JP2002229452A - Storage medium for data structure stored with information image file, system for handling the information image file, method and program for operating the system, recording medium with the program recorded thereon and information terminal, program for operating the terminal, recording medium with the program recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information service form which has a higher value added, and facilitates the access of a user to various information, and to provide an information service form which secures higher security and can diffuse information at ease to that the contents of an information service associated with an image file are not altered nor plagiarized. SOLUTION: The storage medium which stored an information image file which can be read by an information terminal 30, stores a plurality of image related information A, B, and C relating to the information image in the data streams of the information image file (53a, 53b, 53c). A plurality of pieces of image related information comprise at least two or more pieces of encrypted image related information, and the encryption varies according to the image related information A, B, and C.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to providing information via a network such as the Internet.
In particular, the present invention relates to providing information using image data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Many HTs connected to the Internet
A WWW (World Wide Web) service provided by a TP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) server is a WWW executed on a user terminal connected to the Internet.
It can be easily used by operating HTTP browsing software such as an web browser.

[0003] The operation of the Web browser is a GUI (Graphic).
cal User Interface). Also, the number of HTTP servers connected to the Internet is rapidly increasing. As a result, the user can easily obtain much information, and the WWW service has rapidly spread.

[0004] In order to improve the operation by the GUI, a so-called button or icon using an arbitrary image file and associating a predetermined operation, a link and the like with an image corresponding to the image file is known. For example, a shortcut icon or the like is realized in a form depending on the OS, and is created by setting a link destination of an icon image to be displayed as a shortcut and a program associated with the icon image. A so-called banner in which an image is linked to a link destination is also used for a Web page that can be browsed by a Web browser. For example, in many cases, an image indicating a predetermined product or information is used as an advertisement medium by associating an address such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a providing device that provides the information with the image.

[0005] This banner defines a storage location of an image file used for an image displayed on a Web page in an HTML (Hyper Text Description Language) file.
This is realized by defining an address such as a predetermined URL to be linked when an area where the image file is displayed is selected or designated.

[0006] The user can easily refer to the information of the link destination by operating the Web browser and instructing (clicking) the banner.

In recent years, commercial transactions using the WWW service have been carried out, and the access status of the user can be easily investigated as compared with ordinary commercial transactions. It has become.

[0008] The following methods are known as methods for performing such a survey.

[0009] As a first example, identification information unique to each user of HTTP browsing software such as a Web browser, for example, Cookie or the like is stored on a user terminal, and when a user accesses an HTTP server, , This identification information is obtained by the HTTP server, and the HTTP
There is a method of recording and analyzing a user's access to information provided by the P server.

As a second example, an Internet service provider (hereinafter simply referred to as an ISP (Internet Service Provider))
That. The method includes analyzing a transmission packet from a user terminal connected to (2), recording a user's access to information provided by an HTTP server, and analyzing the information.

As a third example, an application independent of the HTTP server, such as access analysis software, records the access from the user separately from the information provided by the HTTP server, the access record (log) of the HTTP server, and the like. And a method of analysis.

[0012]

However, in the conventional example such as the banner described above, there is a configuration in which the image file and the HTML file including the information indicating the actual link destination are stored as separate files. Indispensable. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the information provider must request to set the definition of the HTML file on many Web pages in order for the banner or the like to be widely used as the index information indicating the information providing destination. Was.

On the other hand, when the user finds an interesting banner and drags and drops the image of the banner to the local folder, the link destination of the banner is saved as a shortcut in the local folder. Therefore, even after the connection to the network is disconnected, it is possible to access the information provider of the banner. However, the shortcut created in the local folder is displayed with the same icon when any banner is dropped, and only the text display of the file name is different. Therefore, when a plurality of shortcuts are stored in a local folder, it has been difficult to find a shortcut to a target site. Even if a shortcut can be created in a local folder, the URL of the link destination is merely stored as information, and the added value is low. This point
The same applies to an advertisement image fixedly displayed on the web or an advertisement image attached to an e-mail, and cannot be said to be a user-friendly information provision form from the viewpoint of visibility for intuitively grasping information. There was an inconvenience.

In a Web page, HTML
Since the definition in the file is required, the process that can be selected by the user is limited to the browser display of the link destination set by the creator of the HTML file. For this reason, all services using image files that can be provided from the information provider take the form of accessing the link destination of the banner, and various services to the user are provided in the form intended by the information provider. There was a disadvantage that it could not be provided easily and quickly.

And an HTML file referring to the image file.
By appropriately setting the description of the file, it is relatively easy to associate a link destination other than the link destination originally associated with the image file with the image file. For this reason, the information provider cannot define the processing on the user side, and furthermore, there is an inconvenience that the possibility of the image file being stolen cannot be denied.

In the above-described access survey, for example, in the first method, the HT executed by the user terminal
Depending on the setting of TP browsing software, Cookie
However, there was an inconvenience in terms of certainty, such as the inability to use.

Also, Cookies are issued and managed for each HTTP server, and cannot check access status in cooperation with other HTTP servers.
In order to investigate the access status of the user to a plurality of HTTP servers, it is necessary to integrate the access status to each of the HTTP servers, and there is a disadvantage that the investigation becomes difficult as the number of servers increases.

In the second method described above, when the user tries to check the access status to an external HTTP server operated outside the ISP used to connect to the Internet, the user is connected to the Internet. Since the number of existing HTTP servers is extremely large, there is a problem that the number of investigation targets increases and the investigation becomes extremely difficult.

In the third method described above, the HTTP
Independent of the information provided by the server, the management of logs, etc., it is necessary to operate the application for performing the above investigation, analyze the logs, and perform other complicated operations such as specifying the HTTP server to be investigated. As a result, there was an inconvenience that the survey could not be conducted easily.

[0020]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to improve the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide an information providing form with higher added value and which allows a user to easily access a variety of information. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to realize an information providing form in which information can be easily exchanged between an information providing destination and a user. It is another object of the present invention to reliably provide information desired by an image file provider to a user of the image file. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an image file provider with which a plurality of pieces of information desired to be provided can be provided to a user based on one image file.

[0021] It is another object of the present invention to provide an information provision mode in which higher security is ensured so that the information provision contents associated with the image file are not altered or plagiarized, and the information is diffused safely. And

Further, as various information exchange and information disclosure techniques including electronic commerce on the current network, the information exchange and information disclosure are different from the conventional information exchange and information disclosure based on the WWW service and are more advanced. The purpose of the present invention is to realize an information providing service that achieves the above security.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to make it possible to relatively easily investigate the access status of a user.

[0024]

First, the basic technology (IP3 technology) for achieving the above object will be described.

[Embedding of Information in Image File in Generation Server]

IP3 is an abbreviation of Information Picture 3 and is an existing image file (* .JPG / *. GIF).
Etc.) and embedding and distributing information (related information) related to the file. Information related to the image in the image file is particularly called image-related information. An image file in which related information is embedded or an image displayed by the image file is referred to as an information image. As the related information, for example, on a wide range of computer systems including a network, pointer information such as a URL indicating a location of information, unique identification information, a program entity, an information file such as an image file, and an information image are displayed. Menu items (indexes), designation of handling such as whether or not to execute information obtained from the pointer, and actions to be performed by a computer managing the information image when the information image is accessed (for example, file update)・ Deletion, revocation setting, transmission, etc.) and others can be considered. Here, the related information embedded in the information image is not limited to one, and a plurality of same or different related information can be simultaneously embedded.
The position and method of embedding the related information in the data stream of the image file are not particularly limited, but a position and method that do not affect the image in normal vision are desirable. Although the expression of embedding is used, the related information may be included at the beginning or end of the data stream of the image file, or may be diffused in the data stream.

[Provision of Information Image to User]

The information image generated by the generation server can be distributed on-line or off-line in a state recorded on a predetermined recording medium. For online distribution, for example, via a web page, using e-mail as a carrier medium, peer-to-peer communication between devices,
This is done by providing information via interactive television or otherwise. Offline distribution is, for example, C
A recording medium such as a DROM, a card mounted with a storage unit,
Others are done through.

[Move or Copy from First Management Area to Second Management Area]

The user activates the information image by moving or copying the information image managed (displayed) in the first management area to the second management area in the management area of the computer. can do. Here, the second management area is a management area under the control of a specific process (client application, client software) for handling an information image. On the other hand, the first management area is a management area under the control of the process of taking the information image into the computer, and according to the information image distribution channel described above,
Browsers, e-mail software, other information acquisition processes, CDROMs and other recording areas are applicable. In some cases, a remote computer via a network has a first management area, and an information image is directly acquired from the computer by a specific process that manages the second management area. In this case, the relationship between the computer that manages the first management area and the computer that manages the second management area may be a client / server relationship, a peer-to-peer relationship, or information via a shared folder on a network. A relationship in which an image is moved or copied may be used. Here, the management area may be thought of as a storage area on a recording medium, or may be thought of as each area (a window or the like) partitioned in a visualized interface.

For moving or copying the information image from the first management area to the second management area, the user uses various input means according to hardware such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touch pad, etc. Is realized by performing Drag and drop operation from the first management area to the second management area on the displayed information image, copy and paste operation from the first management area to the second management area on the displayed information image, First
A double-click operation on the information image displayed in the management area, a selection operation of a menu item displayed when accessing the information image managed in the first management area, and other specific operations.

Alternatively, movement or copying from the first management area to the second management area is performed passively by the operation of processing means such as a CPU, for example, as follows. The processing means processes a specific process, thereby detecting insertion of a medium such as a CDROM into a reader, and based on information set in advance among information images recorded on the medium, which is a first management area. An operation of selecting information images, automatically reading out the selected information image from the medium as the first management area, and moving or copying the information image to the second management area; When the connection is established, the computer in the first management area or the computer in the second management area detects the establishment of the connection, and the computer on the detection side transmits or requests an information image selected in advance, As a result, an operation of moving or copying the information image acquired by the computer in the second management area to the second management area, and other specific operations. That.

[Access to Information Image on User Computer]

The user can cause the computer to perform various actions (access) by accessing the information image managed in the second management area. The access method is not limited, but is accessed by performing the following operation from input means such as a keyboard or a pointing device. A click operation, an operation of selecting an item from a menu displayed by the click operation, and other specific operations. When the information image managed in the second management area is accessed, the computer executes a predetermined operation (action) based on the related information of the accessed information image. For example, if an action of acquiring information is specified in the related information, a pointer (URL or the like) of the specific information included in the related information is accessed to acquire the specific information. If telop display is specified in the related information, text information included in the related information is displayed as telop. If execution of a program is instructed in the related information, a program included in the related information or a program previously mounted on the computer is executed.

Here, as one of the actions based on the setting of the related information, a process of outputting predetermined related information to an external device via a communication means can be considered. At this time, the related information included in the information image is considered. In addition to a method of outputting only information to an external device, a method of outputting the information to an external device as an information image (information image file) including the relevant information is also conceivable.

[Tracking processing]

The information image is generated by an information image generation device (generation server, generation server).
When generating the information image, the generation device can embed the unique identification information corresponding to the access from the user as the related information in the information image. Alternatively, when the information image is moved or copied from the first management area to the second management area, the generation apparatus receives a report of the operation from the user computer, and sends the unique identification information corresponding to the access to the information image. It can be provided to the user computer as related information and can be embedded in the information image. The unique identification information according to the user's access is, for example, an IP address assigned to the user terminal, a unique user terminal ID, a unique user ID, a unique client application ID, an access date and time, and other identification information. Then, the generation device associates the unique identification information corresponding to the access with the identification information of the information image including the identification information, and manages them in a database.
In this way, the correspondence between the information image and the owner user can be managed more reliably than Cookie and the like, and it is possible to follow the user's preference, the distribution route of the information image, and the like.

[Update processing]

The user can update the information image managed in the second management area. The information image generation device receives an information image update request from the user computer for the information image managed by the user in the second management area. The user computer transmits the unique identification information embedded in the information image to the generation device in response to the information image update request. The generating device that has received the unique identification information transmits a new information image managed in advance in association with the identification information to the user computer, and updates the information image. At this time, unique identification information corresponding to the access is newly added to the updated new information image, and the correspondence relationship between the unique identification information and the currently updated information image is managed in the database. . Thus, the above-described tracking operation can be continuously performed. In addition, in some cases, the information element to be substantially updated is considered, and in the case of only a visual image portion,
In the case of only relevant information, both of them can be considered.

Such an updating operation can be performed by issuing an update request from the computer on the image or related information receiving side to the transmitting side as described above. Alternatively, the client may acquire related information or an information image, filter received information in accordance with preset information, and update only necessary information.

[Basic effects of IP3 technology]

The basic effects of the IP3 technology include the following. Information can be distributed regardless of the type of hardware or application. This is because relevant information is embedded and distributed in a file such as an existing image file that does not depend on the type of hardware or application. When an image file is selected as a transport medium for related information, an information management method with excellent visibility can be realized. Since the icon of the existing information file is selected according to the file extension, information having the same file extension is indicated by the same icon. Therefore, the file cannot be identified without checking the file name or the contents of the file. On the other hand, in the information image in which the related information is embedded, the related information included in the image file can be relatively easily grasped based on the image.
The related information and the image are inseparable from each other.
The image and link information are not separated like the banner on page b. For this reason, the image information and the related information are always distributed as one unit, and the image information and the related information are not separately used. For this reason, the above-described tracking operation can be reliably performed, and it is also effective in preventing unauthorized use of an image. Since a plurality of pieces of related information can be embedded, it is possible to access a plurality of pointers to acquire and execute a plurality of pieces of information by a single access operation to the information image.

[Specific Use of Hardware]

In the present invention, "storage", "recording", "storage", "writing" and the like are performed on storage means such as a memory and a hard disk. All information handled in the computer is stored in the storage means. "reading"
"Read", "load" and the like are also performed by the storage means. Processing of various types of information is performed by processing means such as a CPU. “Input”, “setting” and the like are performed by input means such as a keyboard and a mouse. “Communication”, “transmission”, “reception”, “reply”, “transfer”, and the like are performed via communication means such as a modem. "Display" is, for example, CRT
This is performed by display means such as a display.

The various basic technologies of IP3 described above are as follows.
The present invention can be applied to the problem solving means of the present invention described below and the embodiments of the invention, and the scope of the patent claimed by the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described later.

Based on these, the means for solving the problems in the present invention will be described below.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium storing an information image file readable by an information terminal device, wherein the information image file includes A plurality of image-related information related to the information image is stored, and the plurality of image-related information is configured from at least two or more encrypted image-related information, and the encryption is performed by the image-related information. A different data structure storage medium is adopted.

Here, the "information image" refers to an image in which predetermined information is embedded. “Image-related information” refers to information embedded in an information image. “Encryption” refers to converting data according to a predetermined rule.

According to the present invention, a plurality of related image-related information is embedded in an image file, and different encryption is performed according to the image-related information. Controls can be defined. In addition, the security of the image file can be sufficiently ensured.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there are provided information storage means, communication means for outputting an information image to the outside, and information processing means for controlling the operation of each of these means.
The storage means includes an image file storage area storing an image file, an image related information storage area storing two or more pieces of image related information to be embedded in the image file, and an encryption procedure storage area storing an encryption procedure. Adopt information image file creation system. Reading the image-related information from the image-related information storage area, reading the encryption procedure from the encryption procedure storage area, and reading the image-related information according to the read encryption procedure. And encrypting the image-related information into the image file to create an information image. Further, the encryption is performed at least twice or more, and the image-related information or the combination of the image-related information to be encrypted differs.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information image in which the image file provider defines various controls for the device on the receiving side. In addition, it is possible to provide an information image in which security as information is ensured.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, there are provided information storage means, communication means for outputting an information image to the outside, and information processing means for controlling the operation of each of these means.
The storage means includes an image file storage area storing an image file, an image related information storage area storing two or more pieces of image related information to be embedded in the image file, and an encryption procedure storage area storing an encryption procedure. And an operation method of the information image file creation system. And
Reading the image-related information from the image-related information storage area, reading the encryption procedure from the encryption procedure storage area, and reading the image-related information according to the read encryption procedure. Encrypting, and embedding the encrypted image-related information in the image file to create an information image. Further, the encryption is performed at least twice or more, and the image-related information or the combination of the image-related information to be encrypted differs.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information image in which the image file provider defines various controls for the device on the receiving side. In addition, it is possible to provide an information image in which security as information is ensured.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage means, a communication means for outputting an information image to the outside, and an information processing means for controlling the operation of each of these means.
The storage means includes an image file storage area storing an image file, an image related information storage area storing two or more pieces of image related information to be embedded in the image file, and an encryption procedure storage area storing an encryption procedure. And a program for operating the information image file creation system. Reading the image-related information from the image-related information storage area; reading the encryption procedure from the encryption procedure storage area;
According to the read encryption procedure, a step of encrypting the read image-related information and a step of embedding the encrypted image-related information in the image file and creating an information image are executed. Further, the encryption is performed at least twice or more, and the image-related information or the combination of the image-related information to be encrypted differs.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information image in which various controls for the apparatus on the receiving side are defined by the provider of the image file. In addition, it is possible to provide an information image in which security as information is ensured.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage means, a communication means for outputting an information image to the outside, and an information processing means for controlling the operation of each of these means.
The storage means includes an image file storage area storing an image file, an image related information storage area storing two or more pieces of image related information to be embedded in the image file, and an encryption procedure storage area storing an encryption procedure. Reading the image-related information from the image-related information storage area, reading the encryption procedure from the encryption procedure storage area, reading the encrypted procedure in accordance with the read encryption procedure. Encrypting the image-related information,
Embedding the encrypted image-related information in the image file to create an information image, wherein the encryption is performed at least twice or more. A recording medium that records a program characterized by different image-related information or a combination of image-related information to be converted is adopted.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information image in which the image file provider defines various controls for the apparatus on the receiving side. In addition, it is possible to provide an information image in which security as information is ensured.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 6, information storage means, information display means, transmission / reception means with an external device,
And an information terminal device comprising information terminal processing means for controlling the operation of each of these means, wherein the storage means has a decoding procedure storage area storing at least two or more decoding procedures. Receiving the information image file in which the image-related information encrypted according to the decryption procedure is embedded via the transmission / reception means; and decrypting the information from the decryption procedure storage area. Reading the procedure, according to the read decryption procedure,
Decoding the image-related information; and storing the decoded image-related information in the storage unit. Further, the decoding is performed at least twice or more, and the image-related information to be decoded or the combination of the image-related information is different.

Here, "decryption" means performing the reverse operation of encryption.

According to the present invention, various controls on the information terminal device defined on the image file provider side can be reliably realized. In addition, it is possible to handle information whose security is ensured.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, information storage means, information display means, transmission / reception means to / from an external device,
And a terminal processing unit for information for controlling the operation of each of these units, wherein the storage unit stores a program for operating an information terminal device including a decoding procedure storage area storing at least two or more decoding procedures. adopt. And
The terminal processing unit receives an information image file in which image-related information encrypted according to the decryption procedure is embedded via the transmission / reception unit, and performs a decryption procedure from the decryption procedure storage area. A step of reading the image-related information in accordance with the read decoding procedure; and a step of storing the decoded image-related information in the storage unit. Further, the decoding is performed at least twice or more,
The image-related information to be decoded or the combination of the image-related information is different.

According to the present invention, various controls for the information terminal device defined on the image file provider side can be reliably realized. In addition, it is possible to handle information whose security is ensured.

Further, according to the invention described in claim 8, information storage means, information display means, transmission / reception means to / from an external device,
And an information terminal device comprising: a terminal processing unit for information controlling the operation of each of these units; and wherein the storage unit has a decoding procedure storage area storing at least two or more decoding procedures. Receiving an information image file in which image-related information encrypted according to the decryption procedure is embedded via the transmission / reception means; reading a decryption procedure from the decryption procedure storage area; According to a decoding procedure, a step of decoding the image-related information, and a step of storing the decoded image-related information in the storage means, wherein the decoding is performed at least twice. A program that is applied as described above and has different image-related information or a combination of image-related information to be decoded is recorded. It was to adopt a recording medium.

According to the present invention, various controls on the information terminal device defined by the provider of the image file can be reliably realized. In addition, it is possible to handle information whose security is ensured.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, information storage means, communication means for communicating with an information terminal device having an information image file in which image-related information is embedded, and information processing for controlling the operation of each of these means are provided. Means, wherein the storage means employs an information image file management system having a history information storage area for storing the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device and the information image identification information of the information image in association with each other. Receiving the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device transmitted from the information terminal device handling the information image file via the communication unit, wherein the processing unit is associated with the terminal device identification information; Receiving the information image identification information specified from the information image file via the communication means, associating the received terminal device identification information with the information image identification information,
Storing in the history information storage area.

Here, the "terminal device identification information" is identification information for identifying a connection source recognized as a terminal device on the network when the information terminal device is connected to a network such as the Internet. It does not necessarily have a one-to-one correspondence with the terminal device as hardware, and when connected to the network by independent software, different terminal device identification information may be assigned to each piece of software.

Further, "information image identification information" refers to identification information unique to an information image. However, the identification information is not limited to different identification information for each information image. For example, in the case of an information image including the same image, a configuration including identification information assigned to each image may be adopted according to the application. .

According to the present invention, the status of the information image can be grasped, and the investigation of the access status of the user can be performed relatively easily. In addition, it is possible to improve supportive security from the system side.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, information storage means, communication means with an information terminal device having an information image file in which image-related information is embedded, and information processing for controlling the operation of each of these means are provided. Means for operating an information image file management system, comprising: a history information storage area for storing the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device and the information image identification information of the information image in association with each other. Receiving the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device transmitted from the information terminal device handling the information image file via the communication unit, the processing unit associated with the terminal device identification information,
Receiving the information image identification information specified from the information image file via the communication unit, and storing the received terminal device identification information and the information image identification information in the history information storage area in association with each other. .

According to the present invention, the status of the information image can be grasped, and the investigation of the access status of the user can be performed relatively easily. In addition, it is possible to improve supportive security from the system side.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, an information storage unit, a communication unit with an information terminal device having an information image file in which image-related information is embedded, and a processing of information for controlling the operation of each of these units Means for operating an information image file management system having a history information storage area for storing the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device and the information image identification information of the information image in association with each other. Is adopted. Receiving the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device transmitted from the information terminal device handling the information image file via the communication unit, wherein the processing unit is associated with the terminal device identification information; Receiving the information image identification information specified from the information image file via the communication means; and storing the received terminal device identification information and the information image identification information in the history information storage area in association with each other.

According to the present invention, the status of the information image can be grasped, and the access status of the user can be relatively easily investigated. In addition, it is possible to improve supportive security from the system side.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, an information storage means, a communication means with an information terminal device having an information image file in which image-related information is embedded, and a processing of information for controlling the operation of each of these means Means, wherein the storage means has a history information storage area for storing the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device and the information image identification information of the information image in association with each other. Receiving, via the communication unit, terminal device identification information of the information terminal device transmitted from the information terminal device that handles the information image file, the information terminal device being identified from the information image file associated with the terminal device identification information Receiving the received information image identification information via the communication means; In association with identification information, employing a recording medium recording a program for executing the steps, to be stored in the history information storage area.

According to the present invention, the status of the information image can be grasped, and the investigation of the access status of the user can be performed relatively easily. In addition, it is possible to improve supportive security from the system side.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage means, an information display means, a transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving information to / from the information image file management system according to the ninth aspect, and An information terminal device comprising terminal processing means for information for controlling the operation of the means, and wherein the storage means comprises a terminal device identification information storage area in which terminal device identification information is stored. Then, the terminal processing means expands a management area for handling the information image file in the storage means or the display means, and stores the information image identification information specified from the information image managed in the management area in the terminal device. Transmitting the file to the file management system via the transmission / reception means in association with the terminal device identification information read from the identification information storage area.

According to the present invention, management of information images can be facilitated, and security can be improved with support from the system side.

According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage means, an information display means, a transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving information to / from the information image file management system according to the ninth aspect, and A program for operating an information terminal device comprising a terminal processing means for information for controlling the operation of the means, wherein the storage means has a terminal device identification information storage area in which terminal device identification information is stored. The terminal processing means for expanding a management area for handling the information image file in the storage means or the display means; and information image identification information specified from the information image managed in the management area, the terminal device identification information Transmitting to the file management system via the transmission / reception means in association with the terminal device identification information read from the storage area.

According to the present invention, management of information images can be facilitated, and security can be improved with support from the system side.

Further, according to the invention of claim 15, information storage means, information display means, transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving information to / from the information image file management system according to claim 9, and An information terminal device comprising a terminal processing means for information for controlling operation of the means, wherein the storage means comprises a terminal device identification information storage area storing terminal device identification information, wherein the terminal processing means handles an information image file. Deploying a management area for the storage means or the display means for the information image identification information specified from the information image managed in the management area to the terminal device identification information read from the terminal device identification information storage area Transmitting to the file management system via the transmission / reception means in association with the program. To adopt a recording medium.

According to the present invention, the management of information images can be facilitated, and the security can be improved with support from the system side.

As described above, the object described above is to be achieved.

[0082]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on FIGS.

[Overview of Information Providing System]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing system to which the present invention is applied.

This information providing system has an information image file generation server device 10, an information image file management server device 20, and an information terminal device 30 connected via a network 1 such as the Internet. In addition,
In FIG. 1, for convenience, the information image file generation server device 10, the information image file management server device 20, and the information terminal device 30 connected to the network 1 are shown as one each, but the information image file generation server device 10 The numbers of the information image file management server devices 20 and the information terminal devices 30 are not particularly limited. Further, the configuration may be realized by one server device having both functions of the information image file generation server device 10 and the information image file management server device 20. And
The connection between the information image file generation server device 10 and the information image file management server device 20 is not limited to the connection via the network 1 used for the connection with the information terminal device 30. For example, the information image file generation server device 10
Access to the information image file management server 2
In the case of a configuration via 0, the peer
It is good also as a structure connected by two peers.

[Structure of Image File]

The “information image” handled by the information providing system described above is an image in which predetermined information is embedded. Hereinafter, the structure of the information image handled in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the data structure of the information image.

The data structure of the information image stores a plurality of pieces of image-related information related to the information image in the data stream of the information image file, and the plurality of pieces of image-related information are at least encrypted. It consists of two or more image related information. Here, the encryption differs depending on the image-related information.

Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given with reference to FIG. The information image includes a start unit 51 that indicates the start of a data stream of the information image file, an image data unit 52 that describes display data of the image or defines a color table, and describes information that does not affect display of the image. It includes an annotation section 53 and an end section 54 indicating the end of the data stream. For example, J
The PEG image format and the GIF image format adopt such a data structure.

Here, the annotation section 53 stores image-related information relating to the information image. Image-related information is information embedded in an information image. Image related information area 5
3a, image-related information area 53b, image-related information area 53
In c, image-related information A, image-related information B, and image-related information C having different contents are embedded.

Examples of the image-related information include information image identification information, information on a product displayed by the information image, pointer information such as a URL, an image name when the information image is displayed, and a password for browsing the information image. , An expiration date for displaying the information image, a thumbnail image used for the replacement display, a category indicating the classification of the information image, information on a search keyword, and the like. Here, for each piece of pointer information, a command name that is a display name used when displaying the contents of the pointer on the menu, and an action table that specifies the data processing operation when the client software of the information terminal device receives the information image. And other associated information as a set. When an action is assigned to the pointer information, even if the action is not incidental, for example, self-update, deletion, expiration, transmission, and transfer of additional information such as self-image-related information are performed. Also, other image formats can be described in a format having a region of information that does not affect the display of an image, if the format has an information region.

In the present embodiment, the encryption is performed on the image-related information such that the procedure, for example, the encryption method is different depending on the security level of the image-related information. Here, encryption generally means that information exchanged as digital data, such as image data, is prevented from being falsified by a third party during communication, or a third party who has illegally acquired the information does not falsify the information. This refers to converting data according to predetermined rules so that it is not distributed after being added. Then, the opposite process to this encryption is performed,
Restoring the converted data is called decoding. As a method of encryption and decryption, a “key (key)” corresponding to an encryption table is used. There are a public key encryption method using two pairs of keys and a secret key encryption method using the same key for both. . There is also encryption by a shift operation or the like using a key.

Then, in a state where the above-described encryption has been performed, a plurality of image-related information is embedded in a predetermined area in the data stream of the image file, and an information image is completed.

[Details of Information Providing System]

Returning to FIG. 1, each device constituting the information providing system will be described.

The information image file generation server device 10
The system includes an information storage unit 11, a communication unit 12 for outputting an information image to the outside, and an information processing unit 13 for controlling operations of these units. The storage unit 11 includes an image file storage area 11a storing an image file, an image related information storage area 11b storing two or more pieces of image related information to be embedded in the image file, and an encryption procedure storage area storing an encryption procedure. 11c, and a history information storage area 11d for storing histories such as generation, change, and update of information images.
And

Further, the information image file management server device 2
0 includes an information storage means 21, a communication means 22 for communicating with the information terminal device 30, and an information processing means 23 for controlling the operation of each of these means. Then, the storage unit 21 stores the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device 30 and the information image identification information of the information image in association with each other and stores the history information storage area 21.
a.

Here, the "terminal device identification information" is identification information for identifying a connection source recognized as a terminal device on the network 1 when the information terminal device 30 is connected to the network 1 such as the Internet. It is. It does not necessarily have a one-to-one correspondence with the terminal device as hardware, and when connected to a network by independent client software, different terminal device identification information may be assigned to each client software. .

The "information image identification information" refers to identification information assigned to the information image. However, the identification information is not limited to different identification information for each generated information image, and may be selected according to the identification mode. For example, in the case of information images having the same image, identification information assigned to each display image may be used.

The information terminal device 30 includes information storage means 31, information display means 32, transmission / reception means 33 for external devices, information input means 34, and information terminal processing means for controlling the operation of these means. 35 is provided. The storage unit 31 includes a decoding procedure storage area 31a storing at least two or more decoding procedures, and a terminal device identification information storage area 31b storing terminal device identification information. Here, "decryption" means performing the reverse operation of encryption.

Hereinafter, the information image file generation server device 1
0, the information image file management server device 20 and the information terminal device 30 will be described in detail.

First, the information image file generation server device 1
0 will be described in detail. The processing unit 13 of the information image file generation server device 10 includes an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU, for example, and stores (stores) data in the storage unit 11 and reads (acquires) data from the storage unit 11.
Various processes such as a process, a process of outputting data to the communication unit 12, or a process of acquiring data from the communication unit 12 are performed. These processes may be executed by a single CPU, for example, or may be performed by a plurality of CPUs in a distributed manner.

The storage means 11 is, for example, a RAM, an R
It is provided with a medium capable of storing data such as an OM and an HDD. It is not limited to one specific medium, but may be constituted by a plurality of media. Also,
The above-described image file storage area 11a, image-related information storage area 11b, encryption procedure storage area 11c, and history information storage area 11d are provided in predetermined areas of the storage unit 11, respectively.

The image file storage area 11a described above
This is a storage area for storing an image file in which the above-described image-related information is to be embedded. The image-related information storage area 11b is a storage area for storing information such as a URL embedded in an information image as image-related information, a product name, and a comment on the product. In addition,
The storage of the image-related information in the image information storage area 11b may be performed before the information image is generated, and may be obtained from the request destination when the request for generating the information image is received. The encryption procedure storage area 11c is an area for storing the above-described encryption method or procedure, and a program that causes the processing unit 13 to execute the encryption technique or procedure and realize encryption.

In addition, the information image file generation server device 10 is provided with an operating system (OS) and an HTTP
Server software such as a server is provided, and the processing unit 13 realizes a server function by executing the software. However, if the provision of the information image file to the information terminal device 30 is always performed via the information image file management server device 20, if data can be exchanged between the two server devices, What OS
Or connection software may be used. When a system having a configuration including a plurality of information image file generation server devices is used, for example, the image file storage area 11a, the image related information storage area 11b, and the encryption procedure storage area 1
1c may be provided separately in each server device.

The communication means 12 connects the information image file generation server device 10 to the network 1, and the information image file generation server device 10 and the information image file management server device 20 or the information terminal device via the network 1. It enables data transmission processing and data reception processing with the H.30, and includes, for example, a router.

In the information image file generation server apparatus 10, the processing means 13 controls the communication of the communication processing based on the control of the entire server apparatus and the port information under the control of the OS.
Communication control processing for distributing to predetermined services such as net, FTP, and HTTP, and processing of an HTTP server and the like are executed in parallel.

Next, the information image file management server device 2
0 will be described in detail. The processing unit 23 of the information image file management server device 20 includes an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU, for example, and stores (stores) data in the storage unit 21 and reads (acquires) data from the storage unit 21.
Various processes such as a process, a process of outputting data to the communication unit 22, or a process of acquiring data from the communication unit 22 are performed. These processes may be executed by a single CPU, for example, or may be performed by a plurality of CPUs in a distributed manner.

The storage means 21 includes, for example, a RAM,
It is provided with a medium capable of storing data such as an OM and an HDD. It is not limited to one specific medium, but may be constituted by a plurality of media.

The above-described history information storage area 21a is provided in a predetermined area of the storage means 21. The history information storage area 21a only needs to store the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device 30 and the information image identification information of the information image in association with each other, and integrally includes the terminal device identification information and the information image identification information. It is not limited to the database structure used.

In addition, the information image file management server device 20 includes an operating system (OS) and an HTTP
The processing unit 23 includes server software such as a server, and implements a server function by executing the software. However, if provision of the information image file to the general information terminal device is always performed via the information image file management server device 20, data exchange with the information image file generation server device 10 is performed. Regarding the exchange, any OS or connection software may be used. When a system having a plurality of information image file management server devices is used, the history information storage area 21a may be provided for each type of information distributed or provided to each server device.

The communication means 22 connects the information image file management server device 20 to the network 1, and the information image file management server device 20 and the information image file generation server device 10 or the information terminal device via the network 1. It enables data transmission processing and data reception processing with the H.30, and includes, for example, a router.

In the information image file management server device 20, the processing unit 23 controls the communication of the communication process based on the control of the entire server device and the port information under the control of the OS.
Communication control processing for distributing to predetermined services such as net, FTP, and HTTP, and processing of an HTTP server and the like are executed in parallel.

Next, the information terminal device 30 will be described in detail. The terminal processing means 35 of the information terminal device 30
It includes an arithmetic processing unit such as a PU, and has a storage unit 31
Data storage processing, data read processing from storage means 31, data output processing to transmission / reception means 33, data acquisition processing from transmission / reception means 33, CRT or LC
Various processes such as a process of outputting / controlling display information to the display means 32 such as a D display and a process of acquiring input information from the input means 34 are performed. These processes may be executed by a single CPU, for example, or may be performed by a plurality of CPUs in a distributed manner.

The storage means 31 is, for example, a RAM,
It is provided with a medium capable of storing data such as OM, and may be constituted by a plurality of media,
A removable medium may be used. The above-described decoding procedure storage area 31a and terminal device identification information storage area 31b are provided in predetermined areas of the storage unit 31. The storage unit 31 has a program for executing a Web browser for browsing Web pages for receiving provision of a WWW service.

The above-described decryption procedure storage area 31a stores a decryption procedure according to the encryption procedure stored in the information image file generation server apparatus 10 described above, and the terminal processing unit 35 for implementing the decryption procedure. This area stores the program. Further, the terminal device identification information storage area 31
b is a storage area for storing the terminal device identification information described above.

The transmitting / receiving means 33 is an input / output port such as a serial port for connecting the information terminal device 30 to the network 1 via a communication device such as a terminal adapter or a modem.
This enables data transmission and reception between 0 and 0.

The input means 34 includes, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse or a glide point,
Such as a card reader.

In the information terminal device 30 as well, the processing means 35 performs control of the entire device, communication control processing, input control from the user, and processing of a Web browser and the like under the control of the OS in the same manner as the server device described above. Running on

The information terminal device 30 is not limited to a so-called desktop personal computer or notebook personal computer, but may be a PDA (portable information terminal) as long as it can be connected to the network 10.

[Access by Information Terminal Device]

Hereinafter, the We deployed to the information terminal device 30 will be described.
An outline of general operations of the b browser and a server device functioning as an HTTP server such as the information image file management server device 20 will be described. Here, the terminal processing means 35
By executing the browser program of the Web browser, the function of the Web browser is realized.
By executing the HTTP server program, the HTTP
Implement the function of the P server.

The terminal processing means 35 includes a part for designating a target address (a part for designating a host name of a server device on which an HTTP server is executed and a part for designating a file name) from the user via the input means 34 which is an input interface. Is stored in a predetermined area of the storage unit 31. Then, the terminal processing means 35 reads the stored address and transmits a connection request including the file name to the HTTP server corresponding to the host name specified in the address.

The following description is based on the assumption that the designated host is the information image file management server device 20. In this case, the connection request is transmitted by the terminal processing means 35 to the target information image file management server device 20 via the network 1 as communication control processing. And
Processing unit 23 of information image file management server device 20
Transfers a connection request to an HTTP server deployed in the information image file management server device 20 via the communication unit 22.

When the connection request is received, the processing means 23 of the information image file management server device 20 reads out the data corresponding to the file name in the connection request from the storage means 21 and transmits the data to the information terminal device 30.

Here, the UR specified first by the user is
L may indicate only the host name or only the host name and a specific directory. In such a case, first, a file with a standard name (index) in the root directory of the host or the indicated directory
x. html) is read and transmitted to the information terminal device 30. The file having such a standard name or the file designated by the user describes display of characters, display of images, links to other files, and the like in accordance with HTML (Hypertext Description Language).

The terminal processing means 35 transmits the H transmitted from the HTTP server via the network 1 and the transmission / reception means 33.
A file in TML format is received, and the received file is transferred to a Web browser developed in the information terminal device 30. In accordance with the Web browser, the terminal processing means 35 generates display screen data in accordance with the description of the file in the HTML format, and transmits the generated display screen data to the OS.
To supply. Then, under the control of the OS, the terminal processing means 35
Causes the display means 32 to display the display screen data supplied from the Web browser as an image in the window assigned to the Web browser.

Here, for example, in the file supplied from the HTTP server, if the display of the image is instructed together with the file name of the image data, the terminal processing means 35
Transmits a transmission request for image data corresponding to the file name to the HTTP server via the transmission / reception means 33.

The processing means 23 which has received such a transmission request reads out the image data of the requested file name from the storage means 21 and transmits it to the information terminal device 30 via the communication means 22. Upon receiving the image data, the terminal processing unit 35 converts the image data to image data to be displayed at a predetermined position on the screen and supplies the image data to the Web browser.
As a result, under the control of the OS, the terminal processing means 35
According to the browser, the received image data is developed at a predetermined position in the window, and the image is displayed. The above is We
b This is a general operation of the browser and the HTTP server.

[Operation of Information Providing System]

Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing system of the present embodiment will be described. The user accesses the information image file management server device 20 from the information terminal device 30 via the network 1 and
0 logon processing. After the logon process is performed, the information terminal device 30 can use the information image file.

First, the information image file generation server device 1
The operation of 0 will be described.

The processing means 13 of the information image file generation server device 10 reads out the image-related information from the image-related information storage area 11b, and further reads the encryption procedure storage area 11c.
Read the encryption procedure from.

The processing means 13 encrypts the read image-related information according to the read encryption procedure. Subsequently, the encrypted image-related information is embedded in the image file read from the image file storage area 11a to create an information image. Here, the encryption is performed at least twice or more, and the image-related information or the combination of the image-related information to be encrypted differs.

More specifically, the processing means 13 starts generating an information image based on a transmission request from the outside such as the information terminal device 30 or the information image file management server device 10. The processing unit 13 reads a plurality of pieces of image-related information to be embedded in the information image for which the information image is to be generated from the image-related information storage area 11b and stores the information in a predetermined area of the storage unit 11. Here, the image-related information storage area 11b
Information about the security level of the stored image-related information is also provided. The security level is determined by the information provider, such as the importance of the image-related information and whether additional writing is possible.

The encryption procedure to be applied to the image-related information is read from the encryption procedure storage area 11c,
In a predetermined area. Here, a plurality of encryption procedures corresponding to security levels are stored in the encryption procedure storage area 11c. For this reason, the processing unit 13 reads out the stored image-related information and the encryption procedure, and according to the security-level information of the image-related information received from the image-related information storage area 11b, performs encryption according to the security level of the image-related information. Can be applied to the image-related information.

More specifically, the image-related information A is information image identification information or merchandise information to be settled in electronic commerce, and the image-related information B is assigned on the server and is more information than image-related information B When the risk of leakage is low, or when the image-related information C is outside the server, for example, information individually requested by the user when receiving an information image, etc., the respective image-related information or the image-related information According to the combination, processing for making the encryption different is performed as follows.

In the case described above, the image-related information A includes
Since it is necessary to raise the security level, RSA
A method such as PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) is used. The image-related information B is encrypted (encoded) by a shift operation based on a key such as an ID of client software developed in the information terminal device.
I do. On the other hand, the image-related information C is not encrypted.

As another example, after encrypting both the image-related information A and the image-related information B based on PKI, a separate key is used for the image-related information A or the image-related information area 53a. The encryption by the shifted operation is performed. On the other hand, there is also a configuration in which only the shift operation using the key is performed for the image-related information C, and the encryption procedure is changed.

The information on the security level of the image-related information is not limited to the configuration stored in the image-related information storage area 11b in association with the image-related information, but is stored in a predetermined area of the storage means 11. Alternatively, as a part of the encryption process, a method of acquiring information about the security level by performing automatic determination based on the data format of the image-related information to be encrypted may be used.

Then, following the above-described encryption processing, the processing means 13 embeds the encrypted image-related information in the target image file. The method of embedding may be to write a plurality of image-related information in a lump and collectively, or if a combination of a plurality of image-related information is encrypted as one unit, the encrypted combination Writing may be performed sequentially in units.

In order to further improve the security, the entire information image may be subjected to an encryption process, or the image data of the information image may be subjected to a digital watermark (digital watermark) process so that the owner or the information The source of the image may be specified.

According to the above procedure, an information image is generated in the information image file generation server device 10. As described above, since a plurality of related image-related information is embedded in the image file and different encryption is performed according to the image-related information, the image file provider defines various controls of the apparatus on the receiving side. be able to. In addition, it is possible to prevent a third party from illegally adding, deleting, or modifying the image-related information to use the image file, and to sufficiently secure the security of the image file.

Here, the encryption procedure (algorithm, etc.)
Are updated at predetermined intervals. Therefore, when the encryption procedure of the information image file generation server device 10 is updated, it is necessary to update the decryption procedure (algorithm and the like) of the information terminal device 30 so as to conform to the updated encryption procedure.

Hereinafter, the processing accompanying the update will be described. Processing unit 1 of information image file generation server device 10
3 stores the version of the decoding procedure stored in the information terminal device 30 in a predetermined area of the storage unit 11 for each terminal device identification information of the information terminal device 30. Then, when the information image file generation server device 10 updates the encryption procedure of the image-related information, the processing unit 13 sets a flag in the stored terminal device identification information of all the information terminal devices 30. Thereafter, the information terminal device 30 that has accessed the information image file generation server device 10 or the information image file management server device 20 is monitored, and if a flag is set in a corresponding log or the like, the processing means 13 performs new encryption. A decoding procedure corresponding to the procedure is transmitted to the accessing information terminal apparatus 30. Then, the terminal processing unit 35 receives the transmitted decryption procedure via the transmission / reception unit 33, stores the received decryption procedure in the decryption procedure storage area 31a, and performs update processing. On the other hand, processing means 13
Performs a process of releasing the above-described flag for the information terminal device 30 that has completed the update.

[Generation of identification information]

The information image identification information among the above-mentioned image-related information is generated as follows, and the generation history (generation log) is stored in the information image file generation server device 1.
0, a history information storage area provided in the storage means 11
Is stored in

The information image file generation server device 10
In generating the information image described above, information image identification information for identifying the information image is generated. In the present embodiment, three IDs (Identification) are used as information image identification information.
Is embedded in the information image. More specifically, a unique ID, which is unique information information unique identification information of the generated information image, an image unique ID, which is display image identification information assigned to each image represented by the information image, and embedded in the information image The history ID is update history identification information indicating a version accompanying update or revision of the image-related information.

However, it is not always necessary to provide the above three types of IDs, and any one of them may be used as long as it is suitable for the intended identification use. From the viewpoint of investigation and route management, at least information image unique identification information may be provided.

The process of adding the information image unique identification information is implemented as, for example, an HTTP server extension program (so-called plug-in) stored in the information image file generation server device 10. The information image unique identification information is stored in the processing unit 1 according to the program.
3 is generated when the information image file generation server device 10 transmits an information image. Processing means 13
Assigns unique identification information according to conditions at the time of access from a user or the like. Then, after the above-mentioned encryption is performed, it is embedded in the information image. At the same time, the processing unit 13 associates the individual information image unique identification information with other information, and generates the generated log storage area 11 d of the storage unit 11.
Record in a predetermined area.

Since the information unique to the information image only needs to be information unique to each access, for example, the IP address of the information terminal device 30 operated by the user, the user or the information terminal device 30 It can be generated based on unique identification information such as the assigned terminal device identification information.

The date and time of access to the information image file generation server device 10 itself may be used as the information image unique identification information. For example, when two or more accesses to the information image file generation server device 10 are not processed at the same time, the information may specify the individual access only by the access date and time. Therefore, in such a case, each information image can be identified even if the access date and time is added to the information image as the information image unique identification information.

As described above, when the access date and time is used as the information image identification information, an access log from the user (composed of a log of the user access itself and a history log) is recorded as a function of the HTTP server. A function is implemented, and the access log can record the IP address of the information terminal device 30 of the user using the HTTP server, the access date and time, and the like. By referring to the log, the IP address corresponding to the access date and time added to the information image can be obtained. Therefore, the IP address of the user who has accessed the image data can be easily specified.

[Decoding in Information Terminal Device]

Next, the operation of the information terminal device 30 will be described.

The terminal processing means 35 of the information terminal device 30
An information image file in which image-related information subjected to encryption according to the decryption procedure is embedded is received via the transmission / reception means 33, the decryption procedure is read from the decryption procedure storage area 31a, and the read decryption procedure is executed. Accordingly, the image-related information is decoded, and the decoded image-related information is displayed on the display unit 32. This decoding is performed at least twice or more, and the image-related information to be decoded or the combination of the image-related information is different.

More specifically, the terminal processing means 35 receives the information image generated by the information image file generation server device 10 via the transmission / reception means 33, and stores the information image in a predetermined area of the storage means 31. Then, the decryption procedure storage area 31a
The decoding procedure is read out from the storage unit 31 and stored in a predetermined area of the storage unit 31. Here, in the decoding procedure storage area 31a,
A plurality of decryption procedures corresponding to a plurality of encryption procedures provided in the information image file generation server device 10 described above are stored. For this reason, the terminal processing means 35 can perform decoding according to a combination of a plurality of pieces of image-related information or image information.

A program for handling a specific procedure or technique for decoding is stored in the decoding procedure storage area 31a. The terminal processing means 35 includes the information terminal device 3
0 may request the transmission of the information image, and when the information image file management server device 20 or the information image file generation server device 10 is accessed, a request may be made to transmit the program together. You may download it. In addition, the key required for decryption may be issued together with user registration at the time of distribution of the decryption program or at the first execution, or may be separately passed on a different route from the distribution of information images and programs. Is also good.

Then, the terminal processing means 35
A key for decryption stored in a predetermined area is obtained, and the encrypted image-related information is decrypted. If encryption without using a key has been performed, a decryption process corresponding to the encryption is performed. Then, the terminal processing means 3
Reference numeral 5 stores the decoded image-related information in a predetermined area of the storage means 31 such as a RAM. When there is a display request for the image-related information, it is displayed on the display means 32.

Here, in order to handle the decoded image-related information, the decoded image-related information is stored in a predetermined area of the storage means 31 in association with the corresponding information image, and is stored as needed. Alternatively, the information may be read from the area, or an information image in which the decrypted image-related information is embedded separately from the encrypted information image may be stored in the storage unit 31 and used. However, when the configuration in which the decoded image-related information is stored in the storage unit 31 is adopted, when the information terminal device 30 is requested to transmit the decoded information image from the external device, the decoding is performed. It is configured to restrict transmission of an encrypted information image instead of the encrypted information image.

From the viewpoint of security by encrypting the image-related information, in the case of an information providing system including a plurality of information image file generation server apparatuses 10, different decoding (for each information image file generation server apparatus 10) is performed. It is desirable to update the decoding key together with the transfer of the decoding key, the updating of the information image, the updating of the decoding program, or the updating of the client software that handles the information image.

[Operation of Information Image in Information Terminal Device]

Hereinafter, the operation of the information image in the information terminal device 30 will be described for each process.

The terminal processing means 35 of the information terminal device 30
By executing the client software program stored in a predetermined area of the storage unit 31, a management area for handling the information image is realized, and the information image is processed in this management area. The client software integrally includes the above-described decryption program in the form of a module or the like. However, it is not essential that they are provided integrally, and each program may be independent and may be configured to work together.

The processing realized by the terminal processing means 35 in accordance with the client software includes, for example, management for saving, deleting, updating, and the like of the information image file. When information such as a URL is added as information, a process executed according to this information is included.

The details of each process based on the client software will be described below.

FIG. 3 shows the display means 32 of the information terminal device 30.
1 shows an embodiment of a display screen configured as follows. Here, the terminal processing unit 35 uses the OS and the Web as a first management area for displaying an image file for which an information image is to be generated.
window 61 assigned according to the browser
Display control. A link to the information image file generation server device 10 is set in the image displayed in the window 61, and the selection of the image in the window 61 is performed by requesting the information image file generation server device 10 to generate the information image and transmit the image. It is treated as specifying an image to be processed.

The terminal processing means 35 controls display of a window 62 assigned according to client software as a second management area for managing information images. However, it is not essential to operate on the display unit 32, and the management area is stored in the storage unit 3 such as a RAM.
It may be secured only in the area 1 and does not necessarily need to be visually recognized by the user.

The terminal processing means 35 issues a processing command through the input means 34 based on an operation of delivering an image 64 to be provided as an information image from the window 61 to the window 62, ie, a so-called drag-and-drop operation. Accept. By this processing command, the terminal processing means 3
5 shifts to a process of receiving the supply of the information image from the information image file generation server device 10.

More specifically, when the user operates the input means 34, the pointer 63 is made to coincide with the display position of the image 64 displayed in the window 61 of the Web browser, and the operation is confirmed by pressing a button or the like. Further, by moving the pointer 63 to the window 62 and performing an operation of releasing the information, information for specifying an information image and information for instructing a process for acquiring the information image are input from the input unit 34. Becomes Based on the input information, the terminal processing unit 35 specifies the information image 64 to be transmitted to the information image file generation server device 10 and requests the information image device 30 to transmit this information image. Then, upon receiving this request, the processing means 13
As described above, an information image in which the image-related information is embedded is generated and transmitted via the communication unit 12. Then, the terminal processing means 35 receives the information image file to which the information image has been transmitted from the information image file generation server device 10,
The received information image is displayed on the display screen of the display means 32 at a position where the pointer 63 is located.

Then, when the information image is supplied by the above-described drag and drop operation, the terminal processing means 35 stores the information image in a predetermined area of the storage means 31. Similarly, when the deletion instruction information is received from the user via the input means 34, the terminal processing means 35 stores the selected information image file from the predetermined area of the storage means 31 based on the instruction information. delete.

In the above description, the processing for transferring the information image to the second management area 62 is performed based on the active action of the user's drag and drop operation, but the transfer form is not limited to this. It is not something that can be done. For example, processing such as registration may be performed by operating a menu provided in the window 61 or the window 62, or information may be automatically detected by detecting that the hardware such as a CD-ROM has been received by the hardware. It may be a passive form such as receiving an image. Further, a configuration may be adopted in which automatic registration is performed via filtering processing based on an action from a server device such as a mail or a message sent from a server device connected to the network 1.

Note that, when the information image file is supplied, the terminal processing means 35 attempts to decode the image-related information included in the above-described information image file, and the data structure of the decoded image-related information is changed. It has a function to check if it is normal. If the data structure after decoding is not normal, supply of the information image file to another device is prohibited. As a result, it is possible to prevent the supply of the information image file that has been tampered with illegally. Further, the determination of the unauthorized information image file may be performed based on the information image unique identification information added to the information image.

[Selection of image-related information]

A method of using the image-related information recorded in the information image file in the information terminal device 30 will be described.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment in which image-related information is used by menu selection. The user operates the mouse 34 (pointing device) to place the pointer 63 on the information image 65 supplied to the window 62 of the client software. Next, the user clicks the right button of the mouse 34. The terminal processing means 35 detects this click, reads out the image-related information acquired from the information image 65 from a predetermined area of the recording means 31, and generates menu display data. For example,
A menu 66 using the “command name” obtained as the image-related information as a menu item is displayed near the information image 65 on the display screen of the display unit 32.

[0177] Next, the terminal processing means 35 detects the movement of the pointer 63 by the user and specifies the selected menu item. And the terminal processing means 35 is a mouse 34
Accepts instruction information such as clicking the left button of
Select and determine one menu item. When this selection means display of a predetermined Web page, for example, the corresponding pointer information is passed to the Web browser 61, and
Predetermined processing is performed, such as instructing access according to the pointer information.

In the above description, the menu is opened by clicking the mouse and the item is selected, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, there may be a mode in which a selection command is received by assignment to a special key or shortcut key on a keyboard, or a selection / execution command is received using a window command menu.

If the above-described decoding is not performed when the supply of the information image is received from the information image file generation server device 10, the decoding is performed when the image-related information is used.

[History management of information image]

Next, the history management of the information image will be described. It should be noted that the above-described client software that handles information images executed in the information terminal device 30 is provided with unique identification information (terminal device identification information: client ID) for each user or each information terminal device 30.

Hereinafter, the operation of the information image file generation server device 10 and the information terminal device 30 in the history management will be described.

The processing means 13 of the information image file generation server device 10 receives the terminal identification information of the information terminal device 30 transmitted from the information terminal device 30 handling the information image file via the communication means 12, and The information image identification information specified from the information image file and associated with the device identification information is received via the communication unit 12. Then, the processing unit 13 stores the received terminal device identification information and the information image identification information in the history information storage area in association with each other.

The terminal processing means 3 of the information terminal device 30
5 performs an operation corresponding to the operation of the information image file generation server device 10 described above. That is, the terminal processing means 35
Expands the management area 62 for handling the information image file in the storage means 31 or the display means 32, and stores the information image identification information specified from the information image managed in the expanded management area 62 into the terminal device identification information storage area 31b. Transmitting and receiving means 3 in association with the terminal device identification information read from
3 to the information image file generation server device 10.

More specifically, the processing means 13 of the information image file generation server device 10
It acquires the identification information of the client software of the information terminal device 30 as the terminal device identification information, and also acquires the information indicating the access status of the user via the OS or the server software. Then, the processing unit 13 stores the acquired terminal device identification information and the information indicating the access status in a predetermined area of the storage unit 11. Further, processing means 1
3 acquires the information image identification information of the information image handled by the client software of the information terminal device 30 from the information terminal device 30 via the communication means 12 and stores it in a predetermined area of the storage means 11. Subsequently, the processing unit 13 reads out the stored information image identification information, the terminal device identification information, and the information indicating the access status of the user, and creates and creates a table (generation log) indicating the correspondence between the read information. The generated log is stored in the history information storage area 11 of the storage unit 11.
Record in d. As shown in FIG. 5A, the generated log includes the IP address of the access source, the host name on which the server software accessed by the information terminal device 30 is running, the access date and time, the file name of the information image, the information image It contains identification information and the like.

The details of the operation of the information terminal device 30 corresponding to the above-described information image file generation server device 10 will be described below.

The terminal processing means 35 of the information terminal device 30
According to the client software, a management area 62 for handling the information image file is developed in a predetermined area of the storage means 31 or the display means 32. Here, the GUI
When the information image is processed in the environment, the second management area 62 is displayed on the display unit 32 as shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. The second management area is secured in a predetermined area of the storage means 31 such as a memory.

The terminal processing means 35 associates the information image identification information acquired from the information image managed in the expanded management area 62 with the terminal apparatus identification information read from the terminal apparatus identification information storage area 31b, and transmits and receives the information. Means 3
3 to the information image file generation server device 10. Here, the information image-related information may be obtained by the terminal processing means 35 from the information image when the management area 62 is expanded, or a database provided in client software that can be used with the expansion of the management area 62. For example, the information image identification information acquired from the information image may be read.

Thus, by referring to the generated log, it is possible to obtain information indicating the user's access status such as the information image identification information and the terminal device identification information added to the information image, the access source IP address, and the access date and time. it can.
Therefore, it is possible to relatively easily perform an investigation of a user's access status and the like, and it is also possible to track a behavior such as a distribution state of the information image in the network 10, that is, to track the behavior.

The information image file is updated in order to update the information image file managed and stored in the second management area of the information terminal device 30 to the latest one at that time. This updating process may be performed, for example, in accordance with an instruction from the user, or may be performed based on information such as a creation date and an expiration date recorded in the information image file, such as image-related information of the information image file. Good. Further, it may be automatically executed at predetermined intervals.

The terminal processing means 35 sends an information image update request to the information image file generation server device 10 via the information image file management server device 20 based on the information image identification information obtained from the information image to be updated. Send. Here, the terminal processing unit 35 transmits the terminal device identification information together with the update request to the information image file generation server device 10.
Send to

It is to be noted that, instead of transmitting only the information image identification information at the time of updating, the data of the entire information image file is transmitted, and the information image identification information is obtained based on the data received by the information image file generation server device 10 side. You may make it.

The processing means 13 of the information image file generation server device 10 receiving the update request generates an information image for which an update request has been made. At this time, new information image identification information according to the access situation from the user is generated and added to the information image. Then, the processing unit 13 transmits the newly generated information image to the information terminal device 30 via the communication unit 12.

The terminal processing means 35 of the information terminal device which has received the transmission updates the information image arranged in the second management area realized by the client software.

The processing means 13 of the information image file generation server device 10 acquires the terminal device identification information transmitted from the information terminal device 30 and the information indicating the access status of the user via the OS and the server software. A table (update log) indicating the correspondence between the information image identification information and the information indicating the access status of the user is created.
Then, the processing unit 13 records the created update log in the history information storage area 11d separately from the above-described generation log.

FIG. 5B shows the structure of this update log.
As in the case of the generation log, the IP address of the access source, the host name of the server that has performed the processing when identification information is newly added, the access date and time (update date and time), the file name of the image data, and the information image identification Information image file generation server device 10 that has generated the original identification information in addition to the information
(Generation server ID) for specifying the user, the client ID for specifying the user or the information terminal device 30 used by the user, and the like. The version of the updated information image (history ID)
It may be configured to include the above.

Thus, by referring to this update log,
In addition to the access status of the user obtained by the above-described generation log, information for updating the image data and specifying the user or the information terminal device 30 is obtained. That is,
Investigation of the user's taste or the like through the update status of the information image can be performed relatively easily.

Further, by referring to the update log, information for specifying the user or the information terminal device 30 corresponding to the identification information added to the image data can be obtained. Can be specified.

[Management of Information Including Information Image File Generation Server]

Next, the information image file management server device 2
The operation of 0 will be described.

The processing means 23 of the information image file management server device 20 receives, via the communication means 22, the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device 30 transmitted from the information terminal device 30 handling the information image file. The information image identification information specified from the information image file, which is associated with the device identification information, is received via the communication unit 22, and the received terminal device identification information and the information image identification information are associated with each other and stored in the history information storage area 21a. Store.

More specifically, the information image file management server device 20 generates, for all information images generated by the information image file generation server device 10 to be managed, a generation destination such as a generation log and an update log, a distribution route, a copy route, and the like. The history information such as derivation due to the above is stored.

For this reason, the processing means 13 of the information image file generation server device 10 stores the terminal device identification information transmitted from the information terminal device 30 handling the information image file and the terminal device identification information from the history information storage area 11d. The associated information image identification information is read, and the information image file management server device 2 is read via the communication unit 12.
Send to 0. The processing unit 23 of the information image file management server device 20 receives the transmitted information and stores it in the history information storage area 21a of the storage unit 21.

When the client software is started in an online state connected to the network 1, the terminal processing means 35 of the information processing terminal 30 logs on to the information image file management server 20 according to the client software. At this time, it transmits the information image identification information and the terminal device identification information of the information image under the management of the client software. In addition, when a certain period of time has elapsed with online connection being continued, or when information images are sent or received (e.g., mail distribution or movement) by client software, the history information of these processes exceeds the specified capacity. For example, the terminal processing unit 35 associates the processing history of the information image stored in a predetermined area of the storage unit 31, such as a log of the client software, with the information image identification information or the terminal device identification information to associate the information image file with the information image file. This is transmitted to the management server device 20.

As described above, the processing means 23 of the information image file management server device 20, which has received the history information from the information image file generation server device 10 or the information terminal device 30, stores the received history information in the history information storage area 21a. Store in the form of addition. The history information stored in the history information storage area 21a has a structure like the update log shown in FIG. 5B, but the information image file management server device 2
In the case where 0 is a configuration for managing a plurality of information image file generation server devices 10, the server I in FIG.
D will be different.

In contrast to the above-described method of directly maintaining security such as encrypting the image-related information of the information image, the management of history information such as the above-described route information maintains security indirectly and monitorly. Is the way. However, by managing the history information, for example, when an information image whose copying is prohibited is illegally copied, the information image identification of the information image of the illegally copied information image is performed when the first logon process is performed. By registering the information and the terminal device identification information, an illegally copied information image can be specified. Then, when the logon process is performed again, the update process of the illegally copied information image is forcibly performed, and the use of the image-related information in the client software using the illegally copied information image is restricted or prohibited. It is also possible to take measures such as doing.

[0207] By making such information known or known to be enforced, it is possible to reduce or suppress the occurrence of illegal use of information images. In addition, by using the above-mentioned method of performing a plurality of encryption processes together, it is possible to further secure the security of the information image as an information providing medium, which is a common object.

The information image described above is provided, and a system and an information terminal device for generating and managing the information image are provided, so that the use of information on the intranet within a company, the communication between companies or between a company and a consumer can be realized. For use in electronic commerce and as a means for managing personal information, it is possible to realize a network in which an information image can be effectively and safely used as an information providing medium.

[0209] Further, by adding unique information image identification information or the like according to the access situation of the user to the information image, even if the information image is stolen, the above-described generation log is referred to to generate the information image. The acquisition route and the like can be specified relatively easily. This is effective in suppressing the plagiarism of the information image. In addition, the identification information can be reliably retained, as compared with a survey using a conventional Cookie or the like,
The reliability of the survey results can be improved.

[0210] Furthermore, by using the information image as an advertising medium, the advertiser can obtain a more reliable survey result of the user's preference as compared with the related art.
By using the results of this survey, it is possible to provide a one-to-one service that appropriately meets the needs of each user.

[0211]

Since the present invention is constructed and functions as described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of related image related information is embedded in an image file, and the image related information is embedded. Therefore, various controls of the apparatus on the receiving side can be defined by the provider of the image file. In addition, the security of the image file can be sufficiently ensured.

[0212] In the inventions according to the second to fifth aspects, a plurality of related image-related information is embedded in an image file, and an information image differently encrypted by the image-related information is created. In addition, the image file provider can provide an information image in which various controls for the device on the receiving side are defined. In addition, it is possible to provide an information image in which security as information is ensured.

According to the inventions of claims 6 to 8, the encrypted image-related information of the information image is decrypted at least twice, and the image-related information or image to be decrypted is decrypted. By making the combination of the related information different, various controls for the information terminal device defined by the provider of the image file can be reliably realized. In addition, it is possible to handle information whose security is ensured.

According to the ninth to twelfth aspects of the present invention, the information image identification information and the terminal device identification information are stored in association with each other and used as the history information, whereby the status of the information image can be grasped. It is possible to relatively easily investigate the access status of the user. in addition,
It is also possible to improve supportive security from the system side.

According to the inventions of claims 13 to 15, the information image identification information and the terminal device identification information are transmitted from the information terminal device in association with each other, thereby facilitating the management of the information image. It is possible to improve security with support from the system side.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a data structure of an information image according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a display screen displayed on a display unit of the information terminal device.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a display screen displayed on a display unit of the information terminal device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table of history information.
FIG. 5A shows a generation log, and FIG. 5B shows an update log.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 network 10 information image file generation server device 11 storage means 11 11a image file storage area 11b image related information storage area 11c encryption procedure storage area 11d history information storage area 12 communication means 13 processing means 20 information image file management server 21 storage means 21a history information storage area 22 communication means 30 information terminal device 31 storage means 31a decoding procedure storage area 31b terminal device identification information storage area 32 display means 33 transmission / reception means 34 input means 35 terminal processing means 51 start section 52 image data section 53 annotation Unit 53a Image-related information storage area 53b Image-related information storage area 53c Image-related information storage area 54 End unit 61 Window 62 Window 63 Pointer 64 Image 65 Information image 66 Menu

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hitoshi Endo 1-6-3 Higashi Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Tokyo Building Gotanda Building Vision Arts Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasufumi Fujikawa Higashi Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Chome 6-3, Tokyo Building Gotanda Building Vision Arts Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshiaki Hatta 1-6-3 Higashi Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Tokyo Building Gotanda Building Vision Arts Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Igarashi Yosuke 1-6-3 Higashi Gotanda Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Tokyo Building Gotanda Building Vision Arts Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5C076 AA14 BA03 BA05 BA06 5C077 LL14 PP23 PP66 PQ12 PQ22 SS05 SS06 5J104 AA04 AA14 DA04 PA07 (54) [ [Title of the Invention] Storage of data structure storing information image file Body, a system for handling the information image file, an operation method and a program for operating the system, a recording medium on which the program is recorded, an information terminal device, a program for operating the terminal device, and a program for recording the program Recording medium.

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A storage medium storing an information image file readable by an information terminal device, wherein a plurality of image related information related to the information image is stored in a data stream of the information image file. The data structure storage medium, wherein the plurality of pieces of image-related information include at least two or more pieces of encrypted image-related information, and the encryption differs depending on the image-related information. 2. An image file storage area comprising an information storage means, a communication means for outputting an information image to the outside, and an information processing means for controlling the operation of each of these means, wherein said storage means stores an image file. An image-related information storage area that stores two or more pieces of image-related information to be embedded in the image file, and an encryption procedure storage area that stores an encryption procedure. A) reading the image-related information from the image-related information storage area; b) reading the encryption procedure from the encryption-procedure storage area; c) applying the read image-related information according to the read encryption procedure. Performing encryption on the image file, d) embedding the encrypted image-related information in the image file, and creating an information image Wherein the encryption is performed at least twice or more, and the image-related information or the combination of the image-related information to be encrypted is different from each other. system. 3. An image file storage area comprising an information storage means, a communication means for outputting an information image to the outside, and an information processing means for controlling the operation of each of these means, wherein said storage means stores an image file. An image-related information storage area storing two or more pieces of image-related information to be embedded in the image file, and an encryption procedure storage area storing an encryption procedure. The processing means includes: a) reading image-related information from the image-related information storage area; b) reading an encryption procedure from the encryption procedure storage area; c) reading the image read according to the read encryption procedure. Encrypting the related information; d) embedding the encrypted image-related information in the image file; Wherein the encryption is performed at least twice, and the image-related information or the combination of image-related information to be encrypted is different. How the image file creation system works. 4. An image file storage area comprising an information storage means, a communication means for outputting an information image to the outside, and an information processing means for controlling the operation of each of these means, wherein said storage means stores an image file. A program for operating an information image file creation system comprising: an image-related information storage area storing two or more pieces of image-related information to be embedded in the image file; and an encryption procedure storage area storing an encryption procedure. The processing means includes: a) reading image-related information from the image-related information storage area; b) reading an encryption procedure from the encryption procedure storage area; c) reading in accordance with the read encryption procedure. Encrypting the image-related information, and d) adding the encrypted image-related information to the image file. Embedding and creating an information image, wherein the encryption is performed at least twice, and that the image-related information or the combination of image-related information to be encrypted is different. A program for operating the featured information image file creation system. 5. An image file storage area comprising an information storage unit, a communication unit for outputting an information image to the outside, and an information processing unit for controlling the operation of each of these units, wherein said storage unit stores an image file. An image-related information storage area that stores two or more pieces of image-related information to be embedded in the image file, and an encryption procedure storage area that stores an encryption procedure. A) reading image-related information from the image-related information storage area; b) reading an encryption procedure from the encryption-procedure storage area; c) following the read encryption procedure with respect to the read image-related information. Encrypting; d) embedding the encrypted image-related information in the image file to create an information image Wherein the encryption is performed at least twice, and the image-related information or the combination of the image-related information to be encrypted is different. A recording medium on which a program is recorded. 6. An information storage unit, an information display unit, a transmission / reception unit with an external device, and an information terminal processing unit for controlling an operation of each of these units, wherein the storage unit performs at least two or more decoding operations. What is claimed is: 1. An information terminal device comprising a decryption procedure storage area storing a procedure, said terminal processing means comprising: a) embedding image-related information subjected to encryption according to said decryption procedure via said transmission / reception means. Receiving the read information image file; b) reading a decoding procedure from the decoding procedure storage area; c) decoding the image-related information according to the read decoding procedure; d. And d) storing the decoded image-related information in the storage unit. The decoding is performed at least twice, and each decoding target is Information terminal device combination of image-related information or the image-related information becomes are different from each other. 7. An information storage unit, an information display unit, a transmission / reception unit with an external device, and an information terminal processing unit for controlling the operation of each unit, wherein the storage unit performs at least two or more decoding operations. A program for operating an information terminal device having a decryption procedure storage area storing a procedure, the terminal processing means comprising: a) performing encryption according to the decryption procedure via the transmission / reception means; Receiving an information image file having the embedded image-related information embedded therein, b) reading a decoding procedure from the decoding-procedure storage area, and c) decoding the image-related information according to the read decoding procedure. And d) storing the decoded image-related information in the storage means, wherein the decoding is performed at least twice. Te, a program for a combination of subject to image-related information or the image-related information for each decoding operates the information terminal device, wherein different. 8. An information storage unit, an information display unit, a transmission / reception unit with an external device, and an information terminal processing unit for controlling operations of these units, wherein the storage unit performs at least two or more decoding operations. An information terminal device provided with a decryption procedure storage area storing a procedure, wherein: a) image-related information subjected to encryption according to the decryption procedure is embedded in the terminal processing means via the transmission / reception means. Receiving an information image file; b) reading a decoding procedure from the decoding procedure storage area; c) decoding the image-related information according to the read decoding procedure; d) decoding Storing the converted image-related information in the storage means, wherein the decoding is performed at least twice or more. Recording medium for recording a program for a combination of subject to image-related information or the image-related information for decoding Les operates the information terminal device, wherein different. 9. An information storage unit, a communication unit with an information terminal device having an information image file in which image-related information is embedded, and an information processing unit for controlling operations of these units, wherein the storage unit comprises: An information image file management system comprising a history information storage area that stores terminal device identification information of the information terminal device and information image identification information of an information image in association with each other, wherein the processing unit includes: Accepting, via the communication unit, terminal device identification information of the information terminal device transmitted from the information terminal device to be handled; b) an information image specified from the information image file associated with the terminal device identification information Receiving the identification information via the communication means; c) relating the received terminal device identification information to the information image identification information; Only, the information image file management system characterized by having a step, to be stored in the history information storage area. 10. An information storage unit, a communication unit with an information terminal device having an information image file in which image-related information is embedded, and an information processing unit for controlling the operation of each of these units. An operation method of an information image file management system including a history information storage area that stores terminal device identification information of the information terminal device and information image identification information of an information image in association with each other, wherein the processing unit includes: Accepting, via the communication means, terminal device identification information of the information terminal device transmitted from the information terminal device handling the image file; b) identifying from the information image file associated with the terminal device identification information Receiving the received information image identification information via the communication means, c) receiving the terminal device identification information and the information image identification In association with broadcast, the information image file management system method of operation characterized by having a step, to be stored in the history information storage area. 11. An information storage unit, a communication unit with an information terminal device having an information image file in which image-related information is embedded, and an information processing unit for controlling the operation of each of these units. A program for operating an information image file management system including a history information storage area that stores terminal device identification information of the information terminal device and information image identification information of an information image in association with each other, wherein the processing unit includes: a) receiving, via the communication unit, terminal device identification information of the information terminal device transmitted from the information terminal device that handles the information image file; b) the information image file associated with the terminal device identification information Receiving the information image identification information specified from the above via the communication means; c) receiving terminal device identification In association with broadcast information image identification information, the history information storing in the storage area, a program for operating the information image file management system characterized by having a. 12. An information storage unit, a communication unit with an information terminal device having an information image file in which image-related information is embedded, and an information processing unit for controlling the operation of each of these units. In an information image file management system including a history information storage area for storing terminal device identification information of the information terminal device and information image identification information of an information image in association with each other, the processing means includes: a) handling an information image file; Receiving the terminal device identification information of the information terminal device transmitted from the information terminal device via the communication means, b) the information image identification information specified from the information image file associated with the terminal device identification information C) receiving the terminal device identification information and the information image identification information. Put, the recording medium recording a program for executing the steps, to be stored in the history information storage area. 13. An information storage means, an information display means, a transmission / reception means for exchanging information with the information image file management system according to claim 9, and an information terminal for controlling the operation of each of these means. An information terminal device comprising a processing device, wherein the storage device has a terminal device identification information storage area storing terminal device identification information, the terminal processing device comprising: a) a management area for handling an information image file; Developing the information on the storage means or the display means, b) associating the information image identification information specified from the information image managed in the management area with the terminal device identification information read from the terminal device identification information storage area, Transmitting to the file management system via the transmission / reception means. 14. An information storage means, an information display means, a transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving information to / from the information image file management system according to claim 9, and an information terminal for controlling the operation of each of these means. A program for operating an information terminal device provided with a terminal device identification information storage area in which the storage device stores terminal device identification information, the terminal processing device comprising: a) an information image file; Developing a management area for handling in the storage means or the display means; b) reading the information image identification information specified from the information image managed in the management area from the terminal device identification information storage area; Transmitting to the file management system via the transmitting / receiving means in association with the identification information. Program for operating the device. 15. An information storage means, an information display means, a transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving information to / from the information image file management system according to claim 9, and an information terminal for controlling the operation of each of these means. An information terminal device comprising a processing device, wherein the storage device has a terminal device identification information storage area storing terminal device identification information, wherein the terminal processing device has: a) a management area for handling an information image file; B) developing the information image information on the display device, and b) linking the information image identification information specified from the information image managed in the management area with the terminal device identification information read from the terminal device identification information storage region, and Transmitting the data to the file management system via a means.