JP2002074191A - Membership charging method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a membership charging method capable of dispersedly performing the certification/charge of an access to contents in accordance with traffic dispersion based on mirroring and realizing membership charging service having the high degree of freedom in the selection of contents. SOLUTION: In the case of utilizing contents provided from a distributor to a user through a network, the user selects the range of contents required to be used for the user, registers the user himself (or herself) as a member. When the user inputs user ID and a password acquired at the time of member registration, the distributor certifies the user so that the user can optionally access the contents of the range selected at the time of member registration without inputting the user ID and the password in each access.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of distributing contents via a network and avoiding concentration of traffic by mirroring contents when collecting contents charges, and realizing a membership-based billing service having a high degree of freedom in selecting contents. And a membership-based charging method that enables

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional information fee proxy collection system is mainly based on so-called single item sales, in which a site distributes content via a network and collects a fee for the content using an information fee proxy collection service. . For this reason, a membership-based charge that specifies a range of content that can be accessed according to the type of member (for example, a content group (zone) for each category) and a period and permits access only to content within the specified range has not been realized. Was.

[0003] Mirroring of contents is also generally performed in order to avoid concentration of traffic.
In the conventional information fee proxy collection method, it is necessary to match the content distribution with the authentication and billing, so the structure of the content itself passes through the information fee billing server. There was a fear that it would hinder.

[0004]

[0005] Content charging in the conventional information fee surrogate collection system has centered on single item sales, in which a fee is set for each content, and when the user downloads the content, the content fee is charged. However, as access speeds increase, users are expected to stream content from the network without having to download content one by one. You.

[0005] In such a situation, a membership fee is emerging, but the type is limited to annual members and monthly members, and the entire content provided by the site is provided to the member. There was a problem that an environment was not prepared in which a variety of content assortments could be prepared and various fee structures could be set accordingly.

[0006] On the other hand, the distribution of contents is performed by a mirroring technique from a server closest to the user to distribute the traffic. However, if the content itself passes through the information fee accounting server, as in the existing information fee proxy collection system, it is necessary to return the geographically dispersed traffic by mirroring to the information fee accounting server. There is a problem that traffic distribution by mirroring is made meaningless.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and performs authentication / charging for content access in a distributed manner in response to traffic distribution by mirroring.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a membership-based billing method capable of realizing a membership-based billing service having a high degree of freedom in content selection.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a method for using contents provided by a distributor to a user via a network. The user selects the range of desired content and registers as a member. When the user enters the user ID and password obtained at the time of member registration, the distributor registers the member without entering the user ID and password each time. The point is to authenticate the user so that the user can freely access the content within the range selected at the time.

According to the present invention, contents provided via a network are classified by category, and a user of the distributed contents refers to a classification (for example, a zone) presented on an initial screen when the contents are used. And register as a member for the category containing the desired content,
The distributor stores the user in association with the division registered by the user as a member, and when the user browses the content, imposes an access restriction on the associated division. Make a summary.

[0010] The present invention is characterized in that the membership registration allows content acquisition for a limited time.

According to the present invention, when registering the content of the contract at the time of the member registration, the site service member and the information fee proxy collection service member correspond to each other so that the user can access the site service when accessing the content. The ID and password must be entered so that both services can be authenticated. The distributor must enter the user ID and password each time the user enters the user ID and password obtained at the time of membership registration. The gist of the present invention is to allow the user terminal to retain the contents of the membership contract and the authentication status using, for example, a cookie technology so that access to the content that spans the division can be authenticated without any change.

[0012] According to the present invention, the distribution route of the authentication and billing information relating to the content is made different from the distribution route of the content provided by the site, and the information fee billing server provided in the distribution route of the authentication and billing information is used for the distribution. It is provided between the distribution route of the content and the distribution route of the authentication and charging information when the content of the mirror server that performs the charging related to the content and distributes the content provided by the site by mirroring is accessed. The gist is that the authentication is performed by referring to the authentication information database.

[0013] As means for the site to set various fee structures according to the content form and to allow the user to select,
Introduce the concept of zones for setting categories in content and a membership fee for each zone. The user selects the zone (one or more) that he / she wants to view on the browser, and purchases a membership ticket in which they are packed using the information fee transfer collection service (using another payment system such as a credit card) May be used). As a member type, a monthly member who can access all zones for one month or a temporary member who can access a designated zone for one day is provided, and a fee can be freely set. After purchasing the membership ticket, access control is performed for each zone so that the user can freely acquire the content within the designated range and within the period.

[0014] As means for realizing the information fee proxy collection that can authenticate and charge for content access in a distributed manner in response to traffic distribution by mirroring, the authentication for content access and the authentication for charging are separated and independent. Is distributed without passing through the information fee charging server.

As means for distributing the content itself without passing through the information fee charging device, a user purchases a membership ticket using the information fee charging collection service, and carries the purchased membership ticket to carry around the site. Access method.

The user uses the ID / password as a member of the information fee proxy collection service and the ID / password as a member of the content service provided by the site, and authenticates the information fee proxy collection service member when purchasing a membership ticket. And the site service member is authenticated when accessing the content. The cooperation between the two members is realized by storing the correspondence between the two members in the registration in the authentication information database performed when the member ticket is purchased.

An interface specification required for data transmission / reception between devices of a distribution system, an authentication system, and a billing system, which occurs with the separation and independence of the distribution and authentication / charging, is defined.

[0018]

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

First, a schematic configuration of a system to which the membership charging method of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the membership system billing system includes the user terminal 1,
An information fee accounting server 2, an information fee collection service member database 3, an information server 4, an authentication information database 5, a site service unit 6, and a mirror server 7 thereof. In addition, the site service section 6 which distributes contents
On the other hand, the mirror server 7 is provided for performing mirroring distribution of contents, and usually a plurality of mirror servers 7 are geographically dispersed and arranged.

In such a configuration, the user purchases a membership ticket from the user terminal 1 via the information fee accounting server 2 when browsing the paid content. The content is registered in the authentication information database 5, and subsequent access to the pay content of the user is authenticated according to the membership type described later while referring to the authentication information database 5, and the content is stored in the mirror server closest to the user. 7 is delivered.

When purchasing a membership ticket, the user is authenticated as a member of the information fee proxy collection service, and when browsing paid content, the user is authenticated as a site service member from the mirror server 7 at the mirror destination. . The former authentication is the information fee collection service member database 3
The latter authentication is performed by referring to the authentication information database 5 of the site service based on the member information held in the user terminal by the cookie.

Next, a first embodiment will be described.

First, as a first embodiment of the present invention, an embodiment of a membership charging system will be described.

The site has a membership system for providing content services. Zones are provided for each content category, and access restrictions are applied to the zones. Only members or temporary members can enter the zone. FIG. 2 shows the concept of a zone. The zone does not have a hierarchical structure. For example, if zone 3 is assigned to dir3 in FIG. 2, the lower directories dir31 and dir3
2 cannot have another zone.

In order to manage the billing information, it is assumed that both members and temporary members have previously become members of the information fee proxy collection service. Members can enter all zones of the content provided by the site. In addition, contents existing in the zone can be freely acquired. On the other hand, the temporary member purchases a tour ticket for the zone in advance using the information fee proxy collection service. The content existing in the zone described in the purchased tour ticket can be freely acquired.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a procedure for member registration and membership ticket purchase will be described using a temporary member as an example. When the user tries to access the paid portion of the content, the user jumps to the membership ticket purchase application screen shown in FIG. 4, and the user purchases the membership ticket by using the ID / password (Basic authentication) of the information fee proxy collection service member.

When the user purchases a membership ticket on the screen, as shown in FIG. 5, the ID / password of the site service member is issued, registered in the site service authentication information database, and the user returns to the content screen. .

Thereafter, when the user accesses the paid portion of the content, the user's membership type and access conditions are stored in a cookie, and the site service performs access authentication by referring to the authentication information database. Even if the ID / password of the service member is not input, it is possible to browse the contents within the permitted range.

Next, a second embodiment will be described.

Here, an embodiment of the information server 4 as a second embodiment will be described.

First, the flow of data transmission / reception and processing in application / purchase of a membership ticket will be described below. The user applies for or purchases a membership ticket from the information server through the mediation of the information fee charging server 3. The information server 4 is an information charge server 3
Reply to the message from

(1) When a request for a membership fee is received, a response of the membership fee is made.

(2) When a member registration request is received, a site member user ID / password is created, registered in the authentication information database 5, and responded. At this time, the information is also registered in the authentication information database 5 including the name of the information fee proxy collection service and the user ID of the service.

(3) When the charging result notification indicates normal termination, a response of acknowledgment is simply given.

(4) If the accounting result notification indicates an abnormal end, the information registered in the authentication information database 5 is deleted, and then a response of acknowledgment is made.

The function of the information server 4 is realized by CGI. The information server 4 converts the contents of the request from the user to HTTP.
It is determined based on the path information of the request. After making the request determination, the information server 4 acquires the billing amount based on the parameters of the HTTP request.

The following billing target name is designated as the billing amount acquisition parameter.

Membership amount setting file: billing target name <nam
e>, membership fee <fee>, charging date <date> Zone charging amount setting file: charging target name <name>,
Membership fee <fee>, expiration date <effect>, zone I set in [zone definition file] of authentication system
D <id> The parameter variables of the request include, in addition to the above-mentioned billing target name, the mail address / user I entered by the user.
D / Password is required.

Next, a third embodiment will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment of an authentication system as a third embodiment according to the present invention. Here, members of the site service and members of the information fee proxy collection service are treated separately, and an ID / password is defined for each.

All contents are accessed via the authentication CGI script. The path to the content is the authentication CG
Specify with PATH INFO to I-script.

After the authentication, the following information is added to the cookie so as to avoid accessing the database as much as possible.

In the case of a member: member type (member), expiration date of member (basically, no database access is performed after cookie generation) In the case of temporary member: member type (temporary member), access condition (zone, expiration date) Database access is not performed in the same zone, but in the case of cross-zone access, the relevant member information record is acquired from the database and the cookie is recreated.

The interface specifications of the authentication system will be described below.

The authentication system includes a main setting file / correspondence of extension and Content-Type / zone definition,
Are referred to.

The main setting file is always read every time the CGI is started, and describes a directive. The document root directory is <dir>, and the authentication system connects PATH INFO to this directory and generates a path for the actual file.

The zone definition file can describe zone information in the following format.

<Zone ID>: Unique numerical value assigned to the zone <URL>: Top directory of the zone (path specified in the URL) <Zone name>: Zone name to be displayed on the user interface etc. Specify for Setting a zone in a directory specifies all content, including subdirectories under that directory.

Further, a user name / password input screen and a message file to be transmitted when the member expires or various errors are prepared.

The authentication system has the following functions in one AP
Provided by I (function).

-Authentication by user ID and password-Generation of cookie value-Cookie value verification-Zone access right determination Further, the following API is provided to perform data access required for authentication.

Acquisition of zone list Addition / acquisition / update / deletion of user information in user table Addition / acquisition of record in ticketing table Authentication information database 5 is a user who holds user information for accessing paid contents of the site. Table and
It consists of a ticketing table that holds tour ticket information purchased by the temporary member and an information fee proxy collection service provider name table. The information held in each is as follows.

User table: User ID / Password / Member type / Member expiration date / Email address / Member registration date / time / Update date / time / Delete date / Delete flag / Information fee proxy collection service provider number / Information fee proxy collection service user I
D / Last updated person Ticketing table: ticket number / user ID / zone ID / expiration date / purchase date / time / update date / time / deletion date / deletion flag / last updated person Information fee transfer service provider name table: / information fee transfer service Trader number / information fee proxy collection service trader name / registration date / time / update date / time / deletion date / time / deletion flag / last updater Any sequence for paying out user ID or ticket ID can be used.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining an embodiment of an information fee accounting server 2 which provides an information fee proxy collection service as a fourth embodiment according to the present invention.

The information fee accounting server 2 mediates between the user and the information server 4 when the user purchases a membership ticket from the information server 4, and transfers a request from the user terminal 1 to the information server 4. , And transfers the response from the information server 4 to the user terminal 1.

In order to authenticate the user to the information server 4, the ID / password of the information fee proxy collection service is registered in the member database of the information fee proxy collection service. Apache's Basic authentication function is used as it is for member authentication. The function of the information fee accounting server 2 is implemented by CGI.

As described above, according to each embodiment, the site can set various fee systems according to the content form, and the user can arbitrarily select from these various fee systems, and mirroring can be performed. In response to the traffic distribution by the above, it is possible to realize the information fee proxy collection which can distribute and authenticate / charge the content access.

[0059]

As described above, authentication / charging for content access can be performed in a distributed manner in response to traffic distribution by mirroring, and a membership-based charging service with a high degree of freedom in content selection can be realized. And so on.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining the structure of content and the concept of zones.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining a procedure for purchasing a membership ticket in an information server.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a temporary member registration purchase application screen.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a temporary member registration purchase completion screen.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an authentication module.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an information fee accounting server.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 User terminal 2 Information fee billing server 3 Information fee collection service member database 4 Information server 5 Authentication information database 6 Site service unit 7 Mirror server

Claims (5)

[Claims] When using contents provided by a distributor to a user via a network, the user selects a range of contents desired by the user and registers as a member. , User ID obtained at the time of membership registration
And a password, wherein the user is authenticated so as to be able to freely access contents within the range selected at the time of the member registration without having to input the user ID and password each time. 2. A content provided via a network is classified by category, and a user of the distributed content refers to a classification presented on an initial screen when the content is used, and a desired content is referred to. Is registered as a member, and the distributor stores the user and the group registered by the user in association with each other, and when the user browses the content, A membership-based billing method characterized by restricting access to classification. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the member registration enables content acquisition for a limited time.
Membership billing method described. 4. When registering the contract contents at the time of the member registration, a correspondence is made between the site service member and the information fee proxy collection service member. By entering a password, both services can be authenticated, and the distributor can use the user ID that the user obtained when registering as a member.
The user terminal is made to retain the contents of the membership contract and the authentication status so that the user can access and authenticate the content across the divisions without inputting the user ID and the password each time. Or the membership billing method described in 3. 5. A distribution route of authentication and billing information relating to the content is made different from a distribution route of the content provided by the site, and the content is charged by an information fee billing server provided in the distribution route of the authentication and billing information. When the accounting is performed, when the content of the mirror server that distributes the content provided by the site by mirroring is accessed, the authentication provided between the content distribution route and the authentication and accounting information distribution route is performed. A membership-based billing method characterized by performing authentication by referring to an information database.