JP2002288449A - Method and system for information distribution, server unit, and client equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a contrivance which downloads contents, which have been temporarily erased, disappeared, or been lost on the client device side, again by a price reasonable for the client side in an information distribution method constituted of a server unit and client equipment connected via a network. SOLUTION: A server unit 1 carries out distribution of requested contents on condition of charging in response to a download request from a client equipment 2. The server unit 1 and/or the client equipment 2 holds a record of purchase of downloaded contents. The client equipment 2 refers to records of purchase to issue a request for download of contents held in records of purchase as a re-download request. When receiving the re-download request, the server unit refers to and checks records of purchase, and the server unit carries out download free of charge or with reduced price when the re-download request is a request for download of contents held in records of purchase.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a system for recording contents downloaded via a network, for example, on a fixed storage device such as a hard disk device or a removable recording medium such as an optical disk. Regarding downloading content again.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Systems for distributing contents via a network, such as music download using a personal computer connected to the Internet, are increasing. Here, in this specification, the content refers to a video, an audio, a character text, a program, and the like that can be recorded on a recording medium (recording medium), and an information signal, data of the program, and the like are referred to as a content body.

[0003] Currently, the above-described content distribution is generally performed from a server device to a client device on a condition of billing.
A server device and a client device are arranged on a network.

[0004] The server device is provided with a content to be distributed (content body) and a program for downloading the content and charging for the download request from the client device. The client device includes a recording device for storing the distributed content, and a program for requesting the server device to download and managing the downloaded content.
In this case, the recording device includes a semiconductor memory.

[0005] In general, in content distribution, the idea is not to charge for the content itself but to charge for each download of the content. Pay each time.

[0006]

By the way, in the above system, for example, when the client device is a personal computer, a content recording medium (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer).
As the recording medium, a hard disk device is generally used.

At present, the capacity of the hard disk drive is being expanded, but in any case, the recording capacity is limited. As described above, since the recording capacity of the recording medium prepared in the client device is limited, when the free space is exhausted, when a new content is to be downloaded, the previously downloaded content is erased to make a free space. Need to be

However, at this time, if the previously downloaded content is to be reproduced again, a download request is made to the server again to have the content distributed. You have to pay for the re-download once. In this state, as long as the memory capacity is large, a fee is charged for the download of the content that does not need to be re-downloaded, which imposes an economic burden on the user.

In the above-described conventional distribution system, since the management and maintenance of the distributed contents are the responsibility of the client, if the trouble occurs in the storage device of the client and the contents are lost. Even so, it was necessary to pay the content once paid again and download it again.

In view of the above points, the present invention enables a client device to temporarily delete, or to re-download a lost or lost content at an appropriate price for the client. The purpose is to.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information distribution method, wherein a server device for distributing contents and a client device are connected via a network. The server device,
In a method for executing a requested content distribution in response to a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting, the server device holds a record of purchase of the downloaded content for each client device. In response to the download request from the client device, the server device,
Referring to the record of the purchase for the client device requesting the download, if the download request is for the content held as the record of the purchase, download without charge or download with the discount charge is executed. And

In the first aspect of the present invention,
When a content download request is received from a client device, the server device refers to a record of purchase related to the content downloaded for the client device, and determines whether a download request has been made for content that was previously paid and downloaded. It is determined whether or not the request is a second download request. If the request is a second download request, the download with no consideration or the download with the discount consideration is executed.

Therefore, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the client device side deletes the main body of the content obtained by downloading the content by paying the price, or the malfunction of the recording medium in which the main body of the content has been recorded. In the case where the content itself cannot be reproduced, for example, the user can receive the re-download service without compensation or with discount.

Therefore, the user can reacquire the lost or lost content at a favorable price.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information distribution method, wherein a server device for distributing contents and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device is connected to the client device on a condition of accounting. A method for performing a distribution of requested content in response to a download request from a client device, wherein the client device retains a record of purchase related to the downloaded content, and the client device retains a record of the purchase in the record of purchase. The content download request is sent to the server device as a re-download request, and the server device executes a download without a fee or a download with a discount fee for the re-download request. And

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the client device keeps a record of the purchase concerning the content downloaded to the client device, and the content remaining in the record of the purchase disappears, In the case of loss, a re-download request is sent to the server device. When the download request from the client device is a redownload request, the server device downloads the requested content without consideration or at a discount price.

Therefore, the user can reacquire the lost or lost content at a favorable price.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the server device holds a record of purchase of the downloaded content for each client device, and the server device transmits the purchase content from the client device. In response to a re-download request, the purchase record is referred to the client device that has requested the download, and whether or not the record is kept as the record of the purchase is checked. It is characterized in that the download is performed at a price.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the purchase record is referred to not only on the client side but also on the server side, it is possible to confirm whether the redownload request from the client device is correct. it can.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the client device according to any one of the first, second, and third aspects, when the downloaded content is reproduced, the client device terminates the reproduction after the reproduction is completed. It is characterized in that the deleted content is automatically deleted.

In the case of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the downloaded content is deleted when it is reproduced, so that it does not exist on the client device side. But,
Since the content is in the record of purchase, as described above, the content can be re-downloaded from the server device without a fee or with a discount fee.

Therefore, according to the structure of the information distribution method according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, especially when re-downloading is free of charge, economical burden is not imposed and re-downloading can be performed whenever necessary. Since the content can be downloaded and played back, the client does not need to record the content of the downloaded content on the client device side, and the recording medium for the content itself has a small capacity. This is effective.

Also, when viewed from the server device side, there is only one main body of the content on one client device side, and it is possible to avoid a state in which a plurality of the same content exists as in the case of copying. It is possible to prevent illegal duplication from occurring.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a server device for distributing content and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device requests download from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the method for executing distribution of requested content, the server device includes identification information of a downloaded client device, identification information of the downloaded content, and information indicating whether the downloaded content itself exists on the client side. The client device, when the downloaded content body is erased, the client device identification information, the erased content identification information, and that the content body has been erased Information To the server device, and the server device having received the notification indicates that the content main body has information indicating whether or not the content main body exists on the client side for the corresponding content of the corresponding client device in the download database. No, and when there is a download request from the client device, the server device refers to the download database and indicates whether or not the content itself is present on the client side for the requested content. However, when the content body does not exist, re-downloading with no consideration or re-downloading with discount consideration is executed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the server device determines the identification information of the content downloaded under the condition of charging, the identification information of the client device that downloaded the content, and the presence or absence of the downloaded content body on the client side. The information shown is held as a download database.

When the downloaded content is deleted by the client device, the client device determines that the identification information of the deleted content, the identification information of the client device, and the fact that the content itself has been deleted. To the server device.

[0027] Upon receiving the above information, the server rewrites the download database and changes the information indicating the existence of the content body on the client side to the state indicating that the content body does not exist for the erased content. I do.

Then, when a download request is received from the client device, the server device refers to the download database and determines whether or not the content body of the requested content exists on the client side. Check whether it is in the state not to do. Then, when the content main body does not exist, the server device re-downloads the requested main body of the content with no consideration or with a discount consideration.

Thus, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention,
The user can regain the lost or lost content at a favorable price. In this case, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the content requested to be re-downloaded does not exist on the client device side, a plurality of the same contents are free for one client device. Or they won't be downloaded cheaply, and it's fair for business.

That is, even when viewed from the server device side, the body of the content existing on one client device side is one, and a state in which a plurality of the same content exist as in the case of copying is avoided. It is possible to prevent illegal duplication from occurring.

[0031]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
This will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is an example in which the content downloaded from the server device is video / audio content such as a movie, and the client device is a video recording / reproducing device, and the downloaded content is Of the distribution information recording management device that records and manages the main body information on a recording medium (recording medium).

In the case of this embodiment, the recording media used in the video recording / reproducing device as the client device include a recording medium that cannot be attached to and detached from the device (hereinafter, referred to as a fixed recording medium), And a removable recording medium (hereinafter referred to as a removable recording medium). As an example of the fixed recording medium, a hard disk drive that reads and writes by a hard disk device, which is an example of a built-in recording device built in the video recording / reproducing device, is used. As an example of the removable recording medium, in this example, an optical disk drive is used. For reading and writing, for example, an optical disk such as a DVD-RAM is used.

[Configuration of Information Distribution System] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an information distribution system, in which a video server 1 as an example of a server device and a video recording / reproducing device 2 as an example of a client device. , And a charging server 4 is connected to the network 3. Other server devices and other video recording / reproducing devices are also connected to the network 3, but are omitted here.

The video server 1 has a large-capacity storage device 11
And the communication interface circuit 12 and the control unit 10 are mutually connected by a bus 13. The network 3 is connected to the communication interface circuit 12, and communicates with an external device. The control unit 10 is configured by a microcomputer.

A memory 14 is connected to the control unit 10. Further, a clock circuit 15 is connected to the control unit 10 and is used when referring to a date or time.

The storage device 11 stores, for example, MPEG (Mo
wing Picture Experts Grou
p) A plurality of video / audio content bodies that have been compression-encoded in two systems are stored. Memory 14
A list of a plurality of contents whose contents are recorded in the storage device 11 (hereinafter, a list of downloadable contents prepared on the server side is referred to as a server content list) is recorded in a database form. I have.

The memory 14 stores, in the form of a database, records of contents downloaded by each device (download content list) for each client device such as the video recording / reproducing device 2. In this specification, this database will be referred to as a download database. Further, as will be described later in detail, information of the missing content (a missing content list) is recorded in the memory 14.

As will be described later, in response to a request from the video recording / reproducing device 2 as a client device, the control unit 10 sends information of a server content list, downloads the content itself, or downloads the content itself to the download database. There is a program for adding, changing, and deleting.

On the other hand, a television monitor 5 is connected to the video recording / reproducing device 2. In addition, the remote control transmitter 6
Is used when the user performs some operation input using the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. Video recording and playback device 2
Can perform the same operation input as that of the remote control transmitter 6 by using a key operation unit (not shown). However, in this example, for the sake of simplicity, the operation input by the user 6 will be described.

The video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 shown in FIG.
In this example, the content body (in this example, the video / audio information signal) downloaded from the video server 1 is recorded on a hard disk or an optical disk in a compressed MPEG2 bit stream state. Information about the recorded content is stored in a database memory and managed.

The video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 displays the library data (content list data) stored in the database memory on the television monitor screen, so that the user can select the content to be reproduced and viewed. Then, the main body of the selected content is read from an optical disk or a hard disk, decoded into a video / audio signal by an MPEG2 decoder, and reproduced by a television monitor. Hereinafter, FIG. 1 will be described in detail.

The video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 includes a network 3
The communication interface circuit 21 connected to the
MP for decoding G2 bit stream into video / audio signal
An EG2 decoding unit 22, a hard disk device 23 for recording an MPEG2 bit stream, and an optical disk drive 24 are provided.

The video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 has a control unit 20 for controlling the entire system. This control unit 20
Is configured with a microcomputer, and includes a database memory 26 for storing a database of downloaded contents and the like, a remote control receiving unit 27, an ID memory 28, and a clock circuit 29,
It is provided connected to the control unit 20. Clock circuit 29
Is used when the control unit 20 refers to the date and time.

The video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 includes a data bus for interconnecting a communication interface circuit 21, an MPEG2 decoding unit 22, a hard disk device 23, an optical disk drive 24, and a control unit 20, and transmitting an MPEG2 bit stream and the like. A system bus 25 is provided.

The hard disk device 23 reads and writes data from and to a hard disk as an example of a fixed recording medium under the control of the control unit 20. The optical disc drive 24 records and reproduces data on and from the optical disc 7 as an example of a removable recording medium under the control of the control unit 20.

The database memory 26 stores a record of a content list downloaded by the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 (hereinafter, this client-side content list is referred to as a client content list) as a database (hereinafter, this database is referred to as a content database). ). In the memory 26, information on the lost content (a missing content list) sent from the video server 1 is recorded.

In the ID memory 28, the “device identification number” added without duplication for each device (video recording / reproducing device)
And the "country identifier" that indicates the country where the device is located,
In addition, a "user password" for user authentication is recorded in a state of high reliability and very difficult to falsify.

Further, the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 has an OSD for generating a video signal for a user interface.
(On Screen Display) unit 30 and M
A video switcher 31 for switching and mixing video and audio signals from two places, that is, a PEG2 decoding unit 22, an OSD unit 30, and an output terminal 32 are provided. MP
The decoded video / audio data from the EG2 decoding unit 22 is supplied to the video switcher 31 via the bus 25.

The control section 20 controls the OSD section 30 to generate a video signal for displaying the contents of the database stored in the memory 26 and a video signal for a user interface. Further, the control unit 20 supplies a control signal to the video switcher 35 through the bus 25.

In the configuration example of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 shown in FIG. 1, a hard disk is used as a fixed storage medium and an optical disk is used as a removable storage medium. However, the combination is not indispensable. Any combination including the above is possible.

The billing server 4 includes a billing database that stores a correspondence table between a content ID and a billing amount, and a billing method for knowing a billing method from a device identification number in order to know the download price for each content. A database is used, and by using these databases, payment for payment of the content is settled. In the payment method database, for example, a payment by a credit card, a payment by a bank account, a payment by cash transfer, etc., which are predetermined between the user of the client device of each device identification number and the operating company of the video server 1 in advance. , The settlement method is registered.

Next, the operation of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 having the above configuration will be described step by step.

[Display of List of Downloadable Contents] The operation for displaying a list of downloadable contents on the screen of the television monitor 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 2 mainly shows processing of the control unit 20 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2, and FIG. 3 mainly shows processing of the control unit 10 of the video server 1.

When the user uses the remote control transmitter 6 to instruct the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 to display a list of downloadable contents, the control unit 20 receiving the signal from the remote control light receiving unit 27 It instructs the communication interface circuit 21 via the bus 25 to transmit a server content list request to the video server 1. Communication interface circuit 21 receiving this command
Identifies the video server 1 via the network 3 and requests to send list information of downloadable contents (step S1).

The signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. The communication interface circuit 12 informs the control unit 10 of the arrival of the signal. Thereby, the control unit 10
Recognizes that a server content list transmission request signal issued from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 has been received (step S11), reads out the server content list information recorded in the memory 14 (step S12), and 13 to the communication interface circuit 12 via
Further, it instructs the communication interface circuit 12 to transmit the data to the video recording / reproducing device 2 (step S13).

The information of the server contents list sent from the video server 1 is received by the communication interface circuit 21 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. The communication interface circuit 21 notifies the control unit 20 of the arrival of the content-list information.

In response to this, the control unit 20 recognizes the arrival of the server content list information (step S2), and transmits the server content list information to the communication interface circuit 21.
And sorts and extracts the information according to the content of the information (content name, classification, etc.) and inputs the information to the OSD unit 30.
The input information is converted into a video signal by the OSD unit 30, mixed with the output of the MPEG2 decoding unit 22 by the video switcher 31, and output from the output terminal 32 (step S3).

Then, the list of downloadable contents, that is, the contents of the server contents list is displayed on the screen of the television monitor 5, so that the user can confirm the contents of the server contents list information. it can.

[Contents of Server Content List Information] FIG.
Shows an example of server content list information. In the server content list information, first, the number of contents registered in the server content list information is recorded, and thereafter, information for each content is recorded by the number of contents. Here, a group of information corresponding to one content is referred to as a “record” of the content.

The "content name" in the content record is a character string for the user to identify each content, and is displayed when the above-mentioned content list is displayed.

The "content ID" is identification information for the system to identify each content, and describes a given number or symbol without duplication for each content.

The “genre” indicates the content of the content by a character string or a genre number. Here, the genre indicates a classification based on the content of musicals, actions, comedies, and the like.

The “rating” indicates a level determined from the content of the content in consideration of the influence on children and the like. FIG. 5 shows the US MPAA (Motion P
icture Association of Ame
The rating established by Rica) is shown as an example.

"Time" is a value obtained by measuring the length of the content in time. “Size” is a value obtained by measuring the size of each content in kilobytes.

"Production company" is a character string indicating the name of the company that produced the content. "Director" is a string representing the name of the director who produced the content, "Screenplay"
The character string representing the name of the writer of the content, "actor list" is a list of character strings representing actors who appeared in the content.

The “Release Source” is a character string representing the name of the organization (or individual) that places the content on the video server 1 and charges for the download.
“Download fee” indicates the amount charged as a fee for downloading the content. In this example, the price per content is described,
It is also possible to describe a discount price or the like of several pieces.

The "downloadable country list" indicates a list of countries where the content can be downloaded.
Movie companies change the release date of movies in each country. In order to make this practice possible in this system, the countries where the content can be downloaded at that time are listed in the database of the server content list. The corresponding content cannot be downloaded to the video recording / reproducing device 2 having a country identifier indicating a country not listed in the “downloadable country list”.

If the server content list request from the video recording / reproducing device 2 as a client device includes the device identification information of the video recording / reproducing device 2 and the country identifier, the video server 1 A list of contents which cannot be downloaded in the country indicated by the country identifier may not be sent to the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2.

When the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 displays a list of downloadable contents, the country identifier stored in the ID memory 28 and the video server 1
Is compared with the list of downloadable countries in the record of each content in the list information sent from the
When the content that cannot be downloaded in the country indicated by the country identifier stored in 8 is included, the corresponding content may not be displayed in the server content list.

At the time of actual download, the video server 1 requests the video server 1 to download the video recording / reproducing device 2
Of course, the country identifier may be checked each time to determine whether the download is possible and control whether the download is executable.

[Download of Selected Content] From the server content list displayed as described above, a content is selected, downloaded, and recorded in the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 according to the operation shown in FIGS. This will be described with reference to a flowchart. 6 to 9 are flowcharts showing the flow of the processing operation in the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 at this time, and FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing operation in the video server 1 at this time. It mainly describes the operation of the control unit 20 and the control unit 10.

First, the list of downloadable contents, that is, the server contents list, is displayed on the screen of the television monitor 5 as described above (step S).
21). Next, on this server content list display screen, control unit 20 determines whether or not a user has issued a display condition change instruction from remote control transmitter 6 and whether or not has received a display condition change instruction from remote control reception unit 27. (Step S22).

If it is determined in step S22 that a display condition change instruction has been issued, the control unit 20 changes the sort and extraction of the database according to the instruction (step S2).
3). Then, the control unit 20 causes the OSD unit 30 to convert the change result into a video signal and finally display the video signal on the television monitor 5. That is, the screen returns to the server content list display screen (step S21).

The display conditions here include sorting by content name, extraction of a content name including a specific keyword, extraction of content in which a specific actor is included in an actor list, and the like. This operation is performed by, for example, a predetermined OS (Operating System) of the personal computer.
This is the same as the sort condition change in the list display of the file operation program in em).

If it is determined in step S22 that there is no instruction to change the display condition, the process proceeds to step S24 in which it is determined whether or not the user has instructed selection of the content to be downloaded from the server content list.

The user performs a content selection operation by using the remote control transmitter 6 while looking at the server content list displayed on the screen of the television monitor 5, for example, moving a cursor on the server content list. If the control unit 20 determines in step S24 that the selection operation has been performed, it is determined that one of the selected contents is being selected, for example, by reverse display or highlight display. (Step S2)
5). Subsequent to the step S25 of changing the identification display of the currently selected content, the process returns to the server content list display screen of step S21.

If it is determined in step S24 that there is no content selection instruction, it is determined whether or not a determination instruction has been given by the user through the remote controller transmitter 6 (step S26), and it is determined that no determination instruction has been given. In some cases, it is determined whether an end instruction has been issued (step S30). When it is determined that an end instruction has been given, this processing routine is ended, and when it is determined that there is no end instruction, the screen returns to the server content list display screen of step S21.

If it is determined in step S26 that the determination instruction has been issued, the control unit 20 reads out a country identifier indicating the country where the video recording / reproducing apparatus is installed from the ID memory 28, and reads the corresponding content from the server content list. The downloadable country list is read out from the record for, and whether or not download is possible is determined based on whether or not the installation country is included in the list (step S27).

If the installation country is not included in the “list of downloadable countries”, a message indicating that the corresponding content selected by the user cannot be downloaded is displayed (step S28). Is canceled (step S29). Then, the process returns to the server content list display step of step S21, and the above-described content selection processing is repeated.

As a result of the determination in step S27, if the installation country is included in the "list of downloadable countries", control unit 20 determines that download is possible, reads "download price" from the record of the corresponding content, and sets O
The cost generated for the download by the SD unit 30 is converted into a video signal and displayed on the television monitor 5 (step S31 in FIG. 7) to prompt the user to make a decision.

Then, the system waits for the user to input an instruction through the remote control transmitter 6 (step S32), and determines whether or not the answer is affirmative for the payment of the consideration (step S3).
3). When it is determined that the answer is negative, the process proceeds to step S29, and the control unit 20 cancels the selection of the corresponding content.

If the user makes a positive reply to the payment of the consideration through the remote control transmitter 6, the control unit 20 executes the content purchase process from step S34.

[Content Purchase] The content purchase process starts with user authentication, that is, confirming whether the user using the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 has the right to use this device. That is, first, the control unit 20 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 sends a message prompting the user to input a password in the OSD.
It is generated by the unit 30 and displayed on the television monitor 5 (step S34).

Then, the control unit 20 waits for the user to input the personal identification number through the remote control transmitter 6 (step S35), and confirms the input of the personal identification number.
Is compared with the input personal identification number and the user personal identification number recorded in the ID memory 28 to determine whether they match (step S36).

If the passwords do not match, a message indicating that user authentication has failed is displayed on the screen of the television monitor 5 by using the OSD unit 30 (step S37), and thereafter, the process proceeds to step S29. Proceed,
The control unit 20 cancels the selection of the content.

On the other hand, if the two passwords match and the user is authenticated, the actual work of purchasing the content is started. That is, the control unit 20 of the video recording / reproducing device 2 reads the device identification number of the own device from the ID memory 28 (Step S38), and further reads the content ID from the record of the corresponding content in the server content list information (Step S38). Step S39). Then, the device identification number and the content ID are incorporated in the purchase request message to generate a content purchase request, that is, a download request, and instruct the communication interface circuit 21 to transmit the request to the video server 1. (Step S4
0).

The communication interface circuit 21 having received the command from the control unit 20 identifies the video server 1 via the network 3 and transmits a content purchase request (download request).

The download request signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 as described above is transmitted to the video server 1
At the communication interface circuit 12. Since the communication interface circuit 12 informs the control unit 10 of the arrival of the signal, the control unit 10 confirms the reception of the content purchase request (download request) from the video recording / reproducing device 2 (step S71 in FIG. 10).

The control unit 10 confirming the reception of the content purchase request reads the purchase request message from the communication interface circuit 12, extracts the device identification number and the content ID from the purchase request message (step S72), and (Step S7)
3). At this time, the control unit 10 enters the date of the day obtained from the clock circuit 15 as a “purchase date”.

In this example, as described above, the memory 14
Stores a download database as a record of all the content downloaded by each device for each client device such as the video recording / reproducing device 2. The device identification number, the content ID, and the purchase date are added to the record corresponding to No. 2.

Specifically, the “device identification number” sent from the video recording / reproducing device 2 in the download database
Is increased by one, and a record for a new content is inserted. Then, the “content ID” sent from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 and the date of the day obtained by the control unit 10 from the clock circuit 15 are entered as “purchase date”.

FIG. 11 shows the memory 1 of the video server 1.
4 shows an example of the structure of a download database stored in the download database 4. That is, in the download database, the number of devices of all client devices registered in the download database is recorded, and subsequently, information (record) for each client device indicated by each device identification number is recorded by the number of devices. Have been.

The record for each device first records the device identification number of the device and the number of contents downloaded to the device. After that, information for each content is recorded for the number of contents.

When a new content purchase request (download request) is received, the number of contents of the device identification number included in the request message increases from N to N + 1, and a new N + 1-th content record is added.
Then, in step S73, as described above, FIG.
Of the content record shown in FIG.
D "and its" purchase date "are recorded.

In this case, the record of the “content ID” of each client device indicated by each device identification number included in the download database of the memory 14 and the record of “purchase date” constitute a record of billing.

After step S73, the video server 1
The control unit 10 transmits the device identification number and the content ID to the charging server 4 via the network 3 (step S74). The billing server 4 reads the download price of the content from the billing database using the content ID as a searcher, and reads the device identification number from the settlement method database as a searcher.
The user of the client device having the device identification number knows how to pay the download price. Then, the billing server 4 executes settlement of payment for the corresponding content by using these pieces of information.

On the other hand, in the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2, the control unit 20 outputs information indicating that the corresponding content has been purchased, the date (purchase date) of the day acquired from the clock circuit 29, and the name of the purchase server that sent the purchase request. (Here, video server 1
And the attribute information of the content included in the server content list information acquired from the video server 1 described above is stored in the memory 26 (step S41 in FIG. 8).

In this example, since the record of the content that has already been downloaded is recorded in the memory 26 in the form of a database (content database), it is added to the content database.
The content database will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

Here, in the content database of the memory 26, as shown in FIG. 12, the “purchase date” and “purchase server name” are added together with the “content ID”.
Recorded as download information. In response to the download request (content purchase request), the billing server 4 executes the billing process as described above, so that this download information corresponds to the record of the purchase of the content on the client side.

By the processing described above, both the video server 1 and the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 store the record of purchase including the record of charging for the content.

Note that the user authentication method shown in the above-described example is an example, and it goes without saying that the present invention does not depend on the user authentication method. In the following description,
A description of mutual authentication and communication encryption between the video server 1 and the video recording / reproducing device 2 is omitted, but it goes without saying that even if these operations are included, no essential difference occurs. The same applies to systems for transactions and acknowledgment signals for covering communication failures.

[Downloading of Content Main Body and Storage in Client Device] Next, a process of downloading the content main body and storing the content main body in the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 which is the client device as a later stage of the content purchase will be described. .

When the above-described step S74 for billing processing ends, the control unit 10 of the video server 1 sends the content main body corresponding to the content ID for which the purchase request has been received to the storage device 11 by the communication interface circuit. 12 (step S7 in FIG. 10).
5). Further, for the communication interface circuit 12,
It instructs the video recording / reproducing device 2 indicated by the device identification number to transmit the content body input from the storage device 11 (step S76).

The communication interface circuit 12 that has received this command identifies the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 via the network 3 and transmits the input content body.
The storage device 11 keeps outputting until the end of the designated content main body, and the communication interface circuit 12 transmits all of the input content main body.

As described above, the content main body sent from the video server 1 is received by the communication interface circuit 21 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. Since the communication interface circuit 21 informs the control unit 20 of the arrival of the content body, the control unit 20 recognizes the arrival of the content body (step S42 in FIG. 8), and the storage location of the content body specified by the user is: It is determined whether it is a hard disk or an optical disk (step S43).

The case where it is determined in step S43 that the data is to be stored in the hard disk will be described first.

The control unit 20 instructs the communication interface circuit 21 to send the received content body to the hard disk device 23 via the bus 25 (step S44). Further, the control unit 20 instructs the hard disk device 23 to record the input content main body (step S45).

Therefore, the communication interface circuit 2
1 sends the received content body to the hard disk device 23 via the bus 25, and the hard disk device 23 records the input content body.

At the same time, the control section 20 instructs the OSD section 30 to generate a signal indicating that recording is in progress (step S4).
6). The video signal for the user interface generated in the OSD unit 30 is output from the output terminal 32 via the video switcher 31, and the user can confirm on the screen of the television monitor 5 that the recording operation is being performed.

When the communication interface circuit 21 detects the end of the transmitted content, it notifies the control unit 20 of the end, and the control unit 20 recognizes the end of the content (step S47). Then, the control unit 20
It instructs the hard disk drive 23 to end the recording after all the content main body has been recorded (step S48). Further, the control unit 20 instructs the OSD unit 30 to stop generating the video signal indicating “recording” (step S49).

At the same time, the control unit 20 extracts information such as the attribute of the recorded content from the server content list information, and uses the logical format (for example, FAT (File Allocati)
on Table) 32), and instruct to record in the hard disk drive 23 (step S5).
0). At this time, the content is "content identifier"
Is added. Later, when accessing the corresponding content, this “content identification name” is used.

Then, the control unit 20 determines the location information of the record of the corresponding content in the content database of the memory 26 as “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID”, and “content identification name”. Is recorded (step S51).

In this case, the “content body flag” is
This information indicates whether or not the content body exists on the client device side. "1" is recorded when the content body exists, and "0" is recorded when the content body does not exist. Here, "1" indicating presence is recorded.

The “recording medium type” is information indicating whether the recording medium (recording medium) in which the content is stored is a hard disk or an optical disk. In this case, it is set to “01”. here,
Since it is a hard disk, “00” is recorded.

The “recording media ID” is an identifier of each of the hard disk device 23 and the optical disk. Here, the identifier of the hard disk device 23 is recorded.

The “content identification name” is an identification name for accessing the content on the recording medium.

As described above, the control unit 20, which has written the necessary items in the content database, finally sets the content main body flag, the recording medium type (here, "00") of the recording medium on which the content is recorded, and ,
The recording medium ID (the identifier of the hard disk device 23 in this case) and the identification name of the content on the recording medium are transmitted to the video server 1 together with the device identification number read from the ID memory 28 and the content ID of the content. A command is issued to the communication interface 21 to cause the communication to be performed (step S52).

The signal transmitted from the video recording device 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. The communication interface circuit 12 informs the control unit 10 of the arrival of this signal, so that the control unit 10 recognizes the arrival of the signal from the client device (step S77 in FIG. 10).

Then, the control unit 10 transmits the “content main body flag”, the “recording medium type” transmitted from the video recording device 2 from the communication interface circuit 12,
The “recording medium ID” and the “content identification name” are read out, and the “content body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID”, and “content identification name” are recorded in the memory 14. It is described in the record of the corresponding content of the corresponding client device in the downloaded download database (step S78).

[Recording of Content Body → Optical Disk 7]
Next, the case where it is determined in step S43 that the data is to be stored on the optical disk 7 will be described first. In this case, the user specifies the optical disk drive 24 as a recording destination (storage location of recording data) using the remote control transmitter 6 in advance. Although this operation is performed by a user interface using the OSD 30, a detailed description is omitted. In this embodiment, when the recording destination is not specified by the user, the hard disk drive 2 is set as a default value.
3 is specified.

The control unit 20 instructs the communication interface circuit 21 to send the received content body to the optical disk drive 24 via the bus 25 (step S61). Further, the control unit 20 instructs the optical disc drive 24 to record the input content body (step S62).

Therefore, the communication interface circuit 2
1 sends the received content body to the optical disk drive 24 via the bus 25, and the optical disk drive 24 records the input content body on the optical disk 7.

At the same time, the control unit 20 instructs the OSD unit 30 to generate a signal indicating that recording is in progress (step S6).
3). The video signal for the user interface generated in the OSD unit 30 is output from the output terminal 32 via the video switcher 31, and the user can confirm on the screen of the television monitor 5 that the recording operation is being performed.

When the communication interface circuit 21 detects the end of the transmitted content, the communication interface circuit 21 notifies the control unit 20 of the detection, and the control unit 20 recognizes the end of the content (step S64). Then, the control unit 20
It instructs the optical disc drive 24 to end the recording after all the content main body has been recorded (step S65). Further, the control unit 20 instructs the OSD unit 30 to stop generating the video signal indicating "during recording" (step S66).

At the same time, the control unit 20 extracts information such as the attribute of the recorded content from the server content list information, and uses the logical format (for example, UDF (Universal Dis
k Format) + RTR), and instruct to record on the optical disc 7 (step S67). At this time, a “content identification name” is added to the content. Later, if you access that content,
This “content identification name” is used.

The control unit 20 determines the location information of the record of the corresponding content in the content database of the memory 26 as “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID”, and “content identification name”. Is recorded (step S68).

In this case, the “content main body flag”, which is information indicating whether or not the content main body exists on the client device side, is set to “1” when indicating the existence. “Recording media type” is set to “01” indicating an optical disk.
As the “recording media ID”, an identifier of each optical disc is recorded. In the “content identifier”, an identifier for accessing the content on the optical disk 7 as a recording medium is recorded.

As described above, the control unit 20 that has written the necessary items in the content database finally sets the content main body flag and the recording medium type (here, “01”) of the recording medium on which the content is recorded. ,
A recording media ID (here, an identifier of an optical disc);
The identifier of the content on the recording medium is
The communication interface 21 is instructed to transmit the video ID to the video server 1 together with the device identification number read from the D memory 28 and the content ID of the corresponding content (step S69).

Also in this case, in the video server 1, the signal sent from the video recording device 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12. Communication interface circuit 1
2 informs the control unit 10 of the arrival of this signal, so that the control unit 10 recognizes the arrival of the signal from the client device (step S77 in FIG. 10).

Then, the control unit 10 transmits the “content main body flag”, the “recording medium type” transmitted from the video recording
The “recording medium ID” and the “content identification name” are read out, and the “content body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID”, and “content identification name” are recorded in the memory 14. It is described in the record of the corresponding content of the corresponding client device in the downloaded download database (step S78).

[Description of Download Database in Memory 14] FIG. 11 shows an example of a download database for each client device recorded in the memory 14 of the video server 1.

As described above, in the download database, first, the number of client devices held by the video server 1 is recorded, and thereafter, information for each client device is recorded by the number of client devices. I have.

In the information area for each client device, first, a "device identification number" is recorded. The “device identification number” is, for example, I in the case of the video recording / reproducing device 2.
This is a unique number recorded in the D memory 28 for identifying the client device.

Next, the number of contents downloaded by the client device so far is recorded, and thereafter, information for each content is recorded by the number of contents.

The record information for each content includes “content ID”, “purchase date”, “content body flag”, “recording medium type”, and “recording medium I”.
D "and" content identification name ".

The “content ID” is an identifier for identifying the corresponding content by the system, and describes an identifier added without duplication for each content. This is the same as the “content ID” recorded in the record for each content in the server content list information.

"Purchase date" indicates the date when the download was performed.

As described above, the “content body flag” indicates whether or not the content body (MPEG2 bit stream in this example) is stored in the client device side, here, the video recording / reproducing device side, and exists. Indicates It has a value of “1” when stored on the client device side, and has a value of “0” when erased.

The “recording medium type”, the “recording medium ID”, and the “content identifier” are respectively the type and identifier of the recording medium in which the corresponding content is downloaded and stored, and the corresponding type on the recording medium. Describe the name of the content.

As described above, the “content ID” and the “purchase date” of each content record in the download database are stored in the memory 14 by the control unit 10 when a download request is issued from the client device. This is written (see step S73 in FIG. 10) and serves as a record of purchase of the content to be downloaded on the condition of billing.

As described above, the other record information records what is sent to the video server 1 after the content itself downloaded to the recording medium is recorded by the client device.

[Description of Content Database in Memory 26] Next, an example of a content database recorded in the memory 26 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is shown in FIG.

In the content database, first, the number of contents registered in the content database is recorded, and thereafter, information for each content is recorded by the number of contents. Here, a group of information corresponding to one content is called a “record”.

Information for each content is roughly divided into three parts.
That is, it is classified into location information (location information), download information, and content attributes.

The location information is “content body flag”
, “Recording medium type”, and “recording medium ID”
And four fields of “content identifier”.

The "content body flag" is exactly the same as that of the video server 1 described above, and the content body (in this example, an MPEG2 bit stream) is stored in the client device, here the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 side. Indicates whether it has been done. It has a value of “1” when stored in the client device, and has a value of “0” when erased.

"Recording medium type" is a field indicating the type of recording medium. In this example, when the value of this field is “00”, it indicates that the recording medium is a built-in hard disk device, and when the value is “01”,
Indicates that the recording medium is an optical disk.

The “recording medium ID” specifies the recording medium on which the content is recorded, and describes an identifier (ID) assigned without duplication for each recording medium. For the purpose of copyright protection, it is assumed that the optical disc 7 is given an ID that does not overlap the disc, and the ID is used. When a unique ID for the purpose of copyright protection cannot be diverted, a unique ID can be set exclusively for this database. Regarding the hard disk device 23, since the idea of specifying a recording medium is not general for a hard disk, a unique ID is set for this database. Details of ID setting without duplication are omitted.

[0149] "Content identification name" is information for specifying a content on the recording medium. This is a name that is added when the content is stored on the hard disk or the optical disk 7 and has no duplication on the corresponding recording medium.

By using a combination of a “recording medium ID” added without duplication for each recording medium and a “content identification name” added without duplication for each content in the recording medium, Content and the content on the recording medium can be in one-to-one correspondence.

The download information is “content ID”
, "Purchase date" and "purchase server name".

[0152] The "purchase date" records the date when the download was performed. The “purchase server name” describes the name of the download source server. Each is used to confirm when there is a problem.

The content attribute is a copy of a record corresponding to the content in the server content list information described with reference to FIG.

[Various Processing for Downloaded Content] In the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2, the content is downloaded from the video server 1 as described above, and the content main body is stored in the hard disk or the optical disk 7, and the content database is stored in the memory 26. Play, temporarily erase, re-download,
Various processing such as movement of the content body between the hard disk and the optical disk can be performed.

All of these various processes are executed when the user selects one content from the client content list screen and specifies the process for the content. FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 subsequent to FIG. 13 are flowcharts for explaining the operation, and mainly describe the operation of the control unit 20. Hereinafter, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

[Selection of Various Processes from Content List Screen] Upon receiving the user's list display instruction through the remote control transmitter 6, the control unit 20 starts the processing routines of FIGS. First, the control unit 20 reads the content database from the memory 26 (step S81), creates display information of a client content list based on a preset or default display condition, and sends it to the OSD unit 30. Then, the client content list screen is displayed on the screen of the television monitor 5 (step S82).

That is, the control unit 20 sorts and extracts using the content attribute information (content name, genre, director, actor, or type of recorded recording media, etc.) included in the content database.
Input to the SD unit 30. The input information is converted into a video signal by the OSD 30,
The output is mixed with the output of the PEG2 decoding unit 22 and output from the output terminal 32, and the user checks the content of the content database on the screen of the television monitor 5.

[0158] The client content list display screen also displays the location where the main body of each content is recorded, that is, whether it is the built-in hard disk device 23 or the optical disk 7 as information.

The user uses the remote control transmitter 6 to change display conditions and select content while viewing the client content list displayed on the screen of the television monitor 5. The control unit 20 monitors the signal from the remote control receiving unit 27 and determines whether or not the user has performed a content selection operation (step S83).

When it is determined in step S83 that the content selection operation has not been performed, the control unit 83 determines whether or not a display condition change instruction has been issued by the user from the remote control transmitter 6 by transmitting a signal from the remote control reception unit 27. It is determined by monitoring (step S84).

If it is determined in step S84 that a display condition change instruction has been issued, the process returns to step S82, where the control unit 2
0: sort the content database according to the instruction,
Modify the extraction. The result is converted into a video signal by the OSD unit 30 and finally provided to the user by the television monitor 5. The display conditions here include sorting by content name, extraction of a content name including a specific keyword, extraction of content in which a specific actor is included in an actor list, and the like. This operation is performed by, for example, a predetermined OS (Operating Sy) of a personal computer.
This is the same as the change of the sort condition in the list display of the file operation program in step (stem).

When it is determined in step S84 that the display condition change instruction has not been issued, the control unit 20 monitors the signal from the remote control reception unit 27 to determine whether or not the user has issued an end instruction from the remote control transmitter 6. (Step S85). When it is determined that the end instruction has been issued, the supply of the client content list display data to the OSD unit 30 is stopped, and the display of the client content list is stopped (step S8).
6), the reproduction processing routine ends.

If it is determined in step S85 that the end instruction has not been issued, the flow returns to the content selection step of step S83.

In step S83, when it is determined that one content has been selected by the user, the control unit 20 displays the selected content, for example, in a reverse display or a highlight display, so that the selected content is being selected. Is identified and displayed (step S8).
7).

Next, it is determined whether or not a decision instruction has been given by the user through the remote controller transmitter 6 (step S88). Accept.

If it is determined in step S88 that a determination instruction has been issued, the control unit 20 determines whether or not a reproduction process has been instructed by the user (step S91 in FIG. 14), and determines that a reproduction processing instruction has been issued. If so, a reproduction processing routine, which will be described in detail later, is executed (step S92).

When it is determined in step S91 that no reproduction instruction has been issued, control unit 20 determines whether a check-out instruction has been issued by the user (step S93). When it is determined that a check-out instruction has been issued, A checkout processing routine is executed (step S94). The definition of checkout and the checkout process in this specification will be described later in detail.

When it is determined in step S93 that no check-out instruction has been given, control unit 20 determines whether a check-in instruction has been given by the user (step S95). Then, a check-in processing routine is executed (step S96). The definition of check-in and the check-in process in this specification will be described later in detail.

When control unit 20 determines in step S95 that no check-in instruction has been given,
It is determined whether or not the user has instructed a temporary erasure of the content main body (step S97). If it is determined that the temporary erasure instruction has been issued, a temporary erasure processing routine for the content main body is executed (step S98). The temporary erasure processing of the content body will be described later in detail. This temporary erasure instruction is different from the permanent erasure instruction.

When it is determined in step S97 that an instruction to temporarily delete the content body has not been issued, control unit 20 determines whether or not a re-download instruction has been issued by the user (step S99). When it is determined, a re-downloading processing routine is executed (step S100). The re-download process will be described later in detail.

Further, when it is determined in step S99 that no re-download instruction has been issued, control unit 20 determines whether or not a cancel instruction has been issued (step S101). Return to If it is determined that no cancel instruction is issued, the process returns to step S91, and it is determined which process is being performed as described above.

Next, a reproduction processing routine in step S92, a check-out processing routine in step S94, a check-in processing routine in step S96, and step S96
98 contents body erasure processing routine, step S
Each of the 100 re-download processing routines will be described with reference to flowcharts.

[Reproduction Processing Routine (FIGS. 15 and 16)]
When it is determined in step S91 that the reproduction processing instruction has been issued, the control unit 20 searches the content database in the memory 26 for a record for the selected content (step S111). Next, it is determined whether or not the selected content has been temporarily deleted (step S112). When it is determined that the file has been temporarily deleted, the control unit 20 supplies the OSD unit 30 with display information of a message asking the user whether or not to download again, and displays the above inquiry message on the screen of the television monitor 5. (Step S113).

Next, in response to this inquiry, control unit 20 determines whether the user has made a positive or negative response using remote control transmitter 6 (step S114). When it is determined that the answer is affirmative, the process proceeds to the re-downloading process routine of step S100 in FIG. When it is determined that a negative response to the redownload has been returned from the user, the process returns to step S83 in FIG. 13 so that another content can be selected.

If it is determined in step S112 that the body of the selected content has not been temporarily deleted,
Referring to the “recording medium type” of the location information of the content, the content itself is recorded on the hard disk (“recording medium type” = “00”) or recorded on the optical disk (“recording medium type”). "=
"01") is determined (step S115).

First, the reproducing operation when the “recording medium type” of the content selected for reproduction is “00”, that is, the main body of the selected content is recorded on the built-in hard disk will be described.

The control unit 20 specifies the internal hard disk drive from the “recording media ID” of the content database (step S116). This processing is performed only as a confirmation operation when there is only one internal hard disk device. If the client device has a plurality of internal hard disk devices, the hard disk device in which the main body of the target content is recorded is specified from the plurality of hard disk devices. Here, it is assumed that the main body of the corresponding content has been recorded on the hard disk device 23.

The control unit 20 reads information on the logical format (for example, FAT32) adopted by the hard disk from the hard disk device 23 (step S11).
7). Next, the control unit 20 searches for the “content identification name” of the corresponding content from the read information and confirms the information of the arrangement in the hard disk (step S11).
8) Instruct the hard disk device 23 to output the content itself (step S119).

Then, the control unit 20 instructs the bit stream of the corresponding content output from the hard disk device 23 to be input to the MPEG2 decoding unit 22 via the data bus 25 (step S120).
In response to the instruction, the MPEG2 decoding unit 14 decodes the MPEG2 bit stream read from the hard disk device 23 to decode the video / audio signal, and inputs the decoded signal to the video switcher 31 via the bus 25.

At this time, the control unit 20
Instruct the video switcher 31 to mix the output of the OSD unit 30 with the decoded video signal, while instructing the video switcher 31 to generate a signal indicating that the content is being reproduced and the name of the content being reproduced. Step S121).
Therefore, the video signal generated by the OSD unit 30 is mixed with the video signal from the MPEG2 decoding unit 22 by the video switcher 31, supplied to the television monitor 5 via the output terminal 32, and provided to the user.

Then, when the user presses the stop button on the remote control transmitter 6, it is determined in step S122,
An instruction to stop reading the content from the hard disk device 23 and an instruction to stop the generation of the "reproducing" signal from the OSD unit 30 are issued (step S123). Then, the decoding of the MPEG2 decoding unit 22 is stopped (step S124), and the above-described reproduction operation is terminated.

Next, FIG. 1 shows a case where the “recording medium type” of the content selected for reproduction is “01”, that is, the selected content is recorded on the optical disk.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The control unit 20 first checks whether an optical disk is loaded in the optical disk drive 24 (step S131). If no optical disk is loaded in the optical disk drive 24, the control unit 20 uses the OSD unit 30 to load “XXXX (recording media ID)”. Message on the TV monitor 5
(Step S143). Then, it waits for loading of the optical disk (step S144).

It is determined whether or not the input of the loss of the optical disk has been performed by the user through the remote control transmitter 6 without loading the optical disk (step S14).
5) When the input of the loss of the optical disk is performed, the process shifts to the processing routine for recovering the lost content of the optical disk described later (step S146).

If it is determined in step S131 that an optical disc has been loaded, or if it is determined in step S144 that
When it is determined that a new optical disk is loaded in step (b), the control unit 20 operates the optical disk drive 24 to obtain the recording medium ID of the loaded optical disk (step S132).

Then, it is determined whether or not the obtained recording medium ID is a desired numerical value, that is, the recording medium ID of the optical disk on which the content is recorded (step S133). If the acquired recording medium ID is not the desired numerical value, the control unit 20 operates the optical disc drive 50 to eject the currently loaded optical disc (step S142). And then
Proceeding to step S143 and subsequent steps, as described above,
Wait for loading a new optical disk.

In step S133, if the recording media ID of the loaded optical disk is equal to the recording media ID of the optical disk on which the content is recorded, the control unit 20 operates the optical disk drive 24 to The logical format (for example, UDF (Universal D)
The information of (isc Format) + RTR) is read (step S134). Then, the control unit 20 determines the “content identification name” of the corresponding content from the read information.
Is searched for, and information on the arrangement in the optical disk is confirmed (step S135), and the optical disk drive 24 is instructed to output the corresponding content from the optical disk (step S136).

Then, the control section 20 controls the bit stream of the corresponding content output from the optical disk drive 24 to be input to the MPEG2 decoding section 22 via the bus 25 (step S137). MPE
The G2 decoding unit 22 decodes the MPEG2 bit stream read from the optical disc 7 to decode the video / audio signal, and the video switcher 3 through the bus 25.
Enter 1

At the same time, the control unit 20 makes the OSD unit 30
In addition to instructing generation of a signal indicating “playing” and the name of the content being played back, the video switcher 31 is instructed to mix the output of the OSD section 30 with the demodulated video signal (step). S138). Therefore, the video signal generated by the OSD unit 30 is mixed with the video signal from the MPEG2 decoding unit 22 by the video switcher 31, supplied to the television monitor 5 via the output terminal 32, and provided to the user.

Then, when the user presses the stop button on the remote control transmitter 6, it is determined in step S139,
An instruction to stop reading the content from the optical disk 7 and an instruction to stop the generation of the "playing" signal from the OSD unit 30 are issued (step S14).
0). Then, the decoding of the MPEG2 decoding unit 22 is stopped (step S141), and the above-described reproduction operation is ended.

[Regarding Check-out and Check-in] In the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 described above,
As a recording medium, a hard disk device as a fixed recording medium and an optical disk as a detachable recording medium are managed by one content database.

Therefore, in the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 of this embodiment, the content can be moved between the fixed recording medium and the removable recording medium, and the whole is managed by the content database. I have.

Here, check-in and check-out will be described. Note that copying (duplication) is considered to duplicate contents and increase the number of records in the database by one, and is not particularly related to the present invention.

In this specification, “checkout” means
This refers to a process in which, of the contents registered in the database, the entity of the content whose entity is recorded in the internal hard disk device is moved to the optical disk, and the record in the database is changed accordingly.

In the database configuration and the control method of this embodiment, the content recorded on the hard disk device in the video recording / reproducing device 2 and the content recorded on the optical disk and placed outside are handled in the same line. ,
Considering the accessibility in the library, the built-in hard disk device is considered to be more advantageous because the access speed is faster because there is no need to load an optical disk or the like.

For this reason, the operation of writing out a certain content to the optical disk by the check-out means giving the accessibility in the library to the other content. In other words, by moving the content that the user wants to secure for viewing at a later date to the optical disk by the checkout process without dropping the function as a library by erasing the content, other content is recorded on the internal hard disk device. And increase the accessibility of the entire system.

In this embodiment, it is not assumed that one content is divided and recorded on a plurality of optical discs, and it is assumed that one content is always recorded on one optical disc. For this reason, if the capacity of the content is larger than the free space of the optical disc to be recorded in the checkout (and also in the case of the export described later), the content is recompressed and reduced so that the content can be transferred to the target optical disc. Be able to record.

On the other hand, the "check-in" means that, of the contents registered in the database, the contents whose contents are recorded on the optical disk are moved to the built-in hard disk drive, and the records in the database are also moved accordingly. Refers to the process of changing. In other words, the location where the content main body is recorded moves from the optical disk outside the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 to the internal hard disk device while being registered in the database. This check-in process shortens the time required to access the content, but occupies the hard disk of the internal hard disk device.

In this embodiment, as will be described later, the recording of the corresponding content is performed by check-out, check-in, or movement within the client device (movement between hard disks) such as a video recording / reproducing device. If the media is changed, or the recording media ID
Is changed, or when the "content identification name" is changed, the change result is transmitted to the server side (here, the video server 1), and the consistency between the client side content database and the server side download database. I try to keep.

[Check-out Operation] The "check-out" operation will be described with reference to FIG. 17 and FIG.

For example, the user knows that the remaining capacity of the hard disk device 23 is not enough in the user interface image created by the OSD unit 30 according to the instruction of the control unit 20 and displayed on the television monitor 5. Suppose you decide to "check out" the content. At this time, the user operates the remote control transmitter 6 to display the client content list on the television monitor 5 as described above prior to the check-out instruction.

As described above, in the client content list display, information indicating whether the recording medium on which the content is recorded is a built-in hard disk device or an optical disk is displayed as information. Therefore, the user selects and determines one of the contents recorded in the internal hard disk device as described above, and instructs "check out". The check-out instruction is performed using a button of the remote control transmitter 6, a menu of the user interface displayed on the television monitor 5, or the like.
Here, it is assumed that the optical disk drive 24 is loaded with an optical disk having a sufficient free space.

The control unit 20, which has received the check-out instruction input from the user, first searches the database in the memory 26 for a record for the content selected as the object of "check-out" (step S151).

The control unit 20 then proceeds to “Recording media I
The internal hard disk drive is specified from the information in the field "D" (step S152). This step S152
Is performed only as a confirmation operation when there is only one internal hard disk. When there are a plurality of internal hard disk devices, the hard disk device in which the target content is recorded is specified from the plurality of hard disk devices. Here, the hard disk device 23
It is assumed that the target content has been recorded in.

The control unit 20 reads information on the logical format (for example, FAT32) adopted by the hard disk from the hard disk device 23 (step S15).
3). The control unit 20 searches for the “content identification name” of the corresponding content from the read information, and checks the information of the arrangement in the hard disk device 23 (step S15).
4) Instruct the hard disk drive 23 to output the corresponding content (step S155). At the same time, the control unit 20 instructs the optical disc drive 24 to record the input data (step S15).
6).

The bit stream of the corresponding content output from the hard disk device 23 is input to the optical disk drive 24 via the bus 25. The optical disk drive 24 records the input bit stream on the optical disk 7.

At this time, the screen of the TV monitor 5
The OSD unit 30 is controlled by the control unit 20 to display "Checkout in progress" (step S157).

When the output of the corresponding content from the hard disk device 23 is completed, a signal notifying the control unit 20 is sent from the hard disk device 23. The control unit 20 thereby determines the end of the reading of the content from the hard disk device 23 (Step S).
158), and instruct the optical disk drive 24 to end recording after all bit streams have been recorded (step S161 in FIG. 18).

At the same time, the control unit 20 converts information such as the attribute of the recorded content according to the logical format (for example, UDF + RTR) adopted by the optical disc 3 and records the information on the optical disc 7 (step S162).
At this time, a content identification name is added to the recorded content.

[0210] It is considered that it is not particularly necessary to change the "content identification name" at the time of checkout. When there is a change, it is possible. When accessing the corresponding content later, this identification name is used.

Further, the control unit 20 changes the following four fields related to the recording medium among the fields of the record for the corresponding content in the database in the memory 26 as follows (step S163).

That is, the “content body flag” is
It is set to “1” indicating the existence of the content. The “recording medium type” is “01” representing an optical disk. The “recording medium ID” is an “optical disk identifier”. Also,
The “content identifier” is an “identifier representing the corresponding content”.

[0213] Then, the control unit 20 sets the "content main body flag" recorded in the content database, the "recording media type" (here, "01") of the recording medium on which the corresponding content is recorded, and the "recording media ID" (here, Is the recording medium ID of the optical disk 7) and the “content identification name” of the corresponding content on the recording medium.
Together with the “device identification number” read from the ID memory 28 and the “content ID” of the corresponding content to the communication interface circuit 21 and
(Step S164).

Finally, the control unit 20 deletes the corresponding content recorded on the hard disk device 23 (Step S165). Thereby, the hard disk device 2
3 free space is available.

[0215] The signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. The communication interface circuit 12 informs the control unit 10 of the arrival of the signal. The control unit 10 that recognizes the arrival of the signal transmits the “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording media ID”, and “content identification name” transmitted from the video recording / reproducing device 2 from the communication interface circuit 12. These “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID”, and “content identification name” are described in the record of the corresponding content of the corresponding client device in the download database recorded in the readout and memory 14. .

[Check-in Operation] Next, the "check-in" operation will be described with reference to FIG. 19 and FIG.

When the user wants to transfer the contents checked out on the optical disk 7 to the hard disk, the user gives an instruction for this check-in.
At this time, the user operates the remote control transmitter 6 to display the client content list on the television monitor 5 as described above prior to the check-out instruction.

As described above, in the client content list display, whether the recording medium on which the content is recorded is a built-in hard disk device or an optical disk is displayed as information. Then, the user selects one of the contents recorded on the optical disk 7 and instructs “check-in”.

The check-in instruction is sent to the remote controller
Button or a menu of the user interface displayed on the television monitor 5, etc., but the details thereof and reconfirmation of the intention of the user are omitted here. In this example, it is assumed that the hard disk of the internal hard disk device 23 has a sufficient free space.

The control unit 20, which has received the check-in instruction input from the user, first performs the "check-in"
A record for the content selected as the target is searched from the content database in the memory 26 (step S171). And the optical disk drive 2
Then, it is confirmed whether an optical disk is loaded in No. 4 (step S172). When an optical disk is not loaded in the optical disk drive 24, the control unit 20
Using the SD unit 30, "XXXX (recording media I
D) "Please load." Is displayed on the television monitor 5 (step S176).
It waits for loading of the optical disk (step S177).

If it is determined in step S172 that an optical disk has been loaded, or if it is determined in step S177
If it is determined that a new optical disk is loaded in step (S173), the control unit 20 operates the optical disk drive 24 to obtain the recording medium ID of the loaded optical disk (step S173). And the obtained recording media ID
Is a desired numerical value, that is, whether or not this is the recording medium ID of the optical disk on which the corresponding content is recorded (step S174). Acquired recording media ID
However, if the value is not the desired value, the control unit 20 operates the optical disk drive 24 to eject the currently loaded optical disk (step S175). And
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S176 and thereafter, and as described above,
Wait for loading a new optical disk.

If the recording medium ID of the loaded optical disk is equal to the recording medium ID of the optical disk on which the content is recorded in step S174, the control unit 20 operates the optical disk drive 24 to The information of the logical format (for example, UDF + RTR) adopted by the optical disc is read (step S181 in FIG. 20).

Next, the control unit 20 searches for the “content identification name” of the corresponding content from the read information on the logical format of the optical disc, confirms the arrangement information in the optical disc (step S182), Then, the output of the corresponding content is instructed (step S183). At the same time, the control unit 20 instructs the hard disk device 23 to record the input data (step S184).

As a result, the bit stream of the content output from the optical disk drive 24 is input to the hard disk device 23 via the bus 25.
The hard disk device 23 records the input bit stream. At this time, the screen of the TV monitor 5
As the OSD unit 30 is controlled by the control unit 20, “Checking in” is displayed (Step S).
185).

When the output of the corresponding content from the optical disk drive 24 is completed, a signal notifying the control unit 20 is sent from the optical disk drive 24. The control unit 20 thereby determines the end of the reading of the content from the optical disc drive 24 (Step S
186) An instruction is given to end the recording after all the bit streams have been recorded on the hard disk device 23 (step S187).

At the same time, the control unit 20 converts the information such as the attribute of the recorded content according to the logical format (for example, FAT32) adopted by the hard disk device 23 and records it on the hard disk device 23 (step S188). At this time, a content identification name is added to the content. It is not considered necessary to change the “content identification name” at the time of check-in. However, when a different name is used due to, for example, duplication of the content name already recorded on the hard disk drive 23, etc. Changes are possible. When accessing the content later, the content identification name is used.

Next, the control unit 20 changes the following four fields related to the recording medium among the fields of the record for the corresponding content in the content database in the memory 26 as follows (step S189). ).

That is, the “content main body flag” is set to “1” indicating the existence of the content. The “recording medium type” is “00” representing the hard disk device. “Recording medium ID” is “identifier of hard disk drive 23 (recording medium ID)”. Further, the “content identification name” is an “identifier representing the corresponding content”.

[0229] Then, the control unit 20 sets the "content main body flag" recorded in the content database, the "recording media type" (here "00") of the recording medium on which the corresponding content is recorded, and the "recording media ID" (here Is the recording media ID of the hard disk device 23)
And the “content identification name” of the content on the recording medium, the “device identification number” read from the ID memory 28, and the “content I” of the content.
D ”, and instruct the interface 21 to transmit to the video server 1 (step S190).

[0230] Finally, the control unit 20 deletes the corresponding content recorded on the optical disc (step S19).
1).

[0231] The signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. The communication interface circuit 12 informs the control unit 10 of the arrival of the signal. The control unit 10 that recognizes the arrival of the signal transmits the “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording media ID”, and “content identification name” transmitted from the video recording / reproducing device 2 from the communication interface circuit 12. These “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID” and “content identification name” are described in a record of the corresponding content of the corresponding client device in the download database recorded in the readout and memory 14. .

[Temporary Erasing and Re-Downloading of Content Body] In this embodiment, while securing the right to re-download with no consideration in the future or with discount consideration,
The main body of the content registered in the content database of the memory 26 can be temporarily erased.

In this embodiment, even if the content body of the downloaded content is temporarily deleted, the record of the purchase of the content is left on both the server side and the client device side.

When the client device needs the corresponding content again, it refers to the purchase record on the client device side, confirms that the content has been downloaded once by paying the price, and Request re-download to server side. In response to this re-download request, the server refers to the record of purchase on the server side, confirms that the content has been downloaded once, and then the client side re-downloads the temporarily erased content. When this is taken, re-downloading with no consideration or discount consideration is performed. In this embodiment, downloading without consideration is performed.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the re-downloading of the once downloaded content reduces the economical burden, so that the user of the client device can, for example, reduce the capacity of the hard disk by downloading new content. Therefore, when the content is not enough, it is possible to erase part of the content temporarily and secure the free space.

In order to realize this mechanism, in this embodiment, the recording of the content main body flag of each downloaded content is stored in a client database,
Here, the content database included in the memory 26 of the video recording device 2 and the database of the server, here, the download database included in the memory 14 of the video server 1 are always set to be equal.

That is, in this embodiment, when the state of existence of the content main body on the client device is changed due to erasing and re-downloading of the content main body, the database of the client and the database of the server are respectively changed. Things.

[0238] Recording media from which the content itself is to be erased include not only hard disks which are fixed recording media but also optical disks which are removable recording media. Is
The recording and re-downloading of the content body recorded on the hard disk shall be performed.

[Temporary Deletion of Content Body] The temporary erasing operation of the content body will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0240] The user operates the OSD of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2.
The unit 30 learns from the user interface image created on the instruction of the control unit 20 and displayed on the television monitor 5 that there is no room in the remaining capacity of the hard disk, and “temporarily deletes the main body of some contents. ".

In this case, the user operates the remote control transmitter 6 to display the client content list as described above. As described above, since the recorded location (internal hard disk or optical disk) is also displayed as information on this list screen, the user selects one of the contents recorded on the internal hard disk and selects “content main body”. Temporary deletion ”.

This temporary erasure instruction is performed by using a button of the remote control transmitter 6 or a menu as a user interface displayed on the television monitor 6 in the same manner as described above. The reconfirmation is omitted.

As described above, upon receiving the instruction to temporarily delete the main body of one content selected from the client content list, control unit 20 first searches the content database in memory 26 for a record for the selected content. (Step S201).

[0244] Next, the control unit 20 sets "Recording medium I
The recording medium is specified from the field "D" (step S202). In this case, the internal hard disk device is specified. If there is only one internal hard disk, it is performed as a simple check. When there are a plurality of internal hard disks, the hard disk device in which the target content is recorded is specified from the plurality of hard disk devices. Here, the hard disk device 23 is specified.

The control unit 20 changes the following four fields relating to the recording medium among the fields of the record of the corresponding content in the content database in the memory 26 as follows (step S).
203).

The "content body flag" is set to "0" indicating that no content body exists. The three fields of “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID”, and “content identification name” are “content body flag”
Is “0”, which is meaningless, but here, zero is recorded.

[0247] The "content main body flag" is set to "0",
By keeping a record with other download information and content attributes as they are, it is indicated that the corresponding content body has been deleted.

Then, the control section 20 determines in step S203
"Content body flag (=" 0 ")" changed in
The "recording medium type", "recording medium ID", and "content identification name" are instructed to the communication interface 21 together with the "device identification number" read from the ID memory 28 and the "content ID" of the corresponding content. Is transmitted to the video server 1 (step S20).
4). Since the “content body flag” is “0”,
Although the following three fields have no meaning, in this embodiment, the above four data are always transmitted as a set for simplification of the system.

[0249] Finally, the control unit 10 deletes the main body of the corresponding content recorded in the hard disk device 23 (step S205). As a result, the free space of the hard disk device 23 can have a margin.

The signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing device 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. The communication interface circuit 12 informs the control unit 10 of the arrival of the signal.

The control unit 10 of the video server 1 having received the “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID” and “content identification name” transmitted from the video recording / reproducing device 2 The received “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID”, and “content identification name” are described in the record of the corresponding content of the corresponding client device in the recorded download database.

Here, since the value of the “content body flag” is “0”, the body of the content is
It is possible to know that the data has been temporarily deleted on the client device.

In the above description, the content body flag for the deleted content sent from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 serves as information indicating that the content has been temporarily deleted by the client device. Instead of directly sending the content main body flag, specific information indicating that the content has been temporarily erased may be sent to the server device. In this case, when the server device receives specific information indicating that the content has been temporarily deleted, the content main body flag of the content in the download database is changed accordingly. .

[Content Re-Downloading] FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the operation of the client device at the time of content re-downloading. FIG. 23 shows a flowchart of the operation at the time of re-downloading the content on the server side.

In this case, the user of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 as a client device operates the remote control transmitter 6 to display a client content list as described above. On this client content list display screen, based on the "recording media type", the recording location, that is, information on whether it is an internal hard disk or an optical disk is displayed, and based on the "content main body flag" Information as to whether or not the content body is temporarily deleted is also displayed. Therefore, the user selects one of the contents whose main body has been temporarily erased, and instructs “re-download”.

The instruction for re-downloading is made by using a button of the remote control transmitter 6 or a menu of the user interface displayed on the television monitor 5, but the details and the re-confirmation of the user's intention are omitted here. I do. The hard disk of the built-in hard disk device 23 has a sufficient free space.

Here, under the control of the control unit 20, the content that can be selected as a re-download target is limited to the content that has been temporarily deleted. This is limited by the control algorithm of the control unit 20 as described later.

It should be noted that the user is not directly instructed to “re-download” but, as described in the reproduction processing routine of FIG. In the case where
A message for inquiring the user as to whether or not to download again is created by the OSD unit 30 and the television monitor 5
As a result, when the user makes a positive reply to “re-download” using the remote control transmitter 6 (FIG. 1).
The following re-downloading process is also performed in Steps S112 to S114 of Step 5).

Upon receiving the re-download instruction, control unit 20 first searches the content database in memory 26 for a record for the initially selected content (step S211 in FIG. 22).

Next, the control unit 20 reads out the device identification number from the ID memory 28, reads out the content ID from the record of the corresponding content in the content database in the memory 26, and incorporates it into the re-download request message. , Communication interface circuit 2
1 is instructed to transmit a re-download request to the video server 1 (step S212). The communication interface circuit 21 that has received this command identifies the video server 1 via the network 3 and transmits a content re-download request.

The signal sent from the video recording / reproducing device 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. The communication interface circuit 12 includes the control unit 1
Since the signal arrival is transmitted to 0, the control unit 10 recognizes the signal arrival (Step S231 in FIG. 23). Then, the control unit 10 reads the re-download request message from the communication interface circuit 12, and extracts the device identification number and the content ID from the read re-download request message (step S232).

Next, the control unit 10 of the video server 1 has the specified content ID from the specified device identification number (here, indicating the video recording / reproducing device 2) in the download database of the memory 14. A record is searched (step S233). Then, it is determined whether there is a corresponding record (step S234).

If it is determined in step S234 that there is no corresponding record, or if the “content main body flag” of the record is not “0” (if there is no record of temporary erasure), the control unit 10 It instructs the communication interface circuit 12 to return the generated error message to the video recording / reproducing device 2 so that the error message is transmitted to the video recording / reproducing device 2 (step S235).

In the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2, step S2
After step 12, it is determined whether this error message has been received (step S213 in FIG. 22). When the control unit 20 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 determines that the error message has been received through the communication interface circuit 21, the control unit 20 displays the error message on the television monitor 5 (step S214) and stops the work of redownloading. (Step S215).

On the other hand, in step S234, if there is a corresponding record of the content specified by the re-download request and its “content main body flag” is “0”, the control unit 10 of the video server 1 Re-downloading is performed with no consideration or discount consideration, in this example, without download consideration (step S2).
36).

That is, the control unit 10 of the video server 1
Instructs the storage device 11 to output the content body corresponding to the content ID for which the redownload request has been received to the communication interface circuit 12. Further, the control unit 10 instructs the communication interface circuit 12 to transmit the content body input from the storage device 11 to the video recording / reproducing device 2 indicated by the device identification number.

The communication interface circuit 12 which has received the instruction identifies the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 via the network 3 and transmits the input content body.
The storage device 11 continues to output until the end of the specified content main body, and the communication interface circuit 12 transmits all of the input content main body (step S23).
7).

[0268] The content main body sent from the video server 1 is received by the communication interface circuit 21 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. Communication interface circuit 21
Informs the control unit 20 of the arrival of the content body.
The control unit 20 recognizes this (step S2 in FIG. 22).
16).

Control unit 2 that has recognized the arrival of the content body
0 instructs the communication interface circuit 21 to send the received content body to the hard disk device 23 via the data bus 25. The control unit 20
Commands the hard disk drive 23 to record the input content body (step S21).
7). In response to the command from the control unit 20, the communication interface circuit 21 sends the received content body to the hard disk device 23 via the data bus 25, and the hard disk device 23 records the input content body on the hard disk.

At the same time, the control unit 20
0 is instructed to generate a signal indicating that recording is in progress (step S218). The video signal for the user interface generated in the OSD unit 30 is output from the output terminal 32 to the television monitor 5 via the video switcher 31, and the user can confirm the operation on the television monitor 5.

When the communication interface circuit 21 detects the end of the transmitted content, the communication interface circuit 21 notifies the control unit 20 of the detection, and the control unit 20 recognizes the end of the received content body (step S219). Then, the control unit 20 instructs the hard disk device 23 to end the recording after all the content main body has been recorded (step S220). Further, the control unit 20
It instructs the SD unit 30 to stop generating the video signal (step S221).

Further, the control unit 20 extracts information such as the attribute of the recorded content from the content database of the memory 26, converts it according to the logical format (for example, FAT32) adopted by the hard disk device 23, and 23 (step S222). At this time, a “content identification name” is added to the content. Later, when accessing the corresponding content, this “content identification name” is used.

Then, the control unit 20 sets the “content main body flag” of the record for the corresponding content in the content database of the memory 26 and the “recording medium type”
, “Recording medium ID”, and “content identification name” are re-recorded (step S223). In this case, the “content body flag” is “1” indicating the presence of the content.
The “recording medium type” is set to “00” indicating the built-in hard disk, the “recording medium ID” is the recording medium ID of the hard disk device 23, and the “content identification name” is the corresponding content on the hard disk device 23. "Content identification name" to access
To

Finally, the control unit 20 sets the “content main body flag”, the “recording medium type” of the recording medium on which the corresponding content is recorded, the “recording medium I”
D ”, the“ content identification name ”of the corresponding content on the recording medium is instructed to the interface 21 together with the device identification number read from the ID memory 28 and the content ID of the corresponding content extracted from the content database, and It is transmitted to the server 1 (step S224).

The signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing device 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. Since the communication interface circuit 12 informs the control unit 10 of the arrival of the signal, the control unit 10 recognizes the arrival of the signal from the video recording / reproducing device 2 (step S238 in FIG. 23).

[0276] Then, the control unit 10 sends the "content main body flag", "recording medium type",
The “recording medium ID” and the “content identification name” are read out, and the “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, and “recording” are recorded in the record of the corresponding content of the corresponding client device in the download database recorded in the memory 14. Media ID "and" content identification name "are described (step S239).

The above is a case where the main body of the content recorded on the hard disk is temporarily erased and re-recorded on the hard disk by re-downloading later. , Can be re-downloaded.

In this case, the operation of temporarily erasing the content can be performed by the same operation as the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0279] However, at the time of re-downloading, the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 displays a message urging the user to load an optical disk on which the content selected to be re-downloaded has been recorded until temporary erasure. Must be loaded with the corresponding optical disk.

In re-downloading, however, the data is temporarily stored on the hard disk, and then a message prompting the user to load the relevant optical disk is displayed. Then, the content body may be transferred from the hard disk to the optical disk.

[Response to Information Loss Due to Trouble] As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, even if the content itself is lost, the record of the purchase of the content remains in both the server and the client. ing.
By referring to these records, if there is a right to have the content, the content itself is restored and re-downloaded.

In this case, if the purchase record on the client side is lost, it can be recovered by the record on the server side.

[0283] Here, the restoration of the content body will be described first, and then the restoration of the database will be described.

[Restoration of Content Main Body (Hard Disk)] The video recording / playback apparatus 2
3 failed, and the hard disk drive was replaced,
A case will be described in which the function of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 returns to normal, but all the recorded information (content main body) is lost.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the operation of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 in the recovery operation of the content main body in this example. FIG. 25 shows a flowchart of the operation of the video server 1 at that time.

On the video recording / reproducing device 2 side, the serviceman who has replaced the hard disk device issues a command of “contents recovery” by the remote control transmitter 6 or self-service at the time of starting the video recording / reproducing device 2. The control unit 20, which knows that the recording medium ID of the hard disk device has been changed by the check, switches the mode to the content main body recovery state by itself and operates the “content main body recovery” operation in FIG. To start.

[0287] The control unit 20 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 reads out the content database recorded in the memory 26, and finds out from the record of each content that the field of "recording media ID" has been broken due to failure. A media ID having the media ID value is extracted (step S241).

The following operation is performed once for each corresponding content, assuming that N corresponding contents have been extracted. Therefore, a number is assigned to each of the extracted N contents, and a variable i of the number is initialized (i = 1) (step S242).

Then, the control unit 2 of the video recording / reproducing device 2
0 reads the device identification number from the ID memory 28,
Further, the content ID is read from the record of the corresponding content in the content database, and these are incorporated into a message of a “re-download of content recovery” request to the communication interface circuit 21.
Transmission to the video server 1 (step S24)
3). The communication interface circuit 21 identifies the video server 1 via the network 3 and transmits a “re-download request for restoring the content body” of the corresponding content.

The processing of the video server 1 in response to the re-download request for restoring the content transmitted from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The processing on the video server 1 side is performed in the same manner as the processing described with reference to FIG. 23 except for a processing step of recording a “missing content list” described later.

That is, the signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. Since the communication interface circuit 12 informs the control unit 10 of the arrival of the signal, the control unit 10
The signal arrival is recognized (step S261 in FIG. 25).

Then, the control unit 10 reads out a message of “redownload request for restoring the content main body” from the communication interface circuit 12, extracts the device identification number and the content ID from the read out message (step S262), and It is confirmed again that there is the corresponding content in the corresponding device of the download database recorded in (step S263). This confirmation is essentially unnecessary on the client (video recording / reproducing apparatus 2) side because it has already been performed, but is a reconfirmation. If it is determined that the corresponding content is not included (step S264), the control unit 10 stops the re-download operation and returns to the communication interface circuit 1.
2 is instructed to send the generated error message to the video recording / reproducing device 2 (step S265).

[0293] Then, the control unit 10 determines the device identification number,
The above four pieces of information of the content ID, the recording medium type from the record of the corresponding content in the corresponding device in the download database, and the recording medium ID are combined into one data, and are recorded in the memory 14 and are missing. Add to content list (step S26)
6).

Then, the control unit 10 of the video server 1
The storage device 11 is instructed to output a content main body corresponding to the content ID for which the “content recovery redownload request” has been received to the communication interface circuit 12. Further, the control unit 10 sends the content main body input from the storage device 11 to the communication interface circuit 12 to the video recording / reproducing device 2 indicated by the device identification number.
(Step S267).

[0295] The communication interface circuit 12, which has received this command, identifies the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 via the network 3, and transmits the input content body.
The storage device 11 keeps outputting until the end of the designated content main body, and the communication interface circuit 12 transmits all of the input content main body. Control unit 10
Identifies it in step S268.

[0296] The content main body sent from the video server 1 is received by the communication interface circuit 21 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. Communication interface circuit 21
Informs the control unit 20 of the arrival of the content body.
The control unit 20 recognizes the arrival of the content body from the video server 1 (Step S244).

Control unit 2 that has recognized the arrival of the content body
0 instructs the communication interface circuit 21 to send the received content body to the hard disk device 23 via the bus 25. Further, the control unit 20 instructs the hard disk device 23 to record the input content main body (step S245).

Interface circuit 21 receiving command
Sends the received content body to the hard disk device 23 via the bus 25, and the hard disk device 23 records the input content body on the hard disk.

At the same time, the control section 20 instructs the OSD section 30 to generate a signal indicating that recording is in progress (step S24).
6). The video signal for the user interface generated in the OSD unit 30 is supplied from the output terminal 32 to the television monitor 5 via the video switcher 31. The user can confirm the operation on the screen display of the television monitor 5.

The communication interface circuit 21
When detecting the end of the content transmitted from the video server 1, the control unit 20 notifies the end to the control unit 20, and the control unit 20 recognizes the end of the content (Step S).
247). The control unit 20 that has recognized the end of the content,
It instructs the hard disk device 23 to end the recording after all the content main body has been recorded (step S248). Further, it instructs the OSD unit 30 to stop generating a video signal indicating that recording is in progress (step S249).

At the same time, the control unit 20 extracts information such as the attribute of the recorded content from the content database of the memory 26, converts the information according to the logical format (for example, FAT32) adopted by the hard disk device 23, and 23 (step S
250). At this time, a “content identification name” is added to the content. When accessing the corresponding content later, this “content identification name” is used.

[0302] Then, the control unit 20 sets the "content main body flag" of the record for the corresponding content in the content database of the memory 26 and the "recording medium type".
And “recording media ID” and “content identifier”
The recording is performed again (step S251).

That is, the “content body flag” is
It is set to “1” indicating the existence of the content body. “Recording media type” is “0” indicating the internal hard disk here.
0 ". The" recording medium ID "is the recording medium ID of the new hard disk drive 23 that has been replaced. The “content identifier” is a “content identifier” for accessing the content on the hard disk device 23.

[0304] Finally, the control unit 20 re-records the "content main body flag", the "recording medium type" of the recording medium on which the corresponding content is recorded, and the recording medium ID.
Then, the "content identification name" of the corresponding content on the recording medium is instructed to the communication interface circuit 21 together with the device identification number read from the ID memory 28 and the content ID of the corresponding content extracted from the content database, and It is transmitted to the server 1 (step S252).

The signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing device 2 is transmitted to the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1.
Received at. Since the communication interface circuit 12 informs the controller 10 of the arrival of the signal, the controller 10 recognizes the arrival of the signal from the video recording / reproducing device 2 (step S269 in FIG. 25).

The control unit 10 of the video server 1 that has received the “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID” and “content identification name” transmitted from the video recording / reproducing device 2 14, the “content main body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID”, and “content identification name” are described in the record of the corresponding content of the corresponding client device in the download database recorded in step 14 (step S270). ).

The above operation is repeated until i = N (steps S253 and S254), whereby the contents of the hard disk device 23 are restored.

[Database Recovery] Next, the memory 26
The method of confirming the validity of the content database recorded in the database, that is, the database that is a list of the content managed by the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. FIG.
6 and FIG. 27 are flowcharts of processing on the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 side in this processing. FIGS. 28 and 29 are flowcharts of processing on the video server 1 side in this processing.

In the routine for confirming the validity of the content database, for example, for the entire data of the content database, a checksum is always obtained and held, and the control unit 20 which has calculated the checksum is used.
Is invoked when the validity of the content database is questioned due to a difference from the stored value.

[0310] In the example described below, if the record of the content is on the server side and not on the client side, the record of the content is unconditionally added to the client side. In the opposite case, that is, when the content record does not exist on the server side but exists on the client side, the operation of simple deletion does not fit in with the pursuit of customer satisfaction, so the server administrator is informed. Reportedly. Of course, this algorithm is merely an example, and it is possible to perform recovery according to the actual situation by using a more advanced algorithm.

As shown in FIG. 26, the control unit 20 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 reads out the device identification number from the ID memory 28, combines it with the “database confirmation” message, and instructs the communication interface circuit 21 to Transmission to the video server 1 (step S27)
1). Communication interface circuit 21 receiving this command
Identifies the video server 1 via the network 3 and sends a "database confirmation" request.

[0312] The signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is transmitted to the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1.
Received at. Since the communication interface circuit 12 notifies the arrival of the signal to the control unit 10, the control unit 10 recognizes the arrival (step S291 in FIG. 28), reads out the "database confirmation" message from the communication interface circuit 12, and reads out the message. The device identification number is extracted from the message (step S292).

[0313] Then, the control unit 10 determines the number of contents and all registered contents from the record part of the client device indicated by the extracted device identification number in the download database recorded in the memory 14. The ID is extracted and a message of "purchased content" is created (step S293).
FIG. 30 shows an example of a “purchased content” message.

The control unit 10 transmits the created “purchased content” message to the communication interface circuit 12.
And instructs the communication interface circuit 12 to transmit it to the video recording / reproducing device 2 (step S29).
4).

[0315] The information of the "purchased content" transmitted from the video server 1 is received by the communication interface circuit 21 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. Control unit 20
Receives the notification from the communication interface circuit 21 and recognizes the arrival of the information of the purchased content (FIG. 26).
Step S272), the message information of "purchased content" is read from the communication interface circuit 21 (step S273).

The video recording / reproducing device 2 stores
A purchased content database having the same format as that of FIG. 30 is provided. The control unit 20 compares the content of the received “purchased content” message with the purchased content database stored in the memory 26 (step S274).

[In the case where the content exists on the server side and does not exist on the client side] The control unit 20 determines whether there is any content that exists in the “purchased content” on the server side and does not exist in the purchased content database on the client side. Then, for content that is on the server side but not on the client side, necessary information is obtained from the server and the database is reconstructed (step S275).

That is, the control unit 20 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 reads out the device identification number from the ID memory 28 and incorporates the corresponding content ID extracted from the content database into the “database reconstruction” message. , And instruct the communication interface circuit 21 to transmit to the video server 1 (step S
276). The communication interface circuit 21 that has received this command identifies the video server 1 via the network 3 and transmits a message of “database reconstruction”.

[0319] The signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is transmitted to the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1.
Received at. The control unit 10 recognizes the arrival of the signal based on the notification from the communication interface circuit 12 (step S295 in FIG. 30), reads out the “database rebuilding” message from the communication interface circuit 12, and further reads the message The device identification number and the content ID are extracted from (step S296).

[0320] Then, the control unit 10 records the "purchase date" extracted from the record of the corresponding content ID in the corresponding client device portion of the download database recorded in the memory 14, and the control unit 10 records the "purchase date" in the memory 14. All the records of the corresponding content extracted from the content list information are combined to create a "database retransmission" message (step S).
297).

[0321] Then, the control unit 10 transmits the "database retransmission" message to the communication interface circuit 12
And instructs the communication interface circuit 12 to transmit it to the video recording / reproducing device 2 (step S29).
8).

At the same time, the control unit 10 of the video server 1
The “content body flag” of the record of the corresponding content ID of the corresponding client portion of the download database recorded in the memory 14 is set to “0” indicating the absence of the content (step S299). "Recording media type" of the record of the corresponding content ID,
The three fields "recording medium ID" and "content identification name" have no meaning because the "content body flag" is 0, but zero is recorded here (step S300).

[0323] The information of "database retransmission" sent from the video server 1 is received by the communication interface circuit 21 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. The control unit 20 receives the notification from the communication interface circuit 21
Recognition of the arrival of "database retransmission" information (FIG. 26)
Step S277), the information of “database retransmission” is read from the communication interface circuit 21 (step S278), and one new record for the new content is prepared and recorded in the content database of the memory 26 (step S279). ).

[0324] Each field of a new record created in the content database of the memory 26 will be described. The “content main body flag” is set to “0” indicating deletion of the content. Although the three fields of “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID”, and “content identification name” have no meaning because the “content body flag” is “0”, zero is recorded here. .

The “purchase date” and a series of fields of the content attribute insert information included in the “database retransmission” message. The “purchase server” records the name of the purchased server (here, the name of the video server 1).

[In the case of being on the client side but not on the server side] If a negative determination is made in step S275, the control unit 20 determines that the content does not exist in the “purchased content” on the server side and the content database on the client side It is determined whether or not there is a content existing in (step S281 in FIG. 27). When determining that there is such content, the control unit 20 reports the fact to the server side. The server reports to the administrator.

That is, the control unit 20 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 sets the device identification number read from the ID memory 28, the corresponding content ID extracted from the content database, and the “purchase date” read from the corresponding content record. In the message of "database inconsistency" and instructs the communication interface circuit 21 to transmit it to the video server 1 (step S
282). The communication interface circuit 21 that has received this command identifies the video server 1 via the network 3 and transmits a “database mismatch” message.

[0328] The "database mismatch" message sent from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. Control unit 10
Receives the notification from the communication interface circuit 12 and recognizes the arrival of this message (step S30).
1) Read the "database mismatch" message from the communication interface circuit 12, and extract the device identification number and the content ID from the read message (step S302).

The control unit 10 stores the extracted information in the memory 14 and sends it to an unillustrated administrator who manages the video server 1 (step S303).

If it is determined in step S 281 that all data match on the client side and the server side, the control unit 20 transmits the device identification number of the ID memory 28 and the “database matching” message. In combination, the video server 1
Side is instructed to transmit a “database matching” message (step S283).

Also, the video server determines in step S301
If the "database inconsistency" message is received in step S304 without receiving the "database inconsistency" message in step S304, the client-side and server-side databases are determined to be identical, and this processing routine ends. When the “database matching” message is not received in step S304,
Returning to step S295 of FIG. 8, the process waits for the reception of any message, and upon confirming the reception of the message, performs the above-described processing corresponding to the reception of each message.

[0332] In this manner, the "database confirmation" message is sent from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2, and the "purchased content" transmitted from the video server 1 in response to the message is transmitted to the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. By comparing the records of the content databases and repeating the operation of eliminating the difference between the two, the restoration of the server-side and client-side databases is completed.

[Restoration of Content Main Body (Optical Disk)]
Next, the operation of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 for restoring the content main body to the optical disc when the optical disc 7 in which the main body of the content recorded on the internal hard disk is checked out is lost in the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is lost. , Will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. Since the operation of the video server 1 at this time is the same as that shown in the flowchart of FIG. 25, the flowchart of the operation of the video server 1 at this time is omitted.

In this operation, when the content checked out on the optical disc is selected from the client content list and reproduced, the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 inserts the optical disc 7 as shown in FIG. The process starts when the requested user searches for the optical disk 7 but does not find it, and informs the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 that there is no optical disk 7 using the remote control transmitter 6 (step S145 in FIG. 16).

First, the control unit 20 creates a message for inquiring the user again as to whether or not the content itself should be restored by the OSD unit 30, and displays the message on the television monitor 5 (step S311). The control unit 20 determines whether or not the user has responded affirmatively to “recovery of content” using the remote control transmitter 6 in response to this display (step S312), and determines that the response is negative. When it is determined, the process returns to the content selection in FIG. 13 (step S83 in FIG. 13). If you determine a positive response,
Proceed to the following process.

The control unit 20 creates a message requesting that a new optical disk having a sufficient free space be inserted into the optical disk drive 24 by the OSD unit 30 and displays the message on the television monitor 5 (step S313). In response to this, the user is required to provide an optical disk 7 having a sufficient free space.
Is prepared and inserted into the optical disk drive 24.

When the control unit 20 confirms the loading of the optical disk (step S314), it reads out the content database recorded in the memory 26, and from the record for each content, determines the field of the optical disk in which the “recording media ID” field is lost. The one having the value of the recording medium ID is extracted (step S315).

The following operation is performed once for each of the M extracted contents. Therefore, first, a number is assigned to the extracted M contents, and a variable j of the number is assigned.
Is the first value (j = 1) (step S316).

Then, the control unit 2 of the video recording / reproducing device 2
0 reads the device identification number from the ID memory 28,
Further, the content ID is read from the record of the corresponding content in the content database, and these are incorporated in the message of “re-download request for restoring the content itself”, commanded to the interface circuit 21, and transmitted to the video server 1 (step S317). ).
The communication interface circuit 21 identifies the video server 1 via the network 3 and transmits a request for “re-downloading of content main body restoration” of the content.

The signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. The communication interface circuit 12
The control unit 10 is notified of the arrival of the signal. Then, the control unit 10
Reads out a message of "redownload request for restoring content body" from the communication interface circuit 12.

[0341] Further, the control unit 10 extracts the device identification number and the content ID from the read message, and the corresponding client device (video recording / reproducing device 2) of the download database recorded in the memory 14.
Double-check that the record has the relevant content. This confirmation has already been performed on the client (video recording / reproducing apparatus 2) side, and is essentially unnecessary, but is a reconfirmation. If the corresponding content is not included, the operation is stopped and the error is notified to the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2.

The control section 20 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 monitors the signal received by the communication interface 21 and determines whether or not an error message has been received from the video server 1 (step S318). If it is determined that an error message has been received, the control unit 20
It instructs the SD section 30 to display an error message, and displays the error message on the television monitor 5 (step S319).

On the other hand, when the control unit 10 of the video server 1 reconfirms that the corresponding content exists in the record of the corresponding client device (video recording / reproducing device 2) in the download database recorded in the memory 14, The above four pieces of information of the identification number, the content ID, the recording medium type and the recording medium ID (here, the recording medium ID of the optical disk) from the record of the corresponding content in the corresponding device in the download database are collectively formed as one data, and 14 is added to the missing content list. The missing content list will be described later.

Then, the control unit 10 of the video server 1
The storage device 11 is instructed to output a content main body corresponding to the content ID for which the “content main body recovery re-download request” has been received to the communication interface circuit 12. Further, the communication interface circuit 12
In response, the content body input from the storage device 11 is
The video recording / reproducing device 2 indicated by the device identification number is transmitted.

[0345] The communication interface circuit 12 identifies the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 via the network 3, and transmits the input content body to the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. The storage device 11 continues outputting until the end of the designated content main body, and the communication interface circuit 12
Sends all of the input content bodies.

[0346] The content main body sent from the video server 1 is received by the communication interface circuit 21 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. The control unit 20 recognizes the arrival of the content body by the notification from the communication interface circuit 21 (step S320), and instructs the communication interface circuit 21 to send the received content body to the optical disk drive 24 via the bus 25. A command is issued (step S321). Further, the control unit 20 instructs the optical disc drive 24 to record the input content body (step S322).

Communication interface circuit 2 receiving command
1 sends the received content body to the optical disk drive 24 via the bus 25, and the optical disk drive 24
The input content body is recorded on an optical disc.

At the same time, the control section 20 instructs the OSD section 30 to generate a signal indicating that recording is in progress (step S32).
3). The video signal for the user interface generated in the OSD unit 30 is supplied from the output terminal 32 to the television monitor 5 via the video switcher 31, and the user can confirm the operation by displaying the screen on the television monitor.

When detecting the end of the transmitted content, the communication interface circuit 21 notifies the control unit 20 of the end. When the control unit 20 confirms the end of the content (step S324), the optical disc drive 2
4 is instructed to end the recording after all the content main bodies have been recorded (step S325). Further, it instructs the OSD unit 30 to stop generating the video signal of "recording" (step S326).

At the same time, the control unit 20 extracts information such as the attribute of the recorded content from the content database, converts the information in accordance with the logical format (for example, UDF + RTR) adopted by the optical disk, and supplies it to the optical disk drive 24. The drive 24 is instructed to record on the optical disk 7 (step S327). At this time, a “content identification name” is added to the content. When accessing the corresponding content later, this “content identification name” is used.

Then, the control unit 20 sets the “content main body flag” of the record for the corresponding content in the content database of the memory 26 and the “recording medium type”.
, “Recording media ID” and “content identification name” are re-recorded. That is, "content body flag"
Is set to “1” indicating the existence of the content. The “recording medium type” is set to “01” indicating the optical disk here. The “recording medium ID” records the recording medium ID of the optical disc 7 on which recording has been newly performed. Then, as the “content identification name”, a “content identification name” for accessing the corresponding content on the optical disc 7 is recorded (step S328).

Finally, the control unit 20 determines the content main body flag, the recording medium type (here, “01”) of the recording medium on which the content is recorded, and the recording medium I.
D (here, the recording medium ID of the optical disc 7) and the identification name of the corresponding content on the recording medium are represented by I
A command is sent to the communication interface circuit 21 together with the device identification number read from the D memory 28 and the content ID of the corresponding content to transmit the same to the video server 1 (step S329).

The signal transmitted from the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 in step S329 is received by the communication interface circuit 12 of the video server 1. The communication interface circuit 12 informs the control unit 10 of the video server 1 of the arrival of the signal. The control unit 10 of the video server 1 that has received the “content body flag”, “recording medium type”, “recording medium ID”, and “content identification name” transmitted from the video recording / reproducing device 2 is recorded in the memory 14 The record of the corresponding content of the client device in the download database has the received “content body flag”, “recording media type”,
"Recording medium ID" and "content identification name" are described.

[0354] After step S329, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the restoration of the main body of all of the M contents extracted to restore the main body is completed (step S329).
330) If it is determined that the processing has been completed, this processing routine is completed. When it is determined that it has not finished,
The next content number j is designated (step S331, the process returns to step S317, and the operation of restoring the content body to the optical disk 7 is repeated in the same manner as described above.

As described above, the contents of the lost optical disc are restored on another optical disc.

[Use of Missing Content List] As described above, the re-download system according to this embodiment is a convenient system for non-malicious users to compensate for the loss of content due to negligence.
It is a system that could create pirated copies for malicious users.

For this reason, the system of this embodiment
As described above, the lost content list is stored as a record of the re-downloading of the lost content due to the replacement of the hard disk device or the loss of the optical disk, etc., and the client device matches the missing content list as described above. It has a mechanism to find illegal copies by searching for recording media.

[0358] The missing content list is a collection of information on contents that have been re-downloaded as having disappeared when re-downloading has been performed assuming that the content that should exist has disappeared.

As described above, at the time of the re-download processing, the “missing content list” is recorded in the memory 14 of the video server 1. In FIG.
An example of a “missing content list” is shown.

[0360] In the "missing content list", first, the number of missing contents registered in the list is recorded as the number of entries. After that, a list of the content that has been lost is recorded.
Here, in this list, a group of information corresponding to one of the missing contents is called a “record”.

[0361] Each record of the missing content includes a "device identification number" for identifying the client device in which the content has been lost, which is reported from the client device (here, the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2), and a "device identification number". "Content ID" indicating the content that has been lost,
"Recording media type" in which the content itself was recorded
And a “recording media ID”.

The reason why information is added to the missing content list is that, in this embodiment, as described above, the client device (here, the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2) recovers the above-mentioned content from the client device. "Redownload request" is a server (here, video server 1)
And the corresponding content body is re-downloaded from the server.

Hereinafter, the use of the data of the missing content list will be described.

In the above description, a one-to-one relationship between the video server 1 and the video recording / reproducing device 2 has been described.
It is assumed that there are a plurality of clients (equivalent to the video recording / reproducing device 2). For this reason, in the “missing content list”, information of the content determined to be lost in a plurality of client devices is recorded.

[0365] The "missing content list" stored in the memory 14 of the video server 1 is sent to a group of client devices including the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 at a predetermined time interval or at the instruction of the server administrator. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a process for distributing the missing content list.

That is, the control unit 10 of the video server 1
Monitors the elapse of a predetermined time, and when the elapse of the specified time is detected (step S341), reads the "missing content list" recorded in the memory 14 (step S342), and Output to the communication interface circuit 12 via the communication interface circuit 12 and further transmitted to the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2.
2 (step S343).

[0367] The information of the "missing content list" sent from the video server 1 is received by the communication interface circuit 21 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2. The communication interface circuit 21 notifies the control unit 20 of the arrival of the “missing content list”. The control unit 20 stores the “missing content list” in the communication interface circuit 2.
1 and recorded in the memory 26.

The control unit 20 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 is occasionally touched at the time of a self-check (self-diagnosis operation) at the time of starting the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 or when a new optical disc is loaded into the optical disc drive 24. Then, it is checked whether or not the recording medium ID of the recording medium (here, the hard disk device and the optical disk) is included in the “missing content list”. FIG. 35 shows a flowchart for explaining the processing operation.

[0369] That is, the control unit 20 of the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2 reads the recording medium ID of the hard disk device 23 (step S351), and records the recording medium I of each record of the "missing content list" in the memory 26.
In D, the recording media ID of the hard disk device 23
Is checked (step S352).

Next, the recording medium ID of the optical disk inserted into the optical disk drive 24 is read, and it is checked whether or not it is included in the “missing content list” (step S353).

Then, the discrimination results in steps S352 and S353 are recognized (step S354),
When it is determined that the recording medium ID of the hard disk device and the recording medium ID of the optical disk are not included in the “missing content list”, the self-check operation ends.

In step S352 and / or step S353, the recording medium ID of the hard disk device and / or the recording medium ID of the optical disk are
If it is determined that the content is included in the “missing content list”, the control unit 20 reports this to the server (step S355).

That is, the control unit 20 controls the ID memory 2
8, read the device identification number, and, in addition, in the “missing content list” stored in the memory 26 of the video recording / reproducing device 2, find three pieces of information (device identification number, content ID, The communication interface circuit 2 reads out the recording medium ID) and combines it with the message of “missing content found”.
1 to be transmitted to the video server 1. The communication interface circuit 21 identifies the video server 1 via the network 3 and transmits a message of “missing content found”.

[0374] After this transmission is completed, the control unit 20 creates a message notifying that the obsolete recording medium is being used, instructs the OSD unit 30 to display the message on the screen of the television monitor 5. It is displayed (step S356) to inform the user.

The “missing content found” message sent from the video recording / reproducing device 2 is
At the communication interface circuit 12. The communication interface circuit 12 informs the control unit 10 of the arrival of the signal. Therefore, the control unit 10 reads out the “missing content found” message from the communication interface circuit 12 and manages the video server 1 (not shown). To others.

In the above example, when the client device finds a recording medium having a recording medium ID in which the missing content list exists, it immediately sends a “missing content found” message to the server. After finding the recording medium having the recording medium ID in which the missing content list exists, the content to be recorded therein may be checked, and then a message of “missing content found” may be sent to the server. .

Although the warning is issued to both the server side and the client side, a warning may be issued to only one of them. Further, the client side (here, the video recording / reproducing apparatus 2) can not only accept the recording medium but also not accept the warning.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, the content temporarily erased by the user can be re-downloaded without compensation or with discount. However, in the client device, the main body of the downloaded content is When it is used by reproducing it, it may be automatically deleted.

Also in this example, a record of the purchase of the downloaded content is stored in the client device and / or the server device, and by referring to the record of the purchase, there is no content charge or a discount charge. It can be configured to allow re-downloading.

Here, the record of purchase includes at least the device identification number of the client device and the content ID as described above.

The first example in this case is a case where, for example, a record of purchase of a content is held in a client device. In the case of the first example, when a content download request is made from a client device, the purchase record is referred to and the content download request in the purchase record is referred to as “re-download” which is different from normal download. Request ”. In the case of the first example, the server determines whether the request is a normal download request or a “re-download request”. Try to download again.

Also, in the case of the first example, the client device can detect whether or not the content has been erased by using the downloaded content, such as reproduction, by using the above-mentioned content body flag. After confirming that the content body is erased and does not exist in the client device, the "re-download request" can be issued,
Even better.

Further, when the client device deletes the content by using the downloaded content such as reproduction, the content main body flag indicating that the content main body does not exist is also sent to the server device, and the client device transmits the content main body flag. Re-download request "
The server device refers to the content body flag and
After confirming that the content itself does not exist on the client device side, re-downloading may be executed with no compensation or with a discount.

[0384] The second example is a case where the server apparatus keeps a record of the purchase of the content. In the case of the second example, the client device does not make the special redownload request as described above, but makes only a normal download request. Then, the server device checks whether or not the download request from the client device is a download request for the already downloaded content with reference to the record of the purchase, and determines that the download request is for the already downloaded content. Occasionally, re-downloading is performed with no consideration or with discount consideration.

Also in the case of the second example, when the client device deletes the content main body by using the downloaded content such as reproduction, the content main body flag indicating that the content main body does not exist is set to the server device. When a “redownload request” is received from the client device, the server device refers to the content body flag and confirms that the content body does not exist on the client device side, It is even better to execute the re-downloading with no or discount.

In the third example, both the client device and the server device keep a record of the purchase of the content. In the case of the third example, the client device issues a “re-download request” by referring to the purchase record, as in the first example described above. The "re-download request" content is checked by referring to the record of purchase, and if the download request is for the already downloaded content, re-downloading is performed with no charge or with a discount.

In the case of the third example as well, when the client device deletes the content body by using the downloaded content such as reproduction, the content body flag indicating that the content body does not exist is sent to the server device. When the server device receives the “redownload request” from the client device and checks that the content device does not exist on the client device side by referring to the content device flag, there is no charge. It is even better if re-downloading is performed at a discount price.

In the above embodiment, video and / or audio information is assumed as the main information of the content. However, the content is not limited to this.
It may be game program data or text data.

In the above-described embodiment, the database memory is built in the video recording / reproducing device. However, the database memory is connected to the video recording / reproducing device via a network. For example, provided in a device such as a personal computer,
Of course, the video recording / reproducing apparatus can be accessed via a network.

[0390]

As described above, according to the present invention, the record of the purchase of the content downloaded under the condition of the charge is stored in the server device and / or the client device, and is stored in the record of the purchase. The re-downloading of the content being performed is performed with no consideration or with a discount consideration, so that the consideration is reasonable for both the server side and the client side.

In particular, when it is confirmed that the content does not exist using the information indicating the presence or absence of the main body of the content in the client device, if the content is re-downloaded without a fee or with a discount fee, In addition, it is possible to provide a content distribution mechanism that is reasonable for both the server side and the client side.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an information distribution system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the server device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of list information of downloadable contents.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining part of the content list information of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for explaining a download operation of the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for explaining a download operation of the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for explaining a download operation of the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for explaining a download operation of the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for explaining a download operation of the embodiment of the server device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of information content of a download database included in the embodiment of the server device.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of information content of a client database included in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for describing various processing operations in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a part of a flowchart for describing various processing operations in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for describing a reproducing operation in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for describing a reproducing operation in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a part of a flowchart for describing an operation of moving content from a fixed recording medium to a removable recording medium in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 18 is a view showing a flowchart continued from FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for describing an operation of moving content from a removable recording medium to a fixed recording medium in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart following the flowchart in FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart for describing a temporary erasing operation of the content main body in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart for describing an operation of re-downloading content in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart for describing an operation of re-downloading content in the embodiment of the server device.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart for describing an operation of restoring a body of lost content in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart for describing an operation of restoring a body of a lost content in the embodiment of the server device.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for describing a recovery operation for matching a database with that of a server device in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart following the flowchart in FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for describing a recovery operation for matching a database with that of the server device in the embodiment of the server device.

FIG. 29 is a view illustrating a flowchart following the flowchart in FIG. 28;

FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an example of a purchased content list in the embodiment of the information distribution system.

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a part of a flowchart for describing an operation of restoring a body of a lost content in the embodiment of the client device.

FIG. 32 is a view showing a flowchart continued from FIG. 31.

FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating an example of a missing content list in the embodiment of the information distribution system.

FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart for describing an operation of distributing a missing content list in the embodiment of the information distribution system.

FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating a flowchart for describing an example of an operation of a process using a missing content list in the embodiment of the information distribution system.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 video server 2 video recording / reproducing device 3 network 4 billing server 10 control unit 11 storage device for storing body of content to be downloaded 12 communication interface circuit 14 memory for storing download database etc. 20 control unit 21 communication interface circuit 22 MPEG2 decoding unit 23 Hard disk drive 24 Optical disk drive 26 Memory for storing content database etc. 28 ID memory for storing device identification number etc.

Claims (41)

[Claims] 1. A server device for distributing contents and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device receives a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the method of executing content distribution, the server device holds a record of purchase regarding the downloaded content for each of the client devices, and in response to a download request from the client device, the server device performs Refers to the record of the purchase for the client device that has made the download request, and if the download request is for the content held as the record of the purchase, download without charge or download with the discount charge is executed. Feeling Delivery method. 2. A server device for distributing contents and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device receives a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the method for performing distribution of content, the client device retains a record of purchase related to the downloaded content, and the client device determines that a download request of the content stored in the record of purchase is a re-download request. And transmitting the request to the server device, and the server device executes, for the re-download request, download without consideration or download with discount consideration. 3. The server device according to claim 2, wherein the server device holds a record of purchase of the downloaded content for each client device, and the server device responds to a redownload request from the client device. Referring to the client device that has requested the download of the purchase record,
Check if it is kept as a record of the purchase,
An information distribution method, characterized in that when confirmed, a download without a fee or a download with a discount is executed. 4. The information distribution method according to claim 1, wherein the client device reproduces the downloaded content, and after the reproduction is completed, executes the downloaded content. An information distribution method characterized by automatically deleting deleted content. 5. A server device for distributing content and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device receives a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the method for executing content distribution, the server device stores a download database including at least identification information of a downloaded client device, identification information of the downloaded content, and information indicating whether or not the downloaded content body exists on the client side. The client device, when the downloaded content body is erased, the identification information of the client device, the identification information of the erased content, and information indicating that the content body has been erased, the server, apparatus Notifying, the server device having received the notification, the download database, the information indicating the presence or absence of the content body on the client side for the corresponding content of the corresponding client device, in a state indicating that the content body does not exist, When there is a download request from the client device, the server device refers to the download database, and information indicating whether or not the requested content is present on the client side of the requested content does not include the content body. An information distribution method characterized by executing re-downloading without consideration or re-downloading with discount consideration in the state. 6. A server device for distributing contents and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device receives a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the information distribution system that executes content distribution, the client device includes a content database including at least identification information of the downloaded content and information indicating whether or not the downloaded content body exists on the client side. When is deleted,
Information indicating the presence or absence of the erased content body in the content database on the client side,
The server device is changed to a state indicating that the content body does not exist, and the information indicating the presence or absence of the content body on the client side indicates that the content device does not have the content body. The server device executes, for the re-download request, a download without consideration or a download with discount consideration. 7. The download database according to claim 6, wherein the server device includes at least identification information of the downloaded client device, identification information of the downloaded content, and information indicating whether or not the downloaded content itself exists on the client side. In addition, the client device, when the downloaded content body is erased, identification information of the client device, identification information of the erased content, and information indicating that the content body has been erased, Informing the server device, the server device confirms information indicating whether or not the content body of the download database exists on the client side in response to the re-download request,
An information distribution method, characterized in that when confirmed, a download without a fee or a download with a discount is executed. 8. The client device according to claim 6, wherein the client device displays a list of contents downloaded to the client device based on the content database, and displays a client of the content body from the content list. When the information indicating the presence or absence on the side is selected and a download request is made in a state indicating that the content main body does not exist, the server device transmits the re-download request for the selected content to the server device. An information distribution method characterized by sending. 9. The client device according to claim 6, wherein the client device, when instructed to play back, based on information indicating whether or not the downloaded content body exists on the client side in the content database. When it is detected that the main body of the content for which the reproduction instruction has been given does not exist, the fact is notified to the user. Sending the re-download request to the server device. 10. A server device for distributing contents and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device receives a request for a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the method for executing distribution of content, the client device records a downloaded content body on a fixed recording medium built in the client device which is not attachable / detachable, and includes at least identification information of the downloaded content. And the identification information of the fixed recording medium is recorded in a content database, and the identification information of the downloaded content, the identification information of the fixed recording medium, and the identification information of the client device are stored in the server. The server device, At least, the identification information of the client device, the identification information of the downloaded content, and the identification information of the fixed recording medium of the client device in which the content main body is recorded are recorded in a download database. The device reads the identification information of the content recorded on the recording medium before replacement from the content database when the fixed recording medium is replaced, and reads the identification information of the read content and the client device. Sending a re-download request including at least the identification information to the server device, the server device receives the re-download request,
An information distribution method, wherein redownloading without download fee or redownloading with discount fee is executed with reference to the download database. 11. The server device and / or the client device according to claim 10, wherein the server device and / or the client device includes at least identification information of the recording medium before replacement.
An information distribution method, wherein the identification information of the re-downloaded content is recorded in a missing list. 12. A server device for distributing contents and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device receives a request for a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the method of performing content distribution, the client device is for recording the downloaded content body on a removable recording medium, at least, identification information of the downloaded content,
The identification information of the removable storage medium is recorded in a content database, and the identification information of the downloaded content, the identification information of the removable storage medium, and the identification information of the client device are stored in the server device. The server device transmits at least the identification information of the client device, the identification information of the downloaded content, and the identification information of the fixed recording medium of the client device in which the content body is recorded. Recorded in a download database, the client device, for the server device based on a user instruction, for the content recorded in the recording medium, identification information of the client device,
The server device sends a re-download request including the identification information of the content and the identification information of the recording medium, and the server device receives the re-download request,
An information distribution method, comprising: determining whether redownloading without download fee or redownloading with discount fee is possible with reference to the download database, and executing the redownload. 13. The server device according to claim 12, wherein, when the re-downloading is performed without consideration or at a discount price, at least the identification information of the recording medium before the exchange and the re-downloaded content. An information distribution method characterized by recording identification information in a missing list. 14. A server device for distributing content and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device downloads the requested content in response to a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the information distribution system, the server device holds, for each of the client devices, a record of the purchase of the downloaded content, and downloads the record of the purchase in response to a download request from the client device. Means for referring to the requesting client device and executing a download without consideration or a download with discount when there is a request to download the content held as a record of the purchase again. An information distribution system characterized by the following. 15. A server device for distributing content and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device downloads the requested content in response to a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the information distribution system, the client device includes: a unit that holds a record of purchase related to the downloaded content; and a request to download the content held in the record of purchase as a redownload request. Means for sending to the client device, wherein the server device includes means for executing re-downloading without consideration or re-downloading with discount consideration in response to a re-download request from the client device. Delivery system 16. The server device according to claim 15, further comprising: means for holding a record of the purchase of the downloaded content for each of the client devices, and in response to a redownload request from the client device. Refers to the client device that has requested the download of the purchase record, checks whether it is held as a record of the purchase, and when confirmed, executes the download without consideration or the download with the discount consideration. Information distribution system. 17. The method of claim 14, 15, or 1
6. In the information distribution system according to any one of 6, the client device, when the downloaded content is reproduced, automatically deletes information of the content body stored in a storage unit after the reproduction is completed. An information distribution system, comprising: 18. A server device for distributing content and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device downloads the requested content in response to a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the information distribution system, the client device comprises: storage means for storing the downloaded content body on a recording medium; and when the downloaded content body is erased from the recording medium, identification information of the client device. Means for notifying the server device side of identification information of the erased content and information indicating that the content body has been erased, and means for issuing a download request to the server device. The server device is the downloaded client A download database including at least the identification information of the client device, the identification information of the downloaded content, and information indicating whether or not the downloaded content body exists on the client side; and the identification information of the client device from the client device; Upon receiving the content identification information and the information indicating that the content main body has been erased, the download database stores information indicating whether or not the content main body exists on the client side for the corresponding content of the corresponding client device. ,
Means for setting a state indicating that the content body does not exist; and information indicating whether or not the requested content is present on the client side for the requested content with reference to the download database in response to a download request from the client device. Means for performing re-downloading without consideration or re-downloading with discount consideration when the content body does not exist. 19. A server device for distributing contents and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device receives a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the information distribution system for performing content distribution, the client device includes a storage unit configured to store main body information of the downloaded content on a recording medium, identification information of the downloaded content, and presence / absence of the downloaded content main body on the client side. When a downloaded content body is deleted, the content database includes at least information indicating
Information indicating the presence or absence of the erased content body in the content database on the client side,
Means for changing to a state indicating that the content body does not exist; and information indicating whether or not the content body exists on the client side. Means for sending to the apparatus, the server apparatus comprises: for the re-download request from the client device, a re-download means for executing a download without consideration or a download with discount consideration. Characteristic information distribution system. 20. The download database according to claim 19, wherein the server device includes at least identification information of the downloaded client device, identification information of the downloaded content, and information indicating whether or not the downloaded content body exists on the client side. The client device, when the downloaded content body is erased, identification information of the client device, identification information of the erased content, and information indicating that the content body has been erased, the A means for informing a server device, when the server device receives, from the client device, identification information of the client device, identification information of the deleted content, and information indicating that the content body has been deleted. And the download Means for changing the information indicating the presence or absence of the content body on the client side to a state in which the content does not exist, and the re-downloading means of the server device responds to the re-download request with the content of the download database. An information distribution system, wherein information indicating presence / absence of a main body on a client side is confirmed, and if confirmed, download without charge or download with discount charge is executed. 21. The client device according to claim 19, wherein the client device displays a list of contents downloaded to the client device based on the content database; and When the content indicating that the content itself does not exist is selected and the download request is made when the information indicating the existence or nonexistence of the content on the client side, the server device re-downloads the selected content. Means for transmitting a request. 22. The client device according to claim 19, wherein the client device, when instructed to play back, based on information indicating whether or not the downloaded content main body exists on the client side in the content database. When it is detected that the main body of the content for which the reproduction instruction has been made does not exist, the user is notified of the fact, and thereafter,
An information distribution system, comprising: means for sending the re-download request to the server device for the content for which the reproduction instruction has been issued when a re-download instruction is received from the user. 23. A server device for distributing contents and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device receives a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the information distribution system that executes content distribution, the client device includes a recording unit that records a downloaded content body in a non-removable and non-removable fixed recording medium built in the client device, at least identifying the downloaded content. Means for holding a content database including information and identification information of the fixed recording medium; identification information of the downloaded content; identification information of the fixed recording medium; and identification information of the client device. Means for sending to the server device, When the recording medium of the formula is exchanged, the identification information of the content recorded on the recording medium before the exchange is read from the content database, and the identification information of the read content and the identification information of the client device are read. Means for sending at least a re-download request to the server device, the server device comprising: at least the client device in which the identification information of the client device, the identification information of the downloaded content, and the content body are recorded Means for holding a download database including identification information of the fixed recording medium of the device; receiving the redownload request from the client device, referring to the download database, and redownloading without a download fee; Or discount consideration An information distribution system characterized by executing re-downloading by a computer. 24. The server device according to claim 23, wherein the server device and / or the client device includes at least identification information of the recording medium before replacement.
An information distribution system comprising a missing list for recording identification information of the re-downloaded content. 25. A server device for distributing contents and a client device are connected via a network, and the server device receives a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting. In the information distribution system that executes content distribution, the client device includes a recording unit that records a downloaded content body on a removable recording medium, at least identification information of the downloaded content, and the removable recording medium. Means for holding a content database including the identification information of the downloaded content, identification information of the downloaded content, identification information of the removable recording medium, and identification information of the client device to the server device, To the server device based on a user instruction Means for sending a re-download request including the identification information of the client device, the identification information of the content, and the identification information of the recording medium, for the content recorded on the recording medium, the server device comprising: Means for holding a download database including identification information of the client device, identification information of the downloaded content, and identification information of the fixed recording medium of the client device in which the content body is recorded; Means for receiving the re-download request from the device, referring to the download database, determining whether or not re-download without download fee or re-download with discount fee is possible, and executing the re-download. Characteristic information distribution Shin system. 26. The server according to claim 25, wherein the server device and / or the client device stores at least a missing list in which identification information of the recording medium and identification information of the content requested to be re-downloaded are recorded. An information distribution system, comprising: 27. A server device which is connected to a client device via a network and downloads the requested content in response to a download request from the client device on a condition of charging, comprising: Means for holding a record of purchase for each client device; and in response to a download request from the client device, referring to the client device that has requested the download of the record of purchase and held as a record of the purchase. Means for executing download without charge or download with discount when there is a request to download the content again. 28. A server device which is connected to a client device via a network and executes a download of requested content in response to a download request from the client device on a condition of accounting, wherein the downloaded content is A means for holding a record of purchase of content for each client device, and a download request from the client device is
When it indicates re-downloading of the once downloaded content, it is possible to check whether or not the record of the purchase is retained as a record of the purchase by referring to the client device requesting the re-download. A re-downloading means for performing re-downloading without consideration or re-downloading with discount consideration when the server apparatus receives a request. 29. A server device which is connected to a client device via a network and executes a download of requested content in response to a download request from the client device on a condition of charging, wherein the downloaded client device A download database including at least the identification information of the downloaded content, and information indicating whether or not the downloaded content itself exists on the client side; and the identification information of the client device from the client device; Upon receiving identification information and information indicating that the content body has been erased, the client of the content body for the corresponding content of the corresponding client device in the download database. Information indicating the presence or absence in the side,
Means for setting a state indicating that the content body does not exist; and information indicating whether or not the requested content is present on the client side for the requested content with reference to the download database in response to a download request from the client device. Means for performing re-downloading without consideration or re-downloading with discount consideration when the content body does not exist. 30. A server device which is connected to a client device via a network and downloads requested content in response to a download request from said client device on a condition of accounting, said client device having downloaded said client device. A download database including at least the identification information of the downloaded content, the identification information of the downloaded content, and information indicating whether or not the downloaded content itself exists on the client side; the identification information of the client device from the client device; and the erased content. Means for changing the information indicating the presence or absence of the downloaded content body on the client side to a state where the content does not exist, when the identification information and the information indicating that the content body has been deleted are received. When the download request from the client device indicates re-downloading of the downloaded content once, when the information indicating whether the content body of the download database exists on the client side is confirmed, and when it can be confirmed. And a re-downloading means for executing a download without consideration or a download with discount consideration. 31. A client device which is connected to a server device for distributing contents via a network and records and manages the content itself downloaded from the server device in response to a download request on a condition of accounting. Means for holding a record of purchase related to the downloaded content, and means for sending a request for re-downloading the content held in the record of purchase as a re-download request to the server device. Characteristic client device. 32. A recording means according to claim 31, wherein said means for recording said downloaded content main body on a recording medium, and when said downloaded content is read from said recording medium and reproduced, said reproduction is terminated. Means for automatically erasing the content body recorded on the recording medium. 33. A client device which is connected via a network to a server device for distributing content and records and manages the content itself downloaded from the server device in response to a download request on a condition of accounting. Storage means for storing the downloaded content body in a recording medium; and when the downloaded content body is erased from the recording medium, identification information of the client device, identification information of the erased content, And a means for notifying the server device of information indicating that the content body has been deleted, and a means for issuing a download request to the server device. 34. A client device which is connected to a server device for distributing contents via a network and records and manages the content itself downloaded from the server device in response to a download request on a condition of accounting. Storing means for storing the downloaded content body in a recording medium; a content database including at least information indicating the identification of the downloaded content and information indicating the presence or absence of the downloaded content body; and deleting the downloaded content body. When
Means for changing the information indicating the presence or absence of the erased content body in the content database to a state indicating that the content body does not exist; and Means for sending the content download request as a re-download request to the server device. 35. The method according to claim 34, wherein the downloaded content body is deleted.
A client device comprising: means for notifying the server device of the identification information of the client device, the identification information of the deleted content, and the information indicating that the content body has been deleted. 36. The method according to claim 34 or 35, wherein: means for displaying a list of downloaded contents based on the contents database; and information indicating the presence or absence of the contents body from the contents list is the contents body. Means for transmitting the re-download request for the selected content to the server device when a content in a state indicating that the content does not exist is selected and a download request is made, Client equipment. 37. The content according to claim 34 or claim 35, wherein when the reproduction instruction is issued, the content for which the reproduction instruction has been issued is based on information indicating whether or not the downloaded content body exists in the content database. When it is detected that the main body does not exist, the fact is notified to the user. Thereafter, when the user receives a re-download instruction, the re-download to the server device is performed for the content for which the reproduction instruction is given. A client device comprising means for sending a request. 38. A client device which is connected via a network to a server device for distributing contents and records and manages the content itself downloaded from the server device in response to a download request on a condition of accounting. Recording means for recording the downloaded content main body on a built-in fixed recording medium which is not detachable and attached, and content including at least identification information of the downloaded content and identification information of the fixed recording medium Means for holding a database; means for transmitting the identification information of the downloaded content, identification information of the fixed recording medium, and identification information of the own apparatus to the server device; Is recorded on the recording medium before the exchange from the content database. Means for reading out the identification information of the content that has been sent, and sending a re-download request to the server device including at least the read identification information of the content and the identification information of the own device. 39. The client device according to claim 38, further comprising a missing list in which at least the identification information of the recording medium before the replacement and the identification information of the re-downloaded content are recorded. 40. A client device which is connected to a server device for distributing contents via a network and records and manages the content itself downloaded from the server device in response to a download request on a condition of accounting. Recording means for recording the downloaded content body on a removable recording medium; and means for holding at least a content database with identification information of the downloaded content and identification information of the removable recording medium; Means for transmitting the identification information of the downloaded content, the identification information of the removable recording medium, and the identification information of the own device to the server device; For the recorded content, the identification information of the own device and the Means for sending a re-download request including content identification information and the recording medium identification information. 41. The client device according to claim 40, further comprising a missing list in which at least identification information of the recording medium and identification information of the content requested to be re-downloaded are recorded.