JP2003067588A - Data distribution and billing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problems of conventional data distribution and billing methods: that, when data are purchased through a network, a customer must pay for the purchase of a data recording medium, register in a credit company, and pay separately for the data, in which case the operation of registering individual information is required even if payment is made without the intervention of a credit company, making the customer continue to feel insecure, fearing that the individual information may leak or be put to use without permission; and that complicated operations must be done for each data provider, resulting in inconvenience and confusion. SOLUTION: A data provider who permits only customers authenticated by use of an ID for authentication to download data sells the data, with the fee of the data included in the fee of a data-recording medium containing the ID for authentication, and collects the fee of the data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data distribution system that makes data distribution and charging methods efficient.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of the Internet, products that were conventionally sold through retail stores can be ordered through networks, and in software sales, data can be distributed directly to customers through the network for sale and settlement. Many sales forms are becoming common. This data distribution and charging method that is currently performed is disclosed in JP-A-11-120253.
There is a method of downloading music or game software to a recording medium by inserting cash into a dedicated terminal, or a method of downloading through a personal computer without using a dedicated terminal.

According to the former method, the customer himself / herself can go to the place where the dedicated terminal is located to purchase the terminal. In the latter case, the data provider knows the customer's personal information for identifying the customer, and directly authenticates the customer and permits the data download. Billing for pay data was done via a credit company that had a business alliance. In this method, the customer needs to purchase a data recording medium in which nothing is recorded in advance, register with the credit company before downloading the data, and pay the fee for the data via the credit company.
Even when not going through a credit company, it was necessary to authenticate with a payment system in advance and it was necessary to register personal data such as name and age. The data provider collects the data providing fee via the credit company, and a part of the fee paid by the customer is paid to the credit company as a commission.

FIG. 2 shows an example using this conventional method. FIG. 2 shows an example of a music distribution service using the Internet. The customer 21 uses a device having a communication function such as a personal computer as shown in FIG. 4 to access the WEB site created by the data providing company 24. Hereinafter, the communication between the customer 21 and the data providing company 24 is performed by the WEB
Suppose this is done through the site. On the WEB site, song names and the like are displayed on the home page, and the customer 21 can purchase by selecting a song to purchase from the displayed song names. The purchase procedure is determined for each site, and the customer 21 follows the procedure accordingly. For example, in order to settle the purchase price, the registration number and name of the credit card company 25 that has been contracted in advance are input, or personal information such as an address and a telephone number is input. After this information is sent to the server for authorization, the download will begin. Usually, it is downloaded to the hard disk of a personal computer, transferred to a data recording medium, and played on another playback device.

FIG. 2 shows a case where there are a number of pairs 26 of the data providing company 24 and the credit card company 25 with which it is affiliated (27, 28 in the figure), and in this case, the customer plays many songs. If you don't want pair 26 but pair 27, 28 when you want to buy,
By accessing each site, the same procedure as the procedure performed by the pair 26 is performed on the pair 27 and the pair 28.

[0006]

However, according to this conventional method, the customer has to pay the fee for purchasing the data recording medium, and also has to register with the credit company and pay the fee for the data separately. . Even when not going through a credit company, the work of registering personal information was not lost, and the customer had to continue to have a sense of concern that personal information might be leaked or used without permission. Also, if there are several data providers, and each of them provided its own method of distribution, the customer side had to prepare a number of download devices and software for downloading. Since the method of downloading data is different for each customer, it is necessary for each data provider to perform complicated work for the customer side, which is inconvenient and confusing.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve these problems, a data recording medium manufacturer who authorizes only a customer who has been authenticated using an authentication ID to download the data authenticates the data providing fee. The present invention provides a data distribution and billing method, which is characterized in that the data is sold to the customer by including it in the charge of the data recording medium in which the ID for use is included in advance and the data providing charge is collected. In addition, even if there are multiple data providers other than the data recording medium manufacturer, the data recording medium manufacturer discloses a database indicating how much the provided data has been downloaded to the data provider and sells the data recording medium. By sharing the profits obtained by the above, it is possible to provide a system that provides both the data provider and the data recording medium manufacturer with profit while reducing the cumbersome work of downloading for the customer.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, a customer 11 receives a sale of a data recording medium from a data recording medium manufacturing company 12 and pays the price. The data recording medium manufacturing company 12 is the data providing company 13
From the data provided by the customer, according to the request from the customer 11,
Download data after authentication. The data recording medium fee also includes the data provision fee, which is
The data recording medium manufacturer 12 pays the data provider 13. When the data recording medium manufacturing company 12 provides the data by itself, the data providing company 13 is unnecessary,
The data recording medium manufacturing company 12 holds the data and delivers it in response to the customer's request.

A specific example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This figure shows how to sell music data via the Internet. In this figure, a company 32 (hereinafter referred to as a maker) that manufactures a memory card 31, which is a data recording medium, stores music data for download in a music data server 33 including a large-capacity hard disk and a processing device. There is. This music data is supplied from the record company 35 and is converted into digital data for download. The method of digital data conversion is determined by the manufacturer 32. Maker 3
2 is a memory card 3 which sells an ID protected in advance so that it cannot be tampered with by a third party.
1 in the manufacturing stage. The ID is private,
It is held in the company's own card ID management database 34.

The customer 36 purchases the memory card 31 containing this ID from the maker 32 directly or via a retail store, installs the memory card 31, and uses a device capable of reading and writing data, for example, a personal computer. ,
Access the manufacturer's download site. On the download site, music data provided by the record company 35 is lined up on the home page, and the customer 36 can select and download the song that the customer 36 wants to purchase according to the instruction on the screen. At this time, customer 3
6 It is not necessary to input information such as the name and age of the user, and all authentication is performed by the ID included in the memory card 31. That is, when a song to be purchased is selected on the purchase screen, the ID recorded in the memory card 31 is sent to the manufacturer's authentication server 37, and the customer who has accessed the list of IDs recorded in the card ID management database 34. It is confirmed whether or not the ID recorded in the memory card 31 held by 36 exists, and if it exists, the download is started. The purchase price of the song is included in the price of the memory card 31, and the customer 36 pays when the memory card 31 is purchased.

Therefore, the customer 36 does not have to be authenticated for payment of the purchase price. At the site of the maker 32, the card ID management database 34 records how many times the song has been downloaded. Since the authenticated memory card 31 has already paid the purchase price of the song, the maker can make an income by it. If you sell through a retail store, you can collect it and earn income. Which song was downloaded,
That is, it is determined whether or not the card is sold by the card ID management database 34.
The recording fee for the music data is supplied to the record company 35 from among the profits obtained by selling the memory card 31 based on the card ID management database 34. Even if there are a plurality of record companies 35 as shown in FIG. 3, the same operation is performed.

[0012]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a data distribution system capable of data distribution and billing without forcing a customer to perform complicated work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional data distribution method.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a specific embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a music data receiving / reproducing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Customer 12 Data Recording Medium Manufacturer 13 Data Provider 21 Customer 22 Retail Store 23 Memory Manufacturer 24 Data Provider 25 Credit Card Company 26 Pair of Data Provider and Credit Card Company 27 Another Data Provider and Credit Card Company Pair 28 of another data provider and credit card company 31 Memory card 32 Memory card manufacturing company 33 Music data server 34 Card ID management database 35 Record company 36 Customer

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A person who manufactures and sells a data recording medium,
Only the customer who has been authenticated using the ID managed by himself is allowed to download the data held by himself, and the authentication I
A data distribution method, characterized in that D includes a charge of a data recording medium included in advance and includes a data providing charge, and sells it to a customer, and collects the data providing charge at one time. 2. A management server for performing authentication using an ID, a terminal device for downloading data, an ID for authentication in advance, and a data record to be sold including a data providing fee in advance in a selling fee. A data distribution method implemented by a medium. 3. The data to be downloaded according to claim 1 is supplied by another data provider, and the data is distributed to a customer, and a data recording medium containing an authentication ID in advance is sold. A data distribution method that can bring profits to both parties by distributing a part of the revenue obtained from customers to this data provider. 4. An ID pre-recorded on a data recording medium, a database recording what the downloaded data is, and a means which can be disclosed to a data provider who provides the data to the data recording medium manufacturer. And a data distribution method having means for distributing a part of the revenue obtained from a customer to a data provider. 5. A person who manufactures and sells a data recording medium,
Only the customer who has been authenticated using the ID managed by himself is allowed to download the data held by himself, and the authentication I
A charging method, characterized in that D includes a charge of a data recording medium included in advance in the data, and sells it to a customer including a data providing charge, and collects the data providing charge at one time. 6. A management server for performing authentication using an ID, a terminal device for downloading data, an ID for authentication in advance, and a data record to be sold including a data providing fee in advance in a selling fee. A billing method implemented by the medium. 7. The data to be downloaded according to claim 1 is supplied by another data provider, and the data is distributed to a customer, and a data recording medium containing an ID for authentication in advance is sold. A billing method that can benefit both parties by distributing a portion of the revenue generated from customers to this data provider. 8. An ID pre-recorded on a data recording medium, a database recording what the downloaded data is, and a means which can be disclosed to a data provider who provides the data to the data recording medium manufacturer. And a charging method having means for distributing a part of the revenue obtained from the customer to the data provider.