JP2000181963A - Data communication system and removable information recording medium recording program for obtaining charged service - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide charged contents or service by easy setting while keeping secrecy by a simple and flexible charging form. SOLUTION: A program for enabling data communication is stored in this information recording medium like a floppy disk 5 and sold, and by having a user purchase the floppy disk 5 and start up a possessed slave side computer 3, the charged contents and service are provided and enjoyed between a master side computer 2 without specially performing authentication by a password or the like. Also, by having the plural users respectively purchase the information recording media 51-53 storing the program capable of establishing the communication of electronic mail or the like and insert them to computers 61-63, the program for the electronic mail is started and the communication among the users is made possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data communication system using a removable information recording medium, and more particularly, to a removable information recording medium storing a program for acquiring specific pay contents and enjoying a pay information providing service. The present invention relates to a data communication system for transmitting and receiving data using the data communication system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the dramatic improvement of computer technology and information communication technology, computer communication such as the so-called Internet has been rapidly growing, and various types of information have been paid for using a personal computer or a public network. The supply service network is also expanding. In a pay information service network that provides such pay contents and services, it is necessary to reliably charge for the provision of contents and services. , A supply contract is concluded, and when a customer receives a content or a service, the customer is charged by a predetermined method.

In order to make such a billing system more reliable, a provider as a service provider first enters personal information such as a credit card number of a contracted customer into an application form or online sign-up. From the customer. After a prescribed survey, etc., for such an application, the payment service use contract is completely established when the payment guarantee of the customer is obtained, and for the subsequent use of the pay service, financial institutions such as banks The service charge is collected from a predetermined account, and the service charge is collected in addition to the telephone charge.

In general, when a service supply contract is concluded in this way, it is necessary for the customer who is the service recipient to perform a subscription procedure for concluding a paid service use contract, and the service provider side needs to trust the customer. It was necessary to take administrative procedures such as conducting surveys and negotiating with financial institutions.
For this reason, both contracting parties have to take cumbersome administrative procedures, and this has been a cause of an increase in costs especially on the service provider side.

[0005] Further, since a customer who has concluded a contract often receives provision of paid contents and paid services by using a specific computer, for example, a computer provided in a home or a workplace provides pay contents and paid services from a specific provider. If provided, what kind of content or service was provided can be easily known to family and work colleagues. In particular, when paid contents and paid services are provided through a computer in a workplace or the like, it becomes clear that the service provision contract has been personally used by a device in the workplace.

In order to use a provider contract set for a specific computer on another computer, an account name, an address, etc., must be set for each computer, and a specific service is provided only for a certain period of time. When trying to enjoy the service intensively and simply, the setting of the contract becomes complicated compared to the contents of the service to be received, and it cannot be said that the system is easy to use for customers who are not very familiar with computers.

[0007]

As described above, in the conventional system, the form of charging is fixed and complicated, and there is a risk that personal information such as a credit card is leaked to the outside and privacy regarding the contents of the service enjoyed. However, there is a risk that the information may be leaked to a family or a workplace, and that setting of a computer for receiving paid contents and services is complicated.

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a data using a removable information recording medium capable of enjoying paid contents or services with simple settings while maintaining confidentiality in a simple and flexible charging form. An object of the present invention is to provide a removable information recording medium in which a communication system and a pay service acquisition program are recorded.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a data communication system according to claim 1 provides a public data communication network and predetermined pay contents or services to a customer via the public data communication network. And a child computer for receiving desired pay contents or services from the parent computer via the public data communication network. A medium drive for reading recorded information, which is capable of reading a removable information recording medium in which at least the location of content or service data, a program for taking in, and an encryption / decryption key are recorded, and the removable inserted into the medium drive Read the required information from the information recording medium and start the data communication program. A central processing unit for establishing a data communication enabled state with the parent computer via the public data communication network, wherein the parent computer is connected to the public data communication network from the child computer. When a request to provide paid content or a service is made via the PC, a data communicable state is immediately established, and an encryption / decryption key stored in a removable information recording medium mounted on the slave computer is used. It is characterized in that pay contents or services which are encoded by the same encoding / decoding method as the encoding / decoding method and which are requested to be provided are distributed via the public data communication network.

[0010] Further, in the data communication system according to claim 2, in the claim 2, the pay content or service is various information on politics, economy or social life, and the parent computer is In the case of a prescribed right exercising period, when there is a request for provision of paid content from the child computer, the child computer mounted with the removable information recording medium encrypts the information in a format that can be decrypted and without any authentication. It is characterized in that a pay service of such information is provided through the public data communication network.

[0011] Further, in the data communication system according to claim 3, in the data communication system according to claim 1, the pay content or the service is such that the parent computer acts as an intermediary of an e-mail and communicates with another child computer. It is an e-mail providing service that enables the exchange of messages with its own customers.

Further, in the data communication system according to claim 4, in the data communication system according to claim 3, the child computer can perform any authentication as long as the removable information recording medium storing the same contents is mounted. It is characterized in that electronic mail can be exchanged between a plurality of different child computers without performing the above operation.

Further, the removable information recording medium in which the pay service acquisition program according to claim 5 is recorded is mounted on a reading device of a slave computer activated by a predetermined operating system, via a public data communication network. Procedure for applying for line opening to the parent computer, and activating the child computer and establishing the line by the response information sent from the parent computer when the application for line opening is made by the above procedure. A procedure for displaying a screen for applying for provision of a predetermined pay content or service on a display device of the slave computer by decoding the code string transmitted in an encrypted form together with the response information. Receive paid content or paid service on the display device of the child computer via the line A procedure for displaying an instruction screen for providing the paid content or service, providing a required instruction screen until the provision of the paid content or service is completed, and allowing the customer to select the provision of the paid content or service, and providing the paid content or service. And a procedure for normally terminating the state in which the data communication line is opened when the communication is completed.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a removable information recording medium in which a pay service acquisition program is recorded, wherein a line for data communication is provided between the parent computer and the child computer. The opening procedure is further characterized in that a procedure for transmitting and receiving an e-mail between a plurality of slave computers on which the recording medium is mounted is further recorded.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a data communication system and a removable information recording medium in which a pay service acquisition program is recorded according to the present invention will be described.
This will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a data communication system to which a removable information recording medium in which a pay service acquisition program according to a first embodiment of the present invention is recorded is applied. In FIG. 1, a data communication system includes a network 1 as a public data communication network, a parent computer 2 for providing predetermined pay contents or services to customers via the network 1, and a parent computer 2 via the network 1. 2 for receiving the provision of desired pay content or service from the sub computer 3. In such a data communication system, the slave computer 3 stores a floppy disk 5 as a removable information recording medium in which at least the location of data on contents or services to be provided, a program for taking in, and an encryption / decryption key are recorded. An information recording medium reading device 31 as a medium driving unit for reading readable recorded information, and necessary information is read from the floppy disk 5 inserted in the information recording medium reading device 31, a data communication program is started, and a network 1 is started. Through the parent computer 2
And a user controller 32 as a central processing unit for establishing a data communication enabled state with the user. The child-side computer 3 includes a user interface 33 for a user as a customer to access the computer, a modem 34 for controlling access between the network 1 and the controller 32,
It has.

The floppy disk 5 as the removable information recording medium has, in addition to the contents described above,
The sales price of the system that can be used by using the floppy disk 5, more detailed contents, the exercise period of the right to use the system, an access account or a password, and the like may be recorded. Price, contents, password, etc. may be arbitrarily recorded, but for the exercise period, in order to provide this system inexpensively, for example, two weeks, one month, three months, and six months are compared. A very short period may be set, and during that period, only the insertion of the floppy disk 5 may be provided so that one-sided supply of paid content or service can be received. Only during that period, the data transmitted by the encryption / decryption key recorded on the floppy disk 5 can be decrypted, but if the right exercising period is over, the decryption will not be possible even if the pay content or service is provided. It becomes possible.

The parent computer 2 establishes a data communicable state when a request for provision of pay contents or services is made from the child computer via the public data communication network, and the parent computer 2 establishes a data communicable state via the public data communication network. It distributes paid contents or services requested to be provided, and includes a content and service controller 21 and a call option database 22.
, A weekly magazine content storage 23, a controller 24 for generating at least the location of the data, a program for taking in the data, an encryption / decryption key, etc., and writing the data on the floppy disk 5, and writing devices 25, 26. .

The flow from when a provider sells an option using the present system to when the user acquires it and exercises it is as follows. First, the user purchases an option, and obtains a removable information recording medium (a floppy disk or the like) as a proof of the option purchase. This floppy disk may be considered as a recording medium for recording a program and also as a security for obtaining a certain service.
The user may exercise the purchased option as it is, or may abandon it without exercising at all. in short,
It is important that the purchase of this option is not an obligation but a right.When exercising the option, attach a floppy disk as an information recording medium to a child computer such as a content download device or service terminal device, Start the connection program.

The connection program accesses the pay contents and services on the network using the account and the encryption / decryption key stored in the data medium. The pay content / service server checks the validity / invalidity of the option, and accepts only an access from a valid option holder as valid. The validity / invalidity of the option is performed by the account and the encryption / decryption key stored in the data medium. The content / service server processes requests from users with valid options and returns a response. The option is sold first, and the charge management process at the time of access is not performed. If accounting and access can be separated from each other and the accounting management process at the time of access can be omitted, the equipment cost and management cost of the server can be reduced.

In the above-described program for connecting to paid contents, it is determined whether or not the access is from a valid option purchaser or a holder using an account or a password, and only the access from the valid holder is determined. Has been accepted as valid and the requested content has been delivered, but in the present invention, basically, without using an account or password, a connection program is started and a connection state is established. If you have
The paid content encoded by the predetermined method may be immediately delivered without making a determination as to whether or not the owner is a valid holder. The determination as to whether or not the user is a legitimate holder may be made based on whether or not the connection program has been activated. Since the connection program is not provided with an encryption / decryption key unless the connection program has been started up by an authorized information recording medium. This is because there is little possibility that the paid content is decrypted and a free ride in information acquisition is performed.

As described above, since the cost of the server can be reduced, the content and service can be supplied to the user at a lower cost as compared with the conventional method of charging when accessing paid content and paid service. Due to the reduced cost of the server, even the low-priced contents that were not profitable in the conventional accounting management system can be paid-distributed by the data communication system according to the present invention. Embodiment A system for selling a call option of a pay content such as a weekly magazine and inventing the weekly content on a network every week was invented.

Hereinafter, an outline of the data communication system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. This data communication system has 3
It consists of two controllers 21, 24, 32. The call option generation controller 24 generates each call option. Information such as an ID, a content address, an access password, and an encryption / decryption key is generated for each call option. The generated information drives the removable data medium writing device 25 and is written to the data medium. The same information is also stored in the call option database 22.

The content and service controller 21 is a controller that responds to a call option exercise request from a user. The user controller 32 includes a user interface 33, a removable data medium reader 31, and a modem 3 for connecting to the content and service controller 21.
4 are connected. By mounting the data medium 5 on which the call option information is recorded to the reading device 31 and operating the user interface 33, a request can be issued to the content and the service controller 21 to provide the service or the content.

In the first embodiment, for example, an operating system (OS) of Windows 95 or 98
Is used as a user controller. The outline of the operation of the data communication system is as follows. First, the user operates the user interface 33 to select a right that can be exercised for provision of a service or content. For example, 12
When instructing the download of weekly magazine data of the first week of the month, the controller 32 drives the removable data medium reading device 31 that reads the information of the floppy disk 5 and transmits the call option information from the floppy disk 5 as the data medium. Will be read.

The read information and the user's request are transmitted to the content of the parent computer 2 and the service controller 21 via the network 1 by driving the modem 34. Upon receiving the call option information, the controller 21 searches the call option database 22 to check whether the call option is valid. If the call option is invalid, this is returned to the user and the service provision request is not processed. If the call option is valid, the content and service controller 21
The request is processed at. In the processing of the request, the data of the first week of December is extracted from the content storage 23, the content is encrypted using the encryption key extracted from the call option database 22, and returned to the user. The user controller 32 receives the data, decrypts the content using a decryption key contained in the media, and provides browsable information.

The details of the call option generation operation will be described below. First, the call option generation controller 24 generates information such as an ID, a content address, an account name, an access password, and an encryption / decryption key. ID is a serial number. Content address is the right to receive the service (optional)
Is the address of the content to be exercised. The account name is obtained by mechanically converting the ID. Since the method of generating the account name is given by a program executed on the user controller, it is not written to the floppy as data. The access password is generated by driving a random number generator. The encryption / decryption key is generated by driving a random number generator.

A file (option line use program) that stores all of the above information and is executable by the user controller 32 is created, and the removable data medium writing device 25 is driven to store the information on the floppy disk 5 as an information recording medium. Write programs and data. The generated information is placed in the data segment of the executable file. In the first embodiment, the floppy disk 5 is used as a removable data medium. The structure of the executable file and the structure of the floppy are as shown in FIGS.

In FIG. 2, the executable file 10 is
First, it is divided into a code segment 11 and a data segment 12. The code segment 11 includes a method of generating an account name and usage of an encryption / decryption key. The data segment 12 further includes general data 13, an ID 14, a content address 15, an access password 16, and an encryption / decryption key 17 used by the code.

The floppy disk structure 40 shown in FIG. 3 includes a boot block 41, file system metadata 42, a directory table 43, and a file area 44. The file area 44 includes an option execution file 45 and a free area 46. It has become. Information such as ID, content address, account name, access password, encryption / decryption key, etc. written on this floppy
It is also registered in the call option database 22. It will not disappear from the database until the end of the call option exercise period. The flow of the processing so far is illustrated as a flowchart shown in FIG.

In FIG. 4, the generation of the option is performed as follows. First, in step S1,
An ID is generated. This ID is generated by taking a value from an ID counter and incrementing the value. Next, a content address is supplied in step S2, and the contents are synthesized in step S3. In step S4, an access password is generated from a pseudo-random number or the like, and an encryption / decryption key is also generated from the pseudo-random number in step S5.
In step S6, the template of the executable file is supplied, and in step S7, the executable file of the user controller is synthesized. Next, in step S8, the floppy drive is driven to write data to the floppy 5, and the process proceeds to step S9.
To register the option in the floppy option database and end the generation of options. The removable data medium 5 written here is put on a distribution sales channel and sold to a user who is a customer. In the system according to the present invention, only the collection of the fee or the like at the time of this sale corresponds to the charging operation.

Next, the exercise of the call option will be described. In the first embodiment, as described above, a computer equipped with Windows as the OS is used as the user controller. Also, the browser used by the user used an ordinary WEB browser. The connection with the content and service controller uses the Internet.

Next, the operation of the child computer 3 will be described focusing on the operation of the user controller 32. First, in order for the user to exercise the call option, the floppy disk 5 as an information recording medium storing the purchased call option information is mounted on the reading device 31. That is, the operation system is started up, and the floppy disk 5 obtained as a proof of option purchase is inserted into the reading device 31 such as a floppy disk drive. Next, the user operates Windows to execute the software on the floppy. Here, in the first embodiment,
As a method of implementing a program for exercising a call option, two methods, a plug-in method and a proxy method, are used for a normal WEB browser. Each will be described separately.

First, an option exercising program on the user controller in the case of the plug-in system will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, the basic flow that is started and terminated by the user is S10, and the processing flow from opening the content and starting the WEB browser to ending is shown in S15. The processing flow from the end to the end is shown in S20.

In the case of the plug-in system, the program first attempts to install a plug-in for a browser in a browser. That is, step S1
Create a plug-in file as shown in FIG. Plug-in files are stored as compressed images in the program's data segment. This plug-in is used by the WEB server when "octetstream / x-ex
It is activated by the web browser only when the data type "ercise-option" is sent. This plug-in performs a process of decrypting the data stream of the option exercise transmitted in an encrypted form and displaying the data stream on the screen viewed by the user. The decrypted data stream is a normal HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) text, an image gif file, a JPEG (Joint Pho
tographic Coding Group) file, or an avi file of a movie. In the plug-in system, a display function of these files possessed by the browser is called to display the transmitted data stream.

At the same time as the installation of the plug-in, a cookie entry is prepared as shown in step S12. This entry is made by installing a cookie for the content address in the browser with the access account and access password as values. When the installation of the plug-in cookie is completed, the web browser for opening the content is started using the content address stored in the program in step S13. At this time, modem 3
4 is controlled and the user's controller (Windows-PC) 3
2 is connected to a controller 21 for providing paid contents and services.

The processing step S15 from the activation of the web browser to the termination thereof is shown in steps S16 to S19 of the flow. Every time the user operates the WEB browser and clicks a clickable place, the content is opened as in step S16, and "octetstrem" is displayed.
/ x-exercise-option "data is sent, and it is determined in step S17 whether the content type is this data. If it is determined that the content type is the option execution data, plug-in processing is performed as the processing in step S20, and the content is displayed via the plug-in program. The processing flow S20 of the plug-in program includes a step S21 of decoding a data stream and a step S22 of displaying decoded data. If it is determined in step S17 that the content type is not the option execution data, the display module incorporated in the browser is executed in step S18. This cycle repeats until the browser is closed. When the user ends the web browser in step S19, the program started from the floppy 5 via step S14 ends.

Next, in the case of the proxy system, as shown in FIG. 6, the option exercise program on the user controller is executed. This program is
First, in step S23, Windows
Instruct s) to connect to the address specified in the content address. At this time, Windows drives the modem 31 to connect to the address specified by the program. As a result, the program is connected to the content and service controller.

Next, in step S24, a content and service controller (hereinafter abbreviated as a server)
Sends a request for an access account and a password, transmits the account converted from the ID stored in the program, and the access password also stored in the program. Requesting and returning the password is done using standard HTTP.

The server requests a password, and it is determined in step S25 whether the authentication has been successful. If the authentication fails, it is determined that there is an error in the option data, and the program ends. Normally, this does not fail, so in step S26, the program attempts to create a TCP socket having an appropriate address on the local host. Usually, the address is Windows
s). In the next step S27, the program starts up a WEB browser connected to the address on the local host generated at this time. Thereafter, the program executes processing step S30 of the web browser and processing step S35 of the network event.
Alternately, and acts like a proxy that narrows between the web browser and the server. That is, data coming from the server is sent to the web browser, and data coming from the web browser is sent to the server.

In step S32, the display of the built-in browser is displayed, and in step S33, the input from the user is performed by clicking the mouse or the like, and this processing flow is repeated. In addition, the processing flow S35 of the network event
Transfers the request to the server in step S36, receives the response from the server in step S37, and uses step S38 to encrypt the encrypted portion of the data using the encryption / decryption key recorded on the floppy disk. The request is decrypted, and the request is transferred to the server in step S39.

As described above, of the data sent from the server, the header portion is plain text, but the data itself is transmitted in an encrypted form for the encryption / decryption stored in the data segment of the program. Decrypt to plaintext with key and transfer to browser. Every time the user operates the WEB browser and clicks on a clickable place, both the request and the response pass through this program. The encrypted data sent from the server is converted into plain text by the program, passed to the WEB browser, and displayed. The subsequent operation is a repetition of this cycle until the user closes the web browser.
When the user terminates the WEB browser, the program started from the floppy detects this and terminates itself.
FIG. 7 is a time chart showing the flow of data for such a proxy program.

The operation of the server is as follows.
In this embodiment, a normal http server is used for the content and service controller (server) 21. Therefore, the “content address” in the above description is somewhere accessible by the http server 21. This is a method of installing a file that can be obtained only by the option holder. In the case of the plug-in method, the file is encrypted with the corresponding option key and placed at the location indicated by the content address. In the case of the proxy method, a cgi program that returns data encrypted with a corresponding optional key is installed at the content address. With cgi,
Since the processing load on the server increases, it is conceivable to incorporate a module that encrypts and sends back the data into the server program itself. In either case, the file that is shown to anyone other than the option holder is
It is sufficient that the server is provided at a position where the http server can access it without encryption. Unencrypted files can be viewed by anyone.

The determination as to whether the option is valid is performed as follows. In exercising the option right of the first embodiment, two methods are used in combination: a method using an access account and a password, and a method using an encryption / decryption key. The access account and password are secondary.

The essence of the present invention is that the data to be exercised by an option is encrypted with an encryption key unique to the option so that the option holder can access the data. The encrypted data may be accessible to those without options.
Only valid option holders have a decryption key and can decrypt the encrypted data. In addition, data whose option has expired will be deleted,
For example, the new option is encrypted with a new encryption key and then replaced, so that the new option cannot be decrypted with the encryption key of the invalid option holder.

The server does not judge whether the option is valid. It is valid if the data accessed by the user can be decrypted by the exercise program stored on the medium, and invalid otherwise. Since the validity of the option is not determined on the server side, the equipment on the server side can be simplified and the management cost can be reduced.

The encryption method does not matter as long as the encryption / decryption key stored in the removable information recording medium can be used. In this embodiment, the German army at the time of World War II We have implemented a unique encryption method based on the used Enigma encryption. The Enigma cipher is a typical transposition of a secret key, and since a user does not actually input a key through a keyboard to enter a cipher, a relatively long byte string (4096 bytes in this embodiment) is used as a key. I have to.

In the first embodiment described above, the case where the server 21 is provided has been described as an example.
The present invention can be implemented even when a server is not provided. A data communication system according to the second embodiment will be described as an example when there is no server. The embodiment in which the content server is accessed has been described above. However, the concept of a removable data medium in which a program and optional conditions are written can be used in peer-to-peer communication. Peer toe
In the case of peers, all of the peer users will have the removable data media in which the same optional conditions are written.

In the second embodiment, a system in which a message can be exchanged only with a partner having a removable data medium having the same optional conditions by combining a removable information recording medium on which a program and optional conditions are written with an e-mail mailer. Was developed. As in the first embodiment, it was created as a Windows application. FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of the system.

In FIG. 8, floppies 51, 52, 53
Is inserted into a floppy disk drive (not shown) of each of the user controllers 61, 62 and 63, and each user simply starts up the computer, and the parent computer (not shown) placed on the network Communication between the child computers can be performed via the.

FIG. 9 shows the flow of processing when sending a message. First, the flow of processing in the case of performing communication will be described. A program is started from a removable data medium (floppy) (step S4).
1). Then, as shown in FIG. 10, a completion button 71 and a window 72 for editing a message are displayed on the screen 70.
Appears. Therefore, a message is created or edited in the message editing window 72 (step S4).
2). Next, when the completion button 71 is clicked in step S43, the message is encrypted using the encryption key stored in the program. The encrypted file is
Name it readme.nai.

Next, the file encrypted in step S44 is transmitted by E-Mail so that Windows
s), etc. (using a standard interface called MAPI). As a result, the mailer starts up, and the mail address of the transmission partner can be input as in step S45. The mail is transmitted by inputting the address, and the encrypted message is transmitted.

The flow of processing on the receiving side is as shown in step S51, where a mail including a message is delivered together with another mail. Since the mail including this message includes the file “readme.nai” as in step S52, it can be identified from other mails. In step S53, the program is started from the floppy and "re
adme.nai ”. The message is decrypted by the decryption key stored in the program in step S54, and displayed on the message editing window 72 (step S55). Thereafter, when writing a reply to this message, the process is the same as the process when returning to step S42 and sending the message.

The data communication systems according to the first and second embodiments have been described as using the floppy disk 5 as the information recording medium.
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be implemented using an information recording medium other than a floppy disk.

As a type of the information recording medium, an IC (Integrated Circuit) card, a magneto-optical card, or the like can be considered as a medium for diversifying the medium in addition to the above-mentioned floppy disk. In the case of an IC card, if it is a storage IC card such as a flash memory, a program and a key may be stored in the same manner as a removable information recording medium. Exercise programs and keys can be replaced by semiconductor circuits if higher security is desired. It is also possible to use only a key as a magnetic card, a barcode, or a two-dimensional barcode.

[0056]

As described in detail above, according to the data communication system of the present invention, instead of charging for paid contents and services themselves, charging is performed for the right (option) for acquiring them. Therefore, pay contents or services can be provided by simple settings while maintaining confidentiality in a simple and flexible charging form.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a data communication system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a data structure of an executable file used in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a data structure of a floppy disk as an information recording medium used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of the data communication system according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an option exercising program of a user controller by a plug-in method in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an option exercising program of a user controller by a proxy method according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing a flow of a program by a proxy method.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a data communication system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the data communication system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen image used in the data communication system of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Public data communication network 2 Parent computer 5 Information recording medium (floppy disk) 21 Content call service controller 22 Call option database 24 Call option generation controller 25 Information recording medium writer 26 Information recording medium writer 31 Medium drive Unit (Reading Device for Information Recording Medium) 32 Central Processing Operation Unit (User Controller)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A public data communication network, a parent computer that provides predetermined pay contents or services to customers via the public data communication network, and a desired computer from the parent computer via the public data communication network. A data communication system comprising: a slave computer for receiving provision of paid content or a service; wherein the slave computer has a location of data on the content or service to be provided, an import program, an encryption / decryption key, A medium drive for reading recorded information which is capable of reading a removable information recording medium having at least recorded therein, and reading necessary information from the removable information recording medium inserted into the medium drive to start up a data communication program to execute the public communication. Between the parent computer via the data communication network At least a central processing unit for establishing a data communication enabled state, wherein the parent computer receives a request for provision of paid content or service from the child computer via a public data communication network. Immediately establishes a data communicable state, and is encoded by the same encoding method as the encryption / decryption key stored in the removable information recording medium attached to the slave computer, and receives a request for provision. A data communication system for delivering paid contents or services through the public data communication network. 2. The pay content or service is various information on politics, economy or social life, and the parent computer provides paid content from the child computer during a predetermined right exercising period. When requested, provide a paid service for such information via the public data communication network without any authentication, by encrypting the information in a format that can be decrypted by the slave computer equipped with the removable information recording medium. Claim 1 characterized by the following:
A data communication system according to claim 1. 3. The pay content or service is an e-mail providing service in which the parent computer acts as an intermediary of e-mail and enables message exchange with a customer having another child computer. The data communication system according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The child computer only needs to mount the removable information recording medium storing the same contents.
4. The data communication system according to claim 3, wherein an electronic mail can be exchanged between a plurality of different child computers without performing any authentication. 5. A procedure for applying for opening of a line to a parent computer via a public data communication network when attached to a reading device of a child computer activated by a predetermined operating system; A procedure for activating the child computer and establishing a line with the response information sent from the parent computer when the application for opening is made, and decoding the code string transmitted encrypted with the response information To display a screen for applying for provision of predetermined pay content or service on the display device of the child computer, and to receive the pay content or pay service on the display device of the child computer via the established line. To display the instruction screen and the procedure until the provision of the paid content or service is completed. A procedure for displaying the necessary instruction screen and allowing the customer to select the provision of paid content or service, and a procedure for normally terminating the state where the data communication line is open when the provision of paid content or service is completed. And a removable information recording medium on which a program for acquiring a paid service is recorded. 6. A procedure for opening a data communication line between the parent computer and the child computer includes transmitting and receiving an e-mail between a plurality of child computers on which the recording medium is mounted. 6. The removable information recording medium according to claim 5, wherein a procedure is further recorded.