JP2001319164A - Rental system, rental method and recording medium having rental program recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rental system for realizing rental business by which a user can easily rent a content from any place of the world at any time without the need of much facility investment. SOLUTION: A rental server device 10 for communicating with the terminal equipment 30 of the user through the Internet 50 and renting the contents of sound and a moving picture by electronic data is installed. The rental server device 10 is provided with a distribution data generation part for generating distribution data by protecting the contents so that the contents are used within a limit that is set as a rental condition, it rents distribution data by transmitting them to the terminal equipment 30 of the user, is connected to a settlement terminal 40 being the terminal of a settlement facility mediating the payment of the rental charge of the user, charges the settlement terminal 40 for the payment of the rental charge at the time of renting the contents to the user and receives payment from the user through the settlement facility.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rental of digital contents via a communication line, and more particularly to a rental system for renting by downloading digital data of audio and moving images, a rental method thereof, and a recording medium on which a rental program is recorded. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many types of media, such as video tapes, CDs, DVDs, books, and magazines, are not only sold but also rented out for rental.

[0003] In these various media rental services, a media body such as a CD or a video tape on which music or a movie to be rented is recorded on a shelf in the store is arranged, and a visitor who visits the store desires to rent a work (a medium on which the user wants to rent). The main body is selected from among them, and the media body is lent out.

[0004]

As described above, the conventional rental system has the following problems.

First, in the prior art, a medium such as a CD or a video tape is lent out for browsing, so that there is a problem that the medium is deteriorated, damaged, and stained by video reproduction or the like. As these deteriorations progressed, the use of media became impeded, and such stocks could not be rented. For this reason, conventionally, it has been necessary to take measures such as checking the state of the returned video or the like in detail or subscribing to insurance or the like in case the reproduction becomes difficult.

[0006] Second, in order to perform a rental business, a large space for exhibiting and storing a large number of CDs and video tapes to be rented is provided in the store, and it is sufficient to accept users. It was necessary to develop a large-sized parking lot, etc., which required a large capital investment.

[0007] Third, it is necessary and troublesome for a user to directly visit a rental shop in order to receive and return a rental. For this reason, the number of customers who come to the rental shop is mainly limited to residents in the vicinity, so that even if the scale of the rental shop is increased, it is not possible to obtain the number of visitors that match the scale.

[0008] Conventionally, it has not been possible to perform a rental business for renting digital contents recorded with works such as music and movies through a communication line.

[0009] In conventional rental of CDs and video tapes, the term of use is determined by the borrower by setting a term of lending and receiving the product within the term, but on the other hand, using digital contents If the content is sent to the user's terminal, the user can freely use or copy (copy) the content, and the use can be restricted under predetermined lending conditions. Because there was no.

Further, until recently, a communication infrastructure for transmitting large-capacity information such as video contents to a user terminal at a low cost in a short time has not been developed.
Since an information compression technology for realizing a high compression ratio such as EGA Audio Layer-III) has not been realized,
Rental business using a communication line could not be realized.

A first object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and eliminate the fear of damage to the rented media.
A rental system, a rental method, and a recording medium for recording a rental program that enable a user to easily obtain a rental from any place in the world at any time without requiring a large capital investment. It is to provide.

A second object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, rent digital contents such as music and movies via a communication line, and appropriately collect a rental fee, and a rental method and a rental method thereof. And a recording medium on which a lending program is recorded.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a rental system according to the present invention includes a rental server device that communicates with a user terminal device via a communication line and rents content by electronic data. The rental server device includes a distribution data generation unit that protects the content to generate distribution data so that the content is used within a limit set as a rental condition, and the distribution data is used for the usage. Performs lending by transmitting to the terminal device of the person, the terminal device, in the received distribution data, the protected content is currently determined based on the lending condition is determined whether use is approved, Provide usage management means to execute access to the data of the content only when use is permitted. The features.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the rental system includes:
The rental server device connects to a payment terminal, which is a terminal of a payment institution that mediates payment of the rental fee of the user, and requests the payment terminal to pay the rental fee when renting the content to the user, It is characterized by receiving payment from the user via a settlement institution.

A rental system according to a third aspect of the present invention includes:
The rental server device, upon receiving the content lending request from a user, inquires of the settlement terminal whether or not the settlement institution mediates payment of the user's rental fee, and the settlement institution Only when the user accepts the content, the content is lent to the user.

A rental system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention comprises:
The distribution data generating means generates distribution data by performing protection on the content in which a key code corresponding to each of the plurality of lending conditions is set, and the use management means performs protection on the received distribution data. A key code input from a user is received for the content, and the input key code and the protection of the content correspond to each other, and currently correspond to the input key code in the content. Based on the lending conditions, access to the content data is executed only when use is permitted.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rental system comprising:
It is characterized in that contents based on audio data are lent to users.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rental system.
It is characterized in that contents based on moving image data including audio are lent to users.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rental system.
The communication line is an Internet line.

In a preferred embodiment, the rental server system communicates with a user's terminal device via a communication line to rent out content by electronic data, and a content storage unit for storing the content. The rental server device further includes a distribution data generating unit that protects the content to generate distribution data so that the content is used within restrictions set as rental conditions, and And lending it by transmitting it to the terminal device of the user.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the rental server system, the rental server device is connected to a payment terminal, which is a terminal of a payment institution that mediates payment of the rental fee of the user, and transmits the content to the user. At the time of lending, the payment terminal is requested to pay a rental fee, and the payment is received from the user via the payment institution.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the rental server system, when the rental server device receives the content lending request from the user, the rental server device pays the user's rental fee to the settlement terminal. It is characterized in that it is inquired whether or not a settlement institution mediates, and the content is lent to the user only when the settlement institution accepts the mediation.

[0023] In the rental server system of the present invention, the distribution data generating means generates distribution data by protecting the content with a key code corresponding to each of the plurality of rental conditions. It is characterized by doing.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rental server system for renting out content based on audio data to a user.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rental server system for renting out a content based on moving image data including sound to a user.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the rental server system is characterized in that the communication line is an Internet line.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rental method, comprising the steps of: communicating with a user terminal device via a communication line; A distribution data generating step of generating distribution data by performing protection so as to be used within the restrictions set forth above, and a lending step of lending by transmitting the distribution data to the terminal device of the user, In the terminal device of the user, it is determined whether the protected content in the received distribution data is currently permitted to be used based on the lending conditions, and only when the use is permitted, the content is protected. It has a usage management step to access data, and lends contents by electronic data. To.

[0028] According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rental method, comprising the steps of: connecting to a settlement terminal which is a terminal of a settlement agency which mediates payment of a rental fee of the user; Requesting the user to pay a rental fee, and receiving payment from the user via the settlement institution.

A rental method according to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention is a method for determining whether or not the settlement institution mediates payment of the user's rental fee to the settlement terminal upon receiving the content lending request from the user. And renting the content to the user only when the settlement institution accepts the intermediary.

In the rental method according to the present invention, the distribution data generating step preferably includes a step of protecting the content with a key code set corresponding to each of the plurality of rental conditions to generate distribution data. Receiving the input of a key code from a user with respect to the protected content in the received distribution data, wherein the input key code corresponds to the protection of the content, and At present, based on the lending condition corresponding to the input key code in the content, access to the data of the content is executed only when use is permitted.

A rental method according to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the communication line is an Internet line.

In a twentieth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium storing a lending program according to the present invention, comprising the steps of: A distribution data generating step of generating distribution data by protecting the data so as to be used within restrictions set as lending conditions, and a lending step of lending by transmitting the distribution data to the user terminal device The terminal device of the user determines whether the protected content in the received distribution data is currently permitted to be used based on the lending condition, and the use is permitted. A use management step of executing access to the content data only when the And performing out.

The recording medium storing the lending program of the present invention according to claim 21 includes a step of connecting to a settlement terminal which is a terminal of a settlement institution which mediates payment of the rental fee of the user; Requesting the settlement terminal to pay a rental fee when lending,
Receiving payment from a user through the settlement institution.

A recording medium storing the lending program according to the present invention, wherein the payment terminal pays the user's rental fee to the payment terminal when receiving the content lending request from the user. And a step of inquiring as to whether or not to mediate, and rents the content to the user only when the settlement institution accepts the mediation.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in the recording medium storing the lending program of the present invention, the distribution data generating step protects the content with a key code set corresponding to each of the plurality of lending conditions. Generating distribution data, the use management step receives an input of a key code from a user for the protected content in the received distribution data, and receives the input key code and the protection of the content. And based on the lending conditions currently corresponding to the entered key code in the content,
Access to the data of the content is executed only when use is permitted.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the recording medium storing the lending program according to the present invention, the communication line is an Internet line.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, the rental service method of the present invention communicates with a user via a communication line and borrows electronic data to be lent to the user within a limit set in advance as a rental condition. The distribution data is generated by performing protection so as to be used, and the distribution data is lent by transmitting it to the user.In the distribution data, the protected content is currently satisfied with the rental condition. It is assumed that access to the data of the content can be made only when the use of the content is permitted, and the content is lent by electronic data.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the rental service method of the present invention, a connection is made to a payment terminal which is a terminal of a payment institution which mediates payment of a rental fee of a user, and the payment terminal is connected to the payment terminal when the content is lent to a user. It is characterized by requesting payment of a rental fee and receiving payment from a user via the settlement institution.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the rental service method according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the content lending request is received from the user, the settlement institution mediates payment of the user rental fee to the settlement terminal. Inquiry as to whether or not the settlement institution accepts an intermediary, and rents the content to the user.

In the rental service method according to the present invention, the content is protected by setting a key code corresponding to each of the plurality of rental conditions to generate distribution data. Accepts a key code input from a user with respect to the protected content, and the input key code and the protection of the content correspond to each other, and the current key code corresponds to the input key code in the content. Based on the corresponding lending conditions, the content data can be accessed only when use is permitted.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the rental service method, the communication line is an Internet line.

[0042]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a rental system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a rental system 100 according to the present embodiment manages a content storage unit 20 storing digital contents to be lent and a rental in a virtual rental shop providing a rental service of digital contents. The rental server device 10 is connected to the terminal device 30 of each user and the rental server device 10 via a communication line 50.

In addition, a settlement terminal 40, which is a terminal of a settlement institution that performs settlement of the rental fee of each user, is also connected to the communication line 50, and communicates with the rental server device 10 to settle the fee.

The system provided in the virtual rental shop is called a rental server system. The rental server system according to the present embodiment includes a rental server device 10 and a content storage unit 20.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the relationship among the respective institutions and the like constituting the rental system 100 of the present embodiment.

The settlement institution is a credit card company, bank, or other financial institution to which the user subscribes. When a user borrows digital content, the user pays the price by inputting his / her credit card number in the same manner as in many other electronic commerce payment methods. The virtual rental shop demands payment from the settlement institution based on the credit card number and receives the payment. In addition, transactions between the three parties by the user, the virtual rental shop, and the settlement institution are executed via the communication line by the terminal device 30, the rental server device 10, and the settlement terminal 40 provided respectively.

The communication line 50 is the Internet or personal computer communication, a telephone line for connecting to the Internet or the like, a wireless telephone line, or the like.

For example, when providing a content rental service via the Internet, the rental server device 10 manages a web page for publishing information on the rental service and accepting operations from the user, The rental service can be provided by automatically processing an order from the company using a function such as CGI.

The rental server device 10 may have a function of a web server for publishing the web page of the rental service. In addition, the rental server device 10 has a function of an Internet connection server for connecting each user's terminal to an Internet line, so that the virtual rental shop can simultaneously perform the business of the Internet provider and provide the Internet connection service. For users who are customers,
A content rental service may be provided.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the rental server device 10 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the user terminal device 30 of the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, a rental server device 10 of the present embodiment encrypts and protects digital content data to be lent to a user, protects the data to generate distribution data, and uses a rental service. The system includes a customer management unit 12 that manages lending of content to users and each user, and a charging management unit 13 that calculates and charges usage fees for each user.

Referring to FIG. 4, the user terminal device 30
Is a usage management unit 31 that checks lending conditions such as a lending period of the content rented from the rental server device 10 and manages use thereof, and a reproduction unit 3 that reproduces the content.
2, a communication unit 33 connected to the communication line 50 to communicate with the rental server device 10 and the like, and a storage unit 34 for storing received contents.

The reproducing unit 32 includes a speaker, a display,
Music and images are reproduced on a liquid crystal display or the like.

The communication unit 33 is connected to the Internet, a telephone line, a wireless telephone line, or the like via a modem, an antenna for transmitting / receiving a radio wave, and performs communication.

The storage unit 34 stores and stores the received content by using a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, or the like. If necessary, a computer program for executing a rental process in the terminal device 30 of the present embodiment may be stored.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the content lending according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5, first, rental server device 10 retrieves the content from content storage unit 20 in response to a user's lending request from terminal device 30. In the contents, works such as music and movies are recorded.

The distribution data generating unit 11 encrypts the content to generate distribution data which is protected so that it cannot be decrypted and reproduced by a terminal device 30 other than the terminal device 30 of the lender. . Lending of the content is performed by transmitting the distribution data to the terminal device 30 of the user who is the lending destination.

The distribution data transmitted to the terminal device 30 of the lending user is checked by the use management unit 31 for lending conditions such as the lending period, and further, a predetermined key code (password) input by the user. Or if it is authorized to use the encrypted content in the distribution data by referring to a unique identification number or the like for identifying each terminal device 30 (if the setting matches the setting recorded in the distribution data) The decrypted content data is sent to the playback unit 32 and played back.

Here, the lending condition can be determined by the upper limit of the reproduction time and the upper limit of the number of reproductions, in addition to the lending period, which is the period for permitting the use of the lent contents. The setting of the lending condition of each content needs to be protected so that it is not illegally rewritten even after being notified to the terminal device 30. For example, a method of encrypting and embedding the lending condition data together with the content in the distribution data by the distribution data generation unit 11 and transmitting the data to the user terminal device 30 or setting data of the lending condition of each content separately in the terminal device 30 Unauthorized rewriting can be prevented by updating (encrypted and recorded) or the like.

The use management section 31 refers to the setting of the lending condition of the lent content, and does not decode the content if the rent condition is not satisfied.
Thus, the use of the content lent to the user via the communication line can be restricted under the predetermined rent conditions.

Also, the terminal device 3 of the lending destination is added to the lending condition.
By designating an identification number of 0 or the like, it is possible to prevent the lent content from being copied (copied) and reproduced and used by the terminal device 30 of another user.

When the reproduction time and the upper limit of the number of times of reproduction are specified in the lending condition, the use management unit 31 encrypts the record every time the content is used (to prevent the content from being illegally rewritten). T) can be checked. In addition, in the case where the lending term is set in the lending condition, the rented content may be used indefinitely due to the time setting of the user's terminal device 30 being incorrectly changed. Each time, a check can be made by communicating with the rental server device 10 and confirming the current correct time.

The lending condition is not limited to the condition determined at the time of the first lending, and may be updated to a new lending condition after the lending. For this purpose, for example, the distribution data generation unit 11 sets a lending condition by associating a key code with each of a plurality of lending expiration dates, and the use management unit 31 sets a lending condition corresponding to the key code input by the user. A method of making the content usable until the time limit is considered. In this case, the user can continue to use the content by paying a new rental fee even after the expiration of the rental period and receiving a notice of a key code that can be used for a longer period.

Since the lending conditions can be updated in this way, it is not necessary to download the same content again to rent the same content.

As another example of the embodiment in which the lending condition can be updated, an algorithm for designating the correspondence between the contents of the lending condition such as the lending expiration date and the key code and the key code is defined as the lending condition. When the setting is made and the use management unit 31 calculates the lending term corresponding to the key code input by the user according to this algorithm, or when updating the lending condition,
A method of updating the rental condition data of the content stored in the storage unit 34 in the terminal device 30 to the rental condition that can be used by the rental server device 10 via the communication line 50 by rewriting the rental condition data is possible. Next, processing of the rental system 100 of the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining processing of rental system 100 according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6, first, the user accesses the virtual rental shop (step 60).
1). This is performed by accessing a web page of a virtual rental shop managed by the rental server device 10 or the like.

When the user specifies his credit card number or the like and requests the provision of the rental service, the rental server device 10 determines whether or not to mediate the payment of the fee to a settlement institution such as the credit card company. (Step 602).

The settlement terminal 40 refers to the credit information database 41 recording customer data (step 60).
3) Inform the rental server device 10 of the result of the examination as to whether or not to mediate the payment of the fee (step 604).

If the settlement institution does not mediate the payment of the fee, the rental server device 10 cannot provide the rental service, so that the rental server device 10 displays this to the user's terminal device 30 and ends the lending process (step 605). , 60
6).

When the settlement institution mediates the payment of the fee (step 605), the rental server device 10 proceeds to the next step of the lending process, and notifies the user of a list of contents that can be lent (step 605). Step 607). This can be notified by a method such as displaying a list of contents that can be rented on a web page. The contents to be rented are, for example, multimedia contents of works such as music and movies which have been conventionally lent by CD or video tape.

Then, the user freely selects the contents to be lent from the list (step 60).
8) Request the rental server device 10 to lend (step 609).

Upon receiving the rental request, the rental server device 10 reads the content from the content storage unit 20, encrypts the content, creates distribution data, and transmits the data to the user terminal device 30 (step 610). . By encrypting the content, measures are taken to prevent unauthorized copying, such as making it possible to reproduce the content only on the terminal device 30 of the lending user.

The distribution data downloaded to the user's terminal device 30 has loan conditions such as the expiration date and the upper limit of the reproduction time set in advance, and the use management unit 31 checks the loan conditions. If use is permitted, the encrypted content is decrypted and reproduced by the reproducing unit 32.

If the use management unit 31 determines that the use of the content is not permitted (eg, the loan period has expired), the decryption or reproduction is not executed. If the content that cannot be reproduced is left in the storage unit 34 of the terminal device 30 of the user as it is, the capacity of the content is reduced, so that the content may be automatically deleted (however, before the deletion is executed). , It is preferable to ask the user for consent to delete).

In the embodiment corresponding to the update of the lending conditions, the contents are left in the storage unit 34 even after the first lending conditions have expired (or an external floppy (registered trademark) disk, optical disk, or the like). ),
By updating to a new lending condition and inputting a key code, the use management unit 31 reproduces the content again.

The rental fee for the content lent to the user is charged to the settlement terminal 40 and paid (steps 612 to 616).

With the rental system 100 of the present embodiment described above, a rental company can provide a user with a digital content rental service via a communication line.

Thus, a content lending business can be developed for users nationwide and worldwide. In addition, the scale can be freely expanded without the need for capital investment such as stores and parking lots, and it is possible to easily provide a much larger selection of products than a rental shop that rents conventional videotapes, etc. The profit on the side is also great. In addition, in cooperation with a company that sells and produces video and music works, it is possible to rent all works that are distributed (licensed) to the market by connecting to terminals of these companies through communication lines. It is also possible to perform services.

The rental system 1 of the present embodiment
00 is a function of the distribution data generation unit 11, the customer management unit 12, the charging management unit 13 and the like in the rental server device 10, a function of the usage management unit 31 and the like in the terminal device 30,
Other functions can be realized not only by hardware but also by loading a computer program having each function into a memory of a computer processing device. This computer program is stored in a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or other recording media 80, 90. Then, the functions described above are realized by being loaded from the recording medium into the computer processing device and controlling the operation of the computer processing device.

This computer program can be provided alone to the user of the rental system 100.

That is, the recording medium 80 on the terminal device 30 side
May be released from the rental server device 10 via the communication line 50 so that the user can freely download and obtain the computer program.

Many of the personal computers, notebook computers, PDAs, and other commercially available information devices and communication terminals that are currently widely used include a reproduction unit 32 for reproducing images and sounds, and a communication unit for performing communications such as the Internet and personal computer communications. 33, since it has an information processing function of executing various computer programs in addition to the function of the storage unit 34 for recording downloaded contents, the use management unit 31 and other functions of the rental process of the present embodiment are realized. By downloading and running a computer program,
It can be used as the user terminal device 30 of the present embodiment.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the first embodiment, the rental fee of each user is collected through a payment institution by an external credit card company or the like, but the method of collecting the rental fee is limited to this mode. is not. In the present embodiment, as another collection method, a rental company (virtual rental shop) that operates the rental system of the present invention.
A mode in which collection is performed by itself will be described.

For example, users who use the virtual rental shop (and billing destinations for each user, etc.)
By registering in advance, you can ask the user for advance payment of the rental fee in advance and rent it to the user within the prepaid fee, or collectively bill every month, etc. The trader can charge the fee himself. Of course, the rental server device 10
Monitors and records the usage status and the like of each user, and takes measures such as not lending content to users who have not paid the fee.

In the above-described embodiment in which the rental company also operates as an Internet provider and provides the content rental service to the user of the Internet connection service, the rental service fee is defined as the Internet connection service fee. At the same time, it can be collected by the same collection method (for example, collectively once a month by debiting from the user's deposit account or by requesting a rental provider's account for transfer).

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the rental system 100a according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7, the rental system 100a according to the present embodiment includes a user registration database 60 for recording information of registered users instead of the settlement institution according to the first embodiment. Provide in the system (in the virtual rental shop).

The rental server device 10 lends contents to the users registered in the user registration database 60, and registers new users and deletes them (from the user via the communication line 50). Or in response to a direct operation by a rental agent). If the rental fee payment from the user has been delayed, this fact is registered, and the rental of the content to the user is not performed until the payment is completed.

If necessary, the rental server device 10
May automatically transmit a fixed-form electronic ML for urging a user who is behind the rental fee to pay the fee.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of rental system 100a according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 8, when the rental system 100a of the present embodiment receives access from a user, the rental system 100a refers to the user registration database 60 instead of inquiring of the settlement institution, and the user is registered. It is confirmed whether or not it has been performed (step 803).

If the content is registered, a list of contents to be rented is notified in the same manner as in the first embodiment (step 807). Is generated and transmitted for lending (step 810).

Then, the rental fee is settled between the user and the rental company by a predetermined method (steps 812 to 814).

In the method of the first embodiment, it is not necessary to register a user in advance, so that an unspecified user on the network can provide a rental service without requiring a complicated procedure in advance. Can receive. However, as in the above-described embodiment of the present embodiment, by registering in advance, the user does not need to input a credit card number or the like every time the rental is performed. Service is available.

In each of the embodiments described above, before the list of contents to be lent is shown to the user,
We check the credit card number and check the membership registration of the rental service, etc. Of course, these may be performed at the time of lending procedure, and the list of contents to be loaned requires confirmation of registration. Instead, it may be made public so that anyone can view it on the Internet.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments and examples, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiments and examples, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the technical idea. Modifications can be made.

[0102]

As described above, according to the rental system of the present invention, the following effects can be achieved.

First, a technology for restricting the use of digital contents transmitted to a user by the rental system of the present invention under lending conditions such as a predetermined lending period, and a high-speed large-capacity communication developed rapidly in recent years. Lending digital contents that record music and movies, etc. to users through communication lines, and appropriately collecting rental fees by utilizing the existing infrastructure and data compression technology that achieves high compression ratios Can be.

Second, by renting digital contents via a communication line by the rental system of the present invention, there is no fear of damage to the rented media, and the user can use the rental system at any time from anywhere in the world. A rental service that can be easily rented can be realized without requiring a large capital investment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a rental system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a relationship between respective organizations and the like constituting the rental system 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a rental server device according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a user terminal device according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining content lending according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining processing of the rental system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a rental system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining processing of a rental system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Rental system 10 Rental server device 11 Distribution data generation unit 12 Customer management unit 13 Billing management unit 20 Content storage unit 30 Terminal device 31 Usage management unit 32 Playback unit 33 Communication unit 34 Storage unit 40 Payment terminal 41 Credit information 50 Communication line 60 User registration database 80, 90 Recording medium

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Claims (29)

[Claims] 1. A rental server device that communicates with a user terminal device via a communication line and rents content by electronic data, wherein the rental server device satisfies a condition in which the content is within a limit set as a rental condition. A distribution data generating unit that protects the content to generate distribution data, and rents the distribution data by transmitting the distribution data to a terminal device of the user. It is determined whether the protected content in the received distribution data is currently permitted to be used based on the lending conditions, and access to the content data is limited only when the use is permitted. A rental system comprising a use management unit to execute. 2. The rental server device is connected to a payment terminal that is a terminal of a payment institution that mediates payment of the rental fee of the user, and pays the rental fee to the payment terminal when the content is lent to the user. 2. The rental system according to claim 1, wherein the rental system receives the payment from the user via the settlement institution. 3. The rental server device, upon receiving a content lending request from a user, inquires of the settlement terminal whether the settlement institution mediates payment of the user's rental fee, 3. The rental system according to claim 2, wherein the content is lent to the user only when the settlement institution accepts an intermediary. 4. The distribution data generation unit generates distribution data by applying protection to the content, in which a key code corresponding to each of the plurality of lending conditions is set, to generate the distribution data. For the protected content in the distribution data, input of a key code from a user is received, and the input key code corresponds to the protection of the content, and the input is performed in the content at present. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein access to the content data is performed only when use is permitted based on the lending condition corresponding to the key code. Rental system. 5. The rental system according to claim 1, wherein the content based on the audio data is lent to a user. 6. The rental system according to claim 1, wherein a content based on moving image data including audio is lent to a user. 7. The rental system according to claim 1, wherein the communication line is an Internet line. 8. A rental server device that communicates with a user terminal device via a communication line and rents content by electronic data, and a content storage unit that stores the content, wherein the rental server device includes: A distribution data generation unit that protects the content so as to generate distribution data so that the content is used within restrictions set as lending conditions, and transmits the distribution data to the user terminal device. Rental server system characterized by lending. 9. The rental server device connects to a payment terminal, which is a terminal of a payment institution that mediates payment of a user's rental fee, and pays the rental fee to the payment terminal when the content is lent to a user. The rental server system according to claim 8, wherein the rental server system receives the payment from the user via the settlement institution. 10. The rental server device, upon receiving a content lending request from a user, inquires of the settlement terminal whether the settlement institution mediates payment of the user's rental fee, The rental server system according to claim 9, wherein the content is lent to the user only when the settlement institution accepts an intermediary. 11. The distribution data generating unit according to claim 8, wherein the distribution data generation unit generates distribution data by applying protection to the content in which a key code corresponding to each of the plurality of lending conditions is set. The rental server system according to claim 10. 12. The content according to claim 8, wherein the content based on the audio data is lent to a user.
Rental server system according to any one of the above. 13. The rental server system according to claim 8, wherein a content based on moving image data including audio is lent to a user. 14. The rental server system according to claim 8, wherein the communication line is an Internet line. 15. A step of communicating with a terminal device of a user via a communication line, wherein a content of electronic data to be lent to the user is used within restrictions set in advance as lending conditions. A distribution data generating step of generating distribution data by performing protection; anda lending step of lending by transmitting the distribution data to the user terminal device, wherein the user terminal device receives the Utilization management that determines whether the protected content in the distribution data is currently permitted to be used based on the lending conditions, and executes access to the data of the content only when the use is permitted. A rental method comprising the steps of renting content by electronic data. 16. A step of connecting to a settlement terminal that is a terminal of a settlement institution that mediates payment of a rental fee of a user, and a step of charging the settlement terminal for payment of the rental fee when the content is lent to a user. The rental method according to claim 15, further comprising: receiving payment from a user via the settlement institution. 17. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of inquiring the settlement terminal whether or not the settlement institution will mediate the payment of the user's rental fee when receiving the content lending request from the user. 17. The rental method according to claim 16, wherein the rental of the content to the user is performed only when the user accepts the mediation. 18. The distribution data generating step generates distribution data by applying protection to the content in which a key code corresponding to each of the plurality of lending conditions is set, and the received usage management step includes: For the protected content in the distribution data, input of a key code from a user is received, and the input key code corresponds to the protection of the content, and the input is performed in the content at present. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein based on the lending conditions corresponding to a key code, access to the data of the content is executed only when use is permitted. Rental method. 19. The rental method according to claim 15, wherein the communication line is an Internet line. 20. A step of communicating with a terminal device of a user via a communication line, wherein a content of electronic data to be lent to the user is used within a limit set as a lending condition in advance. A distribution data generating step of generating distribution data by performing protection; anda lending step of lending by transmitting the distribution data to the user terminal device, wherein the user terminal device receives the Utilization management that determines whether the protected content in the distribution data is currently permitted to be used based on the lending conditions, and executes access to the data of the content only when the use is permitted. Recorded a lending program characterized by comprising steps and lending contents by electronic data Recording media. 21. A step of connecting to a settlement terminal that is a terminal of a settlement institution that mediates payment of a rental fee of a user, and a step of charging the settlement terminal for payment of the rental fee when the content is lent to a user. 21. The recording medium according to claim 20, further comprising: receiving a payment from a user via the settlement institution. 22. A step of inquiring the settlement terminal whether or not the settlement institution mediates payment of the user's rental fee when receiving the content lending request from the user, 22. The recording medium according to claim 21, wherein the content is lent to the user only when the user accepts the mediation. 23. The distribution data generating step generates distribution data by subjecting the content to protection in which a key code corresponding to each of the plurality of lending conditions is set. An input of a key code from a user is received for the protected content in the distribution data, and the input key code corresponds to the protection of the content, and the input of the key code is currently input in the content. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 21, wherein access to the data of the content is executed only when use is permitted based on the lending condition corresponding to the key code. A recording medium on which a rental program is recorded. 24. A recording medium recording a lending program according to claim 20, wherein said communication line is an Internet line. 25. Content that is communicated with a user via a communication line and is lent to the user by electronic data is protected and distributed so as to be used within restrictions set in advance as lending conditions. Generates data, rents by transmitting the distribution data to the user, and protects the protected content in the distribution data only when use is currently permitted based on the lending conditions. A rental service method, wherein the content data can be accessed, and the content is lent by electronic data. 26. Connect to a settlement terminal that is a terminal of a settlement institution that mediates the payment of the rental fee of the user, charge the rental terminal to pay the rental fee when renting the content to the user, 26. The rental service method according to claim 25, wherein payment is received from a user via an institution. 27. Upon receipt of the content lending request from a user, the settlement terminal is inquired of whether or not the settlement institution mediates payment of the user's rental fee, and the settlement institution intervenes. The rental service method according to claim 26, wherein the rental of the content to the user is performed only when the content is accepted. 28. Protecting the content with a key code set corresponding to each of the plurality of lending conditions to generate distribution data, and for the protected content in the received distribution data, Receiving the input of the key code from the user, the input key code corresponds to the protection of the content, and the use is currently performed based on the lending condition corresponding to the input key code in the content. 28. The rental service method according to any one of claims 25 to 27, wherein access to the data of the content is possible only when permitted. 29. The rental service method according to claim 25, wherein the communication line is an Internet line.