JP2005329682A - Printing controller, its method, and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem wherein an advertisement is an obstacle from a standpoint of layout, when the advertisement is included in a content a user wants to have, and printed together, or many users are dissatisfied with the advertisement, regarding it as an object violating the value of the printed content. <P>SOLUTION: Additional information embedded in a content is extracted, and when printing of the extracted content is instructed, at least a part of a printing cost of the content are requested to a content server being a publisher of the content according to author information included in the additional information (S8). The balance of the requested cost is charged to the user who requests printing of the content (S6). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus and method for acquiring and printing content via a network, and a printing system.

Currently, using a service terminal installed in a public institution or store, a user obtains content data from a server containing various contents via a network line, and displays or prints the content data Service systems that can do this are known. (See Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-108906 A

  However, in order to print content data using such a system, the burden on the user such as a printing fee has been great. In order to eliminate or reduce such a burden on the user, for example, as an advertisement-attached print, an advertiser may assume the printing fee. However, if the content desired by the user is printed, the advertisement is included. The advertisements are often distracted by the user's layout and detract from the value of the printed content.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and prints contents that are unnecessary for the user, such as advertisements, without accompanying the content data and without burden on the user or with reduced load. Provide technology to do.

A printing control apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
A print control apparatus that performs printing based on content acquired via a network,
Extracting means for extracting additional information embedded in the content;
When printing of the content extracted by the extraction unit is instructed, the content publisher is requested for at least part of the printing cost of the content based on author information of the content included in the additional information. And requesting means.

A printing system according to an aspect of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
A printing system for printing content data in which digital watermark information is embedded,
Reading means for reading out the digital watermark information included in the content data;
Identifying means for identifying additional information of the content data based on the digital watermark information read by the reading means;
Counting means for counting the additional information specified by the specifying means for each item;
And providing means for providing a service to a user who has requested the content data based on a counting result obtained by the counting means.

The printing control method of one aspect of the present invention includes the following steps. That is,
A print control method for performing printing based on content acquired via a network,
An extraction step of extracting additional information embedded in the content;
When printing of the content extracted in the extraction step is instructed, the content publisher is requested for at least a part of the printing cost of the content based on the author information of the content included in the additional information. And a required process.

The printing control method of one aspect of the present invention includes the following steps. That is,
A print control method for printing content data in which digital watermark information is embedded,
Acquiring content data from a server via a network;
A reading step of reading out the digital watermark information included in the content data;
A specifying step of specifying additional information of the content data based on the digital watermark information read in the reading step;
A counting step of counting the additional information specified in the specifying step for each item;
And a providing step of providing a service to a user who has requested the content data based on the counting result in the counting step.

  According to the present invention, content unnecessary for a user can be printed without accompanying content data, and content requested by the user can be printed without burden on the user or reduced.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a print system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a content server 106 and a total management server 107 are connected to an Internet line 104, and a LAN 103 is further connected via a repeater 105. A printer 101 and a service terminal 102 are connected to the LAN 103. In this configuration, the service terminal 102 and the printer 101 are installed in, for example, a public facility or a store, and both are connected to a network such as a LAN 103.

  The user accesses the content server 106 connected to the Internet line 104 through the service terminal 102 and obtains various information (contents) from the content server 106. When a user obtains and prints such various information (contents), the printer 101 is used for printing (copying), but the author bears a part of the copy fee. It has become a mechanism to give.

  In the image data that is the content to be printed by the user, digital watermark information set by the author of the image data is embedded. Such content may be posted on a homepage operated by the author, or may be in other places (for example, media sold by the author).

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printer 101 according to this embodiment.

  When printing, the user issues a print instruction from the service terminal 102 for the content obtained from the content server 106. This content information is sent to the printer 101. As a result, the printer 101 performs the following processing. The printer 101 receives a print job of content information via the network I / F 201 and stores it in the document storage unit 202. The data thus stored in the document storage unit 202 is sent to the image processing unit 204 in order to perform necessary image processing. The image processing unit 204 is provided with a plurality of image processing modules (not shown), and a watermark determination module 205 is also connected. The watermark determination module 205 performs watermark determination with reference to the stored reference data in the reference data storage unit 206. This process will be described in detail below.

  The image data subjected to the watermark determination and the image processing in this way is stored again in the document storage unit 202 by the image processing unit 204. The image data stored in the document storage unit 202 in this manner is sent to the printer engine 207 and printed by an instruction from the control unit 203. The result of the watermark determination by the watermark determination module 205 is sent to the control unit 203 and counted by the counter 208.

  Details of the watermark determination module 205 will be described below.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the watermark determination module 205 according to the first embodiment, and the same parts as those in the above-described figure are indicated by the same symbols.

  The reference data storage unit 206 stores key data and advertiser data corresponding to the content. The key data is input to the extraction pattern generation unit 301, where an electronic watermark extraction pattern is generated. The extraction pattern generated in this way is input to the digital watermark extraction unit 302. The image data sent from the image processing unit 204 is also input to the digital watermark extraction unit 302. The digital watermark extraction unit 302 extracts digital watermark data embedded in the image data sent from the image processing unit 204 according to the extraction pattern extracted by the extraction pattern generation unit 301. The digital watermark data thus extracted is input to the digital watermark determination unit 303. The digital watermark determination unit 303 refers to the advertiser data input from the reference data storage unit 206, determines items included in the digital watermark data extracted by the digital watermark extraction unit 302, and uses the determination information as a control unit It outputs to 203. This discriminating information is the author information of the content, the content ID assigned to each content, and the like. The control unit 203 sends the author information and content ID included in the determination information to a counter 208 that counts for each ID, and totals the information. Further, the control unit 203 sends the author information and the fee charged to the author out of the printing fee of the content to the totalization management server 107 through the network I / F 201. As a result, the aggregation management server 107 charges the author of the content based on the sent information.

  The processing executed in one print job for a certain content is as described above, and FIG. 4 shows the flow up to the above-described printing / charging as a flowchart.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining processing in the printer 101 according to the first embodiment. This processing is executed under the control of the control unit 203.

  In step S 1, content data is input from the content server 106 via the Internet line 104, the repeater 105, the LAN 103, and the network I / F 201. In step S 2, the electronic data embedded in the content by the watermark determination module 205. Read the watermark. In step S3, the content and the author are specified based on the discrimination information input from the watermark determination module 205. In step S4, the content is printed and the printing fee is calculated. Next, in step S5, the author specified in step S3 and the fee charged to the author out of the printing fee of the content are calculated. In step S6, the fee charged to the author is calculated by the tabulation management server 107. Send to. As a result, the tabulation management server 107 charges the author. In step S7, the charge to the user who has instructed printing of the content from the service terminal 102 is calculated. In step S8, the user is charged. Of course, when the author pays the full amount, there is no charge to the user.

  Whether or not the user bears a part is considered to depend on the content or the author, but it is also possible that the author does not bear only a part of the printing fee but preferably pays the entire amount. For example, when obtaining ski resort guidance, travel brochures, etc. at a store or the like, it is desirable to obtain them without burden on the user. In addition, since the user prints appropriately when necessary and the author is charged for the printing fee for printing, there is also an advantage that it is not necessary to print more than necessary.

  The aggregation management server 107 has another role. Instead of having the author pay a part of the printing fee, the service is provided to the author. That is, the printer 101 periodically transmits the counting result of the counter 208 to the counting management server 107. The tabulation management server 107 further tabulates the enormous tabulation results sent from the plurality of printers 101 to generate a total tabulation result. Then, the total count result is transmitted to the author. In addition to basic information such as the number of times of printing for each content, a ranking of popular content, a monthly trend, a regional trend, and the like may be provided as a result of the total tabulation. Thus, the author can use such information for content production from the next time.

[Embodiment 2]
In the above-described first embodiment, an example in which a user performs printing using the service terminal 102 in a public institution, a store, or the like has been described. A case where printing is performed in the area 501 is illustrated.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the printing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and the same parts as those in the first embodiment are indicated by the same symbols.

  In FIG. 5, a content server 106 and a repeater 105 are connected to the Internet line 104. A printer 501 and a PC 502 are connected to the LAN 503 in the office. Here, the repeater 505 relays and connects the LAN 503 and the Internet line 104. This printer 501 is also connected to the tabulation management server 107 via a telephone line 508. In this way, the aggregation management server 107 may be connected to the telephone line 107.

  In the second embodiment, the user accesses the content server 506 connected to the Internet line 504 through the PC 502 and obtains various information (contents) from the content server 506. When the user prints such various information (contents), the printer 501 is used for printing. In this case, the author pays a part of the printing fee in the same manner as in the first embodiment. Furthermore, in the second embodiment, since the printing system is in the office, the security level is different.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the printer 501 according to the second embodiment. The network I / F 601, image processing unit 604, reference data 606, and printer engine 607 are basically the same as the network I / F 201, image processing unit 204, reference data 206, and printer engine 207 according to the first embodiment. It is.

  The printer 501 receives a content information print job via the network I / F 601 and stores it in the document storage unit 602. The data stored in the document storage unit 602 in this way is sent to the image processing unit 604 to perform image processing in order to perform necessary image processing. A plurality of image processing modules (not shown) are connected to the image processing unit 604, and a watermark determination module 605 is also connected. The watermark determination module 605 determines a watermark based on the reference data stored in the reference data storage unit 206. The image data subjected to the watermark determination and the image processing in this manner is stored again in the document storage unit 602. The image data stored in the document storage unit 602 in this way is sent to the printer unit 607 and printed by an instruction from the control unit 603. A line interface 609 controls a communication interface with the telephone line 508.

  The difference from the first embodiment described above is that the counter 208 in the first embodiment is built in the watermark determination module 605. A protection unit 608 is provided between the watermark determination module 605 and the control unit 603. The protection unit 608 functions independently of the control unit 603, and prevents a count result obtained by the counter of the watermark determination module 605 from freely flowing into the control unit 603 using a password or a physical key.

  By unlocking the protection unit 608 according to the intention of the user of the PC 502, the totalization management server 107 can access the printer 501 once a month, for example, and read the counter value counted by the watermark determination module 605. At the same time, the control unit 603 is instructed to discount a certain amount from a fee such as maintenance guarantee. The total management server 107 provides the specified author with information on the counter value, etc., and charges the author for a fixed amount discounted from the user in return.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of watermark determination module 605 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

  The reference data storage unit 606 stores content key data and content data, and author data of the content. The key data is input to the extraction pattern generation unit 701, where an electronic watermark extraction pattern is generated. The extraction pattern generated by the extraction pattern generation unit 701 is input to the digital watermark extraction unit 702. The image data sent from the image processing unit 604 is also input to the digital watermark extraction unit 702. The digital watermark extraction unit 702 extracts digital watermark data embedded in the image data transmitted from the image processing unit 604 according to the extraction pattern. The digital watermark data thus extracted is composed of a content code and an author code, and the content code is input to the content counter 703. The content counter 703 refers to the content data in the reference data storage unit 606, determines the content corresponding to the extracted content code, and adds the corresponding content counter.

  On the other hand, the author code extracted by the digital watermark extracting unit 702 is input to the author counter 704. The author counter 704 compares the author data sent from the reference data storage unit 606 with the author code from the digital watermark extraction unit 702 to determine the author of the content, and the corresponding author The counter is added. These counter information is read according to an instruction from the external total management server 507 when the protection unit 608 is set to the permitted state. By adopting such a configuration, a more secure printing system can be constructed in terms of security.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining processing in the printer 101 according to the second embodiment. This processing is executed under the control of the control unit 203.

  This process is basically the same as the flowchart of FIG. 4 of the first embodiment described above, but is different from the first embodiment in that the process by the protection unit 608 is included.

  In step S11, content data is input from the content server 106 via the Internet line 104, the repeater 105, the LAN 503, and the network I / F 601. In step S12, the watermark determination module 605 inputs the digital watermark embedded in the content. Is read. In step S13, the content and the author are specified based on the discrimination information input from the watermark determination module 205. In step S14, the content is printed and the printing fee is calculated. Next, in step S15, a charge for the user who instructed printing of the content from the PC 502 is calculated, and in step S16, the user is charged. In step S17, the author specified in step S13 and the fee charged to the author from the printing fee of the content are calculated.

  Next, in step S18, it is checked whether or not the protection state in the protection unit 608 is released by the user of the PC 502. If the protection is cancelled, the process proceeds to step S 19, and a fee charged to the author is transmitted to the aggregation management server 107. As a result, the tabulation management server 107 charges the author.

  In this case, as in the case of the first embodiment, the aggregation management server 507 further aggregates the enormous aggregation results sent from the plurality of printers 501 to generate an overall aggregation result, and the total You may make it transmit a count result to an author. In addition to basic information such as the number of times of printing for each content, a ranking of popular content, a monthly trend, a regional trend, and the like may be provided as a result of the total tabulation. Thus, the author can use such information for content production from the next time.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the content data is not attached to the print system installed in the public institution or the store or the print system installed in the office. It is possible to provide a system capable of printing in a complete form and capable of printing in a form with little or no burden on the user.

  In the present embodiment, processing such as digital watermark determination and accounting calculation is performed in the printer. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is connected to, for example, a LAN or an Internet line. A printer may be connected via a server, and the above processing may be executed by the server.

[Other embodiments]
Note that the present invention can be applied to a system (for example, a copier, a facsimile machine, etc.) composed of a single device even if it is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.). May be.

  In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium (or recording medium) that records a program code of software that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments (processing performed on the camera side or storage device, various printing processes performed on the printer side). ) Is supplied to the system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reads out and executes the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an operating system (OS) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. A case where part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing is also included.

  Furthermore, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function is determined based on the instruction of the program code. The case where the CPU of the expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing is also included.

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating an outline of a print system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating details of the printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows the function structure of the watermark determination module which concerns on this Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing in the printer according to the present embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the printing system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer according to a second embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the watermark determination module which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. 10 is a flowchart for describing processing in the printer according to the second embodiment.

Claims (12)

A print control apparatus that performs printing based on content acquired via a network,
Extracting means for extracting additional information embedded in the content;
When printing of the content extracted by the extraction unit is instructed, the content publisher is requested for at least part of the printing cost of the content based on author information of the content included in the additional information. Request means;
A printing control apparatus comprising:   The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the additional information is embedded in the content as a digital watermark.   The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a unit that charges a user who has requested the printing of the content for the remainder of the printing cost requested by the requesting unit. Furthermore, a counting means for counting the content request status by the user,
Supply means for supplying relevant information of the content based on the request status aggregated by the aggregation means to the publisher of the content;
The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A print control method for performing printing based on content acquired via a network,
An extraction step of extracting additional information embedded in the content;
When printing of the content extracted in the extraction step is instructed, the content publisher is requested for at least a part of the printing cost of the content based on the author information of the content included in the additional information. The required process,
A printing control method characterized by comprising: Furthermore, a counting process for counting the content request status by the user,
A supplying step of supplying related information of the content based on the request status totaled in the totaling step to the content issuer;
The print control method according to claim 4, wherein the print control method is provided. A printing system for printing content data in which digital watermark information is embedded,
Reading means for reading out the digital watermark information included in the content data;
Identifying means for identifying additional information of the content data based on the digital watermark information read by the reading means;
Counting means for counting the additional information specified by the specifying means for each item;
Providing means for providing a service to a user who has requested the content data based on a counting result by the counting means;
A printing system comprising:   The printing system according to claim 7, wherein the service provided to the user is a substitute for at least a part of a cost required for printing the content.   9. The printing system according to claim 7, further comprising means for providing a result of counting by the counting means to a publisher of the content. A print control method for printing content data in which digital watermark information is embedded,
Acquiring content data from a server via a network;
A reading step of reading out the digital watermark information included in the content data;
A specifying step of specifying additional information of the content data based on the digital watermark information read in the reading step;
A counting step of counting the additional information specified in the specifying step for each item;
A providing step of providing a service to a user who has requested the content data based on a counting result in the counting step;
A printing control method characterized by comprising:   The print control method according to claim 10, wherein the service provided to the user is a substitute for at least a part of a cost required for printing the content.   The print control method according to claim 10, further comprising a step of providing a result of the counting in the counting step to a publisher of the content.

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