JP2002207736A - Community system of digital contents - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique allowing users to mutually share digital contents such as art, culture or the like possessed by the users through an information communication network such as the Internet or the like. SOLUTION: A server for managing and operating this community system has a user authentication function for managing and authenticating users gathered to the community system, a contents registration function for registering the address information for the digital contents possessed by the users, and a contents retrieval function for retrieving the digital contents with registered address information. The client terminal of the user comprises a retrieval request function for requesting the retrieval of desired digital contents to the server, a receiving function for receiving the desired digital contents on the basis of the retrieval result, and an automatic storage function for automatically storing the received contents data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technology for sharing digital contents, such as art and culture, owned by users between users via an information communication network such as the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of information communication networks such as the Internet and the spread of electronic devices such as personal computers, characters, music, and images have been digitized and distributed on networks. Conventionally, for example, audio data has been considered to be incompatible with digital content on a network because of its large data capacity. However, with the advent of high-quality data compression technology such as MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer III), many Of users can easily enjoy digital contents.

[0003] In addition, a user who has been a viewer in the past,
Photos, paintings, novels, songs, computer programs,
It is becoming more and more common that users digitize their works and post them on personal homepages, and the users themselves become the artists.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a situation where personal sites are scattered, both precious homepages and digital contents posted on the homepages are vast without being noticed by people. There is a problem of being buried between networks. Also, it is very difficult to find a useful site for each person from many sites.

[0005] On the other hand, communities are also formed on information communication networks that are becoming more sophisticated and expanding.
People with the same hobbies and tastes, such as music, movies, literature, etc., can use electronic bulletin boards (Electronic Bulletin Board System;
Through the "BBS" for short).

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above-described situation, and allows digital contents such as art and culture held by users to be transmitted between users via an information communication network such as the Internet. The purpose is to provide a technology that can be shared by.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a community for sharing digital contents such as art and culture held by users between users via an information communication network. A server for managing and operating the community system, a user authentication function for managing and authenticating users gathering in the community system, and a content registration for registering location information of digital content held by the user. And a content search function for searching for the digital content in which the location information has been registered in response to the request of the user, wherein the user terminal of the user is capable of searching for the digital content desired by the server. A search request function that requests a search and a search A receiving function of receiving digital content desired you are, and having an automatically storing automatic storage function the received content data.

[0008] Here, "digital content"
For example, a digital representation of a creative expression of thought and emotion, such as a novel, music, art, movie, or computer program, refers to the "information" itself that is stored, processed, and transmitted.

[0009] "Digital content held by the user" includes: (1) a copyrighted work owned by the user himself; (2) a copyright-free copyrighted work; and (3) permission of the copyright holder. One of the copyrighted works. "Copyright-free" means that the work is not subject to copyright protection or that the copyright is not exercised.For example, a work that meets certain requirements, such as a work whose protection period has expired. Say. For example, in the case of using music on a CD (Compact Disk), the “permission of the copyright owner” means, in addition to the copyright of the music (songs and lyrics), the performer (demonstrator) and the CD creator ( Includes the adjacency rights of record producers). As an example, when posting music data of a CD on a homepage, it is necessary to give permission to each right holder regarding actions such as accumulation in a server, transmission in response to a request, reproduction of music data, and transmission to the public.

[0010] Further, "transmission of digital content" is so-called "interactive distribution", which is a usage format intended for a user to play digital content on a user's device (client terminal) online. A certain “stream format” and a “download format” intended for a user to save digital content on a user device (client terminal) and play the content offline are included.

[0011] Also, "manage community system
The "server to be operated" is not limited to a mainframe, an office computer, a workstation, a personal computer, etc., as long as it fulfills the function of managing and operating the community system which is the intended purpose of the present invention.

[0012] "User's client terminal"
Is, through an information communication network, the "server"
And personal computers, information appliances, and PDAs (Personal Digit) as long as they can be connected to "the location of the digital content held by the user" and fulfill the intended purpose of the present invention.
al Assistants) and mobile phones.

[0013] The "location of the digital content held by the user" is, for example, a personal homepage, a commercial site, an academic site, etc. of the user, for commercial purposes,
Not for non-profit purposes.

Here, the "profit" homepage and site are defined as information fees (considerations associated with reception, etc., which are usually required to be paid when using interactive distribution) and revenues such as advertising fees (direct from interactive distribution). Refers to homepages and sites that have revenues other than the amount of information, such as advertising fees and sponsorship fees.

The "information communication network" is, for example, a communication network such as the Internet. The "server" and "client terminal" are, for example, a subscriber telephone network, a mobile communication network, a CATV distribution network, and a dedicated line. ISP (Internet Service Provide) from wired / wireless networks such as
r) Connect to the information and communication network via, for example,

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a music community system will be described as an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an overall image of a community system according to the present embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing functions of the components shown in FIG.

This community system includes a client terminal group 1-4 of a user who is a user, a management server 10 for managing and operating the community system,
It is composed of web servers 22 to 23 that are locations of digital contents owned by users. The client terminals 1 to 3 such as personal computers are connected via a subscriber telephone network 7, and the client terminal 4 which is a mobile phone is connected via a mobile communication network 6 via an ISP (Internet Service Provide).
r) It is connected to the Internet 5 via 8a.
The management server 10 is connected to the Internet 5 from a router (path control device) via the ISP 8b, and is connected to a web server 21 via a LAN (Local Area Network) 12. The web server 21 is used as a space for a user who does not have a personal home page or site. Web server 22-23 with user's personal homepage
Are connected to the Internet 5 via the ISPs 8, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal 1 registers the location information of its own digital contents with the server 10 and requests the server 10 to search for the desired digital contents. Function 14
A function 15 for receiving content data at the location 22 of the digital content based on the search result and automatically storing the received content data, and a data file 13 for storing the received digital content.
And

The server 10 for managing and operating the community system includes a user authentication function 30 for managing and authenticating users who gather in the community system, a member file 31 for the user authentication function 30, and a digital file held by the user.
Content registration function 3 for registering content location information
3 and a content search function 34 for searching for digital contents for which the location information has been registered in response to the user's request, and a database 35 for registering and managing the location information. This database 3
Reference numeral 5 includes a title file for storing the title of the music, a performer file 37 for registering information on the performer of the music, and an address file 38 for storing a URL (Uniform Resource Locators) indicating the location of the music. Further, the web server 21 connected to the management server 10 via the LAN 12 has a function 41 for registering the actual content of the music registered from the user terminal 1 via the management server 10 in the content database 44, It has a function 42 of transmitting music requested via the management server 10 to the terminal 1.

The web server 22 from which the digital content held by the user is located has a content database 54, a registration function 51, and a transmission function 52, similarly to the web server 21.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the management server 10 in more detail. Data such as a user authentication request from the user terminal 1 is input to the input control means 14 of the management server 10. The user authentication request data includes, for example, a user ID, a password, and an expiration date. The control program 13 that has received the authentication request data collates each item of the data with the data in the member file 31.

After the user is authenticated, a search request is received from the user terminal 1 and the title file 36 and the performer file 37 are stored based on the information such as the title and the performer included in the request data. A search is performed, and an address (URL) where the searched music is located is acquired from the address file 38 and returned to the terminal 1. afterwards,
The content (song) is directly sent to the terminal 1 from the homepage where the song selected by the user is located at the terminal 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the user authentication function 30 in the management server 10. The user accesses the user authentication screen of the management server 10 from the terminal 1 via the Internet 5 (Step 01). On the user authentication screen, enter the user ID
(Member number), password, expiration date, etc.
These data are collated with the data registered in the member file 31 (Step 02). As a result, if they do not match, an error message is displayed on the user terminal 1 (Step 0).
5) If it is to be re-entered, the screen shifts to the user authentication screen again (Step 06); otherwise, the process is terminated (Step 0).
7).

If authentication is performed in Step 02, next,
Access the data registration function (Step 08). If there is data (songs) to be registered, the process shifts to the data registration function (Step 04). If there is no data to register, the process shifts to the data search function.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the data registration function in the management server 10. Users (members) gathering in this community system
Asks the management server 10 to register the URLs of the homepages and sites 22 and 23 that post digital contents such as music pieces owned by the user. For users who do not have their own homepage, the web server 21
Is provided, and a home page for posting digital contents such as music pieces owned by the user is established on the web server 21.

As a registration procedure, it is first checked whether the user has established a homepage for registration (Step 11), and if not, data for homepage registration (name, address, telephone number). , E-mail address, etc.) (Step 12), and based on the information, creates a space on the web server 21 attached to the management server 10 for setting up a home page for the user (Step 13). The URL is stored in the management server 10
Is registered in the address file 38 (Step 15).

On the other hand, a user who has already set up his / her home page is requested to input the URL of the home page (Step 18), and inputs the URL to the management server 10.
Is registered in the address file 38 (Step 15).

Next, a title of the registered data (song) is input (Step 16), and a search is made as to whether the input title already exists in the title file 36 in the management server 10 (Step 17). If the duplicate music has already been registered, an error message indicating that "data has been registered" is displayed on the terminal 1 (Step 21). If the duplicate music is not registered, the data of the performer or the creator is input (Step 18), and these data are stored in the title file 3 in the management server 10.
6 and the performer file 37 (Step 19). Then, the information of the title of the music, the performer, etc., and the actual content of the music are registered in the web server (Step 20). If there is no other music to be registered (Step 22), the process proceeds to the next search function (Step 28). If there is another song to be registered, the process returns to Step 16 again to start from the input of the title.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing procedure of the data search function in the management server 10. This data search function is a function for searching for the location of a music piece held and registered by another user, and having the searched music piece be distributed from the location where the music piece is located.

First, a title of a music or a search key such as a performer or a creator is inputted from the terminal 1 (Step 31). If a title is input as a search key (Step 32), the title file 36 is searched based on the input title, and if there is no corresponding data, re-execution of the search is confirmed (Step 38). If there is such data, the information of the music is extracted from the title file 36, the performer file 37, and the address file 38 and displayed on the terminal 1 (Step 34). Further, the process shifts to a homepage browsing request (Step 39), and instructs the web server (any one of 21 to 23) on which the corresponding music is posted to transmit the music on the homepage to terminal 1. (Step4
0). Then, the actual content such as music is transmitted from the web server (any one of 21 to 23) to the terminal 1 (Step 41). If you want to continue searching,
Return to Step31.

On the other hand, if the performer, creator, etc. are entered as search keys in Step 31 (Step 35), the performer file 37 is searched based on the entered performer, creator, etc. If there is data to be played, the information of the music is extracted from the title file 36, the performer file 37, and the address file 38 and displayed on the terminal 1 (Step 1).
37). Furthermore, it shifts to a homepage browsing request (Step
39).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the installation processing of the automatic storage program in the terminal 1 of the user.

First, the management server 10 is accessed (St
ep51), and input data for member registration (Step 52). The management server 10 registers these pieces of information in the member file 31 (Step 53), and registers the user ID (member number).
A password, an expiration date, etc. are issued and displayed on the terminal 1 on the confirmation screen (Step 54). The user checks the information from the terminal 1 (Step 55), and if there is an error, returns to Step 53 and inputs again.

When the input information is confirmed, next, a file name and a storage folder name are designated to create a storage file for automatically storing the received content (Step 56).

After setting the storage file (Step 57), the process proceeds to the installation processing of the automatic storage program. (Step
58). First, the storage location of the automatic storage program is set (Step 59), and the automatic storage program is downloaded from the program file 39 of the management server 10 (Step 6).
0). This automatic storage program has a function of automatically storing the received content such as music in the file set in Step 56 previously.

Thus, the installation of the automatic storage program is completed (Step 61), and the terminal 1 is restarted (Step 6).
2).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of request processing using the automatic storage program in the user terminal 1.

First, the management server 10 is accessed (St
ep71), input data for member authentication, user ID (member number), password, expiration date, etc. (Step 7)
2). The management server 10 checks the information against the information registered in the member file 31 (Step 73), and if the authentication is not successful, re-enter the information.

If the authentication is successful, it is next checked whether or not to register the data (Step 74). If the registration is to be performed, the process proceeds to the data registration function (Step 76), and the predetermined registration processing described above is performed. (Step77). If the data registration is not performed, the process proceeds to the data search function (Step 78), the content such as music is received based on the search result (Step 79), the title of the received content is input (Step 80), and the data is stored in a predetermined storage location. (Step 81) and restart (Step 82).

As described above, after the content on the homepage searched and browsed is received and before the next content is received, the content is stored in the storage location in the terminal 1. The content can be used any number of times.

The present invention has been described in detail above.
It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment, and various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0043]

According to the present invention, the user's scattered home pages and the digital contents such as art and culture posted on those home pages can be cross-searched.・
Content can be shared between users via an information communication network.

Also, as a result of the search, the digital
The content is automatically stored in the user's terminal, so that the content is easy to use and can be used many times later.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a community system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the community system shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an image diagram showing a functional configuration of a management server in the community system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a business flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure of processing of a user authentication function in a management server.

FIG. 5 is a business flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a data registration function in the management server.

FIG. 6 is a business flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a data search function in the management server.

FIG. 7 is a business flowchart showing an installation procedure of an automatic storage program in a user terminal.

FIG. 8 is a business flowchart showing a procedure of a data search process using an automatic storage program in a user terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-4 User terminal 5. Internet 6. Mobile communication network 7. Subscribed telephone network 8a-8b ISP 10. Management server 11. .. Router 12. LAN 21. Web server 22-23 Web server

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) G10K 15/02 G10K 15/02 H04N 7/16 H04N 7/16 Z 7/173 610 7/173 610Z

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claims 1. A community system for sharing digital contents, such as art and culture, owned by users between users via an information communication network, wherein a server that manages and operates the community system is: A user authentication function for managing and authenticating users gathering in the community system, a content registration function for registering location information of digital content held by the user, and registering the location information in response to a request from the user A content search function for searching for digital content that has been completed, wherein the client terminal of the user has a search request function for requesting the server to search for the desired digital content, and a search function based on a search result. Digital
A community system having a receiving function of receiving content and an automatic storage function of automatically storing received content data. 2. The server according to claim 1, wherein the server has a function of providing a space for holding the digital content to a user who does not have a space for holding the digital content of the server. Community system. 3. In the content registration function, title information of digital content, information of its creator / actor, and a URL where the content is located are registered, and in the search function, the title information or the creator is registered. 3. The community system according to claim 1, wherein a search is performed using information on the performer as a key.