JP2007115160A - Information storage medium for rental, server and rental method using them - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To propose surer rental technology for DRM (digital rights management). <P>SOLUTION: In this rental method, a user terminal 2 with a rented information storage medium 1 inserted displays a user interface for inputting instructions for accessing a server 3 via the Internet, and accesses the server 3 via the Internet when the access instruction is inputted. When the accessed server 3 receives membership number and instructions for downloading prescribed contents from the user terminal 2, the server 3 confirms whether the membership number has been registered, and downloads the requested contents to the user terminal 2, stores the number of downloading times comparing it to the membership number and enables an information terminal at a rental shop RS to browse the stored membership number and the number of of downloading times, when the membership number is registered. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a data protection technique for information storage media used for rental, such as CDs (compact discs) and DVDs (digital versatile discs) that store content data related to copyrights such as music and movies.

In CD and DVD information storage media that store music and video content, the data does not deteriorate even when duplicated by ripping. For the purpose of copyright protection, copy control data is stored together. Digital duplication is controlled (for example, Patent Document 1). In recent rental shops, those that are rented with a new rental permission are controlled by this copy control data so that they cannot be digitally copied.
JP 2003-16726 A

  It is not acceptable from the viewpoint of copyright protection to allow unlimited copying in the current situation where data can be copied without deterioration, but for example, even if a music CD (CD-DA) is borrowed from a rental shop, digital copying is not possible at all. So, the charm of using a rental is too little.

  Therefore, the present invention proposes an information storage medium, a server, and a rental method using these, which can establish a new rental method considering the viewpoint of copyright protection.

  The rental information storage medium according to the present invention displays on the display device content, copy control data for controlling copying of the content, and a user interface for inputting a command for accessing a predetermined server via the Internet. A display program for operating a computer as a display means, and an access program for operating the computer as an access means for accessing a server via the Internet when an access command is input through the user interface are stored. .

  The server according to the present invention is a server that can be connected to the user terminal used by the rental member and the information terminal of the rental shop via the Internet, and the member number data and the predetermined number from the user terminal connected via the Internet. If the member number is registered in the database, the specified content is downloaded to the user terminal and compared with the member number. The number of downloads is stored, and the stored member number and download number data can be viewed on the information terminal of the rental shop.

  The rental method according to the present invention is a rental method using the information storage medium of the present invention and the server of the present invention, and the information storage medium is lent to a rental member at a rental shop, and the information storage medium When the medium is inserted into the medium reading device of the user terminal used by the rental member, display means for displaying on the display device a user interface for the computer of the user terminal to input a command to access the server via the Internet When the access command is input through the user interface, the computer operates as an access means for accessing the server via the Internet, and the server receiving the access receives the membership number data from the user terminal. Receive download instructions for specific content Confirm whether the member number is registered in the database. If the member number is registered, the requested content is downloaded to the user terminal and the number of downloads is stored in comparison with the member number. The stored membership number and download count data can be viewed on the information terminal of the rental shop.

  According to the rental information storage medium of the present invention, from the viewpoint of copyright protection, digital copying can be controlled by copy control data, for example, no copying can be performed. On the other hand, if the rental member wishes to copy, it can access the specified server via the Internet connection according to the stored program, so that the same content can be downloaded from the server instead of copying. Can be built. By adopting a method of permitting copying by downloading from a server, it is possible to easily charge copyright related copyrights for copying, which contributes to the construction of a rental system considering copyright.

  Further, according to the server of the present invention, since the comparison data between the membership number of the rental member and the number of downloads of the content can be viewed on the information terminal of the rental shop, referring to the comparison data on the information terminal of the rental shop, A rental member who returns the information storage medium can be charged for the number of downloads, that is, for the number of copies. The fee can include the amount related to copyright, which contributes to the construction of a rental system that considers copyright.

  Further, according to the rental method of the present invention, if the rental member wishes to copy while controlling the copy by using the information storage medium of the present invention as a rental product, the copy fee including the copyright-related amount is charged. After charging, it is permitted to download the content from the server, and can be copied. Therefore, it is possible to realize a rental method that takes copyright into consideration, and contribute to the construction of a rental system that is commensurate with the current situation in which digital copying has become commonplace.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a system according to the rental method of the present invention. Overall, an information terminal installed in the rental shop RS, a personal computer (PC) 2 as a user terminal equipped with a drive for inserting the CD 1, and a server 3 having a Web site are connected via the Internet. Note that the PC 2 is not limited to a user-owned one, and may be any terminal that can be used by the user such as a kiosk terminal.

  In the rental shop RS, the CD 1 is rented out as an information storage medium in this example. This CD 1 is a music CD, which stores music of a predetermined artist as content, and also stores copy control data for controlling duplication. The copy control data is data such as the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-5000789, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-523595, and can be heard without difficulty in a playback device such as a mini component or a portable player. Even if you try to make a digital copy with the built-in CD drive, it is impossible. Therefore, although reproduction and recording from CD1 to MD (minidisc) and from CD1 to tape using minicomponents and the like are allowed, copying by ripping using PC is not allowed.

  A rental member who borrows such a CD1 from the rental shop RS inserts the CD1 into a CD drive, which is a medium reading device of the PC2, and thereby plays the PC2 as a playback means for playing back the content stored in the CD1. Can be operated. For this reason, the CD 1 is of a multi-session type as shown in FIG. 2, stores contents in the audio session 1o on the inner circumference side, and stores various programs in the data session 1d on the outer circumference side. In the innermost lead-in area, a TOC area (not shown) is provided for disk management.

  When CD1 is inserted into the CD drive of PC2, the automatic playback function works, the playback program stored in data session 1d is read by the CPU of PC2, and PC2 operates as playback means. For example, the PC 2 operating as the reproducing means displays a user interface UI as shown in FIG. 2 on the display device. In the user interface UI of this example, a music cover image UI1 (for example, an artist image) is displayed in the center portion, and a music title UI2 is displayed in the lower left corner of the cover image UI1. When the cursor is placed on the title UI2 and clicked, the corresponding music is read from the audio session 1o and reproduced.

  In addition, an end button UI3 is displayed in the upper right corner of the user interface UI, and when the cursor is placed on the end button UI3 and clicked, an end command of the playback means is input. When the end of the playback means is instructed, the PC 2 discharges CD1 from the CD drive together with the end of the playback means according to the discharge program stored in the data session 1d of CD1. In other words, when the CD 1 is inserted into the CD drive, the playback means is automatically activated by the PC 2 and is ejected from the CD drive when the playback means is completed, which helps copy control.

  In the case of this example, the user interface UI that is displayed on the display device by the PC 2 operating as the playback means includes an access button UI4 for downloading. The access button UI4 is a user interface for inputting a command for accessing the server 3 via the Internet, and is displayed by the PC 2 in accordance with a display program stored in the data session 1d of the CD1.

  When the cursor is placed on the access button UI4 and clicked, an access command is input, and the PC 2 operates as an access means according to the access program including the URL stored in the data session 1d of the CD 1 to access the server 3 connected to the Internet. In the PC 2 operating as an access means, a browser is launched and a Web site established on the server 3 is displayed.

  As a result, the site screen shown in FIG. 3 is displayed in the browser on the display device of the PC 2. On this screen, place the cursor in the check box B1 for the title of the song that you want to download in the song corresponding to CD1 and click to check it. Then move the cursor to the member number input field B2 and enter the member number from the keyboard. input. When the cursor is placed on the download start button B3 and clicked, the identification data of the CD1 (located in the TOC), the member number data, and the download instruction are transmitted from the PC 2 to the server 3 together with the data for identifying the device itself. The

  In response to this, if the membership number is registered in the database, the server 3 downloads the content desired to be downloaded to the PC 2. This downloaded content is subjected to digital rights management (DRM). That is, the content in the server 3 is stored in a file format of a media player (such as Windows Media Player (registered trademark) or Sonic Stage (registered trademark)) that supports DRM. In the PC 2 that receives the download, the corresponding media player is activated and the downloaded content can be reproduced. However, since DRM is applied, control is performed so that writing cannot be performed from the media player to an information storage medium such as a CD-R / RW.

  On the other hand, the server 3 is provided with a plug-in module for a program that allows the downloaded content to be written to the CD-R, which is an information storage medium, by the PC 2 with a limited number of times. When the PC 2 downloads and installs this plug-in module, it can be executed as a plug-in of a media player that is activated on the PC 2, and it is permitted to write content to the CD-R only once using the media player. The The conceptual diagram is shown in FIG.

  In the server 3, the content is compressed / encrypted and subjected to DRM processing, and is further subjected to plug-in encoding and stored. When this is downloaded by the PC 2, it is stored in a storage device such as the HDD of the PC 2, but since the plug-in encoding does not affect the playback by the media player, the playback (compression, (Extension) is possible. However, since DRM is applied, writing to an information storage medium such as a CD-R / RW is controlled and managed so as not to be possible. Therefore, when the above plug-in is selected in the media player running on the PC 2, as a result of decoding for the plug-in, for example, writing is permitted only once, and CD-R4 is used using the media player. Will be able to write to. The permitted number of times of writing can be set as appropriate when encoding for plug-in.

  The flow after renting the CD 1 as described above and inserting it into the CD drive of the PC 2 is shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

  When the CD 1 is inserted into the CD drive of the PC 2 (S1), the playback program is automatically activated on the PC 2 to start the playback means (S2), and the user interface UI shown in FIG. (S3). Then, it is determined whether an access command is input through the access button UI4 in the user interface UI (S4). As long as there is no click on the access button UI4 and no access command is input, it is determined whether or not there is a click on the title UI2 of the music stored in the CD1 (S5). S6) Further determining whether the title UI2 is clicked. If the title UI2 is not clicked, it is determined whether or not the end button UI3 is clicked (S7), and the process returns to the click determination of the access button UI4 (S4) as long as the end button UI3 is clicked, that is, the playback means end command is not input. When the end button UI3 is clicked, CD1 is ejected from the CD drive (S8), and the playback means is terminated.

  If the access button UI4 is clicked in step S4, the server 3 is accessed via the Internet, and the PC 2 displays the site screen of FIG. 3 in the browser (S9). When the download start button B3 is clicked, the above data including the input data in the check field B1 and the member number input field B2 is transmitted to the server 3 to request download. When the server 3 receives the download instruction from the PC 2, the server 3 checks whether or not the membership number is registered in the database of the server 3, and downloads the corresponding content to the PC 2 only when it is registered (S10).

  With this download, the server 3 stores that the download has been performed once in a predetermined table in comparison with the member number so that the data of the number of downloads and the member number can be viewed on the information terminal of the rental shop RS. To do. The number of downloads is incremented every time there is a download instruction from the PC 2. The number of downloads stored may be simply the number of downloads, but the date and time of download and the download number issued sequentially may be used as additional information.

  When the corresponding content is downloaded from the server 3 in response to the download instruction, the media player corresponding to DRM is activated on the PC 2 (S11). In this media player, when a downloaded content file is clicked, the content is reproduced and can be listened to through a speaker or the like. Then, the PC 2 determines whether or not writing is selected in the media player (S12). While writing is not selected, the click of the end button is monitored (S13). If the end is not ended, the media player is continued, and if the end button is clicked, the media player is ended.

  On the other hand, if writing is selected, the PC 2 determines whether a plug-in is selected (S14). When the plug-in is not selected, writing to the CD-R or the like is completely prohibited by DRM and the process returns to the media player. If a plug-in is selected, the content is decoded for plug-in, and the number of writings up to the present is confirmed to determine whether or not writing is possible (S15). Then, content writing to the CD-R 4 is executed by the media player through the plug-in (S16). Then, the number of write information during plug-in encoding is incremented by +1 (S17), and the process returns to the media player. If writing has reached the limit number and writing is impossible, writing is prohibited and the process returns to the media player.

  Copy control data as described above is added to the copy to be written on the CD-R4, and control is performed so that re-copying to other media is not possible at all.

  With the above processing flow, the rental member can copy the content stored on the borrowed CD 1 to the CD-R with a limited number of times. The duplication fee is collected when the CD1 is returned to the rental shop RS. That is, according to the comparison data stored in the server 3, the payment terminal shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the information terminal of the rental shop RS, and accordingly, the duplication fee for the number of times downloaded is collected at the time of return. Can do.

  The payment screen in the illustrated example displays the download number and date added by the server 3 as the number of downloads, together with the member number of the rental member, and further checks whether the payment added by the rental shop RS has been completed. The column is displayed. Such a settlement screen may be a method of storing and displaying the data sent from the server 3 at the information terminal, or a method of reading and displaying the data of the server 3 by the browser function of the information terminal.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, it is not restricted to said example. For example, CDs and CD-R / RWs are taken as examples of information storage media, but DVDs can also be applied. A CD drive can be applied to a DVD drive or the like, and a user terminal PC can also be applied to a DVD / HDD recorder or the like.

1 is a schematic diagram of a rental system to which the present invention is applied. Explanatory drawing which showed the example of the information storage medium and the user interface by this. Explanatory drawing which showed the example of the screen displayed on a user terminal, when accessing a server. Explanatory drawing explaining the state of the content downloaded from a server to a user terminal. The flowchart which illustrated the process of the computer according to an information storage medium. The flowchart explaining the writing process of the content after download. Explanatory drawing which showed an example of the payment screen displayed on the information terminal of a rental shop.

Explanation of symbols

1 CD (information storage medium)
2 PC (user terminal)
3 Server RS Rental Shop

Claims (12)

Content,
Copy control data for controlling duplication of the content;
A display program for operating a computer as a display means for displaying a user interface for inputting a command to access a predetermined server via the Internet on a display device;
An access program for operating a computer as an access means for accessing the server via the Internet when the access command is input through the user interface;
An information storage medium for rental, characterized in that is stored. A reproduction program that causes the computer to operate as reproduction means for reproducing the stored content when the information storage medium is inserted into a medium reader of the computer;
A discharge program for operating a computer to discharge the information storage medium from the medium reader when an instruction to end the reproducing means is given;
The information storage medium according to claim 1, further comprising:   The information storage medium according to claim 1, wherein the content is controlled so as not to be duplicated by the copy control data. A server that can be connected to the user terminal used by the rental member and the information terminal of the rental shop via the Internet,
Upon receiving a membership number data and a download instruction for a predetermined content from the user terminal connected via the Internet, it is confirmed whether the membership number is registered in the database,
When the member number is registered, the predetermined content is downloaded to the user terminal, and the number of downloads is stored in comparison with the member number,
A server characterized in that the stored membership number and download count data can be viewed on the information terminal. The content is stored in a file format of a media player corresponding to digital copyright management, and a plug-in module of the media player is prepared so that the user terminal can be installed.
5. The plug-in module is a program for permitting writing of the downloaded content to an information storage medium a predetermined number of times using the media player in the user terminal in which the plug-in module is installed. The listed server.   6. The server according to claim 5, wherein the information storage medium into which the content is written via the plug-in module also stores copy control data for controlling the content so that it cannot be duplicated. A rental method using the information storage medium according to claim 1 and the server according to claim 4,
The information storage medium is lent to a rental member at a rental shop,
When the information storage medium is inserted into a medium reading device of a user terminal used by the rental member, a display unit displays a user interface for a computer of the user terminal to input a command to access the server via the Internet Act as a display means to display
When the access command is input through the user interface, the computer operates as an access means for accessing the server via the Internet;
When the server that has received the access receives the member number data and an instruction to download the predetermined content from the user terminal, the server confirms whether the member number is registered in the database, and the member number is registered. And downloading the predetermined content to the user terminal, storing the number of downloads in comparison with the member number, and storing the stored member number and download number data in the information terminal of the rental shop A rental method characterized in that it can be browsed on. The information storage medium lent to rental members at the rental shop is:
A playback program for operating the computer as playback means for playing back the stored content when the information storage medium is inserted into a computer media reader;
A discharge program for operating a computer to discharge the information storage medium from the medium reader when an instruction to end the reproducing means is given;
The rental method according to claim 7, further comprising: A computer of the user terminal,
When the information storage medium is inserted into a medium reader, it operates as a playback means for playing back the stored content,
9. The rental method according to claim 8, wherein the information storage medium is ejected from the medium reader when an instruction to end the reproducing means is given.   10. The information storage medium lent to a rental member at a rental shop is controlled so that the stored content cannot be duplicated by stored copy control data. The rental method according to claim 1. The server
The predetermined content is stored in a file format of a media player corresponding to digital copyright management, and a plug-in module of the media player is prepared so that the user terminal can be installed,
11. The user terminal in which the plug-in module is installed can write the downloaded content into an information storage medium a predetermined number of times using the media player. The rental method according to any one of the above items.   12. The rental method according to claim 11, wherein the information storage medium into which the content is written via the plug-in module also stores copy control data for controlling the content so that it cannot be copied.