license attached to the content identified by
the content ID from the content reproduction apparatus
20 in order to request the content reproduction
apparatus 20 to delete the license transmitted to the
content reproduction apparatus 20. The content
reproduction apparatus 20 may also be requested to
delete the content identified by the content ID as well.
On the other hand, the third transfer-processing section
620 searches the content database 116 of the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 for the content identified by
the content ID received from the transfer control
section 614 and increments the number of permissible
check-out operations set in the license attached to the
content. In addition, the third transfer-processing
section 620 also deletes the log entry found in the
328
operation to search the check-out log stored in the
check-out log storage section 626 from the log.
[0554]
The second transfer-processing section 622 is a
unit for carrying out a process to transfer a content
from a content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. To put it concretely, first of
all, the second transfer-processing section 622 acquires
the source-ID list L owned by the content reproduction
apparatus 20 from the content reproduction apparatus 20
by way of the transfer control section 614. The source-
ID list L owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20
is also referred to as a second source-ID list L. Then,
the second transfer-processing section 622 reads out a
group ID from the source-ID list L owned by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 and a group ID from the source-
ID list L owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20,
The source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10 is also referred to as a first source-ID
list L. Subsequently, the second transfer-processing
section 622 compares the group ID read out from the
first source-ID list L with the group ID read out from
the second source-ID list L in order to produce a result
of determination as to whether or not the group ID read
out from the first source-ID list L matches the group ID
read out from the second source-ID list L. If the group
ID read out from the first source-ID list L matches the
group ID read out from the second source-ID list L, the
content-processing apparatus 10 and the content
reproduction apparatus 20 are determined to be apparatus
registered in the same apparatus group managed by the
management server. In this case, a transfer of a content
from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the
content-processing apparatus 10 is permitted. Thus, if
the group ID read out from the first source-ID list L
matches the group ID read out from the second source-ID
list L, the second transfer-processing section 622
requests the content reproduction apparatus 20 by way of
the transfer control section 614 to transmit the content
identified by the content ID and stores the content
received from the content reproduction apparatus 20 in
the content database 116. The first source-ID list L
and/or the second source-ID list L may each include a
plurality of group IDs. In this case, a transfer of a
content from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to
the content-processing apparatus 10 is permitted only if
any of the group IDs included on the first source-ID
list L matches any of the group IDs included on the
second source-ID list L. In order to prevent the same
content from being stored in the content database 116
more than once so as to avoid duplication, before
requesting the content reproduction apparatus 20 to
transmit the content to the content-processing apparatus
10, the second transfer-processing section 622 acquires
the content ID identifying the content from the transfer
control section 614 and searches the content database
116 for the content identified by the content ID. The
second transfer-processing section 622 requests the
content reproduction apparatus 20 to transmit the
content to the content-processing apparatus 10 only if
the content has not been stored in the content database
116.
[0555]
The fourth transfer-processing section 624 is a
unit for carrying out a process to transfer a content
from the content-processing apparatus 10 to a content
reproduction apparatus 20. To put it concretely, the
fourth transfer-processing section 624 acquires the
source-ID list L owned by the content reproduction
apparatus 20 from the content reproduction apparatus 20
by way of the transfer control section 614. As described
above, the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is also referred to as a
second source-ID list L. Then, the s-eeend transferprocessing
section 622 acquires a content ID of the
content to be transferred from the transfer control
section 614 and searches the content database 116 for
the content. Subsequently, the .second transfer-
processing section 62-2 acquires a source ID attached to
the content found in the search operation and produces a
result of determination as to whether or not the source-
ID list L acquired from the content reproduction
apparatus 20 includes the source ID. If the result of
the determination indicates that the source-ID list L
acquired from the content reproduction apparatus 20
includes the source ID, the content reproduction
apparatus 20 is allowed to reproduce the content having
the source ID attached thereto. In this case, the fourth
transfer-processing section 624 transmits the content to
the content reproduction apparatus 20 by way of the
transfer control section 614. It is to be noted that a
copy of the content can be reproduced and transmitted to
the content reproduction apparatus 20 in place of the
content itself.
[0556]
The above description explains the functional
configuration of the content-processing apparatus 10. By
referring to Figs. 46 to 49, the following description
explains flowcharts of transfers of a content from a
content reproduction apparatus 20 to a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 or flowcharts of check-in
processes.
[0557]
First of all, at a step S502 of the flowchart
shown in Fig. 46, the user presses a button in order
to select the title information of a desired content
from a title list displayed on the display unit employed
in the content-processing apparatus 10 as a list of
titles of contents stored in a content reproduction
apparatus 20. The button pressed at the step S502 is
only one of buttons employed in the operation section.
When the button is pressed to enter a command via the
input section, a request is made to transfer the content
from the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the
content-processing apparatus 10.
[0558]
Then, at the next step S504, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 identifies the transfer mode of
the content reproduction apparatus 20. The processing
carried out at the step S504 to identify the transfer
mode of the content reproduction apparatus 20 is
explained in detail by referring to a flowchart shown in
Fig. 47 as follows. First of all, at a step S512, the
content-processing apparatus 10 acquires the identifier
of an operating plug-in module. Then, on the basis of
the identifier acquired at the step S512, at the next
step S514, the content-processing apparatus 10
identifies a copyright management method set in the
operating plug-in module. To put it concretely, the
content-processing apparatus 10 identifies a copyright
management method set in the operating plug-in module by,
for example, referring to a file associating identifiers
with copyright management methods as described above.
[0559]
Let us refer back to the flowchart shown in Fig.
46. As described above, at the step S504, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 identifies the transfer mode (or
the copyright management method) of the content
reproduction apparatus 20. If the transfer mode is the
group management method, the flow of the content
transfer processing goes on to a step S508 at which a
transfer process based on the group management method is
started. If the transfer mode is the check-in/check-out
method, on the other hand, the flow of the content
transfer processing goes on to a step S510 at which a
transfer process based on the check-in/check-out method
is started.
[0560]
By referring to Fig. 48, the following description
explains a flowchart of a transfer based on the group
management method as the transfer of a content from a
content reproduction apparatus 20 to a contentprocessing
apparatus 10.
[0561]
The flowchart begins with a step S520 at which the
content-processing apparatus 10 acquires the source-ID
list L owned by the content reproduction apparatus 20
from the content reproduction apparatus 20. As described
before, the source-ID list L owned by the content
reproduction apparatus 20 is referred to as the second
source-ID list L. After the step S520, the flow of the
content transfer processing goes on to a step S522 at
which the content-processing apparatus 10 acquires the
group ID from the source-ID list L owned by the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 itself and produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the second source-ID
list L includes the group ID. As described earlier, the
source-ID list L owned by the content-processing
apparatus 10 is referred to as the first source-ID list
L. If the result of the determination indicates that the
second source-ID list L does not include the group ID,
the flow of the content transfer processing goes on to a
step S524 at which an error message is displayed to
indicate that the content cannot be transferred from the
content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10. If the result of the
determination indicates that the second source-ID list L
includes the group ID, on the other hand, the flow of
the content transfer processing goes on to a step S526
at which the content-processing apparatus 10 produces a
result of determination as to whether or not the
content-processing apparatus 10 holds a content ID
selected by the user as the content ID of the content to
be transferred from the content reproduction apparatus
20 to the content-processing apparatus 10. Then, at the
next step S528, if the determination result produced at
the step S528 indicates that the content to be
transferred from the content reproduction apparatus 20
to the content-processing apparatus 10 has already been
stored in the content-processing apparatus 10, the flow
of the content transfer processing goes on to a step
S530 at which a message is displayed to notify the user
that the content has already been stored in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10.
[0562]
If the determination result produced at the step
S528 indicates that the content to be transferred from
the content reproduction apparatus 20 to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 has not been stored in the
content-processing apparatus 10, on the other hand, the
flow of the content transfer processing goes on to a
step S532 at which the content-processing apparatus 10
drives the content reproduction apparatus 20 to transmit
the desired content to the content-processing apparatus
10.
[0563]
By referring to Fig. 49, the following description
explains a flowchart of a transfer based on the checkin/
check-out method as the transfer of a content from a
content reproduction apparatus 20 to a contentprocessing
apparatus 10. In this case, the transfer of a
content from a content reproduction apparatus 20 to a
content-processing apparatus 10 is referred to as a
check-in method.
[0564]
The flowchart begins with a step S540 at which the
content-processing apparatus 10 searches the check-out
log for a content to be transferred from the content
reproduction apparatus 20 to the content-processing
apparatus 10 as described above on the basis of the
content ID identifying the content and the device ID of
the content reproduction apparatus 20 in order to make
sure that the content has indeed already been subjected
to a check-out process. Then, at the next step S542, the
content-processing apparatus 10 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the check-out log
includes a log entry of the content, which has already
been subjected to a check-out process to the content
reproduction apparatus 20. If the determination result
produced at the step S542 indicates that the check-out
log does not include a log entry of the content already
been subjected to a check-out process to the content
reproduction apparatus 20, the flow of the check-in
process goes on to a step S544 to display a message,
which states: "The content is not a content checked out
from the content-processing apparatus," indicating that
a check-in process cannot be carried out.
[0565]
If the determination result produced at the step
S542 indicates that the check-out log includes a log
entry of the content already been subjected to a checkout
process to the content reproduction apparatus 20, on
the other hand, the flow of the check-in process goes on
to a step S546 to increment a check-out count set in a
license attached to the content stored in the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 as a content identified by the
content ID of the content to be checked in to the
content-processing apparatus 10. The check-out count is
the number of remaining permissible check-out processes
that can be carried out from now on. Then, at the next
step S548, the content selected as a content to be
checked in to the content-processing apparatus 10 and
the license attached to the content are deleted from the
content reproduction apparatus 20. It is to be noted
that the order in which the processes of the steps S546
and S548 are carried out can also be reversed.
[0566]
The above description explains the flowchart of
the processing to transfer a content from a content
reproduction apparatus 20 to a content-processing
apparatus 10 or the check-in process. By referring to
Figs. 50 to 52, the following description explains
processing to transfer a content from a contentprocessing
apparatus 10 to a content reproduction
apparatus 20 or the check-out process.
[0567]
A flowchart shown in Fig. 50 begins with a step
S550 at which the user presses a -> button in order to
select the title information of a desired content from a
title list displayed on the display unit employed in the
content-processing apparatus 10 as a list of titles of
contents stored in a content-processing apparatus 10.
The button pressed at the step S550 is only one of
buttons employed in the operation section. When the —
button is pressed to enter a command via the input
section, a request is made to transfer the content from
the content-processing apparatus 10 to a content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0568]
Then, at the next step S552, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 identifies the transfer mode of
the content reproduction apparatus 20. The processing
carried out at the step S552 to identify the transfer
mode of the content reproduction apparatus 20 is the
same as the processing explained earlier by referring to
the flowchart shown in Fig. 47. If the identified
transfer mode is the group management method, the flow
of the content transfer processing goes on to a step
S556 at which a transfer process based on the group
management method is started. If the transfer mode
identified in the processing is the check-in/check-out
method, on the other hand, the flow of the content
transfer processing goes on to a step S558 at which a
transfer process based on the check-in/check-out method
is started.
[0569]
By referring to Fig. 51, the following description
explains a flowchart of a transfer based on the group
management method as the transfer of a content from a
content-processing apparatus 10 to a content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0570]
The flowchart begins with a step S560 at which the
content-processing apparatus 10 acquires the source-ID
list L from the content reproduction apparatus 20. As
described before, the source-ID list L owned by the
content reproduction apparatus 20 is referred to as the
second source-ID list L. After the step S560, the flow
of the content transfer processing goes oh to a step
S562 at which the content-processing apparatus 10
acquires the source ID attached to a content selected by
the user. Then, at the next step S564, the content-
processing apparatus 10 produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the second source-ID
list L includes the source ID. If the result of the
determination indicates that the second source-ID list L
does not include the source ID, the flow of the content
transfer processing goes on to a step S572. At this step,
an error message is displayed as a message stating: "The
content is irreproducible in the content reproduction
apparatus," indicating that the content cannot be
transferred from the content-processing apparatus 10 to
the content reproduction apparatus 20. If the result of
the determination indicates that the second source-ID
list L includes the source ID, on the other hand, the
flow of the content transfer processing goes on to a
step S570 at which the content-processing apparatus 10
transmits the content selected by the user to the
content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0571]
By referring to Fig. 52, the following description
explains a flowchart of a transfer based on the checkin/
check-out method as the transfer of a content from a
content-processing apparatus 10 to a content
reproduction apparatus 20. The transfer based on the
check-in/check-out method as the transfer of a content
from a content-processing apparatus 10 to a content
reproduction apparatus 20 is referred to as a check-out
process.
[0572]
First of all, at a step S580, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 refers to a license attached to
a content selected by the user as a content to be
transferred from the content-processing apparatus 10 to
the content reproduction apparatus 20. Then, at the next
step S582, a remaining check-out count set in the
license is examined to produce a result of determination
as to whether or not the count has become equal to zero.
If the remaining check-out count has become equal to
zero the flow of the check-out processing goes on to a
step S592 at which a message is displayed to indicate
that the check-out process can no longer be carried out.
If the remaining check-out count is still greater than
zero, on the other hand, the flow of the check-out
processing goes on to a step S584 at which a license is
created. The created license includes information such
as a limitation on reproduction of the content in the
content reproduction apparatus 20. Then, at the next
step S586, the content-processing apparatus 10 attaches
the created license to a copy of the content and
transmits the copy with the license attached thereto to
the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0573]
Then, at the next step S588, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 decrements the remaining checkout
count by one. The remaining check-out count is a
number included in the license attached to the content
copy, which has been transmitted from the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 serving as the sender of the
copy to the content reproduction apparatus 20.
Subsequently, at the next step S590, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 associates the content ID of the
content checked out from the content-processing
apparatus 10 to the content reproduction apparatus 20
with the device ID of the content reproduction apparatus
20, putting the content ID and the device ID on a checkout
log as a log entry.
[0574]
The above description explains a check-out process,
which is transfer, based on the check-out method as the
transfer of a content from a content-processing
apparatus 10 to a content reproduction apparatus 20. By
referring to Fig. 53, the following description explains
a typical screen layout appearing on the display unit
employed in a content-processing apparatus 10 according
to the embodiment.
[0575]
A title list 630 is a list displayed by the second
display section 604 as a typical list of contents stored
in a content-processing apparatus 10. On the other hand,
a title list 632 is a list displayed by the first
display section 602 as a typical list of contents stored
in a content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0576]
A button 634 is a typical operation member
displayed by the second operation display section 608.
On the other hand, a — button 636 is a typical operation
member displayed by the first operation display section
606.
[0577]
When the user selects a desired title from those
on the title list 630 and presses the -» button 634, the
content-processing apparatus 10 transmits a content
represented by the selected title to a content
reproduction apparatus 20 in a check-out process. The
check-out process is carried out to transmit the content
from the content-processing apparatus 10 to the content
reproduction apparatus 20 in accordance with either of
the group management method and the check-in/check-out
method, one of which is selected in accordance with the
copyright management method adopted by the content
reproduction apparatus 20.
[0578]
When the user selects a desired title from those
on the title list 632 and presses the button 636, on
the other hand, a content reproduction apparatus 20
transmits a content represented by the selected title to
the content-processing apparatus 10 in a check-in
process. The check-in process is carried out to transmit
the content from the content reproduction apparatus 20
to the content-processing apparatus 10 in accordance
with either of the group management method and the
check-in/check-out method, one of which is selected in
accordance with the copyright management method adopted
by the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0579]
The above description explains a typical screen
layout appearing on the display unit employed in a
content-processing apparatus 10.
[0580]
The above descriptions explain a functional
configuration of a content-processing apparatus 10
according to the embodiment, flows of processes carried
out by the content-processing apparatus 10 and typical
screens displayed by the content-processing apparatus 10,
According to the content-processing apparatus 10
provided by the embodiment, a content can be transferred
from the content-processing apparatus 10 to a content
reproduction apparatus 20 or vice versa in accordance
with a method, which is selected in dependence on the
copyright management method adopted by the content
reproduction apparatus 20. In addition, even if an
operation member common to both the transfer directions
is operated to make a request for such a transfer, the
content-processing apparatus 10 is capable of
recognizing the copyright management method adopted by
the content reproduction apparatus 20 and hence
selecting a transfer method accordingly. Thus, the user
does not need to select a transfer method by being aware
of the copyright management method adopted by the
content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0581]
14. Content Reproduction Control Method in a Content
Reproduction Apparatus (PD)
The following description explains a process
carried out by a content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD)
provided by the embodiment as a process to control
reproduction of a content.
[0582]
As described earlier, the content reproduction
apparatus 20 (PD) provided by the embodiment is
compatible with both the copyright management scheme
based on the group management method and the copyright
management scheme based on the check-in/check-out method.
That is to say, the content reproduction apparatus 20
(PD) is capable of selectively executing either
reproduction control adopting the group management
method based on source IDs each added to a content and
based on a source-ID list L or reproduction control
adopting the check-in/check-out method based on usage
rule information prescribed in a license attached to
every content.
[0583]
A content-processing apparatus 10 (PC) sets the
group management method or the check-in/check-out method
as the copyright management technique in a content
reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) connected to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 by a local line 9. In a process
to set the reproduction control method, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 (PD) acquires ICV data 21 of the
content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) from the content
reproduction apparatus 20 and updates a flag 232
included in the ICV data 231 as shown in Fig. 10 as
method identification information. Then, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 (PC) transmits the ICV data 231
back to the content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD). If
the flag 232 included in the ICV data 231 is updated to
"0 , for example, the group management method is adopted
as the reproduction control method of the content
reproduction apparatus 20 (PD). If the flag 232 included
in the ICV data 231 is updated to "1 , on the other hand,
the check-in/check-out method is adopted as the
reproduction control method of the content reproduction
apparatus 20 (PD).
[0584]
It is to be noted that, in this embodiment, only
the content-processing apparatus 10 (PC) connected by a
local line to the content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD),
is capable of updating the ICV data 231 of the content
reproduction apparatus 20. The content reproduction
apparatus 20 (PD) is not capable of updating the ICV
data 231 by itself. However, the embodiment is not
limited to this typical implementation. For example, it
is also possible to provide a configuration in which the
content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) is made capable
of updating the ICV data 231 by itself in accordance
with an input entered by the user. Thus, in such a
configuration, the content reproduction apparatus 20
(PD) is capable of changing the reproduction control
method thereof by itself.
[0585]
By referring to Figs. 54 and 10, the following
description explains typical content reproduction
control processing carried out by a content reproduction
apparatus 20 (PD) . It is to be noted that Fig. 54 shows
a flowchart representing the typical processing to
control reproduction of contents in a PD serving as a
content reproduction apparatus 20 according to the
embodiment.
[0586]
The processing to control reproduction of contents
is processing to let the user select contents to be
reproduced among all contents stored in the content
reproduction apparatus 20 and then produce a result of
determination as to whether or not each of the contents
selected as contents to be reproduced is a content that
can be reproduced.
[0587]
As shown in Fig. 54, the flowchart begins with a
step S600 at which the content reproduction apparatus 20
is activated. For example, at the step S600, the user
presses a power-supply button, a reproduction key or the
like to start the content reproduction apparatus 20. It
is to be noted that the content reproduction apparatus
20 does not have to be connected to a PC serving as a
content-processing apparatus 10 in order to activate the
content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0588]
Then, at the next step S602, the reproduction
control method determination section 240 employed in the
content reproduction apparatus 20 recognizes the
reproduction control method, which has been set in
advance in the content reproduction apparatus 20, on the
basis of information used for identifying the
reproduction control method.
[0589]
To put it concretely, after the activation of the
content reproduction apparatus 20, the reproduction
control method determination section 240 reads out ICV
data 231 stored in the storage section 230 employed in
the content reproduction apparatus 20 and checks a flag
232 included in the ICV data 231. As described earlier,
the flag 232 is a kind of method identification
information used for identifying a method to control
reproduction of a content. On the basis of the ICV data
231, the reproduction control method determination
section 240 produces a result of determination as to
whether the group management method or the checkin/
check-out method has been adopted as the reproduction
control method.of the content reproduction apparatus 20.
As described above, the group management method and the
check-in/check-out method are referred to as a first
reproduction control method and a second reproduction
control method respectively. If the flag 232 is "0 , for
example, the reproduction control method determination
section 240 produces a determination result indicating
that the group management method has been adopted as the
reproduction control method of the content reproduction
apparatus 20 (PD). In this case, the flow of the
reproduction control processing goes on to a step S604.
If the flag 232 is "1 , on the other hand, the
reproduction control method determination section 240
produces a determination result indicating that the
check-in/check-out method has been adopted as the
reproduction control method of the content reproduction
apparatus 20 (PD) . In this case, the flow of the
reproduction control processing goes on to a step S606.
[0590]
Then, at the step S604, the reproducibility
determination section 242 employed in the content
reproduction apparatus 20 checks the validity of the
reproduction control based on the group management
method. To put it concretely, at the step S604, on the
basis of the ICV data 231 stored in the storage section
230, the reproducibility determination section 242
checks the validity of the source-ID list L stored in
the storage section 230 in order to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not the source-ID list L
has been interpolated. As described above, the ICV data
231 of the group management method includes the MAC
value 233 of the source-ID list L. The reproducibility
determination section 242 computes a MAC value of the
present source-ID list L read out from the storage
section 230 and compares the computed MAC value with the
MAC value 233 included in the ICV data 231 read out from
the storage section 230 in order to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not the source-ID list L
has been interpolated.
[0591]
At the step S606, on the other hand, the
reproducibility determination section 242 employed in
the content reproduction apparatus 20 checks the
validity of the reproduction control based on the checkin/
check-out method. To put it concretely, at the step
S606, on the basis of the ICV data 231 stored in the
storage section 230, the reproducibility determination
section 242 checks the validity of a license attached to
each content stored in the storage section 230 in order
to produce a result of determination as to whether or
not the license has been interpolated. As described
above, the ICV data 231 of the check-in/check-out method
includes the MAC value 233 of the source-ID list L. The
reproducibility determination section 242 computes a MAC
value of the license attached to every content stored in
the storage section 230 and compares the computed MAC
value with the MAC value 233 included in the ICV data
231 in order to produce a result of determination as to
whether or not the license has been interpolated.
[0592]
A determination result produced at the steps S604
or S606 as described above may indicate that the source-
ID list L has been interpolated. In this case, no
content is reproduced. Instead, a notice of an error is
issued before the execution of the entire reproduction
control processing is ended. If neither the source-ID
list L nor the licenses has been interpolated, on the
other hand, their validity is confirmed. In this case,
the flow of the reproduction control processing goes on
to the next step S608.
[0593]
At the step S608, content management information
is read out from the content management information
database 236 and written into the RAM 203. The content
management information read out at the step S608
includes the content ID and content title information of
every content stored in the content database 234. The
content title information includes the song name of the
content, the names of artists and the reproduction
duration of the content. An example of the recording
location of a content is an address in the content
database 234.
[0594]
Then, at the next step S610, title list of
contents is displayed on the display apparatus 210
employed in the content reproduction apparatus 20. To
put it in detail, at the step S610, the title-list
creation section 250 employed in the content
reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) creates a title list
based on titles read out from the content management
information database 236 as title information of
contents. The title list is a list of song names of
musical contents and attributes of each of the musical
contents. As described above, the attributes of a
musical content include the song name of the musical
content, the names of artists and the reproduction
duration of the musical content. Then, the title-list
creation section 250 displays the created title list on
the display apparatus 210.
[0595]
Subsequently, at the next step S612, the user
selects contents to be reproduced. To put it in detail,
at the step S612, the user views the title list
appearing on the display apparatus 210 and selects one
or more contents from the title list as contents that
the user wants to reproduce. In order for the user to
select the contents to be reproduced, the user specifies
the title information of the contents by operating the
input apparatus 208.
[0596]
Then, at the next step S614, the user enters a
command serving as a request for reproduction of the
selected contents. To put it in detail, at the step S614
after the user has specified the title information of
the desired contents to be reproduced as described above,
the user presses a reproduction key of the input
apparatus 208 or a reproduction key of the remote
controller 218 in order to enter a command to start the
reproduction. Then, the content select section 252
selects a content indicated by a title specified by the
user as a content to be reproduced and supplies
information on the content to the reproducibility
determination section 242. The information on the
content to be reproduced includes the content ID and
storage location of the content.
[0597]
Then, at the next step S616, a content indicated
by a title specified by the user as a first content to
be reproduced is read out from the content database 234.
To put it concretely, at the step S616, the
reproducibility determination section 242 searches the
content database 234 for a file on the basis of
information, which is input from the content select
section 252 as the information on the content to be
reproduced, as the file of the first content to be
reproduced. The reproducibility determination section
242 then reads out the file found in the search process
from the content database 234.
[0598]
Then, at the next step S618, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 recognizes the reproduction
control method, which has been set in advance in the
content reproduction apparatus 20, in the same way as
the step S602 described before. If the recognition
result produced at the step S618 indicates that the
group management method has been adopted as the
reproduction control method of the content reproduction
apparatus 20, the flow of the reproduction control
processing goes on to a step S620. If the result of the
recognition indicates that the check-in/check-out method
has been adopted as the reproduction control method of
the content reproduction apparatus 20, on the other hand,
the flow of the reproduction control processing goes on
to a step S622. Since the same process to recognize the
reproduction control method has been carried out at the
step S602, the process carried out at the step S618 can
actually be omitted.
[0599]
Then, at the step S620, the first reproducibility
determination section 242a produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the content to be
reproduced is a content reproducible in accordance with
the group management method adopted as the reproduction
control method. To put it concretely, at the step S620,
the first reproducibility determination section 242a
produces a result of determination as to whether or not
the content to be reproduced is a reproducible content
by determining whether or not the source-ID list L
stored in the storage section 230 employed in the
content reproduction apparatus 20 includes a source ID
added to the content to be reproduced.
[0600]
If the result of the determination indicates that
the source-ID list L includes a source ID added to the
content to be reproduced, the first reproducibility
determination section 242a permits reproduction of the
content. In this case, the flow of the reproduction
control processing goes on to a step S624. If the result
of the determination indicates that the source-ID list L
does not include the source ID added to the content to
be reproduced, on the other hand, the first
reproducibility determination section 242a does not
permit reproduction of the content. In this case, the
flow of the reproduction control processing goes on to a
step S626.
[0601]
It is to be noted that the source ID included in
the source-ID list L may have a validity term set
therein. In this case, in addition to the determination
process carried out at the step S620, the first
reproducibility determination section 242a also produces
a result of determination as to whether or not the
validity term set in the source ID of the content to be
reproduced has not been expired. If the result of the
determination indicates that the validity term set in
the source ID of the content to be reproduced has not
been expired, the first reproducibility determination
section 242a permits reproduction of the content. If the
result of the determination indicates that the validity
term set in the source ID of the content to be
reproduced has been expired, on the other hand, the
first reproducibility determination section 242a does
not permit reproduction of the content.
[0602]
At the step S622, on the other hand, the second
reproducibility determination section 242b produces a
result of determination as to whether or not the content
to be reproduced is a content reproducible in accordance
with the check-in/check-out method adopted as the
reproduction control method. To put it concretely, at
the step 5622, the second reproducibility determination
section 242b produces a result of determination as to
whether or not the content to be reproduced is a
reproducible content on the basis of usage rule
information prescribed in a license associated with the
content to be reproduced. The usage rule information
includes an upper limit of the number of permitted
reproduction operations and a deadline of permitted
reproduction operations.
[0603]
If the result of the determination indicates that
the usage rule information is satisfied, the second
reproducibility determination section 242b permits
reproduction of the content. In this case, the flow of
the reproduction control processing goes on to the step
S624. The usage rule information is said to be satisfied,
for example, if the deadline of permitted reproduction
operations has not been reached or the number of
permitted reproduction operations has not reached the
upper limit. Then, when the number of permitted
reproduction operations is set, the number of
reproduction is incremented by one. If the result of the
determination indicates that the usage rule information
is not satisfied (for example, if the deadline of
permitted reproduction operations has reached, or the
number of permitted reproduction operations has reached
the upper limit), on the other hand, the second
reproducibility determination section 242b does not
permit reproduction of the content. In this case, the
flow of the reproduction control processing goes on to
the step S626.
[0604]
Then, at the step S624, the reproduction execution
section 244 reproduces the content, the reproduction of
which has been permitted at the step S620 or S622. As
for a content, the reproduction of which was not
permitted at the step S620 or S622, on the other hand, a
notice indicating an error may be issued at the step
S624. Such a content is not reproduced.
[0605]
Then, the flow of the reproduction control
processing goes on to the step S626 to produce a result
of determination as to whether or not the processes of
the steps S618 to S624 have been carried out on all the
contents selected at the step S612 as contents to be
reproduced. If the determination result produced at the
step S626 indicates that the processes of the steps S618
to S624 have not been carried out on all the contents
selected at the step S612 as contents to be reproduced,
the flow of the reproduction control processing goes on
to a step S628. At the step S628, a next content to be
reproduced is read out from the content database 234.
Then, the processes of the steps S618 to S624 are
carried out on the next content to be reproduced. As the
determination result produced at the step S626 indicates
that the processes of the steps S618 to S624 have been
carried out on all the contents selected at the step
S612 as contents to be reproduced, the execution of the
reproduction control processing is ended.
[0606]
By referring to Figs. 55 and 10, the following
description explains other typical content reproduction
control processing carried out by a content reproduction
apparatus 20 (PD) . It is to be noted that Fig. 55 shows
a flowchart representing the other typical processing to
control reproduction of contents in a PD serving as a
content reproduction apparatus 20 according to the
embodiment.
[0607]
In this processing to control reproduction of
contents, first of all, the title information of all
contents stored in the content reproduction apparatus 20
are displayed as a title list allowing reproducible
contents to be distinguished from ones that cannot be
reproduced. Then, the user viewing the title list
selects contents to be reproduced among the contents
that can be reproduced. Finally, the contents selected
as contents to be reproduced are reproduced.
[0608]
To begin with, steps S600 to S608 of the flowchart
shown in Fig. 55 are identical with respectively the
steps S600 to S608 of the flowchart explained earlier by
referring to Fig. 54.
[0609]
Then, at following steps S650 to S664, title-list
display processing is carried out. The title-list
display processing is processing to display a title list
allowing reproducible contents to be distinguished from
irreproducible ones on the display apparatus 210
employed in the content reproduction apparatus 20.
[0610]
To put it concretely, first of all, at the step
S650, a first content to be displayed is read out from
the content database 234. To put it concretely, at the
step S650, the reproducibility determination section 242
searches the content database 234 for the file of the
first content to be displayed on the basis of content
management information read out at the step S508 as
information on the content. The'content management
information read out at the step S508 as information on
the content includes the content ID and storage location
of the content. The reproducibility determination
section 242 then reads out the file from the content
database 234.
[0611]
In this embodiment, all contents stored in the
content database 234 of the content reproduction
apparatus 20 are selected as contents to be reproduced.
It is to be noted, however, that the embodiment is not
limited to this typical implementation. For example,
only some of contents stored in the content database 234
of the content reproduction apparatus 20 can also be
selected on the basis of predetermined criteria of
selection as contents to be reproduced. For example, the
predetermined criteria of selection for a content to be
reproduced include an artist, album, genre, sales period
and most recent reproduction timing of the content as
well as user selection.
[0612]
Then, at the next step S652, the content
reproduction apparatus 20 recognizes the reproduction
control method, which has been set in advance in the
content reproduction apparatus 20, on the basis of
information used for identifying the reproduction
control method in the same way as the step S602
described before. If the recognition result produced at
the step S652 indicates that the group management method
has been adopted as the reproduction control method of
the content reproduction apparatus 20, the flow of the
reproduction control processing goes on to a step S654.
If the result of the recognition indicates that the
check-in/check-out method has been adopted as the
reproduction control method of the content reproduction •
apparatus 20, on the other hand, the flow of the
reproduction control processing goes on to a step S656.
Since the same process to recognize the reproduction
control method has been carried out at the step S602,
the process carried out at the step S652 can actually be
omitted.
[0613]
Then, at the step S654, the first reproducibility
determination section 242a produces a result of
determination as to whether or not the content to be
reproduced is a content reproducible in accordance with
the group management method adopted as the reproduction
control method. To put it concretely, at the step S654,
the first reproducibility determination section 242a
produces a result of determination as to whether or not
the content to be reproduced is a reproducible content
by determining whether or not the source-ID list L
stored in the storage section 230 employed in the
content reproduction apparatus 20 includes a source ID
added to the content to be reproduced.
[0614]
If the result of the determination indicates that
the source-ID list L includes a source ID added to the
content to be reproduced, the first reproducibility
determination section 242a permits reproduction of the
content. In this case, the flow of the reproduction
control processing goes on to a step S658. If the result
of the determination indicates that the source-ID list L
does not include the source ID added to the content to
be reproduced, on the other hand, the first
reproducibility determination section 242a does not
permit reproduction of the content. In this case, the
flow of the reproduction control processing goes on to a
step S660.
[0615]
At the step 3656, on the other hand, the second
reproducibility determination section 242b produces a
result of determination as to whether or not the content
to be reproduced is a content reproducible in accordance
with the check-in/check-out method adopted as the
reproduction control method. To put it concretely, at
the step S656, the second reproducibility determination
section 242b produces a result of determination as to
whether or not the content to be reproduced is a
reproducible content on the basis of usage rule
information prescribed in a license associated with to
the content to be reproduced. The usage rule information
includes an upper limit of the number of permitted
reproduction operations and a deadline of permitted
reproduction operations.
[0616]
If the result of the determination indicates that
the usage rule information is satisfied, the second
reproducibility determination section 242b permits
reproduction of the content. In this case, the flow of
the reproduction control processing goes on to the step
S658. If the result of the determination indicates that
the usage rule information is not satisfied, on the
other hand, the second reproducibility determination
section 242b does not permit reproduction of the content.
In this case, the flow of the reproduction control
processing goes on to the step S660.
[0617]
At the step S658, the content determined at the
step S654 or S656 to be a reproducible content is
displayed as a content that can be reproduced if the
content is selected by the user. To put it concretely,
at the step S658, the title-list creation section 250
displays the title information of the content determined
as described above to be a reproducible content on the
display apparatus 210 in such a way that the user is
capable of recognizing the displayed content as a '
content that can be reproduced if the content is
selected by the user.
[0618]
At the step S660, on the other hand, the content
determined at the step S654 or S656 to be an
irreproducible content is displayed as a content that
cannot be reproduced even if the content is selected by
the user. To put it concretely, at the step S660, the
title-list creation section 250 displays the title
information of the content determined as described above
to be an irreproducible content on the display apparatus
210 in such a way that the user is capable of
recognizing the displayed content as a content that
cannot be reproduced even if the content is selected by
the user.
[0619]
Then, the flow of the reproduction control
processing goes on to a step S662 to produce a result of
determination as to whether or not the reproducibilitydetermination
and display processes of the steps S652 to
S660 have been carried out on all the contents to be
reproduced. If the determination result produced at the
step S662 indicates that the reproducibilitydetermination
and display processes of the steps S652 to
S660 have not been carried out on all the contents to be
reproduced, the flow of the reproduction control
processing goes on to a step S664. At the step S664, the
next content to be reproduced is read out from the
content database 234. Then, the reproducibilitydetermination
and display processes of the steps S652 to
S660 are carried out on the next content to be
reproduced. As the determination result produced at the
step S662 indicates that the reproducibilitydetermination
and display processes of the steps S652 to
S660 have been carried out on all the contents to be
reproduced, the flow of the reproduction control
processing goes on to a step S666.
[0620]
When the flow of the reproduction control
processing goes on to the step S666, the display
apparatus 210 reveals a title list allowing reproducible
contents to be distinguished from ones that cannot be
reproduced. A typical display of such a title list is
shown in Figs. 56(a) to 56(c).
[0621]
As shown in Figs. 56 (a) to 56(c), for example, a
title list 710 appearing on the display apparatus 210
employed in the content reproduction apparatus 20 shows
albums A and B of titles (or song names) A to E of
musical contents sung by artist A. On the title list 710,
titles A and C are each the title information of a
content that can be reproduced. On the other hand,
titles B, D and E are each the title information of a
content that cannot be reproduced.
[0622]
To put it concretely, in the typical title list
710 shown in Fig. 56(a), titles A and C of the
reproducible contents are each displayed in either of a
color and a level of luminance, which are different from
respectively the color and level of luminance for titles
B, D and E of the irrepreducible contents. To be more
specific, titles A and C of the reproducible contents
are displayed in an area 712 with either of a color and
a level of luminance, which are different from
respectively the color and level of luminance for an
area 714 in which titles B, D and E of the
irreproducible contents are displayed so that the user
is capable of distinguishing the reproducible contents
from the irreproducible contents. In addition, in
accordance with the display, each of the albums contains
reproducible contents mixed with irreproducible contents.
Thus, the user is capable of distinguishing reproducible
contents in an album from irreproducible contents of the
same album.
[0623]
In another typical title list 710 shown in Fig.
56(b), each of titles A and C of the reproducible
contents has a musical-notation mark serving as a
reproducible icon 716. On the other hand, each of titles
B, D and E of the irreproducible contents has an X mark
serving as an irreproducible icon 718. By adding icons
with different colors, different shapes, different
patterns and/or different sizes to the titles of
contents as described above, the user is capable of
distinguishing reproducible contents from irreproducible
contents.
In addition, in a further typical title list 710
shown in Fig. 56 (c), titles A and C of the reproducible
contents are displayed in an area segment different from
that for titles B, D and E of the irreproducible
contents. To be more specific, titles A and C of the
reproducible contents are displayed in a reproduction-OK
area segment 720 while titles B, D and E of the
irreproducible contents are displayed in a nonreproducible
area segment 722 separated from the
reproduction-OK area segment 720. Thus, the user is
capable of distinguishing the reproducible contents from
the irreproducible contents. In addition, in accordance
with the typical title lists, reproducible contents and
irreproducible contents are displayed collectively on a
screen. Thus, the user is capable of distinguishing
reproducible contents stored in the content reproduction
apparatus 20 from irreproducible contents stored in the
same content reproduction apparatus 20 at a glance.
[0624]
Let us refer back to the flowchart shown in Fig.
55. At a step S666, the user selects contents to be
reproduced among contents that can be reproduced. At the
step S666, the user is capable of viewing a title list
displayed on the display apparatus 210 and selecting one
or more contents to be reproduced among those on the
title list. Then, the user specifies the title
information of the contents to be reproduced by
operating the input apparatus 208. As described above,
the title list is displayed as a list allowing
reproducible contents to be distinguished from ones that
cannot be reproduced as shown in Figs. 56 (a) to 56 (c).
Thus, the user is capable of selecting contents to be
reproduced among contents that can be reproduced.
[0625]
Then, at the next step S668, the user enters a
command to reproduce the selected contents. To put it
concretely, after the user specifies the title
information of the contents to be reproduced as
described above, at the step S668, the user presses a
reproduction key of the input apparatus 208 or a
reproduction key of the remote controller 218 in order
to enter a command to start the reproduction. Then, the
content select section 252 selects a content indicated
by each title information specified by the user as a
content to be reproduced and supplies information on the
content to the reproducibility determination section 242,
The information on each content to be reproduced
includes the content ID and storage location of the
content.
[0626]
Then, at the next step S670, a content indicated
by a title specified by the user as a first content to
be reproduced is read out from the content database 234.
To put it concretely, at the step S670, the
reproducibility determination section 242 searches the
content database 234 for a file on the basis of
information, which is input from the content select
section 252 as the information on the content to be
reproduced, as the file of the first content to be
reproduced. The reproducibility determination section
242 then reads out the file found in the search process
from the content database 234. Subsequently, a command
is supplied to the reproduction execution section 244 as
a request for reproduction of the content without the
need to produce a result of determination as to whether
or not the content is a content that can be reproduced.
This is because the contents selected at the step S666
are always contents that can be reproduced. Thus, it is
not necessary to again produce a result of determination
as to whether or not the content is a content that can
be reproduced.
[0627]
Then, the flow of the reproduction control
processing goes on to the next step S672. At the step
S672, the reproduction execution section 244 reproduces
the content selected as a content to be reproduced.
[0628]
Subsequently, the flow of the reproduction control
processing goes on to the next step S674. At the step
S674, all contents selected as the contents to be
reproduced are examined to produce a result of
determination as to whether of not all the contents have
been reproduced. If a selected content remains to be
reproduced, the flow of the reproduction control
processing goes on to a step S676. At the step S676, a
next content to be reproduced is read out from the
content database 234 and, later on, at the step S672,
the content is reproduced. As the result of the
determination indicates that all the contents selected
at the step S666 have been reproduced, the flow of the
reproduction control processing is terminated.
[0629]
The above description explains a method adopted in
a content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) provided by the
embodiment as a method to control reproduction of
contents in the content reproduction apparatus 20. In
the processing to control reproduction of contents in
the content reproduction apparatus 20, the reproduction
control method adopted by the content reproduction
apparatus 20 is examined to produce a result of
determination as to whether the reproduction control
method is the group management method or the checkin/
check-out method. Then, the reproduction of a content
is controlled in accordance with the reproduction
control method indicated by the result of the
determination. Thus, the content reproduction apparatus
20 is capable of selectively executing either one of the
two types of reproduction control method, i. e., the
group management method or the check-in/check-out method.
As a result, since it is possible to not only enhance
the convenience provided to the user, but also eliminate
the need to develop and design different models of the
content reproduction apparatus 20 (PD) for the
reproduction control methods, the efficiency of the
development work can be improved while the cost of the
work can be reduced.
[0630]
In addition, the content reproduction apparatus 20
(PD) is compatible with the copyright management schemes
based on not only the conventional check-in/check-out
method, but also the group management method for
controlling reproduction of a content on the basis of a
source ID added to the content and on the basis of a
source-ID list L. Thus, the degree of freedom enjoyed by
the user to utilize contents is raised and it becomes
possible to keep up with a user-friendlier copyright
management scheme. -
[0631]
An application for managing a copyright management
scheme varying from region to region may be installed in
the content-processing apparatus 10 (PC). In this case,
by merely setting method identification information such
as the flag 232 for each copyright management scheme (or
each reproduction control method) properly in the
content reproduction apparatus 20, it is possible to
control reproduction of a content transferred from the
content-processing apparatus 10 including the
application installed therein.
[0632]
Furthermore, the content reproduction apparatus 20
is capable of displaying a title list of contents stored
therein as a list allowing reproducible contents to be
distinguished from ones that cannot be reproduced. Thus,
the user is capable of knowing both the reproducible
contents and the irreproducible ones and selecting some
desired contents as contents to be reproduced from the
reproducible ones by viewing the title list.
[0633]
A preferred embodiment of the present invention
has been explained by referring to diagrams. It is
needless to say, however, that the scope of the present
invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment. It
is obvious that a person skilled in the art is capable
of devising a variety of changes and improvements for
the preferred embodiment within domains described in
claims of this specification. Therefore, it is to be
understood that such changes and improvements of course
fall within the technological range of the present
invention.
[0634]
For example, in the embodiment, the contentprocessing
apparatus 10 (PC) generates a group ID on the
basis of a leaf ID received from the servers 30 as user
identification information. However, the scope of the
present invention is not limited to such a typical
implementation. For example, the servers 30 may also
generate a group ID for each user. In this case, at a
time to register a content-processing apparatus 10, the
group management server 32 transmits the group ID to the
content-processing apparatus 10 instead of transmitting
a leaf ID. Then, the content-processing apparatus 10
registers the group ID on the source-ID list L. In
addition, the content distribution server 34 may
transmit a distributed content to the content-processing
apparatus 10 by associating a group ID with the content
instead of associating a leaf ID with the content. At
that time, the content distribution server 34 may
include the group ID to the file of the distributed
content in advance and transmit the file to the contentprocessing
apparatus 10.
Industrial Applicability
[0635]
This present invention can be applied to a content
reproduction apparatus, a content reproduction control
method and a program, which are used in a system
adopting a plurality of copyright management methods.