JP2003208185A - System, device and method for contents distribution, and contents acquisition terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely prevent the illegal utilization of contents data. <P>SOLUTION: In a musical contents distribution system 1, a musical contents distribution server 7, when receiving the distribution request of musical contents from a first acquisition terminal 2, performs charging processing according to the distribution request, generates transfer limiting information according to the contents of the charging processing, and distributes the generated transfer limiting information and the musical contents according to the distribution request as the musical contents with a transfer limit. When acquiring the musical contents with the transfer limit distributed from the server 7, the terminal 2 stores the acquired musical contents with the transfer limit in a RAM 12. In the case of transferring the musical contents with the transfer limit stored in the RAM 12, the terminal 2 judges whether the musical contents with the transfer limit can be transferred or not on the basis of the transfer limiting information of the musical contents with the transfer limit, and restricts the transfer of the transfer limiting information of the musical contents based on the result of decision. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a content distribution system, a content distribution device, a content distribution method and a content acquisition terminal, and is applied to a music content distribution system for distributing a music content desired by a user from a music content distribution server to a mobile phone. And is suitable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a music content distribution system for distributing a music content desired by a user from a music content distribution server holding a plurality of kinds of music contents to a mobile phone.

[0003]

By the way, in the music content distribution system having such a configuration, once the music content is distributed from the music content distribution server to the mobile phone, the music content can be managed by the content distribution side. Since it is impossible, it is difficult to prevent illegal duplication and transfer of music contents by the user of the mobile phone.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and intends to propose a content distribution system, a content distribution device, a content distribution method, and a content acquisition terminal which can surely prevent illegal use of content data. It is a thing.

[0005]

In order to solve the problems, according to the present invention, in a content distribution system including a content distribution device and a content acquisition terminal, the content distribution device distributes the content from the content acquisition terminal. When the request is accepted, the charging process according to the distribution request is performed, the transfer restriction information is generated according to the content of the charging process, and the generated transfer restriction information and the content according to the distribution request are transferred to the transfer restricted content. The content acquisition terminal issues a content distribution request to the content distribution apparatus, and when the transfer restricted content distributed from the content distribution apparatus is acquired in response to the distribution request, the acquired transfer restricted content is acquired. Is stored in the storage means, and the transfer restriction stored in the storage means is stored. When transferring the content, it is judged based on the transfer restriction information of the transfer restricted content whether or not the transfer restricted content can be transferred, and the transfer restriction of the transfer restricted content is made based on the judgment result. By doing so, the content acquisition terminal
It is possible to transfer the content acquired from the content distribution device only within the restriction range defined in the transfer restriction information.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

(1) Overall Configuration of Music Content Distribution System In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a music content distribution system to which the present invention is applied as a whole, and mobile phones 2 and 3 are wirelessly connected to a base station 4, By connecting to the public line network 5 via the base station 4, various data communications can be performed with each other.

The mobile phones 2 and 3 are adapted to perform various data communications with the music content distribution server 7 connected to the Internet 6 via the public network 5, and the Internet 6 is also available.
The electronic mails can be sent and received to and from each other via a mail server (not shown) connected to the.

The music content distribution server 7 holds a plurality of types of music contents in association with respective titles of music contents. For example, the mobile phone 2 connected to the Internet 6 requests the music contents of a specific title. Then, the music content corresponding to the requested specific title is distributed to the requesting mobile phone 2.

(1-1) Circuit Configuration of Mobile Phone Next, the circuit configuration of the mobile phone 2 will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the circuit configuration of the mobile phone 3 is the same as that of the mobile phone 2, and a description thereof will be omitted.

In the mobile phone 2, a CPU (Central Processing) for controlling the entire mobile phone 2 as a whole is provided.
ROM (Read Only Memory) 1 for Unit) 10
1. RAM (Random Access Memo) as a work area
ry) 12, a display unit 13 such as a liquid crystal display, an operation unit 14 including a plurality of types of operation keys, a microphone 1
5, the speaker 16 and the communication processing unit 17 are connected and configured.

The ROM 11 stores a basic program, an electronic mail program, a Web browser program, a music content transfer control program (described later) for controlling the transfer of music contents, and the like.

Therefore, the CPU 10 of the mobile phone 2 is
R various programs stored in M11
Various processings are executed by expanding the processing in the AM 12, and the processing result is displayed on the display unit 13.

For example, the CPU 10 of the mobile phone 2 controls the communication processing unit 17 in accordance with an operation command input via the operation unit 14 according to the basic program, so that various communication processes such as a calling process and an end call process are performed. To execute.

The CPU 10 of the mobile phone 2 controls the communication processing unit 17 and transmits / receives communication data via the antenna element 18 to perform various data communication with the music content distribution server 7 connected to the Internet 6. To do.

The CPU 10 of the mobile phone 2 has an operation unit 14
Upon recognizing that an operation for browsing a specific web page held by the music content distribution server 7 is performed via the, the web browser program requests the music content distribution server 7 for the web page, After receiving the Web page transmitted from the music content distribution server 7 in response to the request, display this on the display unit 13
It is designed to be displayed.

On the other hand, the CPU 10 of the mobile phone 2 regularly stores a mail box for storing the e-mail addressed to the mobile phone 2 in a mail server (not shown) connected to the Internet 6 according to the e-mail program. When it is checked that there is an e-mail with music contents attached to the mailbox, the e-mail is acquired and stored in the RAM 12.

Further, the CPU 10 of the mobile phone 2 uses the operation unit 14 to send an e-mail message or another mobile phone 3 for example.
When an e-mail creation operation is performed in which the e-mail address of is input as a destination, an e-mail addressed to another mobile phone 3 is generated according to the e-mail program.

Next, the CPU 10 of the mobile phone 2 attaches an arbitrary music content stored in, for example, the RAM 12 of the mobile phone 2 to the created e-mail addressed to the other mobile phone 3 via the operation unit 14. When it is recognized that the operation has been performed, the corresponding music content is read out from the RAM 12 in accordance with the operation, and is attached to the electronic mail addressed to the other mobile phone 3 that created it.

When the CPU 10 of the mobile phone 2 recognizes that an e-mail sending operation for sending an e-mail has been performed, the CPU 10 of the mobile phone 2 sends an e-mail addressed to another mobile phone 3 with an arbitrary music content attached. To do.

As described above, the mobile phone 2 is connected to the mobile phone 3
By attaching a music content to an electronic mail addressed to the mobile phone 2, any music content held by the mobile phone 2 can be transferred to the mobile phone 3.

(1-2) Circuit Configuration of Music Content Delivery Server Next, the circuit configuration of the music content delivery server 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the music content distribution server 7,
A RAM 22, a hard disk drive 23, and a network interface 24 are connected to a CPU 20 that controls the entire music content distribution server 7 via a bus 21.

The hard disk drive 23 includes a basic program, a WWW (World Wide Web) server program,
Stored in the music content distribution server 7 are various programs such as a user authentication program for authenticating a legitimate user and a music content distribution program (described later) for music content distribution processing.

CPU 20 of music content distribution server 7
Is configured to read various programs stored in the hard disk drive 23 as appropriate, expand the programs in the RAM 22, and execute the programs to control the circuit units of the music content distribution server 7 to execute various processes. .

In addition, in the hard disk drive 23,
A plurality of types of music contents are stored in association with respective titles of music contents.
Image information such as EG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) format and HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)
Various Web pages based on text information such as languages, music content price information (described later), and the like are also stored.

CPU 20 of music content distribution server 7
For example, when a specific web page is requested from the mobile phone 2, the web page corresponding to the request is read out from a plurality of types of web page groups stored in the hard disk drive 23 according to the WWW server program, and the web page is read. The data is transmitted to the requesting mobile phone 2 via the interface 24 and the Internet 6.

(2) Music Content Distribution Process Next, in the music content distribution system 1 according to the present invention, music desired by the user is transmitted from the music content distribution server 7 to the mobile phone (hereinafter referred to as a primary acquisition terminal) 2. The procedure for executing various processes executed by the music content distribution server 7 and the primary acquisition terminal 2 when distributing content will be described in accordance with the music content distribution processing procedure shown in FIG.

In step SP1, the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 recognizes that the operation for browsing the Web page in which the title list of the music content is written is performed through the operation unit 14, and the music content is distributed. The web page is requested to the server 7, and the process proceeds to the next step SP2.

When the CPU 20 of the music content distribution server 7 recognizes that the web page in which the title list of the music content is written is requested from the primary acquisition terminal 2 in step SP2, the CPU 20 reads the web page from the hard disk drive 23. After that, this is transmitted to the primary acquisition terminal 2 which is the request source, and the next step S
Move to P3.

In step SP3, when the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 receives the Web page from the music content distribution server, the CPU 10 displays the music content title list screen 100 as shown in FIG. Moves to step SP4.

Music content title list screen 1
In 00, the basic information display unit 101 displays an icon indicating the reception state of the radio wave and the remaining battery level.
In the music content title list display area 103 of the b-page content display unit 102, titles of a plurality of types of music content held as distribution targets by the music content distribution server are displayed for each category such as "classic" or "kayokyoku". A list is displayed, and titles of these music contents are displayed in a selectable state with an anchor.

In step SP4, the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 selects the title of the music content desired by the user, for example, the title "red dragonfly" of the music content via the operation unit 14, and selects the selected music content. The title "Red Dragonfly" is transmitted to the music content distribution server 7, and the process proceeds to the next step SP5.

In step SP5, the CPU 20 of the music content distribution server 7 stores the title "red dragonfly" of the music content received from the primary acquisition terminal 2 in the hard disk drive 23, and then drives the hard disk drive based on the title of the music content. The price for obtaining the selling price of the music content "Red Dragonfly" and the transfer right of the music content "Red Dragonfly" by searching the music content price information stored in advance in 23 (hereinafter referred to as the transfer right price) ) Is generated and a Web page based on the content of the recognition result is generated, and then this is transmitted to the primary acquisition terminal 2, and the process proceeds to the next step SP6.

Here, the music content price information is described by associating a plurality of types of music content titles held by the music content distribution server 7 with the selling price and transfer right price of each music content. The information is stored in the hard disk drive 23 of the music content distribution server 7 in advance.

The transfer right means, for example, that the primary acquisition terminal 2 that has acquired an arbitrary music content from the music content distribution server 7 acquires the acquired arbitrary music content.
It means a right that can be transferred to another information processing device such as a mobile phone 3 or a personal computer.

In step SP6, the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 makes the music content distribution server 7 access the Web
When the page is received, the music content purchase information setting screen 110 as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display unit 13 based on the page, so that the selling price and the transfer right price of the music content “Aka Dragonfly” are visually recognized by the user. Then, the process proceeds to the next step SP7.

Here, the music content purchase information setting screen 1
10, a music content price information display area 111
Shows the selling price "50 yen" and the transfer right price "30 yen / 1 right" of the music content "Aka Dragonfly" selected by the user. In the purchase information setting area 112, the user ID is input. A box 112A, a password input box 112B, and a transfer right number specification box 112C for specifying the number of transfer rights desired to be purchased are displayed, and at the bottom of the purchase information setting area 112, O is displayed.
A K button 113 and a cancel button 114 are displayed.

In step SP7, the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 uses the operation unit 14 to input the user ID input box 112A on the music content purchase information setting screen 110.
And the password input box 112B, for example, the user ID “Tar” that is given to the user in advance.
“O” and a password corresponding thereto are input by the user, and the transfer right number box desired by the user to be purchased, for example, the transfer right number “3” is input to the transfer right number designation box 112C, and then the OK button 113. When it is recognized that is clicked, the user ID, the password, and the transfer right number "3" are transmitted to the music content distribution server 7, and the process proceeds to the next step SP8.

When the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 recognizes that the cancel button 107 is clicked by the user for reasons such as canceling the purchase of the music content, the music content purchase information setting screen 110
Is terminated and no further processing is performed.

In step SP8, the CPU 20 of the music content distribution server 7 has the title “red dragonfly” of the music content already stored in the hard disk drive 23 and the user ID received from the primary acquisition terminal 2.
After associating “Taro” with the password and the transfer right number “3”, these are stored again in the hard disk drive 23.

The CP of the music content distribution server 7
U20 is a legitimate user who is registered in the music content distribution server by performing a user authentication process based on the user ID "Taro" stored in the hard disk drive 23 and the corresponding password according to the user authentication program. If you confirm that
In distributing the music content "Red Dragonfly", after calculating the amount to be charged to the user, a Web page based on the calculation result is generated and transmitted to the primary acquisition terminal 2, and the next step Move to SP9.

The CP of the music content distribution server 7
When the U20 determines that the user of the primary acquisition terminal 2 is an inappropriate user who is not registered in the music content distribution server, the subsequent charging process cannot be performed, and thus the music content cannot be distributed. Is transmitted to the primary acquisition terminal 2 and the subsequent processing is not executed.

In step SP9, when the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 receives the Web page transmitted from the music content distribution server 7, the CPU 13 of the music content purchase information confirmation screen 120 as shown in FIG. Is displayed, the total amount to be paid by the user is visually confirmed, and the process proceeds to the next step SP10.

Here, a music content purchase information confirmation screen 1
In FIG. 20, in the payment amount display area 121, the total amount to be paid by the user in acquiring the music content “red dragonfly” and a breakdown of the total amount are displayed, and at the bottom of the payment amount display area 121. To O
A K button 122 and a cancel button 123 are displayed.

In step SP10, the primary acquisition terminal 2
When the CPU 10 recognizes that the OK button 122 has been clicked by the user, the CPU 10 transmits a distribution request signal requesting distribution of the music content “red dragonfly”, and proceeds to the next step SP11.

When the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 recognizes that the user has clicked the cancel button 123 for reasons such as canceling the purchase of the music content, the CPU 10 terminates the display of the music content purchase information confirmation screen 120 and A distribution stop signal is transmitted to the music content distribution server 7. When the CPU 20 of the music content distribution server 7 receives the distribution stop signal from the primary acquisition terminal 2, the user ID “Taro” stored in the hard disk drive 23, the password, the transfer right number “3”, and the music content title “ "Red Dragonfly" is erased and the subsequent processing is not executed.

In step SP11, the CPU 20 of the music content distribution server 7 receives the distribution request signal from the primary acquisition terminal 2 in accordance with the music content distribution program, and accordingly, the total amount calculated in step SP8 is changed to the user ID "Taro". The billing process for charging the user corresponding to "(that is, the user of the primary acquisition terminal 2)" is executed, and the process proceeds to the next step SP12.

In step SP12, the CPU 20 of the music content distribution server 7 reads the music content corresponding to the title "red dragonfly" of the music content selected by the user from the hard disk drive 23 and transfers the transfer right number "3". Generate restriction information,
By generating the transfer-restricted music content having the structure shown in FIG. 8 by synthesizing the transfer restriction information and the music content, the music content is distributed to the primary acquisition terminal 2, and the process proceeds to the next step SP13.

In step SP13, the primary acquisition terminal 2
The CPU 10 acquires the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” distributed from the music content distribution server 7 and stores it in the RAM 12.

(3) Music Content Transfer Control Process The CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 executes the primary transfer of the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” stored in the RAM 12 as a storage means via the operation unit 14. When it is recognized that an operation for transferring to a mobile phone other than the acquisition terminal 2, for example, another mobile phone (hereinafter, referred to as a secondary acquisition terminal) 3, is performed, the music content is transferred according to the music content transfer control program. Start the transfer control process.

Here, the user of the primary acquisition terminal 2 attaches the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” to the electronic mail addressed to the secondary acquisition terminal 3 to attach the transfer-restricted music content to the primary acquisition terminal 3. The following description will be made by taking as an example the case of transferring from the second to the secondary acquisition terminal 3.

That is, the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2
The music content transfer control processing procedure RT1 shown in FIG. 9 is started from step SP21, and in step SP21, the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” acquired from the music content distribution server 7 is electronically addressed to the secondary acquisition terminal 3. When recognizing that the operation for attaching to the mail is performed, the transfer restriction information of the transfer-restricted music content is confirmed, and the process proceeds to the next step SP22.

In step SP22, the primary acquisition terminal 2
As a result of the confirmation in step SP21, the CPU 10 determines whether the number of transfer rights described in the transfer restriction information is larger than "0". If a negative result is obtained here, this means that the transfer-restricted music content is in a state in which transfer is not possible. At this time, the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 moves to next step SP23, and the title " After displaying the error message indicating that the transfer-limited music content of "Red Dragonfly" cannot be attached to an e-mail and transferred, the next step S
Move to P26, music content transfer control processing procedure RT1
To finish.

Thus, the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2
According to the music content transfer control program, even if the user performs an operation to attach the transfer-restricted music content of the title "Red Dragonfly" to the email addressed to the secondary acquisition terminal 3, the title "Red Dragonfly" If the number of transfer rights described in the transfer restriction information of the transfer-restricted music content of “0” is “0”, the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” is sent to the email to the secondary acquisition terminal 3. It is designed not to be attached. Therefore, at this time, the user of the primary acquisition terminal 3 receives the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” from the secondary acquisition terminal 3
Cannot be transferred to.

On the other hand, if a positive result is obtained in step SP22, this means that the transfer-restricted music content of the title "Red Dragonfly" can be transferred (in this case, the transfer right number "3", for example). In this case, the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 moves to next step SP24.

In step SP24, the primary acquisition terminal 2
CPU 10 of the value obtained by subtracting 1 from the transfer right number “3” described in the transfer control information of the transfer-limited music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” stored in the RAM 12 of the primary acquisition terminal 2, that is, The transfer control information is rewritten with the transfer right number "2", and the next step SP25.
Move to.

Thus, the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2
RAM according to the music content transfer control program
The transfer control is performed every time the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” stored in No. 12 is attached to an email addressed to the secondary acquisition terminal 3 or another personal computer (not shown). The transfer control information is rewritten with a value obtained by subtracting 1 from the number of transfer rights written as information. Therefore, the user of the primary acquisition terminal 2 has the number of times based on the transfer right number “3” purchased when the music content with transfer restriction of the title “Red Dragonfly” is acquired from the music content distribution server 7, that is, the transfer restriction only three times. The attached music content can be transferred to the secondary acquisition terminal 3, a personal computer, or the like.

In step SP25, the primary acquisition terminal 2
After copying the transfer-restricted music content of the title "Red Dragonfly" in which the transfer right number "0" is written in the transfer restriction information, the CPU 10 attaches it to the e-mail addressed to the secondary acquisition terminal 3, and then the step SP26. And the music content transfer control processing procedure ends.

After that, when the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 recognizes that the user has performed an e-mail transmission operation in accordance with the e-mail program, the transfer-restricted music content of the title "Red Dragonfly" is attached accordingly. The transmitted electronic mail addressed to the secondary acquisition terminal 3 is transmitted.

As a result, the CPU of the secondary acquisition terminal 3 receives the e-mail to which the transfer-restricted music content of the title "Red Dragonfly" is attached according to the e-mail program and stores it in the RAM. From 2, it is possible to acquire the transfer-limited music content of the title “Aka Dragonfly”.

Here, in the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” transferred from the RAM 12 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 to the RAM of the secondary acquisition terminal 3, the transfer right information “0” is described in the transfer restriction information. By doing so, it is possible to reliably prevent the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” from being retransferred from the secondary acquisition terminal 3 to another mobile phone other than the secondary acquisition terminal 3. Has been done.

(4) Operation and Effect With the above configuration, C of the music content distribution server 7
According to the music content distribution program, the PU 20 requests the music content “red dragonfly” desired by the user via the primary acquisition terminal 2, and accordingly, based on the selling price and the transfer right price of the music content “red dragonfly”. After calculating the total amount to be paid by the user, the billing process for charging the total amount to the user is executed.

Next, the CPU of the music content distribution server 7
20 indicates that, for example, if the user has purchased only the right to transfer the music content “Red Dragonfly”, the right “3”,
After generating the transfer restriction information in which the number of transfer rights "3" is written and synthesizing this with the music content "red dragonfly" desired by the user read from the hard disk drive 23, the title "red dragonfly" of the configuration shown in FIG. By generating the transfer-restricted music content of “” and delivering the generated transfer-restricted music content to the primary acquisition terminal 2 that is the request source, the transfer restriction of the title “Red Dragonfly” is applied to the primary acquisition terminal 2. Get music content.

The CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 is operated by the user to attach the transfer-restricted music content of the title "Red Dragonfly" stored in the RAM 12 to the electronic mail addressed to the secondary acquisition terminal 3. If you recognize that, according to the music content transfer control program,
It is determined whether or not the number of transfer rights described in the transfer restriction information of the transfer-restricted music content of the title "Red Dragonfly" is larger than "0". For example, the number of transfer rights described in the transfer restriction information is " If it is “3”, it is determined that the transfer-restricted music content can be transferred, and after copying the transfer-restricted music content in which the transfer right number “0” is described in the transfer restriction information, this is copied to the secondary acquisition terminal. By attaching it to the e-mail addressed to No. 3, the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” can be transferred to the secondary acquisition terminal 3.

Here, the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 follows the music content transfer control program to transfer the transfer-restricted music content of the title "Red Dragonfly" stored in the RAM 12 to the secondary acquisition terminal 3 or another personal computer (Fig. Each time it is attached to an electronic mail addressed to (not shown) or the like, the transfer control information is rewritten with a value obtained by subtracting 1 from the number of transfer rights described as the transfer control information.
Therefore, the user of the primary acquisition terminal 2 has the number of times based on the transfer right number “3” purchased when the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” is acquired from the music content distribution server, that is, the title “red” only three times. It is possible to transfer the transfer-limited music content of the “dragonfly” to the secondary acquisition terminal 3, a personal computer, or the like.

Next, when the CPU 10 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 recognizes that the user has performed an e-mail transmission operation according to the e-mail program, the transfer-restricted music content of the title "Red Dragonfly" is attached accordingly. Then, the electronic mail addressed to the secondary acquisition terminal 3 is transmitted.

Then, the CPU of the secondary acquisition terminal 3 receives the e-mail attached with the transfer-restricted music content of the title "Red Dragonfly" in accordance with the e-mail program, and R
By storing in the AM, the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Aka Dragonfly” can be acquired from the primary acquisition terminal 2.

Here, in the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” transferred from the RAM 12 of the primary acquisition terminal 2 to the RAM of the secondary acquisition terminal 3, the transfer right information “0” is written in the transfer restriction information. By doing so, it is possible to reliably prevent the transfer-restricted music content of the title “Red Dragonfly” from being retransferred from the secondary acquisition terminal 3 to a mobile phone other than the secondary acquisition terminal 3.

According to the above configuration, the primary acquisition terminal 2
The music content acquired from the music content distribution server 7 can be transferred only within the restriction range defined by the transfer restriction information.

(5) Other Embodiments In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the mobile phone (primary acquisition terminal) 2 and the mobile phone (secondary acquisition terminal) 3 as the content acquisition terminals. Although the present invention is not limited to this, the present invention is not limited to this, and as long as it can be connected to the music content distribution server 7 as a content distribution device through a predetermined network, the PDA (Pe
rsonal Digital Assistance), personal computer, and other various content acquisition terminals.

In the above embodiment, the case where the music content is transferred from the primary acquisition terminal 2 to the secondary acquisition terminal 3 by transmitting the e-mail with the music content attached has been described. Is not limited to this, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) service, etc.
The music content may be transferred from the primary acquisition terminal 2 to the secondary acquisition terminal 3 by various other methods.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the music content distribution server 7 distributes the transfer restriction information together with the music content to limit the number of times the music content can be transferred. The invention is not limited to this, and the music content distribution server 7 may limit the number of times the music content can be transferred, for example, by distributing a program for restricting the transfer together with the music content. .

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the transfer limit information is used to limit the number of times the music content can be transferred, but the present invention is not limited to this. The transfer destination of the music content, the transferable period of the music content, the period during which the music content can be used, or the like may be limited.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the transfer processing for transferring the music content is restricted by using the transfer restriction information has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the transfer restriction information is used. For example, R of the primary acquisition terminal 2
A cut-and-paste process such as deleting the music content stored in the AM 12 and transferring the music content to the RAM of the secondary acquisition terminal 3 or a CD-ROM (Comp.
It is also possible to limit the copy processing and the like transferred to the act Disc Read Only Memory).

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the transfer of music such as "kayokyoku" or "classical music" is restricted as the music content has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a warning is issued in a mobile phone. It is also possible to restrict the transfer of various contents such as music contents having a small capacity such as “ring melody” used as sounds, moving images, application programs, and the like.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when transferring the music content with transfer restriction from the primary acquisition terminal 2 to the secondary acquisition terminal 3, the transfer right number "0" is included in the transfer restriction information of the music content with transfer restriction. Although it has been described that the transfer-restricted music content is prevented from being re-transferred from the secondary acquisition terminal 3 to another mobile phone other than the secondary acquisition terminal 3, the present invention is not limited to this. When transferring the transfer-restricted music content from the primary acquisition terminal 2 to the secondary acquisition terminal 3, within the range of the number of transfer rights purchased by the user of the primary acquisition terminal 2, the transfer right information desired by the user is transferred to the transfer restriction information. It may be written in.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the hard disk drive 23 of the music content distribution server 7
The case where the music content distribution program and the music content transfer control program are pre-installed in the RAM 12 of the mobile phone 2 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the music content distribution program and the music content transfer control program are stored. For example, C
D-ROM, DVD-ROM (Digital Video Disc Rea
A music content distribution program and a music content transfer control program may be installed by playing a program storage medium such as a packaged medium such as d Only Memory), and a semiconductor memory in which an application program is temporarily or permanently stored. The music content distribution program and the music content transfer control program may be installed by playing back a program storage medium such as a magneto-optical disk.

As a means for storing the music content distribution program and the music content transfer control program in these program storage media, a local area network, wired or wireless communication media such as digital satellite broadcasting may be used, and a router, a modem, etc. The data may be stored by interposing various communication interfaces.

[0080]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a content distribution system including a content distribution device and a content acquisition terminal, when the content distribution device receives a content distribution request from the content acquisition terminal, Performs charging processing according to the distribution request, generates transfer restriction information according to the content of the charging processing, distributes the generated transfer restriction information and the content according to the distribution request as transfer restricted content, and acquires the content. The terminal issues a content distribution request to the content distribution apparatus, and when acquiring the transfer-restricted content distributed from the content distribution apparatus in response to the distribution request, stores the acquired transfer-restricted content in the storage means. , When transferring the content with transfer restriction stored in the storage means, By determining whether it is possible to transfer the transfer restricted content according based on the transfer restriction information of the transfer restricted content, and to perform the transfer limitations of the transfer restricted contents based on the determination result,
The content acquisition terminal can transmit the content acquired from the content distribution device only within the restriction range defined by the transfer restriction information, and thus can reliably prevent the unauthorized use of the content data.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a music content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a mobile phone.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a music content distribution server.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a music content distribution processing sequence.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a music content title list screen.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a music content purchase information setting screen.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a music content purchase information confirmation screen.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of transfer-restricted music content.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a music content transfer control processing procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Music content distribution system, 2, 3 ... Mobile phone, 7 ... Music content distribution server, 10 ... CP
U, 12 ... RAM, 17 ... Communication processing unit, 18 ... Antenna, 20 ... CPU, 24 ... Network interface, RT1 ... Music content transfer control procedure.

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A content distribution system comprising a content distribution device and a content acquisition terminal, wherein the content distribution device receives a distribution request for content from the content acquisition terminal, and a distribution request reception means for receiving the distribution request. Charging means for performing the charging process, and transfer restriction information for transferring the content from the content acquisition terminal according to the content of the charging process, and according to the generated transfer restriction information and the distribution request. And a distribution means for distributing the content as transfer-restricted content, wherein the content acquisition terminal makes the distribution request to the content distribution device,
An acquisition unit that acquires the transfer-restricted content distributed from the content distribution apparatus in response to the distribution request, a storage unit that stores the transfer-restricted content acquired by the acquisition unit, and a storage unit that stores the content in the storage unit. When transferring the transfer-restricted content, the determination means for determining whether or not the transfer-restricted content can be transferred based on the transfer restriction information of the transfer-restricted content, and the determination result of the determination means. A content distribution system comprising: a control unit that restricts transfer of the transfer-restricted content based on the above. 2. A distribution request accepting means for accepting a content distribution request from a content acquisition terminal, a charging means for performing a charging process according to the distribution request, and the content acquisition terminal for performing the charging process according to the content of the charging process. Content distribution characterized in that it includes transfer means for generating transfer restriction information when transferring content, and distributing the generated transfer restriction information and the content according to the distribution request as content with transfer restriction. apparatus. 3. A distribution request acceptance step of accepting a content distribution request from a content acquisition terminal, a charging step of performing a charging process according to the distribution request, and the content acquisition terminal from the content acquisition terminal according to the content of the charging process. A content distribution step of generating transfer restriction information when transferring the content, and distributing the generated transfer restriction information and the content according to the distribution request as the content with transfer restriction. Method. 4. An acquisition unit that makes a content distribution request to a content distribution apparatus and acquires the transfer control information and the content that are distributed as content with transfer restriction from the content distribution apparatus according to the distribution request. Storage means for storing the transfer-restricted content acquired by the acquisition means; and, when transferring the transfer-restricted content stored in the storage means, the transfer based on the transfer restriction information of the transfer-restricted content. A content acquisition terminal, comprising: a judgment means for judging whether or not the restricted content can be transferred, and a control means for restricting the transfer of the restricted content based on the judgment result of the judging means. .