JP2003122969A - Sales system of electronic content using network - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To flexibly search purchased electronic contents. SOLUTION: The electronic contents are prepared in a contents storage part 240 in a business computer 200 and their bibliography information is prepared in a bibliography DB storage part 220. In responding to a search request from a consumer computer 100, a search processing part 210 searches the bibliography DB storage part 220 and reports the search result. In responding to the transmission request (purchase request) from the consumer computer 100, a contents provision part 230 transmits the target electronic contents and their bibliography information. The transmitted electronic contents are stored in a contents storage part 120 and the bibliography information is stored in a bibliography DB storage part 150 as the database. The consumer can search the bibliography DB storage part 150 using the contents search part 160, find the electronic contents intended to use, and reproduce it by a contents reproduction part 130.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for selling electronic contents using a network, and more particularly to a system for selling electronic contents such as electronic books on the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the spread of the Internet, business forms using net sites have started to spread in many fields. In particular, in the field of goods sales business, the form of business using the Internet is becoming established, and various goods have been sold at virtual stores on the Internet. Also, personal computers, mobile phones, PDAs
With the spread of devices and digital game devices, the market for electronic contents (digital contents) consisting of copyrighted works such as books, audios, and videos is also expanding. Most of these electronic contents are also sold at virtual stores on the Internet. There is. Also, computer programs called so-called shareware are actively sold in virtual stores on the Internet. In the present application, digitalized data of copyrighted works such as books, audios, videos, and other images will be broadly referred to as "electronic contents". For convenience, computer programs and other data available online such as Sheaware will also be referred to. The term "electronic content" will be used with a broad concept that includes it.

The characteristic of the electronic contents is that the substance is composed of digital data, and the electronic contents are said to be the most suitable products for online sales by virtual stores deployed on the network. it can. That is, unlike general tangible items, electronic content does not require physical delivery of goods to consumers, so the electronic content is sold in a format that allows consumers to download digital data from the retailer's site. Will be able to do. In other words, a business computer installed by a business selling electronic contents and a consumer computer operated by a consumer purchasing electronic content (a personal computer, a mobile phone, a PDA device, a digital game device, etc.) ) And are connected via a network, the electronic content sales system is configured. With online sales like this,
Consumers will be able to obtain desired products anytime, anywhere by downloading via the network. In addition, online sales can also provide various additional services to consumers. For example, many online stores provide consumers with a search service for products for sale. Such a search service is an indispensable service when selling a wide variety of products such as e-books, audio works, video works, etc., and is not available at online bookstores that sell e-books. , Book title, Series name, Author name, Publisher, Genre, Date of issue, IS
We provide a service that allows you to search for a desired book using various items such as BN code, price, and keywords.

[0004]

As described above, in a system for selling electronic contents such as electronic books using a network, a search service is provided to consumers by various methods. Using this search service, a person can search for a desired product and then purchase it. However, such a search service is provided on the assumption that the consumer will use it when selecting a product at a virtual store online, and a search for a product already purchased by the consumer is required. Is not intended.

[0005] The sales form of selling electronic contents by downloading them via a network is expected to increase at an accelerating rate in the future in view of the current situation where communication infrastructures for the Internet and the like are being rapidly developed. is expected. As a result, a book, which has been conventionally provided as a printed matter of a paper medium, or an audio work or a video work, which is provided by being recorded on an optical disk medium such as a CD or a DVD, is consumed by a consumer via a network. It will be generally provided in the form of being directly downloaded into a storage device such as a personal computer. As described above, when consumers purchase a lot of electronic contents in the form of downloading via a network, the copyrighted works such as books, CDs, DVDs, etc., which have been conventionally stored in a bookshelf, are stored in a personal computer. Will be stored as a data file in a hard disk or an optical disk as a storage device of the. Therefore, in the future, it is expected that a large number of electronic contents will be stored in the personal computers of individual consumers, and some means capable of conducting a search for these large amounts of electronic contents will be required. Seem. Of course, the OS of a general personal computer has a function of searching individual data files by file name or the like. However, the search function is inevitably extremely limited in function as compared with the search service provided by the sales site for electronic contents to select products.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sales system for electronic contents using a network, which enables a consumer to flexibly search for electronic contents purchased by himself / herself.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] (1) A first aspect of the present invention is a computer for a business operator installed by a business operator who sells electronic contents, and consumption operated by a consumer who purchases electronic contents. A computer for business use, in a sales system for electronic contents that functions by connecting a business use computer and a consumer use computer via a network, the business use computer includes:
A business content storage unit for storing individual electronic contents to be sold, a business bibliographic DB storage unit for storing bibliographic information data corresponding to each electronic content in a database format, and a consumer computer Based on the search request from the consumer computer, the database in the business bibliography DB storage unit is searched, and the search processing unit that transmits the obtained search result to the consumer computer, and the transmission request from the consumer computer. Consume both the electronic content to be transmitted stored in the business content storage section and the bibliographic information data corresponding to the electronic content to be transmitted stored in the business bibliographic DB storage section. The content providing section for transmitting to the consumer computer is provided, and the consumer computer is provided by the business computer. Content storage section for storing the stored electronic content, consumer bibliographic DB storage section for storing the bibliographic information data provided from the business computer in the form of a database, and the consumption based on the consumer's instruction. Content reproduction section for reproducing a predetermined electronic content in the consumer content storage section and presenting it to the consumer, and searching the database in the consumer bibliographic DB storage section based on the instruction of the consumer and the result to the consumer. A content search unit to be presented, a process of issuing a search request to the search processing unit based on an instruction from the consumer, a process of presenting the search result transmitted from the search processing unit to the consumer, and an instruction from the consumer Processing for issuing a transmission request to the content providing unit based on the above, and storing the electronic content transmitted from the content providing unit in the consumer content storage unit. And a communication processing section having a function of performing processing for storing the bibliographic information data transmitted from the content providing section in a database format in the consumer bibliographic DB storage section. Is.

(2) A second aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned first aspect.
In the system for selling electronic contents using the network according to the aspect, the bibliographic information data is extracted from the data transmitted from the content providing unit, and the extracted bibliographic information data is stored in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit. A bibliographic DB construction unit having a function of storing a database so as to be constructed is provided in the communication processing unit.

(3) A third aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned second aspect.
In the electronic content sales system using the network according to the aspect of (1), the communication processing unit is configured by using Web browser software, and the bibliographic DB construction unit is configured by using plug-in software that is added to this Web browser software. It is configured as follows.

(4) A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to the above-mentioned first aspect.
In the electronic content selling system using the network according to the aspect of the above, the business computer for the business, a history information storage unit that records history information indicating which electronic content has been transmitted to which consumer, and a history. Based on the information, each electronic content stored in the consumer content storage unit is recognized, bibliographic information data corresponding to each recognized electronic content is read from the business bibliographic DB storage unit, and this is read. A bibliographic DB file creation unit for creating a bibliographic DB file created in the form of a database is further provided, and the content providing unit has a function of transmitting the bibliographic DB file, and the communication processing unit of the consumer computer is provided with the content. Store the bibliographic DB file sent from the providing unit in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit In which it was to impart a function to perform that processing.

(5) A fifth aspect of the present invention comprises a business computer installed by a business that sells electronic contents, and a consumer computer operated by a consumer who purchases electronic contents. In an electronic content sales system that functions by connecting a business computer and a consumer computer via a network, the business computer has a bibliography corresponding to each electronic content to be sold. A content storage unit for businesses that stores information data in the embedded format, a bibliographic DB storage section for businesses that stores bibliographic information data corresponding to each electronic content in a database format, and a consumer computer Based on the search request, search the database in the business bibliographic DB storage unit, the obtained search Based on a transmission request from the search computer that sends the results to the consumer computer, the electronic content that is the transmission target stored in the business content storage unit is sent to the consumer computer. A content providing unit for transmitting is provided, and a consumer content storage unit that stores electronic content provided from a business computer and a consumer content storage unit based on a consumer instruction are provided in the consumer computer. A function of playing back predetermined electronic content in the department and presenting it to the consumer, and searching the bibliographic information data embedded in the electronic content in the consumer content storage unit based on the instruction of the consumer and consuming the result. A content playback unit with a search function that has a function to present to the user and a search processing unit based on a consumer instruction Request processing, presenting the search result sent from the search processing unit to the consumer, issuing a transmission request to the content providing unit based on the consumer's instruction, and transmitting from the content providing unit A processing for storing the received electronic content in the content storage section for consumers and a communication processing section having a function of performing the processing are provided.

(6) A sixth aspect of the present invention comprises a business computer installed by a business that sells electronic contents, and a consumer computer operated by a consumer who purchases electronic contents. In an electronic content sales system that functions by connecting a business computer and a consumer computer via a network, the business computer has a bibliography corresponding to each electronic content to be sold. Based on a content storage unit for a business that stores information data in an embedded format and a search request from a consumer computer, search for bibliographic information data embedded in the electronic content in the business content storage unit, A search processing unit that transmits the obtained search results to a consumer computer,
The consumer computer is provided with a content providing unit for transmitting the electronic content to be transmitted, which is stored in the business content storage unit, to the consumer computer based on a transmission request from the consumer computer. Is a content storage unit for consumers that stores electronic content provided from a computer for business, and reproduces predetermined electronic content in the content storage unit for consumers based on instructions from the consumer and presents it to the consumer. Content with a search function, and the function of searching the bibliographic information data embedded in the electronic content in the content storage unit for consumers based on the instructions of the consumer and presenting the result to the consumer. A process of issuing a search request to the search processing unit based on the playback unit and the consumer's instruction, and the search transmitted from the search processing unit The process of presenting the result to the consumer, the process of issuing a transmission request to the content providing unit based on the instruction of the consumer, and the electronic content transmitted from the content providing unit is stored in the consumer content storage unit. A communication processing unit having a function of performing processing is provided.

(7) A seventh aspect of the present invention comprises a business computer installed by a business selling electronic contents, and a consumer computer operated by a consumer purchasing electronic content. In an electronic content sales system that functions by connecting a computer for business and a consumer computer via a network, the computer for business is for a business that stores individual electronic contents to be sold. Based on a content storage unit, a business bibliographic DB storage unit that stores bibliographic information data corresponding to each electronic content in a database format, and a business bibliographic DB storage unit based on a search request from a consumer computer. A search processing unit that searches a database in the department and sends the obtained search result to a consumer computer, Based on a transmission request from the consumer computer, the electronic content to be transmitted stored in the business content storage unit and the electronic content to be transmitted stored in the business bibliographic DB storage unit Perform the process of embedding the corresponding bibliographic information data,
A content providing unit for transmitting the electronic content after the embedding process to a consumer computer, and the consumer computer includes a consumer content storage unit for storing the electronic content provided from the business computer. , A function of playing back predetermined electronic content in the consumer content storage unit based on the instruction of the consumer and presenting it to the consumer, and embedded in the electronic content in the consumer content storage unit based on the instruction of the consumer. A content reproduction unit with a search function having a function of searching the bibliographic information data and presenting the result to the consumer, and a process of issuing a search request to the search processing unit based on the instruction of the consumer. , A process of presenting the search result transmitted from the search processing unit to the consumer and a transmission request to the content providing unit based on the instruction of the consumer And management, and communication processing unit having a processing of storing consumer content storage unit electronic content transmitted from the content providing unit, a function of performing,
Is provided.

(8) According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic content selling system using the network according to the above-mentioned first to seventh aspects, the business computer operates in the consumer computer. Further comprising a program storage unit storing a computer program,
The content providing unit has a function of transmitting the computer program to be transmitted, which is stored in the program storage unit, to the consumer computer based on a transmission request from the consumer computer. The reproducing unit, the content searching unit, or the bibliographic DB constructing unit is configured by using the program provided from the business operator computer.

(9) According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, a business computer installed by a business selling electronic contents and a consumer computer operated by a consumer purchasing electronic content are provided. In a computer for business used in a sales system for electronic contents that function by connecting via a network, individual electronic contents to be sold, bibliographic information data corresponding to the individual electronic contents, and this bibliographic information A search program having a function of executing a search process of electronic content in a consumer computer using data, and storing a predetermined electronic content and a bibliography corresponding thereto based on a transmission request from the consumer. Based on the process of sending the information data to the consumer computer and the request from the consumer Then, the processing for transmitting the search program to the consumer computer and the function for performing the processing are provided.

(10) According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a business computer installed by a business selling electronic contents, and a consumer computer operated by a consumer purchasing electronic contents. In a consumer computer used in a sales system for electronic contents that function by connecting via a network, stores individual electronic contents provided from a business computer and bibliographic information data corresponding to each individual electronic contents. The storage unit to perform, the function of playing a predetermined electronic content in the storage unit based on the instruction of the consumer and presenting it to the consumer, and searching the bibliographic information data in the storage unit based on the instruction of the consumer The function of presenting consumers with
And a content search / playback unit having the above.

(11) An eleventh aspect of the present invention is a system for selling electronic contents using a network according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, or a computer for business or consumer used for this selling system. As the electronic content, electronic book data, audio data, image data, video data, or digital content including a computer program is used.

(12) A twelfth aspect of the present invention is a computer program for operating a computer as a business computer for use in a system for selling electronic contents using a network according to any of the first to ninth aspects. Is prepared and recorded on a computer-readable recording medium for distribution.

(13) A thirteenth aspect of the present invention is to operate a computer as a consumer computer used in a system for selling electronic contents using the network according to the above first to eighth and tenth aspects. Is prepared so that it can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium and distributed.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described below based on several illustrated embodiments.

§1. Sales of conventional general electronic contents
Selling System The electronic content selling system according to the present invention can be realized by adding some additional components to the conventional general electronic content selling system. Therefore, first, the basic configuration of a conventional general electronic content selling system will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. As shown in the figure, a system for selling electronic content using a network includes a consumer computer 100 operated by a consumer who purchases electronic content, and a business computer 200 installed by a business operator who sells electronic content. It is configured by, and functions by connecting both via the network N. In practical use, consumer computer 100
Is composed of a personal computer, a mobile phone, a PDA device, a digital game device, and the like (the word "computer" in the present application is used in a concept broadly including an information processing device having a CPU).
00 is configured by one or a plurality of server devices.

In the consumer computer 100, a communication processing unit 110 for communicating with the business computer 200, a consumer content storage unit 120 for storing the purchased electronic content, and a content reproduction for reproducing the electronic content. A section 130 is provided. On the other hand, the business computer 200, as shown in the figure, has a search processing unit 210 for searching bibliographic data, a business bibliographic DB storage unit 220 storing the bibliographic data to be searched, and contents for the consumer. A content providing unit 230 to be provided,
A business entity content storage unit 240 that stores individual electronic content to be sold is provided. However, each of these components expresses each function realized by the computer as one element. In reality, each of these components is a combination of computer hardware and software. Will be realized by.

The sales target in the business computer 200 is electronic content such as electronic books, audio works, and video works. Hereinafter, description will be made taking an online e-book bookstore that sells electronic books as an example. Decide to do. The electronic content to be sold is prepared in the business content storage unit 240 as illustrated. Currently, standard data formats for document files (for example, PDF format) and standard data formats for electronic books (CD-ROM)
Although the XA standard format) is defined, the electronic content stored in the content storage unit 240 for business is digital data of an electronic book described in such a standard data format. . Normally, one book is prepared as one file. On the other hand, in the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220,
The bibliographic information data corresponding to each of the electronic contents stored in the business contents storage unit 240 is stored in a database format. In the present application, the meaning of “in the form of a database” means “in a form suitable for content search”, and if a database that fulfills the search function can be constructed, specifically what form You may adopt the database of. If the electronic content is an electronic book, the title, series name, author name, author code, publisher name, publisher code,
Data such as genre, date of issue, ISBN code, price, and keyword are used as bibliographic information data.
In the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220, such bibliographic information data is stored in a database format.

Now, the consumer is the consumer computer 1
While operating 00, the operator's computer 200 is accessed via the network N to purchase desired electronic contents (that is, electronic books). This purchase procedure is performed by the communication processing unit 110. The communication processing unit 110 uses the business computer 200.
It has the function of communicating with and has the function of performing the following processes.

First, the first process is a process of issuing a search request to the search processing unit 210 based on a consumer's instruction. This search request is actually accompanied by information for searching such as book title, series name, author name, publisher name, genre and the like. The search processing unit 210 that has received such a search request
Performs a process of searching a database in the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220 and transmitting the obtained search result to the communication processing unit 110. For example, when the consumer issues a search request with a specific author name, the search processing unit 210 searches the database in the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220, and retrieves bibliographic information data including the corresponding author name. A process of transmitting the extracted bibliographic information data (usually a part of data such as the title of the book, the name of the publisher, the price, etc.) to the consumer computer 100 side as a search result is performed. The second process executed by the communication processing unit 110 is a process of presenting the search result transmitted from the search processing unit 210 to the consumer. In the above example, the consumer will be presented with a list of electronic books by a particular author.

[0026] The consumer will give an instruction for purchase when there is an electronic book to be purchased in the list thus presented. The third process executed by the communication processing unit 110 is a process of issuing a transmission request to the content providing unit based on a consumer instruction. This transmission request is accompanied by information that identifies the electronic content that is the transmission target (that is, the electronic book that the consumer intended to purchase). Upon receiving such a transmission request, the content providing unit 230 reads the electronic content to be transmitted from the business content storage unit 240 and transmits the electronic content to the consumer computer 100 side. The fourth processing executed by the communication processing unit 110 is the content providing unit 23.
The electronic content (downloaded electronic content) transmitted from the consumer content storage unit 120
Is a process of storing in. Through the above procedure, the consumer
You can search for your desired e-book, find it, and obtain it in the form of download. In addition,
Actually, when the electronic content is purchased, it is necessary to perform a predetermined billing process (for example, a payment process by a credit card), but such a billing process is already known technology, and the present invention is not limited to this. Since this is not the main purpose, description thereof will be omitted here.

In this way, the consumer content storage unit 12
The electronic content downloaded in 0 can be reproduced by the content reproducing unit 130. In addition,
As described above, the electronic contents sold by the electronic contents selling system according to the present invention are not limited to the electronic books described in this embodiment, and include a wide variety of audio copyrighted works, video copyrighted works, computer programs, and the like. .
Therefore, in the present application, the consumer is the consumer computer 1
00 is used to express such an act of using electronic content by a comprehensive word “reproduction”. Specifically, the consumer can read the electronic content of an electronic book, listen to the electronic content of an audio work, and listen to the electronic content of an audio book by the function of the content reproducing unit 130. It may be viewed for electronic content of copyrighted material and may be executed for electronic content of computer programs.

As described above, the consumer computer 100 requires the communication processing unit 110, the consumer content storage unit 120, and the content reproducing unit 130. Each of these components is equipped as standard. Specifically, if the Internet is used as the network N, the communication processing unit 110 can be configured using Web browser software that is standardly incorporated in many personal computers. In addition, the consumer content storage unit 120
Can be configured by a storage device such as a hard disk device built in the personal computer. Furthermore, many personal computers use PDF document browsing software (Adobe Acrobat Reade) for browsing PDF format document files.
Since r: registered trademark) is incorporated as a standard, if the electronic content is data in PDF format, the content reproducing unit 130 can be configured by such PDF document browsing software.

§2. Sales of electronic contents according to the present invention
Basic Embodiment of System In Section 1 described above, the basic configuration of the conventional general electronic content selling system is described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. A consumer using such a conventional system can receive the search service provided by the search processing unit 210 when newly purchasing the electronic content. However, the search service by the search processing unit 210 cannot be used for electronic content that has already been purchased (downloaded) and stored in the consumer content storage unit 120. In the block diagram shown, the consumer content storage unit 120 includes
Although only four sets of e-books are stored, the number of electronic contents stored in the search processing unit 210 will increase when the form of downloading and purchasing electronic contents becomes widespread in the future. It is expected to reach a considerable number. That is, when a consumer purchases a large amount of electronic content in the form of downloading via a network, conventionally, a copyrighted work such as a book, a CD or a DVD stored in a bookshelf or the like is used for the consumer. It is stored as a data file in the consumer content storage unit 120 in the computer 100. When a large amount of electronic content is accumulated in the consumer content storage unit 120, even if the user wants to reproduce the desired electronic content in the content reproduction unit 130, the work load of finding a file of the desired electronic content is heavy. It's just becoming. In view of such a situation, the basic point of the present invention is to propose a technique capable of providing the consumer computer 100 side with a search function equivalent to the search function of the business computer 200 side. It is in.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a basic embodiment of a system for selling electronic contents using a network according to the present invention. This selling system can be realized by adding some additional functions to the conventional selling system shown in FIG. The sales system of FIG. 2 is also similar to the sales system of FIG. 1, and is a consumer computer 100 operated by a consumer who purchases electronic content and a business computer 200 installed by a business operator who sells electronic content. Composed by and
It functions by connecting both via a network N (in practice, the Internet).

The configuration of the business computer 200 in the sales system shown in FIG. 2 is almost the same as that of the sales system shown in FIG. However, the content providing unit 230
With respect to, an additional function is added. That is, in the sales system shown in FIG. 2, the content providing unit 2
When there is a transmission request from the consumer computer 100, 30 is stored in the business-use bibliographic DB storage 220 and the “electronic content to be transmitted” stored in the business-content storage 240. Both of the "bibliographic information data corresponding to the electronic contents to be transmitted" that are present will be transmitted to the consumer computer. In other words, in the conventional sales system, only the electronic content is downloaded from the content providing unit 230, but in the sales system shown in FIG.
The bibliographic information data of the electronic content is downloaded together with the electronic content. As described above, in the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220,
The bibliographic information data corresponding to each of the individual electronic contents stored in the business contents storage unit 240 is stored. Therefore, the bibliographic information data corresponding to the electronic content to be transmitted to the consumer should be stored in the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220. Therefore, the content providing unit 230
Can perform a process of transmitting the electronic content to be transmitted and the bibliographic information data corresponding thereto to the communication processing unit 110.

However, the content providing unit 230 does not necessarily need to send the bibliographic information data stored in the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220 to the consumer computer 100 side as it is, and may appropriately discard the bibliographic information data. It is possible to make a selection. For example, bibliographic information data about an electronic book is composed of data such as a book title, series name, author name, author code, publisher name, publisher code, genre, date of publication, ISBN code, price, and keyword. However, among these data, data that is not necessary for consumer search work (for example,
In practice, code data such as the author code, publisher code, and ISBN code used exclusively for the industry can be deleted from the bibliographic information data to be transmitted.

On the other hand, the consumer computer 100 in the sales system shown in FIG. 2 has some extensions to the consumer computer 100 shown in FIG.
First, a new function is added to the communication processing unit 110, and this additional function is realized by adding the bibliographic DB construction unit 140 in the communication processing unit 110. Further, a consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150 and a content search unit 160 are added as new components to the consumer computer 100 shown in FIG. The consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150 is a component that stores the bibliographic information data provided from the business computer 200 in a database format.
The process of adding new bibliographic information data to
It will be executed by the construction unit 140. Like the communication processing unit 110 in the sales system shown in FIG. 1, the communication processing unit 110 shown in FIG. 2 issues a search request to the search processing unit 210 based on a consumer's instruction, and the search processing unit 210. Processing of presenting the search result transmitted from the consumer to the consumer, processing of issuing a transmission request to the content providing unit 230 based on the instruction of the consumer, and consuming the electronic content transmitted from the content providing unit 230. The content providing unit 230 has a function of performing processing of storing the content in the personal content storage unit 120, and by adding the bibliographic DB construction unit 140 in addition to these functions.
Bibliographic information data sent from the consumer bibliographic DB
A new processing function of storing in the database format in the storage unit 150 is added.

As described above, when the Internet is used as the network N, the communication processing unit 110 can be constructed by using the Web browser software which is standardly equipped on a general personal computer. In this case, the consumer activates this web browser software to access the website of the business computer 200 composed of the server device, and the search service and contents provided by the search processing unit 210. The download service provided by the providing unit 230 can be received using this Web browser software. However, since the electronic content itself provided from the content providing unit 230 is provided as one file, the standard function of the web browser software (or file download software that operates in cooperation with this) is used. Although it can be stored in the consumer content storage unit 120 after downloading, the bibliographic information data provided from the content providing unit 230 is finally the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150.
Since it is necessary to store the records in the database so as to form them, the standard functions of the Web browser software cannot handle them. Therefore, in the embodiment shown here, the bibliographic DB constructing unit 140 is added as an extended component of the communication processing unit 110, and the data transmitted from the content providing unit 230 by the function of the bibliographic DB constructing unit 140. The bibliographic information data is extracted from the above, and the extracted bibliographic information data is stored in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150 so that a database is constructed.

Specifically, in the case of this embodiment, when the bibliographic information data corresponding to one electronic content is downloaded, the bibliographic DB construction unit 140 stores the bibliographic information data in the consumer bibliographic DB. The process of adding as one record of the database built in the unit 150 is performed. Therefore, as in the illustrated example, 4
When a group of electronic books is purchased, each of the four groups of electronic books is stored as one file in the consumer content storage unit 120, and a total of four files are stored. In the bibliographic DB storage unit 150, a single database file composed of four records is created. This database file is a database related to e-books, and each field has a title, series name, author name, publisher name,
Items such as genre, date of issue, price, and keywords will be set. It should be noted that each record is made to include data (for example, a file name) for identifying the corresponding electronic content stored in the consumer content storage unit 120, and the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150. When a specific record is retrieved from the internal database, it is preferable that the electronic content corresponding to the specific record can be immediately read from the consumer content storage unit 120.

Of course, a database can be similarly constructed for the bibliographic information data of the electronic contents of audio works and the electronic contents of video works. At this time, in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150, separate database files such as a database file for electronic books, a database file for audio works, and a database file for video works can be constructed. And you can build a single consolidated database file that integrates everything.

The content retrieving unit 160 is a component that performs a process of retrieving a database in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150 based on a consumer's instruction and presenting the result to the consumer. This search mechanism is based on the search processing unit 2
The search mechanism is the same as that of 10, and the basic search function of the content search unit 160 may be the same as the basic search function of the search processing unit 210. In other words, the search processing unit 210 provided on the business operator computer 200 side.
And a search service similar to the search service provided by the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220 is provided by the content search unit 160 and the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150 provided on the consumer computer 100 side. Will be. However, while the database built in the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220 covers all electronic contents stored in the business content storage unit 240, The database built in the bibliographic DB storage unit 150 is for the electronic content stored in the consumer content storage unit 120, that is, the electronic content that the consumer has purchased so far. . Therefore, although the database in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150 is smaller in scale than the database in the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220, each consumer searches for electronic content owned by the consumer. It has a necessary and sufficient configuration as long as it is used for the purpose.

The consumer uses the content storage unit 12 for the consumer.
Of a large number of electronic books stored in 0, for example, when it is desired to read a book by a specific author, the content search unit 160 is searched by designating the author name of the specific author. Just give an instruction to that effect. The content search unit 160 selects a record including the author name by searching a database in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150, and presents a list of book names and the like included in the selected record. I do. The consumer can specify an electronic book to read by selecting a desired title from this list. The content reproduction unit 130 has a function of reproducing a predetermined electronic content in the consumer content storage unit 120 and presenting it to the consumer based on the instruction of the consumer. In the illustrated embodiment, the search result of the content search unit 160 is reported to the content reproduction unit 130, and the content reproduction unit 13 is notified.
0 can use this search result to reproduce the specific electronic content designated by the consumer.

As described above, in order to use the sales system according to the present invention, the consumer computer 100 is newly provided with a bibliographic DB construction unit 140 and a consumer bibliographic DB.
It is necessary to add the storage unit 150 and the content search unit 160. However, the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150 is
It can be added simply by securing a dedicated storage area in an existing hard disk or the like. Also, the bibliographic DB construction unit 1
40 can be configured by using plug-in software added to Web browser software, and the content search unit 160 can be configured by using a general search processing program. Therefore, in practice, the plug-in software that should configure the bibliographic DB construction unit 140 and the content search unit 160 are configured on a standard personal computer (a personal computer equipped with Web browser software) that is currently commercially available. Search processing program and, if necessary, a content playback unit 13 for playing back electronic content described in a unique format.
The consumer computer 100 that can be used in the sales system according to the present invention can be realized only by incorporating the reproducing program that constitutes 0.

Practically, the program necessary for realizing the consumer computer 100 according to the present invention is prepared in advance on the business computer 200 side, and the consumer is allowed to download and use the program. Preferably. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which a program storage unit 250 is further added to the business operator computer 200 in the sales system shown in FIG. The program storage unit 250 stores a computer program that operates in the consumer computer 100, and the content providing unit 230 stores the consumer computer (the consumer computer 1 according to the present invention.
A computer that does not have the function of 00 completely) has a function of transmitting a computer program to be transmitted, which is stored in the program storage unit 250, to the consumer computer based on a transmission request from the computer. Have

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the program storage unit 25
Reference numeral 0 indicates a content reproduction program for forming the content reproduction unit 130, a content search program for forming the content search unit 160, and a bibliographic DB construction program (Web browser software for forming the bibliographic DB construction unit 140). And plug-in software). These programs use the standard functions of the Web browser software currently installed in commercially available personal computers,
Since it can be downloaded in a personal computer, a consumer who wants to use a service unique to the electronic content sales system according to the present invention (a service that enables a search function for purchased electronic content), First, by downloading these programs and installing them in your own personal computer,
It can be used as the consumer computer 100 for the electronic content selling system according to the present invention. That is, the content reproduction section 130, the content search section 160 in the consumer computer 100,
The bibliographic DB construction unit 140 is connected to the business computer 200
Can be configured using the program provided by.

§3. Sales of electronic contents according to the present invention
System Modifications Next, the present invention will be described based on some modifications.

(1) First Modification FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of a system for selling electronic contents using a network according to the first modification of the present invention. A feature of this sales system is that it is not necessary to incorporate the bibliographic DB construction unit 140 in the communication processing unit 110. In the basic embodiment shown in FIG. 2, as described in §2, the bibliographic DB construction unit 140 is configured by incorporating a dedicated plug-in program into general Web browser software. On the other hand, the modified example shown in FIG.
This is an embodiment based on the idea that the business to be performed by the business operator computer 200 is performed.

As shown in FIG. 4, in this modification, the customer information storage unit 260,
History information storage unit 270, bibliographic DB file creation unit 280
Are provided. Customer information storage unit 260
The personal information as a customer of each consumer who uses this electronic content sales system is stored in the.
In this sales system, when a consumer who uses the service for the first time accesses the search processing unit 210, registration of personal information such as an address, a name, and a telephone number is prompted on a Web page. Further, the consumer is given a predetermined account and is asked to decide a predetermined password. These pieces of personal information about individual consumers are stored in the customer information storage unit 260. The consumer who has completed registration in this way will be able to access using the specified account and password from the next time.

On the other hand, the history information storage section 270 records history information indicating which electronic content has been transmitted to which consumer so far. For example, a consumer
If a transmission request for a desired electronic content is issued and the electronic content is purchased, the electronic content is downloaded from the content providing unit 230 to the communication processing unit 110. At this time, the content providing unit 230 refers to the registration information in the customer information storage unit 260 and records history information indicating that a specific consumer has purchased a specific electronic content in each history information storage unit 270. To do.

The bibliographic DB file creation unit 280, based on the history information recorded in the history information storage unit 270, records the past purchase history of the consumer when the consumer purchases a specific electronic content. The individual electronic content stored in the consumer content storage unit 120 of the consumer computer 100 operated by the consumer is recognized. Of course, when the consumer intentionally performs the process of deleting the specific electronic content in the consumer content storage unit 120, the history information stored in the history information storage unit 270 and the consumer The consistency with the electronic content actually stored in the consumer content storage unit 120 will be lost, but at least the content has been downloaded from the business computer 200 for the business into the consumer content storage unit 120. As long as the electronic content exists, the history is always left in the history information storage unit 270. Therefore, the bibliographic DB file creation unit 280 stores the bibliographic information data corresponding to each recognized electronic content in the bibliographic DB storage unit 22 for the business operator.
A process of creating a bibliographic DB file F, which is read from 0 and filed in a database format, is performed.

For example, the consumer computer 1 shown.
Assuming that the consumer who operates 00 has purchased the fourth set of electronic books, as shown in the figure, the consumer content storage unit 1
In 20, four sets of electronic contents are stored. The bibliographic DB file creation unit 280 recognizes such a state in the consumer content storage unit 120, reads bibliographic information data corresponding to the four sets of electronic books from the business entity bibliographic DB storage unit 220, and To create a bibliographic DB file F in the form of a database (for example, bibliographic information data corresponding to one set of electronic books is set as one record, and a database file including all four records is created).

The bibliographic DB file F thus created by the bibliographic DB file creating unit 280 is transmitted to the consumer by the content providing unit 230. The bibliographic DB file F may be sent at any time,
Practically, when the content providing section 230 sends the electronic content (electronic content to be purchased) in the business content storage section 240 to the consumer, the bibliographic DB file F is sent at the same time. Is preferred. After all, in the case of the basic embodiment shown in FIG. 2, when the consumer newly purchases the fourth set of electronic books, the content providing unit 230 causes the electronic contents of the fourth set of electronic books, Bibliographic information data of this fourth set of electronic books,
In contrast to the case where the process of transmitting the electronic content is performed, in the case of the modification shown in FIG.
The process of transmitting the bibliographic DB file F including the bibliographic information data of the fourth set of electronic books is performed.

As described above, the modification shown in FIG. 4 eliminates the need for the bibliographic DB construction unit 140 on the consumer computer 100 side. In the case of the above example, the communication processing unit 110 transmits two files, the electronic content of the fourth set of electronic books and the bibliographic DB file F including the bibliographic information data of the first to fourth sets of electronic books. Is coming. The communication processing unit 110 may perform the process of storing the former in the consumer content storage unit 120 and storing the latter in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150. Bibliography D
Since the B file F is already in the form of a database file, if the bibliographic DB file F is simply stored in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150, it will function as a database. As described above, the function of the communication processing unit 110 composed of general Web browser software is sufficient for simple file storage processing, and the plug-in software for forming the bibliographic DB construction unit 140 is It becomes unnecessary.

The bibliographic DB file F in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150 is preferably always overwritten with the latest version. For example, in the state shown in FIG. 4, if the consumer purchases a fifth set of electronic books, the communication processing unit 110 displays 5
Two files are transmitted: an electronic content of the electronic book of the set and a new bibliographic DB file F (new version file) including the bibliographic information data of the electronic books of the first to fifth sets. In this case, the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 1
The old version of the bibliographic DB file F (database file consisting of bibliographic information data of the first to fourth sets of electronic books) stored in 50 is replaced by the newly transmitted bibliographic DB file F. Let's do the processing. That way, the consumer bibliographic DB
The storage unit 150 always stores the latest version of the bibliographic DB file F. Of course, there are multiple versions of the bibliographic DB in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150.
The file F may be allowed to coexist, and a process of selecting the latest version of the bibliographic DB file F may be performed when the content search unit 160 searches.

(2) Second Modification FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of a system for selling electronic contents using a network according to the second modification of the present invention. A feature of this sales system is that the bibliographic information data is provided to consumers in a form embedded in electronic contents.

As shown in the figure, the configuration of the business computer 200 in the modification shown in FIG. 5 is almost the same as the configuration of the business computer 200 in the basic embodiment shown in FIG. However, in the business entity content storage unit 245 shown in FIG. 5, instead of the normal electronic content, electronic content in a format in which corresponding bibliographic information data is embedded is stored. The electronic content in which the bibliographic information data is embedded can be handled as one file. In this way, if the individual electronic contents to be sold are stored in the business content storage unit 245 in a format in which the corresponding bibliographic information data is embedded, the content providing unit 230
Need only perform a process of transmitting only the electronic content stored in the business entity content storage unit 245, and it is not necessary to transmit the bibliographic information data in the business entity bibliographic DB storage unit 220 together.

On the other hand, on the side of the consumer computer 100, the electronic content transmitted from the content providing section 230 may be stored in the consumer content storage section 125.
The functions of ordinary Web browser software are sufficient. Therefore, unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, it is not necessary to configure the bibliographic DB construction unit 140 by adding a plug-in, and it is not necessary to provide the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit 150. However, the consumer content storage unit 1
Since the electronic contents stored in 25 are not normal electronic contents but special-format electronic contents in which the corresponding bibliographic information data is embedded,
When playback is performed using the normal content playback unit 130,
It may not be played back normally. Therefore, in this modification, a content reproducing unit with a search function 135 is provided as shown in the figure instead of the normal content reproducing unit 130. This content playback unit 135 with a search function
Is a function of reproducing a predetermined electronic content (special-format electronic content in which bibliographic information data is embedded) in the consumer content storage unit 125 based on the instruction of the consumer and presenting it to the consumer. It also has a function of searching the bibliographic information data embedded in the electronic content in the consumer content storage unit 125 on the basis of the instruction and presenting the result to the consumer. It can be said that it is a component having both the function of the content reproducing unit 130 and the function of the content searching unit 160 shown in FIG. However, in the case of performing the reproduction by the content reproduction unit with a search function 135, it is necessary to perform the reproduction by ignoring the bibliographic information data embedded in the electronic content, and the content reproduction unit 135 with the search function performs the search. In this case, it is necessary to perform a special search process such as reading the contents of the bibliographic information data in a format embedded in each of a plurality of files. Therefore, practically, the content reproduction unit with search function 135 is configured by incorporating a dedicated program created in consideration of the embedding mode of the bibliographic information data into the electronic content into a personal computer or the like serving as a consumer computer. Will be. Such a dedicated program, as described in the embodiment shown in FIG.
Program storage unit 25 on the computer 200 side for business
It is preferable to prepare it in 0 so that the consumer can download and use it.

(3) Third Modification FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of a system for selling electronic contents using a network according to the third modification of the present invention. This modification is a form in which the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220 in the modification shown in FIG. 5 is omitted. As described above, since the electronic content to be sold is stored in the business content storage unit 245 in a format in which the corresponding bibliographic information data is embedded, the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220 is stored. Therefore, the bibliographic information data therein is redundantly stored in the business entity content storage unit 245. Therefore, the search processing unit 210 needs to target the bibliographic information data embedded in the electronic content stored in the business content storage unit 245 instead of using the database in the business bibliographic DB storage unit 220. It is possible to perform various search processes. The configuration of the consumer computer 100 in the modification of FIG. 6 is exactly the same as that of the modification shown in FIG.

Actually, in order to perform a smooth search process by the search processing section 210, the bibliography D for the business operator storing the bibliographic information data in a database format suitable for the search.
It is preferable to provide the B storage section 220. Therefore, in practice, it is preferable to adopt the modification shown in FIG. 5 rather than the modification shown in FIG.

(4) Fourth Modification FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of a system for selling electronic contents using a network according to the fourth modification of the present invention. This modification is different from the modification shown in FIG. 5 in that from the content providing unit 230 to the communication processing unit 110.
The electronic content (special-format electronic content in which the bibliographic information data is embedded) to be transmitted to is created every time it is transmitted. That is, in the business entity content storage unit 240 shown in FIG.
As in the basic embodiment shown in FIG. 2, normal electronic content (electronic content in which bibliographic information data is not embedded) is stored. However, the content providing unit 23
0 transmits a predetermined electronic content to the communication processing unit 110 in response to a transmission request from a consumer, the bibliography D for the business operator D
The feature is that it has a function of embedding the bibliographic information data corresponding to the electronic content to be transmitted stored in the B storage unit 220 and transmitting the electronic content after the embedding processing. The configuration of the consumer computer 100 in the modification of FIG. 7 is exactly the same as the modification shown in FIG.

§4. Sales of electronic contents according to the present invention
System Business Form Finally, an example of a specific business form using the electronic content sales system using the network according to the present invention will be introduced with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The business form shown here is a form in which an electronic book store X, a printing company Y, and a publishing company Z jointly carry out a business. First, the publisher Z prepares a book manuscript and a bibliographic manuscript corresponding to the book manuscript, and submits it to the printing company Y. In the printing company Y, the contents of the submitted bibliographic manuscript are input to the bibliographic information creating unit 310 to create the bibliographic information Y1, and the contents of the entered bibliographic manuscript are input to the electronic content creating unit 320. Create content Y2. The bibliographic information Y1 and the electronic content Y2 created in this manner are delivered to the electronic book store X and stored in the server device as the bibliographic information X2 and the electronic content X3, respectively. Actually, the bibliographic information X2 and the electronic content X3 for many electronic books are stored. The server device of the electronic book store X also stores customer information X1, a dedicated program X4, and a purchase history X5. The customer information X1 is personal information of the consumer who has accessed the site of the electronic book store X, the purchase history X5 is information indicating the past purchase history of each consumer, and the dedicated program X4 is the consumer. There are various programs to download and use. When the consumer C first accesses the site of the electronic book store X via the Internet N, the consumer C performs customer registration. The registration content is stored in the customer information X1. After that, by logging in with a predetermined account, the service of the site of the electronic book store X can be received.

Now, in order to use this site, the consumer C who has completed customer registration first logs in with a predetermined account. In the illustrated example, the search processing unit 210 performs this login processing while referring to the customer information X1. Subsequently, the consumer C gives some search request to search for a desired electronic book. Upon receiving this search request, the search processing unit 210 searches the bibliographic information X2 to obtain a predetermined search result and returns it. Consumer C
After browsing the search results, if there is a desired electronic book, a transmission request (purchase request) is issued regarding this. It should be noted that the work of the consumer C up to now can be executed by the Web browser program C1 incorporated in the consumer computer. The content providing unit 230 that has received the transmission request for the desired electronic book
Reads out the electronic content to be transmitted from the electronic content X3, reads out the corresponding bibliographic information data from the bibliographic information X2, and transmits this to the consumer C.
Further, the consumer C can issue a transmission request to the dedicated program X4 as well as the electronic content. In response to such a transmission request, the content providing unit 230 transmits the dedicated program X4 to the consumer C. Will be done. The consumer C uses the downloaded special programs, electronic contents, and bibliographic information as C2 and C, respectively.
3 and C4 are stored.

In this way, if the dedicated program C2, the electronic content C3, and the bibliographic information C4 can be obtained under the consumer C, the consumer C can use the purchased electronic content while performing a search as needed. become able to. That is, the location of the desired electronic content can be recognized by searching the bibliographic information C4 using the dedicated program C2, and the electronic content that has recognized this location can be reproduced using the dedicated program C2. it can.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the illustrated embodiments and modifications, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments and modifications, and can be implemented in various other forms. Is. In particular, in the above-mentioned example, an example using an electronic book as the electronic content is shown, but the electronic content to be sold in the electronic content sales system according to the present invention is not limited to the electronic book,
There are various data such as audio data, image data, video data, and computer programs.

[0061]

As described above, according to the system for selling electronic contents using the network according to the present invention, the consumer can flexibly search the electronic contents purchased by himself / herself.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a conventional general electronic content selling system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a basic embodiment of a system for selling electronic contents using a network according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a system for selling electronic contents shown in FIG.
It is a block diagram showing an embodiment which added a program storage part.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a sales system for electronic contents using a network according to a first modified example of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a system for selling electronic contents using a network according to a second modification of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an electronic content selling system using a network according to a third modified example of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an electronic content selling system using a network according to a fourth modified example of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a specific business form using the electronic content sales system using the network according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 ... Consumer computer (personal computer) 110 ... Communication processing unit (Web browser software) 120, 125 ... Consumer content storage 130 ... Content playback unit 135 ... Content playback unit with search function 140 ... Bibliographic DB construction unit (plug-in software) 150 ... Consumer bibliographic DB storage 160 ... Content search section 200 ... Computer for business (server device) 210 ... Search processing unit 220 ... Bibliographic DB storage for business 230 ... Content provider 240, 245 ... Content storage unit for business 250 ... Program storage section 260 ... Customer information storage unit 270 ... History information storage section 280 ... Bibliographic DB file creation section 310 ... Bibliographic Information Creation Department 320 ... Electronic content creation unit C ... Consumer C1 ... Web browser software C2 ... Dedicated program C3 ... Electronic content C4 ... Bibliographic information F ... Bibliographic DB file N ... Network (Internet) X: E-book retailer X1 ... Customer information X2 ... Bibliographic information X3 ... Electronic content X4 ... Dedicated program X5 ... Purchase history Y ... Printing company Y1 ... Bibliographic information Y2 ... Electronic content Z ... Publisher

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06F 17/30 170 G06F 17/30 170Z 340 340B (72) Inventor Takayuki Usui Ichiya Kagamachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 1-1-1, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kayoko Hiraoka 1-1-1, Ichigaya-Kagacho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Dai-ni Printing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomoko Mase Ichiya, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 1-1-1 Kagamachi Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 5B075 ND03 ND20 NR02 NR12 PP22 PR03 UU38

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A business computer installed by a business that sells electronic content, and a consumer computer operated by a consumer who purchases electronic content. The business computer and the consumer. Is a sales system for electronic content that functions by connecting a computer for use via a network, wherein the business computer is a business content storage unit that stores individual electronic content to be sold, and Business bibliography D that stores bibliographic information data corresponding to each electronic content in a database format
B storage unit, based on a search request from the consumer computer,
A search processing unit that searches the database in the business bibliographic DB storage unit and transmits the obtained search result to the consumer computer, based on a transmission request from the consumer computer,
Both the electronic content to be transmitted, which is stored in the business content storage section, and the bibliographic information data corresponding to the electronic content to be transmitted, which is stored in the business bibliographic DB storage section, are stored. A content providing unit for transmitting to the consumer computer, wherein the consumer computer stores a consumer content storage unit for storing electronic content provided from the enterprise computer; Consumer bibliographic DB storage unit that stores the bibliographic information data provided from the consumer computer in the form of a database, and the consumer by reproducing predetermined electronic content in the consumer content storage unit based on the consumer's instructions. The content reproduction unit to be presented to the user and the database in the consumer bibliographic DB storage unit are checked based on the instruction of the consumer. Then, the content search unit that presents the result to the consumer, the process of issuing a search request to the search processing unit based on the instruction of the consumer, and the search result transmitted from the search processing unit to the consumer. Process for presenting to the content providing unit, a process for issuing a transmission request to the content providing unit based on a consumer's instruction, and a process for storing the electronic content transmitted from the content providing unit in the consumer content storage unit. And a processing for storing the bibliographic information data transmitted from the content providing section in the consumer bibliographic DB storage section in a database format, and a communication processing section having a function of performing the processing. Sales system of electronic contents using the network. 2. The electronic content selling system according to claim 1, wherein bibliographic information data is extracted from the data transmitted from the content providing unit, and the extracted bibliographic information data is stored in the consumer bibliographic DB. A sales system for electronic contents using a network, characterized in that a communication processing unit has a bibliographic DB construction unit having a function of storing a database in a storage unit. 3. The electronic content sales system according to claim 2, wherein the communication processing unit is configured by using Web browser software, and the bibliographic DB construction unit is added to the Web browser software. A sales system for electronic contents using a network characterized by being configured using software. 4. The electronic content sales system according to claim 1, further comprising: a history information storage unit that records history information indicating which electronic content has been transmitted to which consumer up to now on the business computer. Recognizing each electronic content stored in the consumer content storage unit based on the history information and reading bibliographic information data corresponding to each recognized electronic content from the business bibliographic DB storage unit. , And a bibliographic DB file creation unit for creating a bibliographic DB file in which this is filed in the form of a database, and the content providing unit is provided with a function of transmitting the bibliographic DB file. Section, the bibliographic DB file transmitted from the content providing section, to the consumer bibliographic DB Sales system for electronic content using a network, characterized in that remembering a function of performing processing for storing the paying unit. 5. A business computer installed by a business that sells electronic content, and a consumer computer operated by a consumer who purchases electronic content. The business computer and the consumer. Is a system for selling electronic contents that functions by connecting a personal computer through a network, wherein the business computer is a format in which individual electronic contents to be sold are embedded with corresponding bibliographic information data. The content storage unit for business operators, which stores the bibliographic information, and the bibliographic information D for business operators, which stores the bibliographic information data corresponding to the individual electronic contents in a database format.
B storage unit, based on a search request from the consumer computer,
A search processing unit that searches the database in the business bibliographic DB storage unit and transmits the obtained search result to the consumer computer, based on a transmission request from the consumer computer,
A content providing unit that transmits electronic content to be transmitted, which is stored in the business content storage unit, to the consumer computer, wherein the consumer computer is from the business computer A consumer content storage section for storing the provided electronic content, and a function of reproducing predetermined electronic content in the consumer content storage section based on an instruction of the consumer and presenting it to the consumer, A content reproduction unit with a search function having a function of searching the bibliographic information data embedded in the electronic content in the consumer content storage unit based on an instruction and presenting the result to the consumer; Based on the instruction, the process of issuing a search request to the search processing unit and the search result transmitted from the search processing unit are processed by the consumer. A process of presenting, a process of issuing a transmission request to the content providing unit based on an instruction from a consumer, and a process of storing electronic content transmitted from the content providing unit in the consumer content storage unit. An electronic content sales system using a network, comprising: a communication processing unit having a function of performing. 6. A business computer installed by a business that sells electronic content, and a consumer computer operated by a consumer who purchases electronic content. The business computer and the consumer. Is a system for selling electronic contents that functions by connecting a personal computer through a network, wherein the business computer is a format in which individual electronic contents to be sold are embedded with corresponding bibliographic information data. In accordance with the search request from the consumer content storage unit for storing in
A search processing unit that searches the bibliographic information data embedded in the electronic content in the business content storage unit and transmits the obtained search result to the consumer computer, and a transmission request from the consumer computer On the basis of,
A content providing unit that transmits electronic content to be transmitted, which is stored in the business content storage unit, to the consumer computer, wherein the consumer computer is from the business computer A consumer content storage section for storing the provided electronic content, and a function of reproducing predetermined electronic content in the consumer content storage section based on an instruction of the consumer and presenting it to the consumer, A content reproduction unit with a search function having a function of searching the bibliographic information data embedded in the electronic content in the consumer content storage unit based on an instruction and presenting the result to the consumer; Based on the instruction, the process of issuing a search request to the search processing unit and the search result transmitted from the search processing unit are processed by the consumer. A process of presenting, a process of issuing a transmission request to the content providing unit based on an instruction from a consumer, and a process of storing electronic content transmitted from the content providing unit in the consumer content storage unit. An electronic content sales system using a network, comprising: a communication processing unit having a function of performing. 7. A business computer installed by a business that sells electronic content, and a consumer computer operated by a consumer who purchases electronic content. The business computer and the consumer. Is a sales system for electronic content that functions by connecting a computer for use via a network, wherein the business computer is a business content storage unit that stores individual electronic content to be sold, and Business bibliography D that stores bibliographic information data corresponding to each electronic content in a database format
B storage unit, based on a search request from the consumer computer,
A search processing unit that searches the database in the business bibliographic DB storage unit and transmits the obtained search result to the consumer computer, based on a transmission request from the consumer computer,
A process of embedding the bibliographic information data corresponding to the electronic content to be transmitted, which is stored in the enterprise bibliographic DB storage unit, into the electronic content to be transmitted, which is stored in the enterprise content storage unit. And a content providing unit that transmits the electronic content after the embedding process to the consumer computer, wherein the consumer computer stores the electronic content provided from the business computer. Content storage unit, a function of playing back predetermined electronic content in the consumer content storage unit based on a consumer's instruction and presenting it to the consumer, and the consumer content storage based on the consumer's instruction It has a function of searching the bibliographic information data embedded in the electronic contents in the department and presenting the result to the consumer. A content reproducing unit with a search function; a process of issuing a search request to the search processing unit based on an instruction from the consumer; a process of presenting the search result transmitted from the search processing unit to the consumer; Having a function of issuing a transmission request to the content providing unit based on a user's instruction and storing electronic content transmitted from the content providing unit in the consumer content storage unit. And a communication processing unit, which is a sales system for electronic contents using a network. 8. The electronic content selling system according to claim 1, wherein the business computer further has a program storage unit that stores a computer program that operates on the consumer computer, The providing unit has a function of transmitting the computer program to be transmitted, which is stored in the program storage unit, to the consumer computer based on a transmission request from the consumer computer. An electronic content sales system using a network, characterized in that a content reproduction unit, a content search unit, or a bibliographic DB construction unit is configured using a program provided by a computer for a business. 9. A computer for business installed by a business that sells electronic content and a computer for consumer operated by a consumer who purchases electronic content function by connecting via a network. A computer for a business operator used in a sales system of electronic contents, which includes individual electronic contents to be sold, bibliographic information data corresponding to the individual electronic contents, and electronic contents of electronic contents using the bibliographic information data. A search program having a function of executing a search process in the consumer computer, and stores predetermined electronic content and bibliographic information data corresponding to the predetermined electronic content based on a transmission request from the consumer. Based on the process of sending to the consumer computer and the sending request from the consumer Operators for computers used in sales system for electronic content using a network and having a function of performing a process of transmitting the search program to the consumer computer. 10. A business computer installed by a business that sells electronic contents, and a consumer computer operated by a consumer who purchases electronic contents,
A consumer computer used in a system for selling electronic content that functions by connecting via a network, wherein individual electronic content provided from the computer for business and bibliographic information corresponding to the individual electronic content are provided. A storage unit for storing data, a function for reproducing a predetermined electronic content in the storage unit based on an instruction from the consumer and presenting it to the consumer, and a bibliographic information data in the storage unit based on the instruction from the consumer. A consumer computer for use in an electronic content sales system using a network, comprising a content search / playback unit having a function of searching and presenting the result to the consumer. 11. The electronic content sales system according to any one of claims 1 to 10 or a business or consumer computer used for the electronic content sales system, wherein the electronic content includes electronic book data, audio data, An electronic content sales system characterized by using digital contents including image data, video data, or a computer program, or a business or consumer computer used in the electronic contents sales system. 12. A computer program for operating a computer as the business operator computer according to claim 1, or a computer-readable recording medium recording the computer program. 13. A computer program for operating a computer as the consumer computer according to claim 1, or a computer-readable recording medium recording the computer program.