JP2003295966A - STORAGE MEDIUM STORING web CHARGE ENCODER PROGRAM WITH HIGH COMPRESSION SOFTWARE - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a system, in which sites sell the number of times of compression for high compression software, unauthorized copy of high compression software cannot be performed and management costs of service sites can be reduced. <P>SOLUTION: An encoder 8 of a user terminal 3 requests a license issuing site 5 to provide a page for purchasing the number of times of compression by high compression software. The license issuing site 5 generates a license ID based on the purchase information, and then the encoder 8 encrypts the license purchase completion information to store the information. The license purchase completion information is also stored in the license issuing site 5, and transmitted to the user terminal 3. Subsequently, the encoder 8 transmits an inputted license ID to the license issuing site 5 and requests the license issuing site 5 to transmit the number of times of compression for license permission information corresponding to the license ID to encrypt the information and store the encrypted license information. When the encrypted license information is called, all stored encrypted license information is backed up in the license issuing site 5, and then the high compression software is used for using the number of times of compression of the called encrypted license information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention stores the number of compressions from a site according to the number of times the high compression software is used, and stores the web charging encoder program with high compression software for managing the number of purchases by the site and the encoder. Regarding the medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the pay-as-you-go billing method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-320070, when a large number of client terminals and a server are connected via the Internet and the client terminal uses a program stored in the server, the program name is used. And the program unit price (time unit price) and usage time etc. are received.

After the program is finished, its usage time is measured, and the usage time and the usage amount of the program unit price are stored and displayed.

Further, the maximum usable value is stored on the client side, and the usage of the program of the server is permitted within this maximum value.

Further, in the method of storing the license data in the local machine, there is an unavoidable risk of information loss in case of accident such as hardware crash.
To avoid this, it is common to back up the client information.

[0006] Here, what must be taken into consideration is the illegal use using the double management mechanism, and the license is copied to the local machine for copying. Alternatively, it is necessary to take measures against acts such as intentionally erasing the local data and disturbing the counter subtraction.

Next, a general backup procedure will be described.

The license process activated on the local machine (user terminal) optionally navigates the user through the passage of a new license. At this time, the license process instructs the operator to download the counter data on the local machine to the backup server, and when the operator selects this, sets a flag indicating this on the local machine.

If the option can be switched at any time, illegal copying can be performed by the following procedure.

(1) The dual management option is set in the local machine A and the counter information is uploaded to the backup server. (2) Next, the dual management option of the local machine A is removed. (3) Initialize the local machine B. (4) Next, the user information of the backup server is restored to the local machine B. (5) Next, the dual management option of the local machine B is removed. (6) Perform encoding on the local machine B and return to (3) when the license is used up.

[0011]

However, since the conventional pay-as-you-go system as described above charges for the compressed pay-as-you-go, if the pay-as-you-go is low even if there are a large number of sheets, the charge will be small, resulting in a service. Higher site operating costs.

When removing the dual management option,
Even if measures are taken to delete the user information from the database on the backup server, it is not sufficient to guard against illegal copying of the online license without selecting the option.

In recent years, DjV has been used as high compression software.
u, mrSID, etc. Such high compression software,
Since the compression rate is 10 to 1000 times, it is suitable for compression when transmitting a color image.

However, there is a problem that the high compression software is still expensive and cannot be easily purchased by companies.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has a high compression software built-in, and the compression frequency of this high compression software is purchased from the site, and the compression frequency purchased when the image is compressed is subtracted. It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage medium storing a web charging encoder program with high compression software having a function of backing up the result on a site so that a user can easily use the high compression software.

[0016]

According to the present invention, there is provided a compression software and a prepaid license module for separating a digital image into an image portion and a character portion and applying a high compression ratio to each of them. Is a means for purchasing the compression count of the compression software from a license issuing site using a computer network, and the license purchase completion information consisting of the purchase compression count and license ID from the license issuing site is encrypted with a key. Means for storing the license information, means for transmitting all the stored license information to the license issuing site when the license ID of the license information is input, and the digital image using the compression software once. When you compress the With the purchase compression times that the storage of the ID to subtracting the reference compression times during use of the compression software, and summarized in that a means for transmitting the subtraction result to the license issuance site.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an encoder program with web accounting software (hereinafter simply referred to as an encoder) according to the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, when the user terminal uses a document compression (Djvu) with a character readability of a compression rate of 10 to 1000 times or a MrSID capable of highly compressing a high-definition image such as a photograph or a picture without an information defect. In addition, an encoder that communicates with the site and charges a fee according to the number of compressions is used. However, in the present embodiment, Djvu (Actvex Module) is used.

Djvu17 of the encoder 8 shown in FIG.
Is used as a document or image distribution format on the Internet, and its compression rate can compress digital images (BMP / Tiff / JPEG) from 1/100 to 500 minutes (up to 1/1000). For example, JPEG, Compared with GIF images, P
Compared to DF, the file size is about 2 to 1/5.

In the Djvu compression method, an image portion and a character portion are separated, optimal compression is applied to each of them, and respective layers are overlapped to form one image. The compression of the image part is a lossy compression based on the Wavelet technology, and the character part is a compression method called JBIG2.

That is, DjVu is a still image compression method, and the image is decomposed into a spatial frequency sequence and then divided into high frequency components and low frequency components for compression. The high frequency component is losslessly compressed, and the low frequency component is Wavelet compressed.

Further, the MrSID decomposes an image into a spatial frequency sequence and divides it into a high frequency component and a low frequency component by Wave.
Let compression is performed.

Further, the encoder 8 with web accounting software shown in FIG. 1 has client side accounting software 19 and the like built therein.

The client side charging software 19 includes an application section 18, a counter charging module 20,
A hardware license module 21, a private license module 22, a one-shot license module 23, etc., each having an independent structure.

The application section 18 grasps at least activation and termination of the counter charging module.

The counter charging module 20 is composed of an encryption / decryption processing 24 and a module validation 25,
By using these, all counter billing and interface with each module (start and end are controlled) are performed. The encryption / decryption processing 24 performs 3DES encryption / decryption. That is, the initial process 31 and the end process 35 of the license module (prepaid) are called at the time of starting and ending. The process process 31 and the end process activate the backup process.

The module validation 25 determines whether the hardware license module 21, the prepaid license module 22, and the one-shot module 23 are products of the provider.

Hardware license module 21
Is the module validation 26 and the recovery process 27
(3DES encryption / decryption) and subtraction processing 27a, and counter billing is performed using a hardware key. Module validation 26 is counter billing module 2
Respond to the inquiry from 0 that the product is the original product.

The prepaid license module 22 is
Module validation 28 and encryption / decryption processing 29 (3
DES encryption / decryption), communication processing 30, initial processing 31,
It comprises a subtraction process 34 and an end process 35.

The above-mentioned initial processing 31 is the installer 32.
And a backup process 33. The termination process 35 includes a backup process 36.

One-shot license module 23
Is the module validation 37 and the encryption / decryption processing 37.
And subtraction processing 38a.

The above-mentioned prepaid license module 2
2 performs counter billing using a prepaid billing procedure.

The module validation 28 responds to the inquiry from the counter charging module whether the product is the provider.

The communication process 30 is performed by the backup server 10.
Communicate with. The initial process 31 calls the initialization process of the prepaid license module and the one-shot license module.

The initialization processing 31 defines that module validation is performed and backup processing is performed after the installer 32. In the initialization process 31, the encrypted license information Hi stored in the registry is read out, and the installation process and the backup process are executed.

The installer 32 is activated by the user. When you select whether to add a new license on the screen, and when you select to add a new license, the license ID and authentication information (ID used at restoration, purchaser name) written in the memo etc. by the user Then, the license request information Fi is input and transmitted to the backup server 11 of the license issuing site 5.

Then, the prepaid license information G in which the purchase compression number of the license use permission information Di from the backup server 10 is added to the license request information Fi.
When i is transmitted, it is encrypted using the keys 1 and 2 of the registry, and this is stored (installed) in the registry as encrypted license information Hi. If the keys 1 and 2 are not stored, the keys 1 and 2 are generated. Also, the installation process acquires the machine name and the user ID from the OS and registers them in the registry.

The purchase compression count is, for example, one A4 size.
In the case of black and white, the number of compressions is 1, and when one A4 is color, the number of compressions (also referred to as a reference number of compressions) is 2 and B4.
Then I decided to do it twice. In other words, the number of purchase compressions according to the document type is determined by the size of the document input by the user, the type of color or monochrome, and the number of sheets. The purchase compression number according to the document type (reference purchase compression number table: table in which size and monochrome or color type are associated with purchase compression number) is preset for each subtraction process, and the image data of the document is set. When compressing, refer to the standard purchase compression count of the standard purchase compression count table (assign the appropriate size from the size entered by the user on the screen, color or black-and-white type), and assign the standard purchase compression The number of times is subtracted from the purchase compression number corresponding to the decrypted license information.

The backup processing 33 is
Encrypted license information Hi stored in the registry
Is read out, and the backup request information Ji to which the unprocessed counter and the authentication information are added is transmitted to the backup server.

The subtraction processing 34 is connected to the DjVu 17, judges whether the hardware key (parallel interface) can be used, and when there is a remaining count of the hardware key, gives a compression start instruction to the djvu 17. Subtract the remaining count on the hardware key. Further, the DjVu 17 is software-connected to the subtraction process 27a of the hardware license module and the subtraction process 38a of the one-shot license module.

When the hardware key is not used or when there is no remaining count of the hardware key, the encrypted license information Hi stored in the registry is read and this is used by using the keys 1 and 2 of the registry. Decrypt.

When the prebate license module 22 can be used, after confirming that there is a remaining purchase compression number (also called license count) of the decrypted license information, a compression instruction is given to the djvu17. Subtract the number of compressed purchases (license count) of the registry.

Further, when the prepaid license module 22 does not exist or the number of compressed purchases (license count) does not remain, it is determined whether or not the one-shot license module 23 exists. When the one-shot license module 23 is present, the one-shot license process is activated to collect a charge for the standard number of purchases per compression using a one-shot license server (not shown).

In performing this one-shot license processing, it is premised that the user registers in advance the account number, telephone number, name and address, user ID, etc. in the license issuing site 5, and the account number of the company that purchased the prepaid license. , Telephone number is preferred. Then, this account number, telephone number, address, etc. are stored in the registry, and when executing the one-shot license process, these information (account number, telephone number, address, user ID, machine name) are read from the registry and this is read. The one-shot license information is transmitted to the license issuing site 5 to be registered and charged.

That is, in the one-shot license process, a user of a company registered in advance charges a fee for each compression of DjVu even if there is no remaining prepaid license.

The termination processing 35 is started after the subtraction processing 34, the usage status of the prepaid license is read along with the activation, and then the validation is checked. When the backup is designated, the backup processing is activated and processed. To finish.

One-shot license module 23
Performs counter billing using a one-shot billing procedure. The one-shot license module 23 includes a module validation 37 and an encryption / decryption processing 38.

The module validation 37 determines whether or not this module operates with the Djvu compression software 17 in response to the inquiry from the counter charging module.

That is, the encoder 8 installed in the user terminal downloads the user information including the counter data to the backup server by selecting the compression processing icon displayed on the screen at the time of starting and ending.

Such an encoder 8 is installed and used in a user terminal of the system shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram when the encoder 8 is used. As shown in FIG. 2, in Company A,
A scanner 2 for optically reading a document 1 such as an original or a photograph and converting it into electronic data is connected to a user terminal 3, and the user terminal 3 is connected to the Internet 4.

A license issuing site 5, a billing site, and a user terminal of company B are connected to the Internet 4. The license issuing site 5 includes a backup server 10 and a license issuing server 11. Further, the hardware key 15 is connected to the user terminal 3 using the parallel interface of the printer 16. This hardware key is purchased in advance, and the count value is subtracted each time it is compressed.

The user terminal 3 uses Djvu or MrSID.
An encoder 8 having a built-in compression function and web accounting software is installed.

That is, the encoder 8 of the user terminal 3
Causes the license issuing site 5 to provide a page for purchasing the compression count of the high compression software, the license issuing site 5 generates a license ID based on this purchase information, and the encoder 8 encrypts and stores the license purchase completion information. It is saved on the license issuing site 5 and transmitted to the user terminal 3. Then, the encoder 8 transmits the input license ID to the license issuing site 5, transmits the number of times of compression of the license use permission information corresponding to the license ID, encrypts it with these pieces of information, and stores it.

When the encrypted license information is called, all the saved encrypted license information is backed up in the license issuing site 5, and the encrypted license information is called up and compressed. Use compression software.

On the other hand, the license issuance server 11 of the license issuance site 5, as shown in FIG. 3, has a private license sales software 40 and a backup software 41.
And restore software 42.

Private license sales software 40
Is a group of CGIs for prepaid license sales. Purchase form reception CGI 40a (purchase form reception)
A payment result acceptance CGI 40b (accepts the processing result of the charging service), a license generation CGI 40c (accepts a re-access from the user), a license registration CGI 40d (accepts a license information form from the user), and an installation completion acceptance CGI 40e.
And prepaid license sales history DB connector 40f
(Adding, updating and reading record of prepaid license sales history database) and backup history DB connector 40g (adding, updating and reading record of license use permission information to the database).

Further, the backup software 41 is a CGI group for backup / restore, and the backup C
GI 41a (CGI that accepts backup request from client) and transaction recovery 41b
(If the session with the given license ID is still started, try restarting the session) and the backup history DB connector 41c (adding, updating, and reading records in the backup database of the license use permission information). I have it.

The restore software 42 transmits the license information CGI 42a (reads and transmits the license use permission information from the backup database) and the authentication C.
The GI 40b (user name, password, license ID authentication) and the like are provided.

(Operation) A counter charging system using the compression encoder with a web charging function configured as described above will be described below with reference to the sequences of FIGS. 4 to 11.

First, the user operates the user terminal 3 to input the previously issued license issuance page URL into the browser to access the license issuance server 11 of the license issuance site 5 (d1). The purchase form acceptance CGI 40a of the license issuing server 11 responds to the access by inputting a license purchase request information input form (including the URL to the CGI of the license issuing service site).
Is returned (d2).

Next, the user inputs information according to the license purchase request information input form on the browser (d3) and sends it to the license issuing server 11 (d).
4). This license purchase request information Ai is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the payment method, the number of compressed purchases, the amount of money, the contact address, and the like. The purchase compression count is, for example, one A4
In the case of black and white, the number of compressions is set to 1, once when one A4 is color, the number of compressions is set to two, and in B4, it is set to two.

In the present embodiment, A4 black and white is used, and the maximum number of compressions that can be purchased is, for example, 10000 times (10000 times).
Sheet).

Next, the settlement result acceptance CGI 40b of the license issuing server 11 confirms the validity of this license purchase request information and, if normal, saves it in the database 50 (also called the prepaid license sales information history database 50). (D5).

At the time of this saving, as shown in FIG. 12B, a record ID, a session status, and a session start date and time are added to the license purchase request information Ai, and this is saved as a license sales history. Also, when the payment method indicates Internet prepaid,
This is referred to as a prepaid license sales history Bi. In the present embodiment, it is prepaid.

Also, the settlement result acceptance CGI 40 of the license issuing server 1 notifies the user of an error message if there is an abnormality (not shown). Next, the database 50
Sends the record number of the prepaid license sales history as a session ID to the license registration CGI 40d of the license issuing server (d6). This prepaid license sales information Bi is, as shown in FIG. 12B, a session ID, status, purchase compression count, billing site type, amount, login ID at restore, password at restore, purchaser name, session start date and time, final It consists of fields such as access date and time.

Each field at this time is a record ID.
No., the number of compressed purchases, the amount of money, the login ID (email address) at the time of restoration, the password at the time of restoration, and the purchaser's name are stored.

Next, the license registration CGI 40d of the license issuing server 11 uses the session ID of the prepaid license sales history stored in the database 50, the amount of money, and the number of compressed purchases (: "1011""10000yen",
"10000 times") and uses this as the user's license purchase information Bip CG of the charging service site 6
It is transmitted to I (d7).

At this time, the destination URL is fixedly held in the program data area by the CGI program.

Next, when the purchase form reception CGI 40a of the charging service site 6 receives the license purchase information Bip, the payment information input form (HTML format) for allowing the user to input the information required for authentication and credit is provided to the user terminal. To (d9).

The browser of the user terminal 3 transmits the payment information input form in which the number of the Internet prepaid card and the like are input to the charging site 6 (d10).

When the billing site 6 receives the settlement information input form from the browser of the user terminal 3, the billing site 6 performs settlement processing (whether it is usable or not) using the Internet prepaid card number or the like.

Then, the charging site 6 sends the status of the settlement processing and the session ID (prepaid license sales history) from the license issuing server 11 as a set to the license issuing server 11 (d1).
1).

The CGI of the license issuing server 11 receives the session ID (prepaid license sales history) and the settlement result from the charging site 6, and refers to this settlement result (payment result acceptance CGI 40b) to perform an error check ( d13).

This error check determines whether the status indicates that no charge has been made or that the charge has been made.

If it is indicated that the fee is not charged, the status field of the prepaid license sales history is updated to a flag (for example, "101") indicating that the fee is not charged (d13), and the fee is charged. An error is returned to the site 6 (d14).

If the settlement result from the charging site 6 indicates that the charging has been made, the status field of the prepaid license sales history is updated to a flag (for example, "111") indicating that the charging has been made. , "OK" to the billing site after this update is completed correctly
Is returned (d15).

On the other hand, when the charging site 6 receives a response from the CGI of the license issuing server 11, when it receives "NG", it cancels the settlement (d16) and notifies the user of the error by a message. Do (d1
7). That is, when the number of the prepaid card that cannot be used is transmitted as the payment information, the use is not permitted.

When the charging site 6 receives "OK", it sends the re-access navigation information for enabling re-access to the license issuing server 11 to the user terminal together with the payment completion information. Do (d
17).

This re-access navigation information is a URL code generated using the session ID of the prepaid license sales history.

Next, the browser of the user terminal 3 uses the re-access navigation information to access the license issuing server 11 as shown in FIG. 5 (d18).

The license registration CGI of the license issuing server 11 uses the session ID included in the URL of the re-access navigation information as a key to store the database 50.
Of the prepaid license sales information Bi is assigned, and when a flag indicating that charging has not been performed is set in the status field of the prepaid license sales information Bi, the unauthorized access is notified to the user terminal 3 (d19). That is, the re-access is checked on behalf of the charging site 6.

When a flag indicating the completion of billing is set in the status field, the database 50
The license sales information Bi, which stores the prepaid license sales history Bi having the session ID transmitted at the time of re-access from the license issuing site, the settlement method, the number of compressions of the purchase, the ID used for restoration, and the purchaser name (see FIG. 13 ( (see c)) to the browser of the user terminal 3 (d20).

The browser of the user terminal 3 displays this license sales information on the screen. Then, the user writes this license sales information in a memo or the like (d21). Then, in order to confirm that the license has arrived, the user sends back the license sales information Ci from this issuing site as it is (d22).

On the other hand, the CGI of the license issuing server 11
Receives the license sales information Bi from the browser of the user terminal 3, and the prepaid license sales information B of the database 50 that matches the purchaser name of this license information.
The session status of i is checked, and it is checked whether the value indicates the completion of billing (d23). If there is an error, unauthorized access is notified to the browser of the user terminal 3 (d).
24).

Next, the license issuing server 11 activates the license generation process (license generation CGI 40c) when the session status indicates that the charging is completed (d25).

License generation processing (license generation CG
I40c) is license sales information Bi from the browser of the user terminal 3 (payment method, purchase compression count (also called license count), amount, email address, purchaser name)
The backup server 10 is inquired as to whether or not the license use permission information Di matching with is registered in the backup history database 51 (d26). If the license use permission information Di has not been registered, the license registration CG
The I40d generates license permission information Di which permits the use of the DjVu17 of the encoder 8.

That is, it is determined whether or not the license use permission information Di having the ID used at the time of restoration included in the license sale information Bi from the user terminal 3 exists in the database 51.

As shown in FIG. 13, the license use permission information Di described above includes a license ID, a license count before processing, a license count after processing, a transaction start date and time, a transaction end date and time, and login at restore time. The ID and the purchaser name ...

In the present embodiment, it is determined that the license use permission information Di does not exist in the database 51. If it does not exist, the license ID (several digits) of the license sales information Bi is generated (d27), and the status is updated to complete.

Then, the restoration login ID and restoration password of the prepaid license sales information Bi corresponding to the license sales information Bi from the browser of the user terminal 3, the number of purchase compressions, and the generated license ID.
And are transmitted to the backup server 10 as license registration information Ki (d29). Backup server 10
Receives the license registration information Ki, saves it in the database 51, and writes the transaction start date and time (write empty) (d30). At this time,
The purchase compression count is written in the pre-processing license count field.

For example, a license ID is generated (for example,
1010000), the license use permission information stored in the database 51 storing the license use permission information is “1010000” in the license ID column and the pre-processing license count is “first” as shown in FIG. 10000 times ", license count after processing is" 0 ", transaction start date and time is empty, login ID at restore is email address, password at restore is" 1234 ", purchaser is" Okamoto ", unprocessed number is" 0 " , And the status becomes the license use permission information Di that has been completed.

Next, the license issuing server 11 uses the license purchase completion information (see FIG. 14A) in which the license ID is added to the license sales information as the license use permission information Di is registered in the database 51. It is transmitted to the browser of the terminal 3 (d31). The user writes the license ID of the license purchase completion information Ei (payment method, purchase compression count, ... License ID) in a memo or the like.

By the above processing, dj of the main encoder 8
The license use registration for each license for using vu is completed in the license issuing server 11 and the backup server 10. Here, the license is
It is a usage permit that determines how many times Djvu can be used with one license ID for the purchase price.

Such processing is repeated several times, a large number of licenses are purchased, encrypted by the installation processing described later, and stored in the registry. This is for example
If the number of compressed purchases per license is limited,
Alternatively, in this system, since it is prohibited to use one license at the same time, many licenses are registered.

That is, a large number of prepaid license sales information Bi (B1, B2, ...) Is stored in the database 50, and a large number of license use permission information Di (D1, D2, ...) Is stored in the database 51 of the backup server 10.
Is stored, and the license purchase completion information E is stored in the registry of the user terminal 3 by the installation process described later.
A large number of encrypted license information Hi (H, H2, ...) Using i (E1, E2, ...) Is stored.

(Installation to Terminal) As shown in FIG. 6, first, the user starts the initialization process of the encoder 8 (d34). In this initialization process, when the hardware key 15 is used, the remaining count of the hardware key is recorded (d35). However, hardware key 15
In the case where is not used (prepaid license), the remaining counter of the hardware key 15 is not read.

Next, the initialization process 31 reads the encrypted license information Hi stored in the registry (d3).
5). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the encrypted license information Hi is not stored.

If not stored, the encrypted license information Hi is read as "0" and decrypted "0". Then, in d36, it is determined that the information in the registry can be decrypted, and the module validation and module information recording processing is performed (d38, d39), and it is determined whether a prepaid license module is present (d40), and the license shown in FIG. The process proceeds to the installation process (d41).

In this license installation process, when the license purchase information Hi in the registry is read as "0: nothing", a message for inputting the presence or absence of licensee registration may be displayed on the screen.

In the license installation process, the user selects registration of the license, and from the license purchase completion information Ei from the issuing site 5 written in the memo, the license I of the desired license purchase completion information Ep.
License request information Fi (see FIG. 14B) including D and authentication information (password, user ID) is transmitted to the backup server (d42). At this time, the license installation process creates a restore history (see FIG. 1).
4 (d)).

Next, the CGI of the backup server 10
Is the license request information F received in the database 51.
It is determined whether or not the license use permission information Di (see FIG. 13) corresponding to i exists, and if it does not exist, an error is returned to the encoder 8 of the user terminal 3 (d43).

If it exists, the backup server 10 allocates the license use permission information Di,
License request information Fi (ID used for restoration,
Purchaser, license ID, password at restore),
The purchase compression count and the amount of money of the assigned license use permission information Di are added, and the prepaid license information Gi (see FIG. 14C) is transmitted to the license installation process of the encoder 8 of the user terminal 3 (d).
44).

On the other hand, when the license installation processing 32 of the encoder 8 of the user terminal 3 receives the prepaid license information Gi, it acquires a key from the registry and uses this key to obtain the license ID of the prepaid license information Gi.
And a combination of the purchase compression count are encrypted and stored (installed) in the registry as encrypted license information Hi (d45, d46, d47). That is, this means that one piece of license information Hi has been installed in the registry.

Then, the user further acquires the license information H.
To install i, the user starts the installation process (performed in the initialization process), selects registration of the license again, and selects the next from the license purchase completion information Ei from the issuing site 5 written in the memo. The license request information Fii (see FIG. 12B) including the license ID of the desired license purchase completion information Epp and the authentication information (password, user ID) is transmitted to the backup server (d42). By performing such processing, a large number of license information Hi (encrypted) is installed in the registry.

At this time, the user inputs whether or not the backup is designated in the initialization processing. When simply installing, do not specify backup. The backup designation is preferably designated when the document is compressed by actually using the encrypted license information Hi installed in the registry.

(Registry encrypted license information H
Processing when i is used) Next, processing using the encrypted license information Hi of the registry will be described with reference to FIG. When the encrypted license information Hi is used, the initialization process is activated in the same manner as described above (d50).

The initialization processing 31 reads the encrypted license information Hi stored in the registry (d5
1) It is determined whether or not the registry information is normal (determines whether decryption has been completed) (d52).

Next, the module validation 28 is called (d53) and the module information is recorded (d5).
4).

Next, the counter charging module 20 determines whether or not there is the prepaid license module 22 (d55). Next, when it is determined that the prepaid license module 22 is present, as shown in FIG.
The user selects the license installation process 32 in the initialization process 31 (d56).

The license installation process 32 of the encoder 8 displays the license request information Fi on the screen for inputting. Then, enter the license ID of the read and decrypted license information Hp, the ID used at the time of restoration, the password at the time of restoration, etc. (authentication information),
This is license request information Fi (see FIG. 14B).
To the backup server 10 (d57).
At this time, the license installation process creates a restore history (FIG. 14 (d)).

Next, the CGI of the backup server 10
Is the license request information F received in the database 51.
It is determined whether or not the license use permission information Di corresponding to i exists, and if it does not exist, an error is returned to the encoder 8 of the user terminal 3 (d58).

If it exists, the backup server 10 allocates the license use permission information Di,
License request information Fi (ID used for restoration,
Purchaser, license ID, password at restore),
The purchase compression count and the amount of money of the assigned license use permission information Di are added, and the prepaid license information Gi (see FIG. 14C) is transmitted to the license installation process of the encoder 8 of the user terminal 3 (d).
59).

On the other hand, when the license installation process 32 of the encoder 8 of the user terminal 3 receives the prepaid license information Gi, it acquires a key from the registry and uses this key to obtain the license ID of the prepaid license information Gi.
And the compression count of purchases are encrypted, and the previous encrypted license information Hi stored in the registry is updated to this encrypted license information Hi (d60, d6).
1, d62). That is, the license information H of the user terminal
The number of compressed purchases of i matches the number of compressed purchases of the license use permission information Di of the backup server.

When a backup instruction is given in the initialization processing, the backup-up processing is performed as shown in FIG. 9 (d63). The backup process involves all encrypted license information Hi (H1, H2, ...) Encrypted with keys 1 and 2 from the registry upon activation.
Is decrypted with the reading keys 1 and 2 (d64), and the backup request information Ji shown in FIG.
0 to enter the status standby state (d6
5).

The backup server 10 receives the backup request information Ji and receives this backup request information Ji.
Check the validity of i. For example, it is determined to be valid when the value of the license ID or the license count (the number of compressed purchases) is equal to the value of the license number field.

The backup server makes an error in the status when it is not valid and transmits it to the user terminal, and when it is valid, transmits "OK" (d62).

If the backup request information Ji is valid, the license use permission information Di corresponding to the license ID of the backup request is assigned from the database 51, and the license count (before processing) of the license use permission information Di is compared. If the registered license count is larger, the registered license count is deducted from the value corresponding to the license count of the backup request information Ji (if the registered license count is larger, it is added to the sent license count). update),
License ID as backup response information Ki
It is transmitted every time (d63). The transaction start date and time is written during this transmission.

That is, this backup response Ki (see FIG.
5 (b)), the license count is 10000 when the count value that is unprocessed due to communication error is 4
From 9996 to 9996 and the unprocessed count value is set to "4" so that the encrypted license information of the user terminal 3 and the license use permission information of the database 51 match.

Further, the encoder 8 transmits the license request information Fi for one license, and then, a large number of encrypted license information Hi stored in the registry.
Since all are decrypted and transmitted to the backup server 10, even if there is some abnormality on the user terminal side, the purchased license can be used.

Next, the backup processing 33 receives the backup response information Ki, encrypts this backup response information Ki with the keys 1 and 2 of the registry, and updates the encrypted license information Hi in front of the registry (d64). ,
d65). That is, the registry information is corrected based on the correction information from the backup server 10.

The license installation process described above is shown in FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of 6.

First, the installation process of the encoder 8 of the user terminal 3 (client) prompts the user to select whether to add a new license (S1).

Next, the installation process determines whether or not a new license has been added (S2).

When it is determined to add a new license,
In the installation process, the aforementioned predetermined form screen is displayed to prompt the user to enter the authentication information (password at restore, ID used at restore, purchaser name) and license ID (S3). This input information is used as the license request information Fi
To the backup server 10 (d42, d
57).

On the other hand, the backup server 10 receives the license request information FI from the user terminal 3 and determines whether it exists in the database 51 (S4, S).
5).

If it does not exist, the error status 51 is transmitted to the encoder 8 of the user terminal 3 (d43, d5
8) If it exists (authentication is OK), the prepaid license information Gi and the status “OK” are displayed in the user terminal 3
Sent to the encoder 8 installation process (d4
4, d59).

The installation process 32 judges the status (S6), and when the status indicates an error, displays an error message (S6a). When the status indicates "OK", the machine name and the user ID (unique ID) are acquired from the OS (S7),
Read the records of key 1 and key 2 from the registry (S8),
It is determined whether the key 1 and the key 2 are stored (S
9). Initially, keys 1 and 2 are not saved.

Next, if the keys 1 and 2 are not stored, the keys 1 and 2 are generated (S10). This key uses a function to write key 1 (\\ HKEY_CLASSE) of tens of bits.
... 96F2AC) is generated. Then, after converting this value into a binary of hundreds of bits, it is encoded with key 1, and this is referred to as key 2. Next, the keys 1 and 2 generated in step S10 are registered in the registry (S11). Then, the encrypted license information Hi obtained by encrypting the prepaid license information Gi from the backup server 10 using the keys 1 and 2 is written in the registry (S12).

(Actual Use) An actual process using the scanner will be described with reference to the sequence of FIG.

First, the subtraction process 34 is activated (d7).
0). This subtraction processing is connected to the DjVu compression instruction processing 18, and decodes and subtracts the license information Hi stored in the registry every time image data associated with scanning one by one using a scanner is input (d71). .

This subtraction subtracts the count value of the hardware key when the hardware key is used, the prepaid license counter value in the case of prepaid license, and the backup value in the case of one-shot license. The one-shot license processing is performed by transmitting the data to the one-shot server (d72). And
Such processing is performed for each document.

When the scanner issues an end instruction, the end process is performed as shown in FIG. 12 (d7).
5). This termination process will be described when the prepaid license key is used.

The end processing is performed by using the prepaid license usage status (encrypted license information H which is not "0" in the registry).
i: Read the prepaid license information Gi) (d7)
6). Next, prepaid license module validation is performed (d77), and in the case of validation OK (d78), the backup process described above is performed (d63).

That is, the encrypted license information Hi encrypted with the keys 1 and 2 is read from the registry and decrypted with the keys 1 and 2, and the backup request information Ji is transmitted to the backup server 10 to stand by for the status. .

The backup server 10 receives the backup request and checks the validity of this backup request. For example, it is determined to be valid when the value of the license ID or the license count is equal to the value of the license number field.

When the backup server 10 is not valid, the backup server 10 makes the status an error and sends it to the user terminal.
If it is valid, "OK" is transmitted (d62).

If the backup request is valid,
The license use permission information Di corresponding to the license ID of the backup request is assigned from the database 51,
Compare the license count (before processing) of this license use permission information, and if the registered license count is higher, subtract the value that matches the license count of the backup request, and use this as the backup response. Send for each license ID (d
63). When this end processing ends, the transaction end date and time is written.

Next, the backup procedure will be described in detail below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The backup procedure is activated in the initialization process and termination process called at the time of activation and termination. When the backup processing ends in error, the initialization and end processing of the license module displays an error message and raises an exception. When an exception occurs, this process ends.

In the backup process, all encrypted license information Hi (H1, H2, ...) Stored in the registry is used.
...) and the unprocessed counter are called (S21), these are decrypted with the key 2 (S22), and the backup request information J
It is transmitted to the backup server as i (see FIG. 15A) (S22). Then, the status waits. Also, the URL of the backup server encoder
Is held fixed.

Further, the machine name and the user ID are added and transmitted.

On the other hand, the backup server 10 receives and stores the backup request Ji (S23) and checks the validity thereof (S24).

This validity check is based on the license ID
And that the number of elements included in the license count field is equal to the value in the license number field. That is, it is confirmed whether or not the number of license counts corresponding to the many license IDs sent is added.

If the backup request is not valid in step S24, the error status is transmitted to the encoder of the user terminal.

When the validity is judged in step S24, the database 51 is searched (S25), and the license use permission information Di having the same license ID in the database 52 exists using the license ID of the backup request Ji as a key. Determine if This search is
Sequentially read each license ID of the backup request,
Each time this license ID is read, it is determined whether the same license ID exists in the database 51 (whether it is a new registration) (S27). If the license use permission information Di having the same license ID is not stored, an error is returned.

If it is determined in step S26 that the same license ID exists in the database 51, a transaction recovery process (ends whether there is a transaction end date / time) to confirm that all transactions of the record have been completed (end) If there is a transaction that has not been executed, transaction recovery is attempted) (S27), and it is determined whether the transaction is incomplete (S25). When the transaction is not completed (when there is an open transaction in which the transaction cannot be recovered), the error status is transmitted to the encoder of the user terminal and the process is terminated. In this case, the recovery is performed offline by the backup site operator.

In transaction recovery, when the open transaction record has the same machine name and user name as the backup request, the recovery processing of the backup request is completed.

When it is determined in step S28 that the transaction is not completed, that is, when all the transactions are completed, the backup process of the backup server is performed by the license count of the database 51 and the license counter from the user terminal. Are compared to determine whether the license count of the database 51 is larger (S29). If the license counter value of the database 51 is larger, the database 51 is compared.
The license information is updated and the process proceeds to step 31 (S30).

Next, when it is determined that the license counter of the database 51 is smaller, it is determined whether or not there is an unprocessed count in the license information (S31). The difference between the counter value and the unprocessed counter value of the transmitted license information is subtracted from the unprocessed counter of the transmitted license information (S32), and this unprocessed counter value is written in the database 51 (S33).

Next, the above-mentioned difference is incorporated into the backup response as correction information and is transmitted to the encoder of the user terminal upon normal termination (S34).

If it is determined in step S26 that the registration is new, the backup request is registered in the database 51 and the process returns to step S31 (S3).
5).

On the other hand, the encoder of the user terminal enters the status standby state and accepts the error status and completion status of step S24 (S37).

Next, it is judged whether or not the status is an error (S37), and if it is not an error (normal completion),
It is determined whether there is correction information (S38).

If the correction information exists, the unprocessed counter of the license information is corrected to the correction information and the process is terminated (S39).

Next, the subtraction process will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 16, the information of the counter structure is read and it is determined whether or not the use of the hardware key is indicated (S40).

If it is determined in step S40 that the key is not the hardware key, the license information is decrypted and read from the registry (S41). Next, it is determined whether this registry information is normal (whether it was decrypted) (S42). When the registry information is judged to be normal,
It is determined whether the private license module can be used (S43), and if it can be used, it is determined whether there is a prepaid card license remaining counter (remaining purchase compression count) (S44).
A compression instruction is sent to DjVu (S45), and the prepaid license count is subtracted when the compression is normal (S4).
6).

In addition, the prepaid license module cannot be used in step S43, or step S44
When it is determined that there is no remaining count in step 1, it is determined whether or not there is a one-shot license module, and one-shot license processing described later is performed.

If it is determined in step S40 that the hardware key is used, the remaining count of the hardware key is read (S49), and it is determined whether there is a remaining count (S50).

If it is determined in step S50 that there is no remaining count, the process proceeds to step S41 to perform the prepaid license subtraction process.

If it is determined in step S50 that there is a hardware key remaining count, a compression instruction is issued (S51) and the hardware key count value is subtracted (S52).

The subtraction of each process described above is performed by allocating the corresponding standard purchase compression number from the standard purchase compression number table based on the size, color, or monochrome type input by the user on the screen, and the assigned standard purchase compression number. The number is subtracted from the remaining purchase compression number.

The one-shot license process will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

For the one-shot license processing of the encoder of the user terminal, the charging information (user ID
(One-shot license server URL including) is read (S60), and this license is transmitted to enter the status standby state (S61).

On the other hand, the one-shot server receives the license information (S62) and checks its validity (S62).
63) If not valid, notify the encoder of an error.

When it is judged to be valid, the corresponding record in the database is searched (S64) and it is judged whether or not there is a record (S65).

When it is determined that there is a record in step S65, the history (user ID, date and time) is registered in the database (S66).

Then, it is judged whether or not the process is completed normally (S6).
7) If the status is normal, the completion status is transmitted to the encoder. If the status is not normal, the error status is transmitted to the encoder.

On the other hand, the encoder accepts the status (S68) and judges whether or not the processing has ended normally (S6).
9). If it is normal, this processing is terminated, and if it is not normal, error processing is performed.

<Other Embodiments> FIG. 20 is a schematic configuration diagram of an encoder with web accounting software according to another embodiment.

In this encoder 8, as shown in FIG. 20, DjVu17 is connected to the counter charging module 20a.

This counter billing module 20a judges whether or not the hardware key has a remaining count,
If there is a remaining count, the image data per document is compressed with DjVu17, and then the hardware module is activated to subtract the reference compression number from the remaining count of the hardware key.

When the hardware key has no remaining count, it is determined whether or not there is a remaining purchase compression count in the registry. If there is a remaining count, the image data per document is compressed with DjVu17. After that, the prepaid license module 22 is activated to subtract the reference compression number from the purchase compression number.

Further, when there is no remaining purchase compression count in the registry, the image data per document is D
After compression with jVu17, the prepaid license module 23 is activated.

That is, the subtraction processing 27a, 34, 38b
Does not include S50 and S44 shown in FIG.

That is, in the present embodiment, if the remaining count of the hardware key is initially left, the hardware key is prioritized, and the hardware key has no remaining, and the registry purchase compression count has some remaining. Is then decremented by the prepaid license module. And when there is no residue in the registry, the one-shot license module charges.

In the above embodiment, the issuing server of the issuing site and the backup server are described separately, but if the processing is high speed, one server may realize these functions.

In the above embodiment, the scanner is used for the description, but the user terminal receives image data from fax (color) without being limited to the scanner, and D
When jVu is used, installation processing and backup processing may be performed.

The encoder 8 of this embodiment may be used when the user terminal simply compresses the data displayed on the screen without using a scanner or a fax.

[0179]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the encoder of the present invention is installed in a user terminal in a system in which a license issuing site, a billing site, and a user terminal are connected to a computer network,
When the prepaid license module is built-in, the purchase compression frequency purchased corresponding to the license ID from the license issuing site is encrypted and stored in the user terminal. When the license ID is input and the compression software is used, all the stored encrypted license information is backed up on the license issuing site, and the correction information of the purchase compression number of the license ID input from the license issuing site is received. License ID entered after correcting the number of purchase compressions stored in the correction information
The reference compression number of the compression software is subtracted from the purchase compression number of.

Then, this subtraction result is transmitted to the license issuing site to correct the purchase compression number on the license issuing site side.

Therefore, even if the double management option is used, the effect that the illegal copy of the license cannot be obtained is obtained.

Further, since the fee is charged by the number of times the compression software is used, the user can easily use the expensive compression software.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of software of an encoder according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic system configuration diagram when the encoder according to the embodiment is connected to a personal computer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of software of a license issuing site according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating various types of information used in this embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating license use permission information according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating various types of information used in the present embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an installation process of this embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating backup processing according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating subtraction processing according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a one-shot license process of this embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a schematic configuration diagram of an encoder of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 document 2 scanner 3 user terminals 4 Internet 5 License issuing site 10 backup server 11 License issuing server 8 web encoder with billing software 19 Client side billing software 18 Application Department 20 counter billing module 21 Hardware License Module 22 Private License Module

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A compression software for separating a digital image into an image portion and a character portion, and applying a high reduction ratio compression to each portion, and a prepaid license module, wherein the prepaid license module uses the computer network to perform the compression. Means for purchasing the compression frequency of the compression software from the license issuing site, means for encrypting the license purchase completion information consisting of the compression frequency for purchasing from the license issuing site and the license ID, and storing this as license information When the license ID of the license information is entered,
Means for transmitting all the stored license information to the license issuing site; and, when the digital image is compressed using the compression software once, the stored purchase compression count of the input license ID. And a means for transmitting the subtraction result to the license issuance site while subtracting the standard compression number when the compression software is used, and a storage storing a web accounting encoder program with high compression software. Medium. 2. A hardware license module that counts the number of times of compression of the compression software by using hardware key software that counts by a parallel interface, and 1 of the compression software by using a designated charging site via the computer network. A combination of a one-shot license module that charges for the number of times of compression for each time and the prepaid license module is provided, and when any event of a request for using the compression software is received, any one of the modules is installed. A storage medium storing a web charging encoder program with high compression software according to claim 1, which is executed as a means for deciding whether or not it is present and activating any one of the modules based on the determination result. 3. The prepaid license module accesses the license issuing site and sequentially purchases the compression frequency of the compression software using a purchase form that can be settled at a charging site for the purchase of the compression software, and makes the purchase. Means for sequentially displaying on the screen license purchase completion information consisting of the purchase compression count and the license ID for each time, and the license ID and the authentication information for each time the license ID of the license purchase completion information is input As a result, the prepaid license information including the license ID and the number of compressed purchases is received from the license issuing site along with the transmission of the license request information. Encrypt information with pre-stored key And an installation means for storing the stored prepaid license information, and a means for transmitting all the stored prepaid license information to the license issuing site for backup when the prepaid license information is stored in association with a request for use of the compression software. And a means for updating the corresponding stored license information by using the correction information on the number of times of purchase and compression of the license information from the license issuing site in response to the backup request. A storage medium storing the web accounting encoder program with high compression software described in 1. 4. The prepaid license module is provided with a table in which a size and a color or black and white color information and the number of sheets are associated with a reference number of compressions when the compression software is used, as the document is scanned. When the digital image of the document is compressed by the compression software, the size input from the table,
Allocating the reference compression number corresponding to the colored information,
4. A storage medium storing a web accounting encoder program with high compression software according to claim 1, 2 or 3, further comprising means for subtracting the reference compression number from the purchase compression number. 5. The hardware license module creates a table in which the size and color or colored information of black and white and the number of sheets are associated with the standard compression frequency when the compression software is used, as the document is scanned. When the digital image of the document is compressed by the compression software, the size input from the table,
Allocating the reference compression number corresponding to the colored information,
5. A storage medium storing a web accounting encoder program with high compression software according to claim 1, further comprising means for subtracting the reference compression number from the hardware key.