JP2003143231A - Method and apparatus for supervising utilization of contents, its program, and recording medium for the program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit/receive contents data with a large data size such as music data or movie data by means of a small data quantity in the case of transmitting/receiving the contents data by using electronic mail. SOLUTION: A section in a sender side transmitter 100 performing mail distribution service at an electronic mail sender side inspects contents data included in electronic mail sent/received between user terminals, a data replacement section 104 converts the contents data into other information to identify contents, and the transmitter 100 transmits the electronic mail. Further, a data replacement section 205 in a receiver side device 200 performing an electronic mail receiver side mail distribution service converts information to identify contents included in the electronic mail into contents data by using the information of the electronic mail recipient and information with respect to the copyright of the received contents or the like and the receiver side device 200 transmits the resulting contents data to a terminal of the recipient.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for transmitting and receiving content data such as still images, moving images, and music on the Internet, and particularly to content data having a large data size such as music data and movie data. The present invention relates to a content usage monitoring method, a content usage monitoring device, a program thereof, and a recording medium of the program, which enables transmission / reception with a small amount of information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the recent spread of the Internet, information exchange between users using electronic mail (E-mail) has become commonplace. With the development of the communication infrastructure, communication between users using e-mail has started to be carried out by exchanging only textual information, images, voice / music, and even moving images using e-mail. It was

However, despite the expansion of the bandwidth of the communication network, the size of data to be communicated by e-mail due to various problems such as the limitation of the recording capacity for temporarily storing the mail of the mail server for transmitting and receiving the e-mail. Is about several megabytes. As a result, it is possible to send and receive content data using electronic mail as long as it is content information such as text information or still images, but it was a very difficult situation for music data and movie data. In addition, commercial content data is often secretly exchanged between users, and the copyright protection of content creators has become an important issue.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to keep track of the current constraint conditions in an electronic mail service and to use music data and music data. This is to enable transmission and reception of content data having a large data size such as movie data. Further, when exchanging content data between users, the usage conditions of the content to be transmitted and received are checked to prevent malicious users from exchanging the content data.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To inspect the content data included in an electronic mail transmitted and received between user terminals and identify the content from the content data inside a device that provides a mail delivery service on the electronic mail transmitting side. Convert it to another information and send an e-mail. As a result, the amount of information of the content data included in the electronic mail flowing on the network can be reduced. Also,
Inside the device that performs the mail delivery service on the e-mail receiving side, the information for identifying the content included in the e-mail is used by using the information of the e-mail recipient and the information about the copyright of the received content. Convert it to data and send it to the recipient's terminal. This solves the above problem.

[0006] Specifically, a content use monitoring device for transmitting or relaying an electronic mail to which electronic information contents are added, and means for analyzing whether or not content data is added to the electronic mail. , Means for extracting the metadata corresponding to the content when the content data is added, and the usage condition is checked by checking the usage conditions for the content of the sender or the recipient of the email based on the extracted metadata If not, a means for deleting the content data, notifying the sender or performing a license process for the receiver,
It is characterized by comprising means for replacing the content data with corresponding metadata when the use is permitted, and means for transferring an electronic mail in which the content data is replaced with the metadata.

[0007] A content usage monitoring device for receiving or relaying an electronic mail to which electronic information contents have been added, and whether or not the received electronic mail includes metadata corresponding to the content data. A means for analyzing, a means for extracting the metadata when the metadata is included, a means for checking the usage conditions for the content corresponding to the metadata based on the extracted metadata, and a usage permission. In this case, means for acquiring content data corresponding to the metadata and replacing the metadata with the content data, and means for transferring or presenting to the user an electronic mail in which the metadata is replaced with the content data And is provided.

The above processing means can be realized by a computer and a software program, and the program can be stored in an appropriate recording medium such as a computer-readable portable medium memory, a semiconductor memory, a hard disk. it can.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In describing the embodiments of the present invention, the terms used in the description of the embodiments will be described.・ "Contents" means, for example, "a song called XX",
Refers to individual works such as "TV drama called △△" and "Game called XX". -"Content data" is the content encoded so that it can be handled on a computer. Specifically, "a song called XX encoded by PCM", "MP
The encoded content is a movie named ΔΔ encoded by EG-2.・ “Content identifier” refers to the number that uniquely indicates the content.・ "Metadata" means content identifier or attribute information related to content (content name, creation date,
It is a collective data of the name of the copyright holder, the location of the content data such as the location of the content data owner on the network).

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the present invention. 2 is a processing flowchart of the transmitting side device 100 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a receiving side device 200 shown in FIG.
2 is a processing flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 1, the sending side device 100 is a user terminal or a sending side mail server for sending an electronic mail with contents added. Receiving side device 200
Is a user terminal or a mail server on the receiving side for receiving an electronic mail with contents added. The content management center 300 is a device that manages the content database 301 and manages pre-registered content data and its attribute information and metadata such as a content identifier that uniquely identifies the content. The content data and its metadata may be distributed to multiple devices.

The sending side device 100 includes an electronic mail analysis unit 1
01, a content identifier extraction unit 102, a content use condition check unit 103, a data replacement unit 104, an electronic mail transfer unit 105.

The receiving side device 200 also includes an electronic mail receiving section 201, an electronic mail analyzing section 202, a content identifier extracting section 203, and a content use condition checking section 20.
4, a data replacement unit 205 and an electronic mail presentation unit 206.

The processing of each unit of the transmission side apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The e-mail analysis unit 101 analyzes the e-mail to be transmitted (step S100) and checks whether or not the content is added to the e-mail text or attached file. If the content is added (step S101), the process proceeds to step S102, and if the content is not added, the process proceeds to step S111.

If the content is added, the content identifier extracting section 102 extracts the content identifier from the content data (step S10).
2). As a method of extracting the content identifier, for example, there is a method of reading the content identifier embedded in the content data with a digital watermark.

After the content identifier is extracted, the content use condition check unit 103 sends the extracted content identifier to the content management center 300 to check the use condition regarding the copyright such as the copy right and the change right for the content (step S103). ). As a result of checking the usage conditions, if the content usage condition checking unit 103 finds that copying is not possible (step S104), the content usage condition checking unit 103 notifies the sender that copying is not possible, and deletes the content from the electronic mail or the receiving side. Billing for usage at
A process for obtaining a usage permission such as registration (adding a usage permission request message to an e-mail, etc.) is performed (step S105). Then, it progresses to step S111.

If copying is possible, then the content use condition checking unit 103 checks whether or not modification is possible (step S106). If it can be modified, the process proceeds to step S110. If it cannot be modified, the content identifier is sent to the content management center 300, the original content data is obtained from the content management center 300, and the content data added to the e-mail is compared (step S107). If they match and it is confirmed that the content has not been modified (step S108), the process proceeds to step S110.
If they do not match and the content has been modified, the sender is notified that the content cannot be edited, and the content added to the e-mail is deleted (step S109). Then, it progresses to step S111.

If the content cannot be modified as a result of the determination in step S106, the data replacement unit 104 replaces the content data with metadata (content identifier, etc.) (step S110). Although details will be described later, if content editing information is required here, content editing information is added. After that, the electronic mail is transferred to the sending mail server (when the sending device 100 is the user terminal) or the receiving mail server (when the sending device 100 is the sending mail server) (step S111), and the processing is performed. finish.

Next, the processing of each unit of the receiving side device 200 will be described with reference to FIG. When the e-mail receiving unit 201 receives the e-mail (step S200), the e-mail analyzing unit 202 checks whether or not the e-mail contains metadata regarding the content (step S).
201). If the metadata is not included, it is treated like an ordinary electronic mail, and the process proceeds to step S209.

If the metadata is included, the content identifier extraction unit 203 obtains the content identifier from the metadata and inquires of the content management center 300 whether the metadata is valid or not (step S202). . When the verification result of the metadata is not correct, such as the content corresponding to the content identifier does not exist (step S203), the process proceeds to step S210.

After verifying the validity of the metadata, the content usage condition check unit 204 checks whether or not the received electronic mail contains uncopyable contents (step S204). If there is no content that cannot be copied, the process proceeds to step S207. If there is content that cannot be copied, the recipient is inquired as to whether or not the license is to be used, and if the license is to be used (purchase of the content, etc.) (step S205), procedures related to usage such as billing and registration processing are performed. (Step S206).

After that, the data replacing unit 205 accesses the content management center 300 to acquire the content data from the metadata (step S207), and replaces the metadata added to the electronic mail with the content data (step S208). . E-mail presentation unit 20
6 presents the e-mail to the recipient (step S20).
9). That is, when the receiving-side device 200 is the receiving-side mail server, the electronic mail after the metadata is replaced with the content data is transmitted to the user terminal of the receiver. When the receiving device 200 is a user terminal, the electronic device stores the e-mail including the content in the storage device of the user terminal or outputs the e-mail to the display or the voice output device. After that, the process ends.

If the metadata is not valid (step S
203) If there is content that cannot be copied and the recipient does not want the license (step S205), the recipient is notified that the e-mail cannot be received (step S21).
0), the process ends. Instead of notifying the receiver that the data cannot be received, the remaining data from which the metadata or content data has been deleted may be presented to the receiver.

Further, when transmitting the edited content data, the transmitting side device 100 adds the content identifier extracted from the content data and the editing information to the electronic mail and transmits the electronic mail to the receiving side device 200. In the device 200, it is possible to obtain the content data from the content identifier, combine the content data based on the editing information, and reconstruct the content. As this editing information, existing technology, for example, technology such as MHEG, MPEG-4, 7, and SMIL can be used.

Various specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a content use monitoring system in the present embodiment. A model of content distribution using this system will be described. In this system, the transmission side device 100 shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to the content usage monitoring device (transmission side mail server) 1, and the reception side device 200 corresponds to the content usage monitoring device (reception side mail server) 2.

The e-mail 50 containing the content data transmitted from the user terminal (content transmitting side) 3 is
It is sent to the content usage monitoring device (sending mail server) 1 and is actually transferred by mail. The content usage monitoring device (sending mail server) 1 receives the received email 5
E-mail 51 in which content data included in 0 is inspected and each content data is replaced with corresponding metadata
Is generated and mail is forwarded. In the content usage monitoring device (reception-side mail server) 2 on the reception side, the metadata included in the electronic mail 51 is reversely replaced with the content data and transferred to the user terminal (content reception side) 4.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the content usage monitoring apparatus (sending mail server) 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The processing flow of the content usage monitoring apparatus 1 of this embodiment is as shown in FIG.

The content usage monitoring apparatus 1 inputs an electronic mail 50 including content data such as still image data, moving image data, music data, etc., and outputs an electronic mail 51 replaced with metadata corresponding to each content data. To do. The content usage monitoring device 1 includes an electronic mail receiving unit 10, an electronic mail disassembling unit 11, a content identifier extracting unit 12, a content attribute information searching unit 13, a data replacing unit 14, an electronic mail reconstructing unit 15, and an electronic mail transferring unit 16.
Composed of.

E-mail 50 containing content data
Is a content usage monitoring device (sending mail server) 1
It is received by the electronic mail receiving unit 10 (step S1). The received e-mail 50 is sent to the e-mail disassembling unit 11, and MIME (Multipurpose Internet M
E-mail decoding processing such as ail extension) is performed, and the text is decomposed into the body of the e-mail and the content data included in the e-mail (step S2). Each content data is sent to the content identifier extraction unit 12.

The content identifier extraction unit 12 selects a method for extracting the content identifier from the content data based on the media type of the content data, the encoding method, and the like. Specifically, the extraction method is specified using a conversion table that describes the extraction method for each media type and encoding method of the content data. The content identifier extraction unit 12 extracts the content identifier from the content data using the selected extraction method (step S4).

The content identifier is described as the file name of the content data, described in the header information section of the encoded content, or by using a method of superimposing information on the content data section such as a digital watermark. It is generally embedded. Therefore, the extraction of the content identifier is performed by the media type of the content,
Depending on the encoding method, a content header interpretation engine or a digital watermark reading engine is used. The extracted content identifier is sent to the content attribute information search unit 13.

The content attribute information retrieval unit 13 acquires the metadata corresponding to the content based on the content identifier (step S5). The method of acquiring the metadata includes a method of searching and acquiring from the content attribute information storage unit 7 such as an internal database of the content usage monitoring device 1 or an external device connected via a network (for example, the content management shown in FIG. 1). There is a method of searching / acquiring in cooperation with the center 300). In the present invention,
Either method may be used. If the metadata corresponding to the content data cannot be acquired, the content data is regarded as the metadata and the following processing is performed. The acquired metadata are sent to the data replacement unit 14.

The above steps S4 and S5 are executed for all the content data included in the electronic mail 50 (step S3).

The data replacing unit 14 replaces each content data of the inputted electronic mail 50 with the corresponding metadata (step S6), and encodes the inputted electronic mail 50 such as MIME. Encoding is performed according to the method (step S7). The encoded e-mail is sent to the e-mail transfer unit 16 and sent by e-mail (step S8).

As a method for realizing the same function as that of the present embodiment, the configuration shown in FIG. 7 can be used.

Regarding the handling of the extracted content identifier in the content identifier extraction unit 12, in the example shown in FIG. 4, the content identifier was sent to the content attribute information search unit 13, but in the present embodiment, the content identifier is The data is directly sent to the data replacement unit 141. The data replacing unit 141 replaces each content data of the input electronic mail with a corresponding content identifier, and encodes the input electronic mail according to the encoding method used for the input electronic mail, such as MIME. Encoded email 5
1 is sent to the electronic mail transfer unit 16 and sent by mail.

The processing flow of the content usage monitoring apparatus 1 is as shown in FIG. The difference from the processing shown in FIG.
In the example of FIG. 6, the metadata to be replaced with the content data in step S6 is the metadata (content attribute information) corresponding to the content identifier searched in step S5.
The metadata that replaces the content data in step S13 is the content identifier extracted in step S13.

[Effects of First Embodiment] According to the first embodiment, in the transmission of contents using electronic mail, the contents included in the transmitted electronic mail are converted into metadata, so that the network is realized. It is possible to reduce the data size of the email distributed above. Further, since the content data is not distributed on the network, it is possible to prevent the content data from being stolen from the email by a third party on the communication path of the email. Further, the sender of the electronic mail can distribute the contents without considering the copyright of the contents data, and the convenience of contents distribution using the electronic mail can be improved.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 9 shows the configuration of a content usage monitoring apparatus (reception-side mail server) 2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The processing flow of the content usage monitoring apparatus 2 of this embodiment is as shown in FIG.

The content usage monitoring device 2 inputs an electronic mail 51 containing metadata or content identifier corresponding to each content data such as still image data, moving image data, music data, etc., and assigns it to each metadata or content identifier. The electronic mail 50 replaced with the corresponding content data is output. The content usage monitoring device 2 includes an electronic mail receiving unit 20, an electronic mail disassembling unit 21,
Metadata (content identifier) interpretation unit 22, content data search unit 23, metadata (content identifier)
The replacement unit 24, the e-mail reconstruction unit 25, and the e-mail transfer unit 26 are included.

The electronic mail 51 including the metadata or the content identifier corresponding to the content is received by the electronic mail receiving unit 20 in the content usage monitoring apparatus (reception side mail server) 2 (step S20).
The received e-mail 51 is sent to the e-mail disassembling unit 21, is subjected to e-mail decoding processing such as MIME, and is disassembled into the body of the e-mail and the metadata or content identifier contained in the e-mail (step S21). Each metadata or content identifier is sent to the metadata (content identifier) interpretation unit 22.

Metadata (content identifier) interpretation unit 2
When the input is a content identifier, 2 sends the content identifier to the content data search unit 23. When the input is metadata, the content identifier is extracted from the metadata. For example, when the metadata is written in a markup language such as XML, the content identifier is extracted by searching the tag information representing the content identifier using an XML parser or the like (step S23).

The content data retrieving unit 23 retrieves and acquires the content data indicated by the content identifier from the content identifier (step S24). As a method for retrieving content data, it is also possible to use a technology such as a cache server or an edge server that retrieves and acquires resources physically and logically close to each other when acquiring data. By adopting these techniques, the effect of reducing network traffic, which is one of the objects of the present invention, is improved.

The above steps S23 and S24 are executed for all the metadata (content identifiers) included in the electronic mail 51 (step S22).

The content data searched / acquired by the content data search unit 23 is passed to the metadata (content identifier) replacement unit 24. The metadata (content identifier) replacement unit 24 replaces the metadata inside the e-mail with the content data (step S2).
5). The replaced email is the email reconstructing unit 2
5, the input email 51, such as MIME
The electronic mail encoding process is performed according to the encoding method that has been applied (step S26). The encoded email 50 is sent to the email transfer unit 26,
A mail is sent from the electronic mail transfer unit 26 (step S27).

Further, in the content data search unit 23, by changing the flow as shown in FIG. 11, the replacement of the metadata (content identifier) with the content data is performed according to the copyright information and the billing information of the content data. It is also possible to control. The processing of steps S30 to S33 in FIG. 11 is the same as the processing of steps S20 to S23 described in FIG.

In the example of FIG. 11, the copyright information (eg metadata billing information or permission information) contained in the metadata is checked (step S34), and the email recipient included in the email destination information is checked. Investigates whether or not the person has purchased the content, is authorized to use the content, and the like. Due to copyright of the email recipient,
If the person who cannot use the content does not convert the content data from the metadata, describe the metadata and the reason why the content cannot be converted in the portion of the email where the content data is inserted. Processing is performed (step S35). When the use is permitted, the content data search unit 23 searches and acquires the content data corresponding to the metadata (content identifier) (step S36).

Metadata (content identifier) replacing section 2
4 indicates the copyright of each metadata included in the email.
Based on the billing information, the electronic mail generated by replacing the content data or the metadata acquired by the content data search unit 23 is generated (step S37). Subsequent steps S38 and S39 are similar to steps S26 and S27 described in FIG.

Similarly, as the information about the copyright contained in the metadata, for example, the duplication right is checked, and if the duplication is possible, the metadata (content identifier) is converted into the content data and the duplication is impossible. , The content data is not converted from the metadata,
It is also possible to control and suppress the conversion from metadata to content data by performing processing such as adding metadata and reason information indicating that conversion is not possible to the portion of the email where the content data is inserted.

In the above example, in the process of replacing the information related to the content added to the electronic mail with the content data, the destination information of the electronic mail is used,
It controls the process of whether to replace the information related to the content with the content data, but it also determines whether it can be used by using the date information and controls the process of whether to replace it with the content data. May be.

[Effect of Embodiment 2] According to the second embodiment, in the transmission of contents using electronic mail, the electronic mail replaced with the metadata corresponding to the content data is restored to the content data. It is possible to reduce the mail transmission size of the e-mail sender. Further, like the first embodiment, since the content data is not distributed on the network, it is possible to prevent the content data from being stolen from the email by a third party on the communication path of the email. it can. In addition, information about the copyright of the content included in the email and information about billing,
The conversion of metadata to content data can be controlled from the destination information of e-mail, etc., and the distribution of content data based on the rights of the content user side becomes possible. For example, if a person who does not have the right to use the content sends the metadata corresponding to the content and the person who receives the content has the right to use the content, it can be used, and if it does not, it cannot be used. That is, natural content distribution becomes possible.

[Third Embodiment] FIG. 12 shows the configuration of a content usage monitoring apparatus (sending mail server) 1 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The processing flow of the content usage monitoring apparatus 1 of this embodiment is as shown in FIG.

The content use monitoring apparatus 1 inputs an electronic mail 50 including each content data such as still image data, moving image data, music data, etc., and uses each content data as metadata and content editing corresponding to each content data. Output the e-mail replaced with the information.
The content usage monitoring device 1 includes an email receiving unit 10,
An e-mail disassembling unit 11, a content identifier extracting unit 12,
Content attribute information retrieval unit 13, content data acquisition unit 17, content data comparison unit 18, data replacement unit 1
42, E-mail reconstruction unit 15, E-mail transfer unit 16
Composed of.

E-mail 50 containing content data
Is a content usage monitoring device (sending mail server) 1
It is received by the e-mail receiving unit 10. The received e-mail 50 is sent to the e-mail disassembling unit 11, and e-mail decoding processing such as MIME is performed,
The text of the electronic mail and the content data included in the electronic mail are decomposed (step S40). Each content data is sent to the content identifier extraction unit 12,
The following processes of steps S42 to S47 are performed on all the content data included in the electronic mail (step S41).

The content identifier extraction unit 12 determines, based on the media type of content data, the encoding method, etc.
Select a method for extracting a content identifier from the content data. Specifically, the method is specified by using a conversion table that describes the extraction method for each media type and encoding method of the content data. The content identifier extraction unit 12 extracts the content identifier from the content data using the selected extraction method.

The content identifier is described as a file name of the content data, is described in the header information part of the encoded content, or is used by a method of superimposing information on the content data part such as a digital watermark. It is generally embedded. Therefore, the content identifier extraction unit 12 uses a content header interpretation engine, a digital watermark reading engine, or the like according to the media type and encoding method of the content (step S42).

The extracted content identifier is sent to the content attribute information search unit 13. The content attribute information retrieval unit 13 acquires metadata corresponding to the content based on the content identifier. As the method of acquiring the metadata, there are a method of searching and acquiring from a database or the like inside the content usage monitoring apparatus 1, a method of searching and acquiring in cooperation with an external apparatus connected by a network or the like. In this embodiment, either method may be used. If the metadata corresponding to the content data cannot be acquired, the content data is regarded as the metadata and the following processing is performed.

Each of the acquired metadata is sent to the content data acquisition unit 17. Content data acquisition unit 17
Acquires the original content data corresponding to the input metadata from the input metadata (step S
43).

As a method of acquiring the content data, if the content data is acquired from the content identifier described in the metadata through a network or the content data is stored inside the content use monitoring apparatus 1, You may then earn. Here, the method of acquiring the original content data from the metadata is not an essential part of the present invention, and any method may be used.

The original content data acquired by the content data acquisition unit 17 is sent to the content data comparison unit 18. Content data comparison unit 18
Decodes the acquired original content data and the content data attached to the e-mail (steps S44 and S45), respectively, and compares the decoded original content data with the content data attached to the e-mail. It is determined what kind of editing work has been performed on the content data attached to the e-mail since the content identifier was registered, and the edited information is output as content editing information (step S46).

For example, the content editing information is expressed as shown in FIG. If the content data attached to the e-mail is a still image, the coordinates (10,10) to (100,100) of the file stillImage.jpg
In the case of data obtained by cutting out the rectangular area of, the editing information is represented as image, stillImage.jpg, rectangle ((10,10), (100,100)).

When the content data attached to the e-mail is a moving image, the frame numbers 1 to 100 of the file motionPicture.mpg have coordinates (2
If the data is the rectangular area of (0, 20) to (200, 200) and the rectangular area of coordinates (30, 30) to (300, 300) in the frame numbers 101 to 200, the edit information is , Motion, motionPicture.mpg, frame (1,100) & rectangle ((20,20), (200,200)), frame (101,100) & rectangle ((30,30), (300,300)).

When the content data attached to the e-mail is sound, the time 0 hours 0 minutes 10 seconds 25 to 0 hours 3 minutes 20 seconds 7 of the file audioData.mp3.
When the data is up to 5, the editing information is represented as audio, audioData.mp3, time (0: 0: 10: 25,0: 3: 20: 75).

There is a method of determining such content editing information by performing full search pattern matching, for example.
If there is a method that can be made faster than that, that method may be used. In this embodiment, a desired effect is expected regardless of which method is used. The content editing information is sent to the data replacing unit 142 together with the metadata. The data replacement unit 142 replaces the content data of the input electronic mail with the metadata corresponding to the identifier (step S47).

When the above processing is performed on all the content data included in the electronic mail, the electronic mail reconstructing unit 15 uses the encoding method such as MIME in which the input electronic mail is applied. According to the above method. Also, the content editing information is attached to the e-mail (step S48). The encoded e-mail 51 is sent to the e-mail transfer unit 16 and sent by e-mail (step S49).

[Effects of the Third Embodiment] According to the third embodiment, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, how the content data attached to the e-mail is different from when the content identifier was registered. You can judge whether it has been edited,
The edited content can be restored from the original content data by using the content editing information on the email receiving side. In addition, in the content identifier registration, it is not necessary to register the content identifier for each edited content, and there are advantages such as convenience and labor saving.

[Fourth Embodiment] FIG. 15 shows the configuration of a content usage monitoring apparatus (reception side mail server) 2 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The processing flow of the content usage monitoring apparatus 2 of this embodiment is as shown in FIG.

The content use monitoring device 2 is a metadata or content identifier corresponding to each content data, such as still image data, moving image data, music data,
Also, the electronic mail 51 including the content editing information is input, and the electronic mail 50 in which the content data corresponding to each metadata or content identifier is replaced with the content data converted using the content editing information is output. The content usage monitoring device 2 includes an email receiving unit 20, an email decomposing unit 21, a metadata (content identifier) interpreting unit 22, a content data searching unit 23,
The content data conversion unit 27, the metadata (content identifier) replacement unit 24, the e-mail reconstruction unit 25, and the e-mail transfer unit 26.

The electronic mail including the metadata or the content identifier corresponding to the content and the content editing information is received by the electronic mail receiving unit 20 in the content usage monitoring apparatus (reception side mail server) 2. The received e-mail is sent to the e-mail disassembling unit 21, is subjected to e-mail decoding processing such as MIME, and is disassembled into the body of the e-mail and the metadata or content identifier contained in the e-mail and the content editing information. (Step S50). The respective metadata or content identifiers are sent to the metadata (content identifier) interpreting section 22, and the following steps S52 to S57 are performed on all the content data included in the electronic mail (steps). S5
1).

Metadata (content identifier) interpretation unit 2
When the input is a content identifier, 2 sends the content identifier to the content data search unit 23. When the input is metadata, the content identifier (ID) is extracted from the metadata (step S52). For example, when the metadata is written in a markup language such as XML, the tag information representing the content identifier is used to represent XML.
Search using a parser, etc., and extract the content identifier.

The content data retrieving unit 23 retrieves and acquires the content data indicated by the content identifier from the content identifier (step S53). As a means for retrieving content data, it is possible to use a technique such as a cache server or an edge server that retrieves and acquires resources physically and logically close to each other when acquiring data. . The content data retrieved and acquired by the content data retrieval unit 23 and the content editing information corresponding to the content are sent to the content data conversion unit 27. For example, the content editing information is the information shown in FIG. 14 described above.

The content data converter 27 decodes the original content data acquired in step S53 (step S54). Then, the conversion processing written in the content editing information is applied to the content data to generate edited content data (step S
55). The edited content data is encoded by the metadata (content identifier) replacing unit 24 with reference to the encoding parameter of the metadata and the like (step S56) and replaced with the metadata inside the e-mail (step S57). .

The replaced e-mail is subjected to e-mail encoding processing by the e-mail reconstructing unit 25 according to the encoding method used for the input e-mail such as MIME (step S58). The encoded e-mail 50 is sent to the e-mail transfer unit 26 and sent by e-mail (step S59).

[Effects of the Fourth Embodiment] According to the fourth embodiment, in addition to the effects of the second embodiment, meta data is edited even for content data edited from the content at the time of registering the content identifier. It is possible to restore from the data.

For example, when the content identifier is embedded in the content by a digital watermark, the digital watermark is usually used so that the digital watermark information can be read from the partial content even if the content is partially removed. Information is basically embedded throughout the content. In the third and fourth embodiments, when the transmitting side wants to extract only a part of the content for transmission, the receiving side identifies which part of the content is transmitted only by the information read from the content. I can't. Therefore, the sender of the content can add the information as to which part of the content was extracted and sent to the attached file of the e-mail as another information, so that the sender can use the information to restore the sent content. become.

[Fifth Embodiment] In the first to fourth embodiments, the mail server on the sending side and the mail server on the receiving side have a function as a content use monitoring device. In other words, the content usage monitoring means was provided in the sending mail server and the receiving mail server.

Such content usage monitoring means may be provided in the user terminal on the content transmitting side and the user terminal on the content receiving side. FIG. 17 shows a configuration example of the system.

In FIG. 17, the user terminal 30 is a terminal on the content transmission side, and the electronic mail transmission request unit 3
1, content usage monitoring unit 32, e-mail transmission unit 33
Have. The electronic mail transmission request unit 31 and the electronic mail transmission unit 33 are the same as the processing unit for general electronic mail transmission in the conventional user terminal. In the present embodiment, the content usage monitoring unit 32 is provided between them.

The content usage monitoring unit 32 has the same function as the content usage monitoring device 1 described with reference to FIGS. 5, 7, and 12. The difference is that the e-mail receiving unit 10 receives the e-mail 50 from the e-mail transmission requesting unit 31, and the e-mail transferring unit 16 sends the e-mail transmitting unit 33 to the e-mail transmitting unit 33.
It is to deliver the electronic mail 51 including the one in which the content data is replaced with the metadata.

The user terminal 40 is a terminal on the content receiving side and has an electronic mail receiving section 41, a content usage monitoring section 42, and an electronic mail presenting section (or an electronic mail storage section) 43. The e-mail receiving unit 41 and the e-mail presenting unit (or e-mail storage unit) 43 are the same as the processing unit for receiving a general e-mail in the conventional user terminal. In the present embodiment, the content usage monitoring unit 42 is provided between them.

The content usage monitoring unit 42 is shown in FIG. 9 and FIG.
It has the same function as that of the content usage monitoring device 2 described in 5. The difference is that the e-mail receiving unit 41 uses the e-mail 51
Since the electronic mail receiving unit is not required in the content usage monitoring unit 42, the electronic mail transfer unit 26
That is, the electronic mail with the content data is delivered to the electronic mail presenting unit 43.

Regarding the processing performed by the content usage monitoring unit 32 and the content usage monitoring unit 42 shown in FIG.
Since the processing is the same as the processing performed by the content usage monitoring devices 1 and 2 described above, description thereof is omitted.

In the third and fourth embodiments described above, the content usage monitoring apparatus 1 on the sending side creates a content identifier (ID) and content editing information to send and receive a mail. The content usage monitoring apparatus 2 on the side acquires content data from the content identifier (ID), combines the content data based on the content editing information, and reconstructs the content. At the time of creation, the user terminal 30 on the sending side may generate and send the content editing information.

FIG. 18 shows a processing flowchart of the electronic mail creation when the content editing information is created in the user terminal 30.

The following steps S81 to S84 are performed on all the content data attached to the electronic mail (step S80). First, the content data to be attached to the e-mail is selected (step S81). Next, a part of the content data is extracted by a content editor (content editing program) (step S8).
2). Which part of the content is extracted from the content editor is acquired as content editing information together with the file name of the content (step S83). The cut content data is attached to the e-mail (step S84).

When the processing is completed for all the content data attached to the electronic mail, the content edit information acquired in step S83 is attached to the electronic mail (step S85), and the electronic mail is transmitted (step S86). ).

Further, the user terminal 3 on the content transmitting side
In 0, content data is not directly handled at all,
It is also possible to create an electronic mail to which only the content identifier and, if necessary, the content editing information are added, and send it.

[Effects of the Fifth Embodiment] The following effects can be obtained when the user terminal 30 on the content transmitting side converts an electronic mail. (1) The sender does not necessarily have to have the content data. (2) The sender may not have the right to use the content data. That is, the recipient only needs to have the usage right. In addition, it is possible to suppress the transmission / reception of content having a copyright problem. (3) Since the metadata (content identifier) is transmitted as a substitute for the content data, interception of the content on the communication path can be prevented.

The user terminal 40 on the content receiving side
The following effects are available when converting e-mail with. (1) Since the content data can be accessed as necessary after receiving the e-mail, the usage form of the content is expanded. (2) Since the data is not at hand, the latest information can always be accessed based on the metadata (content identifier). (3) Since the data size saved as an e-mail is small, it can be received by a mobile terminal or the like, which leads to data size compression on the communication path. (4) It is possible to order content data that matches the profile of the terminal.

[0091]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the transmission of content using electronic mail, by converting the content included in the transmitted electronic mail into metadata, the data size of the electronic mail distributed on the network can be reduced. Further, since the content data is not distributed on the network, it is possible to prevent the content data from being stolen from the email by a third party on the communication path of the email. Furthermore, for email senders,
Content can be distributed without considering the copyright of the content data, and the convenience of content distribution using electronic mail can be improved.

Also, on the receiving side, it is possible to restore the electronic mail replaced with the metadata corresponding to the content data to the content data, and since the content data does not circulate on the network, the communication path of the electronic mail is In the above, it is possible to prevent content data from being stolen from an email by a third party. Further, based on the information about the copyright of contents included in the email, the information about billing, the destination information of the email, etc., the conversion from the metadata to the content data can be controlled, and the content user side can Allows distribution of content data based on rights.

Further, by adding and editing the content editing information to and from the electronic mail, it is possible to determine what kind of editing the content data attached to the electronic mail has been made since the content identifier was registered. On the receiving side, the edited content can be restored from the original content data by using the content editing information. In addition, in the content identifier registration, it is not necessary to register the content identifier for each edited content, and there are advantages such as convenience and labor saving.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a processing flowchart of a transmission side apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a processing flowchart of a receiving side apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a content usage monitoring system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a content usage monitoring device (sending mail server).

FIG. 6 is a processing flowchart of a content usage monitoring device (sending mail server).

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a content usage monitoring device (sending mail server).

FIG. 8 is a processing flowchart of a content usage monitoring device (sending mail server).

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a content usage monitoring device (reception-side mail server).

FIG. 10 is a processing flowchart of the content usage monitoring apparatus (reception-side mail server).

FIG. 11 is a processing flowchart of a content usage monitoring device (reception-side mail server).

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a content usage monitoring device (sending mail server).

FIG. 13 is a processing flowchart of a content usage monitoring device (sending mail server).

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of content editing information.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a content usage monitoring device (reception-side mail server).

FIG. 16 is a processing flowchart of the content usage monitoring apparatus (reception-side mail server).

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a configuration example of another system of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an electronic mail creation flow in a user terminal on the content transmission side.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 sender device 101 Email analysis unit 102 content identifier extraction unit 103 Content usage condition check unit 104 data replacement section 105 E-mail transfer unit 200 Receiver device 201 E-mail receiver 202 Email analysis unit 203 Content Identifier Extraction Unit 204 Content usage condition check section 205 data replacement part 206 E-mail presentation section 300 Content Management Center 301 content database

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A method of transmitting and receiving contents using a network, which comprises: for content data added to an electronic mail, obtaining an identifier for specifying the content from the content data; and using the identifier. A step of acquiring the related information of the content, a step of replacing the content data added to the electronic mail with the related information acquired in the previous step, and an electronic mail in which the added content data is replaced with the related information And a content usage monitoring method. 2. The content usage monitoring method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of acquiring the related information of the content using the identifier, the related information is acquired from a physically separated device connected by a network. A content usage monitoring method characterized by the above. 3. The content usage monitoring method according to claim 1, wherein the step of acquiring an identifier for identifying the content from the content data is performed by reading an identifier embedded in the content data with a digital watermark. A content use monitoring method characterized by acquiring an identifier. 4. The content usage monitoring method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of acquiring an identifier for specifying the content from the content data, the identifier is acquired from header information or file information of the content data. Content usage monitoring method. 5. The content usage monitoring method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of adding content editing information to the electronic mail before or after the step of replacing the content data added to the electronic mail with related information. A content usage monitoring method characterized by the above. 6. A method of transmitting and receiving content using a network, comprising: identifying and acquiring content data from information related to the content with respect to information related to the content added to the electronic mail; A content usage monitoring method comprising: a step of replacing the information related to the added content with the content data acquired in the step; and a step of transmitting an electronic mail or presenting it to a user. 7. The content usage monitoring method according to claim 6, wherein in the step of identifying and acquiring content data from information related to the content, the content data is acquired from a physically separated device connected by a network. A method for monitoring content usage, which comprises: 8. The content usage monitoring method according to claim 6, wherein in the step of replacing the information related to the content added to the electronic mail with the content data, the information related to the content or the destination information of the electronic mail is further added. A method for monitoring use of contents, characterized by using the contents to check availability of the contents and controlling a process of replacing information related to the contents with contents data. 9. The content usage monitoring method according to claim 6, wherein when content editing information is added to the received e-mail, the content data acquired from the information related to the content is converted into the editing information. A content usage monitoring method comprising the step of using and editing. 10. An apparatus for transmitting and receiving contents using a network, comprising means for receiving electronic mail, means for acquiring content data added to the electronic mail, and the content from the acquired content data. Means for acquiring an identifier for specifying, means for acquiring information related to the content based on the identifier from a recording medium inside the content transmitting / receiving apparatus or an external apparatus connected via a network, and an electronic mail A content use monitoring device comprising: means for replacing the content data added to the information with information related to the content; and means for transmitting an electronic mail. 11. An apparatus for transmitting and receiving contents using a network, a unit for receiving an electronic mail, a unit for acquiring information related to the content added to the electronic mail, and information related to the content. Means for specifying the content data from the external device, and means for acquiring the content data from a recording medium inside the content transmitting / receiving device or an external device connected via a network,
A means for controlling the process of replacing the information related to the content added to the electronic mail and the destination information of the electronic mail with the content related information added to the electronic mail, and a means for controlling the process of replacing the content data with the content data. A content usage monitoring device comprising: means for replacing information related to content with content data; and means for transmitting an electronic mail or presenting it to a user. 12. The content usage monitoring device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the content usage monitoring device is a mail server. 13. The content usage monitoring apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the content usage monitoring apparatus is a user terminal that sends and receives electronic mail. 14. A content usage monitoring program for causing a computer to execute the steps for realizing the content usage monitoring method according to any one of claims 1 to 9. 15. A recording of a content use monitoring program, characterized by recording a program for causing a computer to execute the step of realizing the content use monitoring method according to any one of claims 1 to 9. Medium.