JP2002354232A - Information processing system, information processor, information processing method, and storage medium storing program to be read by computer for implementing such system, processor and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently protect copyright from various electronic watermark systems. SOLUTION: Each of supervisory organizations 101 to 104 embeds information of high tolerance, which corresponds to the organization itself, in input information as an electronic watermark by a common watermark embedding device 105 and uses one of watermark embedding devices 106 to 109 peculiar to the organization to embed other information. Common watermark embedding devices 105 and watermark embedding devices 106 to 109 peculiar to respective organizations communicate with each other through a network 110. Thus each supervisory organization can specify a pertinent embedding device or the like without providing embedding devices and extraction devices of various systems when finding out wrong copy information on the network.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is suitable for use in a case where copyright protection, forgery prevention, various information recording, etc. are performed by adding additional information to input information such as digital image data and digital audio data. The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing the information processing method and the information processing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, computers and networks have been remarkably developed, and various types of information such as character data, image data, audio data, and the like have been handled in computers and networks. Since such data is digital data, it is in an environment where it is possible to easily create a copy of data of the same quality. For this reason, in order to protect the copyright of such data, a process of embedding copyright information or user information as digital watermark information (hereinafter simply referred to as digital watermark) in image data or audio data is often performed. .

[0003] Here, the digital watermark is a technology in which image data and audio data are subjected to predetermined processing to secretly embed other information that cannot be recognized by human vision or hearing into these data. It is. By extracting this digital watermark from image data and audio data, copyright information, user information, identification information, and the like can be obtained, and illegal copies can be tracked.

The first condition required for such a digital watermark is that the embedded information cannot be perceived, that is, it can be embedded so that the quality of the original digital information is hardly degraded (quality). The second condition is that the information embedded in the digital information continues to remain, that is,
This means that embedded information is not lost even if it is edited or attacked by data compression or filtering (resistance). The third condition is that the information amount of the information to be embedded can be selected according to the use (information amount).

[0005] These conditions required for digital watermarking are as follows:
Generally, they have a trade-off relationship with each other. For example, when an attempt is made to realize a highly durable digital watermark, a relatively large quality deterioration occurs, and the amount of information to be embedded is often reduced.

Taking a multi-valued still image as an example, methods for embedding a digital watermark can be broadly classified into two methods: a method for embedding in a spatial domain and a method for embedding in a frequency domain. It has been known. As an example of a method of embedding in a spatial area, an IBM method (W. Bender, D. Gruh
l, N. Morimoto, Techniques f
or Data Hiding, "procededin
gsof the SPIE, San Jose C
A, USA, February 1995) and G.A. B. R
hoads, W.C. Linn: "Steganogram
hy method embedding embedded
ded ", USP Patent Number 5, 6
36, 292 and the like.

As an example of a method of embedding in the frequency domain, a method using discrete cosine transform is described in NTT.
(Nakamura, Ogawa, Takashima, "Digital watermarking in the frequency domain for copyright protection of digital images", S
In addition to CIS '97 -26A, January 1997), a method of defense college (Onishi, Oka, Matsui, "Watermark Signature Method for Images Using PN Sequence", SCIS'9726B , January 1997), and the method of Mitsubishi and Kyushu University using the discrete wavelet transform (Ishizuka, Sakai, Sakurai, "Experimental study on security and reliability of digital watermarking technology using wavelet transform") And SCIS '97 -26D, January 1997) and Matsushita's method ("Digital
Watermark-Robustness to Image Compression and Conversion Processing-", Inoue, Miyazaki, Yamamoto, Katsura, SCIS'9
8-3.2. A, January 1998).

In the above-described method, the digital watermark embedding process and the extraction process are in one-to-one correspondence, and are basically incompatible. In general, the method of embedding in the spatial domain has little quality degradation but low durability, and the method using frequency conversion is said to have relatively large quality degradation but high robustness. The characteristics are different for each method, such as a method with a small number of methods and a method with a good quality but a low tolerance.

Further, in order to protect the information embedded in these digital watermarks, the information indicating the algorithm, the embedding position and the amount of change (hereinafter referred to as a key) is often kept secret. This is to increase the resistance against a deliberate attack for removing a digital watermark by analyzing an algorithm, an embedding position, and the like.

On the other hand, in order to protect copyright efficiently,
It is conceivable to provide a monitoring organization that extracts digital watermarks and checks whether unauthorized copying has been performed. In such a monitoring organization, it is important to maintain the confidentiality of the digital watermarking method and the key in order to avoid the intentional attack.

[0011]

As described above, there are various types of digital watermarking systems according to their characteristics. Also,
There are many companies and organizations that use digital watermarks to prevent unauthorized copying and output of digital data. However, when those companies and organizations independently select a digital watermarking method and embed a digital watermark in the data, the embedding process and the extracting process of the digital watermarking method correspond one-to-one and are not compatible. The following problems occur.

Since the digital watermark extraction process must be performed for each system, it is difficult to perform a uniform inspection by one monitoring organization. When the inspection is performed by one monitoring organization in a unified manner, the monitoring organization needs to prepare all the digital watermark extraction methods, and the load is large. Surveillance agencies need to securely and strictly manage the keys corresponding to all extraction methods. If it is assumed that a monitoring institution is provided for each method, when an embedded watermark cannot be extracted, it cannot be determined whether a watermark of another method is included or the watermark has been destroyed by an attack. Here, one monitoring institution does not mean physically one, but refers to one system that is systematically or systematically determined by standardization or the country.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to efficiently protect a copyrighted work and the like with respect to various digital watermarking systems.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, in an information processing system according to the present invention, in an information processing system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected on a network, a first A first information processing apparatus provided with a first addition unit for adding one additional information by a first addition method; and a second information processing apparatus for adding second additional information to the input information by a second addition method. And a second information processing device provided with an additional means of the second type, the first information processing device and the second information processing device communicate via a network, and the first additional information is The information can be used to specify the additional method of (2).

In another information processing system according to the present invention, in an information processing system in which a plurality of information processing devices are connected on a network, a first
A first extracting means for extracting the first additional information added by the adding method of the above, and a specifying means for specifying the second adding method based on the extracted first additional information.
And a second information processing apparatus provided with second adding means for adding second additional information to the input information by the second adding method, wherein the first information The processing device and the second information processing device communicate with each other via a network.

Further, in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, a first adding means for adding the first additional information to the input information by the first adding method, and a second adding means for the input information. Second adding information by the second adding method
And a communication means for communicating with another information processing apparatus provided with the additional means, so that the first additional information is information capable of specifying the second additional method. Further, in another information processing apparatus according to the present invention, a first extracting means for extracting the first additional information added by the first adding method from the input information; A network for providing a second addition method based on a second addition method based on the second addition information to the input information by the second addition method; And a communication means for communicating via the Internet.

Further, in the information processing method according to the present invention, a step of adding the first additional information to the input information by the first additional method, and a step of adding the second additional information to the input information by the second additional information. And a step of communicating with another information processing apparatus provided with an adding means for adding by the adding method of (1). Further, in another information processing method according to the present invention, the first information added from the input information by the first addition method.
Extracting the additional information, identifying the second additional method based on the extracted first additional information, and adding the second additional information to the input information. And a step of communicating via a network with another information processing apparatus provided with an adding means for adding the information.

In the storage medium according to the present invention,
A step of adding first additional information to input information by a first additional method, and another information provided with additional means for adding second additional information to the input information by a second additional method. A program for executing an information processing method including a step of communicating with a processing device is stored.

Further, in another storage medium according to the present invention, the first storage medium added from the input information by the first addition method.
Extracting the additional information, identifying the second additional method based on the extracted first additional information, and adding the second additional information to the input information. And a program for performing an information processing method including a step of communicating via a network with another information processing apparatus provided with an adding unit for adding the information.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a part relating to embedding of a digital watermark in an information processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In particular, it shows a system having a digital watermarking scheme unique to each monitoring organization and a common digital watermarking scheme. Here, the common digital watermarking scheme is a digital watermarking scheme defined by standardization or related organizations, and the features thereof will be described later.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 101 to 104 denote institutions which perform an embedding process using different unique digital watermarking schemes. In addition, each 105 in each of the institutions 101 to 104
Are common watermark embedding devices that perform embedding processing according to a predetermined common digital watermarking method.
Are A to D watermark embedding devices that perform embedding processing by a unique digital watermarking method defined for each of the organizations 101 to 104. Reference numeral 110 denotes a network connecting the respective organizations. Although not shown, each of the organizations 101 to 104 has communication means for connecting to the network 110.

The common digital watermarking method performed by the common watermark embedding device 105 has the following features. (1) A common digital watermark realizes a digital watermark with a relatively small amount of information and a high robustness. (2) A common digital watermark can be extracted without a key or with a common key. (3) The common digital watermark embeds at least information for specifying each digital watermark scheme or an institution that has embeded the digital watermark scheme. (4) The common digital watermark has resistance to digital watermark embedding of each organization.

Various schemes are conceivable as digital watermarks having the above characteristics. The following scheme is shown as an example having a high level of durability. When the input data that is a copyrighted work is a still image, the image data of the still image is divided into 8 × 8 pixel blocks, and each block has a DCT (Discrete).
ateCosine Transform). Hereinafter, the block subjected to the DCT is referred to as D
One coefficient of CT coefficient block and DCT coefficient block is DC
T coefficient, set of DCT coefficient blocks of one image is DC
It is called a T coefficient block group.

FIG. 7A shows the watermark embedding device.
FIG. 7B shows the watermark extraction device. In the watermark embedding device shown in FIG. 9A, an input image x is subjected to DCT conversion by an image converter 701, and a DCT coefficient block group as an output thereof is used as an input of a digital watermark embedding device 702.
The digital watermark embedding unit 702 sets one DCT coefficient block to be embedded in the input DCT coefficient block group.
One is embedded and one embedded bit is embedded by quantizing one DCT coefficient in the DCT coefficient block. At this time, the size of the quantization step determines the embedding strength, and the size of the quantization step and the position of the selected DCT coefficient correspond to the key information.

As an example, the DCT at coordinates u, v
The coefficient value is represented by s {u, v} and the quantization step is represented by h, and 0 or 1 of the digital watermark bit is embedded according to the following rule. a · h <s {u, v} ≦ (a + 1) · h (1)

When the embedded bit = 0, c ｛u, v｝ = b · h + h / 2 (b is an even number of a or a + 1) (2) When the embedded bit = 1, c ｛u, v｝ = B · h + h / 2 (b is the odd number of a or a + 1)... (3) is performed, and c {u, v} is the coefficient after embedding.

Finally, the block group is converted into an inverse transformer 703.
Using IDCT (Inverse DCT: inverse DCT)
To return to a block of 8 × 8 pixels and reconstruct it. Thereby, the image y in which the digital watermark is embedded
Is obtained.

When extracting a digital watermark, FIG.
In the watermark extraction device (b), the image y is input to the image converter 701, and a DCT is performed by performing the same DCT.
The DCT coefficient embedded using the key information is selected from the coefficient block group by the digital watermark extractor 705, and b which satisfies b · h <c {u, v} ≦ (b + 1) · h (4) When b is an even number, the embedded bit is determined to be 0, and when it is odd, it is determined to be 1.

The following method is considered to enhance the durability in this embedding method. When one DCT coefficient to be embedded is selected from the DCT coefficient blocks, the tolerance can be increased by selecting a DCT coefficient representing a low frequency component. This is because high-frequency components are easily lost by image compression and various filtering processes, while low-frequency components are not easily lost.

In the above embedding method, the selected D
Although one CT coefficient block and one DCT coefficient to be embedded have been described, the tolerance can be increased by increasing the number. This is one D per bit
If only embedded in CT coefficients, the value is likely to be lost due to image compression or various filtering processes, but if the same bit is embedded in a plurality of DCT coefficients, most of them may be lost. It is because it becomes less.

The tolerance can also be enhanced by performing error correction coding on the embedded bits themselves. This is because even if some of the embedded bits are lost, they can be restored by the error correction code. Here, it is clear that the higher the correction capability of the error correction code used, the stronger the tolerance. However, although these techniques increase the robustness, the quality of the image deteriorates because the low frequency components of the image are changed or many bits are embedded. Also, to embed the same bits using many DCT coefficients,
The number of bits that can be embedded is often small. If the reverse operation is performed, a digital watermarking technique with low image quality but with high image quality and a large amount of information that can be embedded can be realized.

The technique for enhancing the above-described resistance is based on DC.
Not only the method using T, but also the method using the wavelet transform or the Fourier transform and the method of directly operating the luminance value of the pixel have the same tendency.

Next, the embedding procedure will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the information to be embedded by the common digital watermarking method is set to 00, 01, 10, and 11 for simplicity.
Although two bits of information specifying each of the institutions 101 to 104 are used, it is obvious that other information can be set.

Each of the institutions 101 to 104 performs the above-mentioned (1) on data distributed via a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, or a memory card, or a communication medium such as a network 110 such as the Internet.
Strongly resistant common watermark embedding device 1 having the features of (1) to (4)
The bit corresponding to the own institution is embedded using 05. After that, the A to D watermark embedding devices 106 to 109 unique to each institution.
Embed other information using. Also, the digital watermarking method of a certain institution does not interfere with the common digital watermarking method,
That is, the embedding order can be reversed as long as the method does not affect the common electronic watermark information by the electronic watermark embedding process. The information to be embedded may be different for each institution, or may be the same information. Information to be embedded for each institution may be various information such as copyright information, user information, and identification information.

FIG. 2 shows a part relating to extraction of a digital watermark in the first embodiment. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 200 denotes one unified monitoring agency;
Is a digital watermark monitoring organization corresponding to each of the organizations 101 to 104. The unified monitoring institution 200 operates the common watermark extraction device 2 corresponding to the common watermark embedding device 105 of FIG.
Each of the organizations 201 to 204 has an A to D watermark extraction device 206 to 209 using an electronic watermark method corresponding to the A to D watermark embedding device 106 to 109 in FIG. Reference numeral 210 denotes a network connecting the institutions 201 to 204. Although not shown, each of the institutions 201 to 204 has a communication unit connected to the network 210. This network 210 is the network 11 of FIG.
It may be the same as 0.

The procedure for extracting a digital watermark in FIG. 2 will be described below. The unified institution 200 includes storage media such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, and a memory card,
It monitors data distributed through a communication medium such as the network 210 such as the Internet and distributed or used on the network 210. Network 2
In the case where data considered to be an illegal copy is found or reported on 10, the common watermark extractor 205 is used to extract embedded information using a common digital watermark. This identifies the institution or method that performed the embedding and sends the data to the identified institution.

The institution to which the data is sent extracts various information embedded using A to D watermark extraction devices 206 to 209 of the digital watermarking system unique to each institution.

According to the present embodiment, even in a system in which different electronic systems are used in a mixed manner, each monitoring organization does not prepare its own electronic watermark embedding unit and extraction unit in many systems, and can prepare its own electronic watermark. Only the embedding part and the extracting part based on the watermarking method need to be managed, and the monitoring of unauthorized copying can be realized efficiently.

Further, the security when a watermark cannot be found can be improved for the following reasons. That is, when the embedded watermark information cannot be found, it is determined whether the data has no watermark information from the beginning, whether a watermark is embedded by another method, or whether the watermark information is destroyed by an attack. It is difficult. However, since the common digital watermarking method has high resistance, it is difficult to destroy the watermark information by attack.

Therefore, when the watermark information is extracted by the common digital watermark by the first procedure, the possibility that the watermark information was not included from the beginning is excluded. next,
The digital watermarking scheme unique to each institution is optional, but when embedding detailed information, the amount of information to be embedded is large, and the digital watermarking scheme is relatively weak in which emphasis is placed on suppressing quality deterioration. Therefore, when the watermark information cannot be extracted by the digital watermark method unique to each organization after the watermark information is extracted by the common digital watermark method, it can be said that the digital watermark information is destroyed by the attack.

Accordingly, it can be said that the overall security is improved by this system as compared with the case where each organization independently uses the unique digital watermarking method. In this embodiment, 4
Although an example with one institution has been described, it is clear that the same applies to any number of institutions.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 shows a part relating to embedding of a digital watermark in an information processing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment,
This is a case where embedding by the common watermark embedding device 105 is performed only by the common embedding institution 300. 301-304
Are the organizations having only the A to D watermark embedding apparatuses 106 to 109 based on the original digital watermarking system except for the common watermark embedding apparatus 105 from the respective organizations 101 to 104 in FIG. 1, and 110 is a network. .

As the common embedding institution 300, a unified copyright management institution such as JASRAC for a music work can be considered.
A form such as a store that sells a copyrighted work managed by the common embedding institution 300 to a user is conceivable, but is not specified in the present embodiment, but a common and durable digital watermarking method and a unique The present invention includes all techniques for selectively using the digital watermarking method according to the application.

In this case, each of the institutions 301 to 304 (including individual authors) registers a literary work in the institution 300 and requests embedding by the common watermark embedding device 105. The institution 300 embeds predetermined information by a common digital watermarking method, and returns the information to each of the institutions 301 to 304. Each organization 30
Reference numerals 1 to 304 denote A's using their own digital watermarking methods.
Various information is embedded using the D embedding devices 106 to 109.

The advantages of this embodiment over the first embodiment are as follows. In the first embodiment, in order for each organization to embed by a common digital watermarking method,
The common digital watermarking scheme and its key need to be disclosed to each organization. For security, it is better to keep the common digital watermarking scheme and key secret, but if one of the institutions cannot keep that secret, the overall security cannot be maintained. However, in the present embodiment, it is not necessary to disclose a common digital watermarking scheme to each of the institutions 301 to 304, so that security is improved.

Further, a form that is integrated with the first embodiment is also conceivable. For example, in FIG.
Is a common watermark embedding device 105 as in the first embodiment.
It is assumed that In this case, the common watermark embedding device 10
5 have the same processing as in the present embodiment, but the institutions 101 and 102 having the common watermark embedding device 105 embed predetermined information by a common digital watermarking method in the first embodiment. It can be done in its own institution as in the form.

FIG. 4 shows a part relating to extraction of a digital watermark in the information processing system according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 400 denotes one unified monitoring agency,
Common extraction device 20 corresponding to common watermark embedding device 105
5 and A to D extraction devices 206 to 2 corresponding to A to D embedding devices 106 to 109 using the digital watermarking method unique to each institution.
09. 210 is a network. Although not shown, it is assumed that each of the engines 101 to 104 or 301 to 304 in FIG. 1 or 3 is connected to the network 210.

The procedure for extracting a digital watermark in FIG. 4 will be described below. The institution 400 monitors data that is distributed via a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, or a memory card, or a communication medium such as a network 210 such as the Internet, and is distributed or used in the network 210. When data considered to be an illegal copy is found or reported on the network 210, the common watermark embedding device 205 is used to extract information embedded by a common digital watermark. This identifies the institution or method that performed the implantation. Next, the embedded various information is extracted using the specified institution-specific electronic watermarking method extraction device.

In the system according to the present embodiment, unauthorized copying can be monitored by only one unified monitoring organization. Such a unified monitoring organization can be realized if the digital watermarking scheme unique to each organization is finite. In addition, since a digital watermark scheme unique to each institution is specified by a common digital watermark scheme, it is not necessary to trial and error the digital watermark scheme unique to each institution.

However, the unified monitoring organization does not need to prepare a digital watermarking method unique to each organization from the beginning.
When the embedding organization is specified by the watermark information based on the common digital watermarking scheme, the organization can be contacted and provided with a means for extracting the digital watermarking scheme unique to each organization and a key.

(Third Embodiment) FIGS. 5 and 6 show the third embodiment.
2 shows a portion related to extraction of a digital watermark corresponding to. FIG.
, 501 to 504 are common watermark embedding devices 105
, And A to D extraction devices 206 to 209 corresponding to the A to D embedding devices 106 to 109 using the digital watermarking method unique to each organization.

The procedure for extracting a digital watermark in FIG. 5 will be described below. Each of the institutions 501 to 504 is distributed via a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, or a memory card, or a communication medium such as a network 210 such as the Internet, and monitors data distributed or used in the network 210. I do. When data considered to be an illegal copy is found or reported on the network 210, the common watermark extracting device 205 is used to extract embedded information based on a common digital watermark. As a result, the institution or method in which the embedding is performed is specified, and if it is specified as the method of the institution, extraction is performed by a watermark extraction device unique to the institution. In the case of another institution, processing such as notification or destruction is performed according to the situation.

In the system according to the present embodiment, it is possible to monitor unauthorized copying without having a unified monitoring organization.
This system is compatible with both the embedded systems of FIG. 1 and FIG. Also, it is clear that FIGS. 2 and 4 can be applied to both the embedded systems of FIGS. 1 and 3.

Further, a configuration in which FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 are combined is also conceivable. For example, in FIG. 2 of the first embodiment, the institution 200 has all the AD watermark extraction devices like the institution 300 of the second embodiment, and
02 is a common watermark extraction device 2 as in the third embodiment.
05. In this case, the institutions 203 and 204 without the common watermark extraction device 205 perform the same processing as in the first embodiment, but the institutions 300 and 201 and 202 with the common watermark extraction device 205 use the common watermark extraction device. The extraction of the watermark information can be performed in the own institution as in the second and third embodiments. Including the above, the present invention includes all techniques for selectively using the digital watermarking scheme that is common and has high durability and the digital watermarking scheme unique to each institution according to the application.

(Fourth Embodiment) In the embedding system shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, each institution has an extraction device corresponding to the embedding device, and a configuration in which extraction inspection of watermark information is performed before embedding is also possible. It is. As the present embodiment, each of the above-described embodiments and a combination thereof can be considered. Here, the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 6 as an example. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 600 denotes a common embedding institution, which includes a common watermark embedding device 105 and a corresponding common watermark extracting device 205. Reference numerals 601 to 604 denote A to D watermark embedding devices 1 using a digital watermarking method unique to each institution.
It is an organization having 06-109 and corresponding A-D watermark extraction devices 206-209.

Each of the organizations 601 to 604 (including individual authors) registers a literary work in the organization 600 and requests embedding by the common watermark embedding apparatus 105. Before using the common watermark embedding device 105, the institution 600 uses the common watermark extraction device 205 to confirm that the work is not an illegal copy. For example, if the common watermark extraction device 205 finds that a common digital watermark is already embedded in the work, it checks with the requestor or the organization specified by the watermark information. If there is no problem, the common watermark embedding apparatus 105 returns predetermined information to the embedding request source. The requester is the institution's own embedding device 106 ~
Various kinds of information are embedded by using 109.

According to the system of the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent a digital watermark from being overwritten due to a fraudulent report by a client. Also, an efficient system can be realized by using the same embedding organization and extraction organization.

Next, a storage medium according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present invention is not limited to the case where the systems and devices described in the above embodiments are combined, and the above embodiments are implemented in a computer (CPU or MPU) in the system or the devices. The present invention also includes a case in which the above-described embodiments are implemented by supplying software program codes for operating the various devices according to the program codes.

In this case, the program code of the software implements the functions of the above embodiments, and the program code itself and means for supplying the program code to the computer, specifically, The storage medium storing the program code is included in the scope of the present invention.

As a storage medium for storing such a program code, for example, a semiconductor memory such as a ROM or a RAM, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, or a nonvolatile memory card is used. be able to.

In addition to the case where the computer controls various devices according to only the supplied program code to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments, the above-described program code operates on the computer. Such a program code is also included in the scope of the present invention when the above embodiments are implemented in cooperation with an operating system (OS) or other application software.

Further, after the program is stored in the memory provided in the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or the function storage unit executes one of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code. The scope of the present invention also includes a case where each of the above-described embodiments is implemented by performing all or part of the processes.
According to the above-described embodiment, even in a system in which different electronic methods are used in a mixed manner, the monitoring organization efficiently monitors unauthorized copying without preparing many digital watermark embedding devices and extracting devices. be able to. In addition, the security in the case where the digital watermark cannot be found can be improved as compared with the case where each digital watermark method is used alone.

[0063]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily know by which additional method the additional information added to the input information is added. Therefore, for example, the monitoring organization can specify the additional method to which the additional information has been added by extracting the additional information from the input information, and as a result, the extraction process using the extraction methods corresponding to the plurality of additional methods can be performed. Since it is possible to specify the additional method without performing this, it is possible to obtain an effect that the distribution of the input information can be monitored efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a portion related to embedding of a digital watermark in an information processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a part relating to extraction of a digital watermark in the information processing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a part related to embedding of a digital watermark in an information processing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a part relating to extraction of a digital watermark in an information processing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a part relating to extraction of a digital watermark in an information processing system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a portion related to embedding and extracting a digital watermark in an information processing system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a digital watermark embedding device and an extracting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 to 104 monitoring organizations 106 to 109 A to D watermark embedding devices 110 network 200 unified monitoring organizations 201 to 204 monitoring organizations 205 common watermark extraction devices 206 to 209 A to D watermark extraction devices 210 networks 300 common embedding institutions 301 to 101 304 monitoring agency 400 unified monitoring agency 501-504 monitoring agency 600 common embedding agency 601-604 monitoring agency 701 image converter 702 digital watermark embedding device 703 image inverse converter 705 digital watermark extractor

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] August 29, 2002 (2002.8.2
9)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0014

[Correction method] Change

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[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, in an information processing system according to the present invention, in an information processing system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected on a network, a first A first information processing apparatus provided with a first adding means for adding one additional information by a predetermined adding method, and a second information processing apparatus for adding second additional information to the input information by a second adding method The first information processing apparatus and the second information processing apparatus communicate via the network, and the first additional information is stored in the second information processing apparatus. 2 is information that can specify the additional method, and can be extracted from the input information by an extraction method corresponding to the predetermined additional method.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0015

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

In the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, first additional means for adding first additional information to input information by a predetermined additional method is provided, and the first additional information is added by the first additional means. In the input information, the second additional information is added by the second additional method in the second information processing apparatus, and the first additional information is information that can specify the second additional method. The input information can be extracted by an extraction method corresponding to the predetermined addition method.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0016

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Further, in another information processing apparatus according to the present invention, a first extracting means for extracting first additional information from input information by an extracting method corresponding to a predetermined adding method,
Specifying means for specifying a second additional method of adding the second additional information to the input information based on the first additional information extracted by the first extracting means; and specifying the second additional method by the specifying means. Transfer means for transferring the input information to a second information processing device via a network based on a second addition method, wherein the second information processing device
And a second extracting means for extracting the second additional information from the input information by an extracting method corresponding to the adding method.

[Procedure amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0017

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Further, in the information processing method according to the present invention, the step of adding the first additional information to the input information by a predetermined additional method, and the step of adding the input information to which the first additional information is added to the second information Transferring the data to a processing device, wherein the first additional information is information capable of specifying a second additional method, and can be extracted from the input information by an extraction method corresponding to the predetermined additional method, The second information processing apparatus has a step of adding second additional information to the input information by the second addition method.

[Procedure amendment 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0018

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0018] In another information processing method according to the present invention, a step of extracting first additional information from input information by an extraction method corresponding to a predetermined additional method, and a step of extracting the first additional information from the input information. Specifying a second additional method by adding second additional information to the input information based on the input information, and transferring the input information to a second information processing device based on the specified second additional method. And the second step.
Is characterized by having a step of extracting the second additional information from the input information by an extraction method corresponding to the second additional method.

[Procedure amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0019

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

In the storage medium according to the present invention,
A step of adding the first additional information to the input information by a predetermined additional method, and a step of transferring the input information to which the first additional information has been added to the second information processing apparatus, The additional information is information that can specify a second additional method, and can be extracted from the input information by an extraction method corresponding to the predetermined additional method. The above input information is added to the
A program for executing an information processing method having a step of adding additional information. Further, in another storage medium according to the present invention, a first adding method and an extracting method corresponding to the first adding method may be used to extract the first information from the input information.
Extracting the additional information, identifying the second additional method of adding the second additional information to the input information based on the extracted first additional information, Transferring the input information to a second information processing device based on the addition method of the second information processing device. A program for executing an information processing method having a step of extracting the additional information is stored.

[Procedure amendment 8]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0048

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

The procedure for extracting a digital watermark in FIG. 4 will be described below. The institution 400 monitors data that is distributed via a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk, or a memory card, or a communication medium such as a network 210 such as the Internet, and is distributed or used in the network 210. When data considered to be an illegal copy is found or reported on the network 210, the common watermark extracting device 205 is used to extract embedded information based on a common digital watermark. This identifies the institution or method that performed the implantation. Next, the embedded various information is extracted using the specified institution-specific electronic watermarking method extraction device.

[Procedure amendment 9]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0063

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0063]

As described above, according to the present invention, the second additional information is added to the input information by the first additional information extracted from the input information by the extraction method corresponding to the predetermined additional method. Since it is possible to specify what kind of addition method the second addition method is, and to efficiently extract the second addition information, it is possible to monitor the distribution of the input information without any trouble. Can be Further, according to the present invention, a first information processing apparatus for adding first additional information to input information by a predetermined additional method, and a second information processing apparatus for adding second additional information to a second additional method. Since the information processing device is provided independently, even when there are a plurality of second addition methods, it is not necessary for one information processing device to manage a predetermined addition method and a plurality of second addition methods. The effect that the load on the information processing device of the above can be reduced.

[Procedure amendment 10]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 5

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 5

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. An information processing system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected on a network, the information processing system further comprising a first adding unit for adding first additional information to input information by a first adding method. A first information processing apparatus, and a second information processing apparatus provided with a second adding unit for adding second additional information to the input information by a second adding method, wherein the first information An information processing system, wherein a processing device communicates with the second information processing device via a network, and the first additional information is information that can specify the second additional method. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first additional information is information capable of specifying the second information processing device. 3. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the first addition method uses secret information common to each information processing apparatus. 4. The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the secret information is a position of the first additional information or a change amount with respect to the first additional information. 5. An information processing system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected on a network, wherein first extraction means for extracting first additional information added by a first addition method from input information, and A first information processing apparatus provided with specifying means for specifying a second additional method based on the obtained first additional information, and a second additional method for converting the second additional information to the input information. And a second information processing apparatus provided with a second adding means for adding the information by the method described above, wherein the first information processing apparatus and the second information processing apparatus communicate via a network. Processing system. 6. The information processing system according to claim 5, wherein the first additional information is information capable of specifying the second information processing device. 7. The information processing system according to claim 5, further comprising a transmission unit that transmits the input information based on the specified second addition method. 8. The information processing system according to claim 5, further comprising a reporting unit for reporting based on the specified second addition method. 9. A method according to claim 8, further comprising a second extracting unit for extracting the second additional information from the input information, wherein only one of the first additional information and the second additional information is extracted from the input information. 6. The information processing system according to claim 5, wherein when is extracted, it is determined that the input information has been attacked. 10. A first adding means for adding first additional information to input information by a first adding method, and adding second additional information to said input information by a second adding method. And a communication means for communicating with another information processing apparatus provided with a second addition means for performing the first addition information, wherein the first additional information is information capable of specifying the second addition method. Information processing device. 11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said first additional information is information capable of specifying said another information processing apparatus. 12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said first addition method uses secret information shared with said another information processing apparatus. 13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the secret information is a position of the first additional information or an amount of change with respect to the first additional information. 14. A first extracting means for extracting first additional information added by a first adding method from input information, and a second adding method based on the extracted first additional information. Specifying means for specifying; and communication means for communicating via a network with another information processing apparatus provided with second adding means for adding second additional information to the input information by the second adding method. An information processing apparatus comprising: 15. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said first additional information is information capable of specifying said another information processing apparatus. 16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a transmission unit that transmits the input information to the another information processing apparatus based on the specified second addition method. 17. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a reporting unit that reports to the other information processing apparatus based on the specified second addition method. 18. A second extracting means for extracting the second additional information from the input information, wherein only one of the first additional information and the second additional information is extracted from the input information. 15. The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein when is extracted, it is determined that the input information has been attacked. 19. A method for adding first additional information to input information by a first additional method, and an adding means for adding second additional information to the input information by a second additional method. A step of communicating with another provided information processing apparatus. 20. A step of extracting the first additional information added by the first additional method from the input information, and a step of specifying the second additional method based on the extracted first additional information. A step of communicating, via a network, with another information processing apparatus provided with an adding means for adding the second additional information to the input information by the second adding method. Processing method. 21. A step of adding first additional information to input information by a first additional method, and an adding means of adding second additional information to the input information by a second additional method. A storage medium storing a computer-readable program for executing an information processing method provided with a step of communicating with another provided information processing apparatus. 22. A step of extracting the first additional information added by the first additional method from the input information, and a step of specifying the second additional method based on the extracted first additional information. A step of communicating, via a network, with another information processing apparatus provided with an adding means for adding the second additional information to the input information by the second adding method. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer readable program.