JP2009159172A - Content management apparatus and content management method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a content management apparatus for allowing a user to easily identify a content to be output to the outside when the storage capacity is insufficient. <P>SOLUTION: The content management apparatus comprises a communication processing portion 24, an HDD unit 30, a display processing portion 29, and a DRM (Digital Right Management) processing portion 32. The communication processing portion 24 is connected to a network. The HDD unit 30 holds various digital contents distributed via the network and a license for viewing/listening and externally outputting the contents. The display processing portion 29 displays a content list of the various digital contents held in the HDD unit 30. The DRM processing portion 32 checks validity of a license for viewing/listening and external output for the various digital contents held in the HDD 30, and specifies content with an invalid viewing/listening license and a valid external output license in the content list as content to be output to an external recording medium, when the storage capacity of the HDD unit is sufficient. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a content management apparatus and content management method for managing digital content downloaded and distributed via a network.

  In recent years, with the dramatic improvement in performance of communication networks, video content distribution using communication networks has become popular. Simply access a special portal site for TV receivers with network functions. A service that enables viewing of content by video on demand (VOD) has been started, and a receiving apparatus corresponding to this has already appeared (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  Certainly, the communication network has been improved and the performance of the network has improved dramatically. However, not all users can use this environment, and the same content can be distributed even in a network environment with a low communication speed. In addition, a method of reproducing the data once stored in a storage device in the receiving device has been studied. As this storage device, a hard disk can be used.

  Furthermore, by recording content in the receiving device, it is easy to realize copying or moving to other devices using output to an external recording medium such as a DVD or digital transmission encryption technology (DTCP-IP). .

A digital rights management (DRM) method in which a license for each purpose such as a viewing license and an external output license is issued for a single content while appropriately protecting such content has already been released. These viewing licenses and external output licenses can be purchased separately, and their expiration dates can also be set separately. For example, if the expiration date of the external output license is eliminated or set to a sufficiently long time, it is possible to avoid restrictions on external output timing imposed on the user and realize a more user-friendly operation. This digital copyright management system is preferable in that the user's choices can be expanded as a result of preparing viewing licenses and external output licenses for different usage purposes of content viewing and content external output.
JP-A-9-191453

  By the way, when a single content is managed using these two licenses, even if the viewing license expires, it is not necessary to delete from the storage device if the external output license is within the expiration date. As a result, the number of contents remaining in the storage device gradually increases, which causes a shortage of storage space (storage capacity).

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a content management apparatus and a content management method that allow a user to easily specify content to be externally output when storage capacity is insufficient.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a communication unit connected to a network, various digital contents distributed via the network, a storage unit for holding viewing and external output licenses of these contents, and a storage unit Check the validity of the viewing and external output licenses for the various digital contents stored in the display unit and the storage unit that displays the content list of various digital content, and the external output license is valid and the viewing license A content management apparatus is provided that includes a processing unit that explicitly displays invalid content in a content list as a target to be output to an external recording medium when the storage unit has insufficient storage capacity.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, various digital contents distributed via a network and viewing and external output licenses of these contents are held in the storage unit, and content lists of various digital contents held in the storage unit are stored. Display and confirm the validity of the viewing and external output licenses for various digital contents held in the storage unit, and if the external output license is valid and the viewing license is invalid, the content of the storage unit is insufficient A content management method is provided that is specified in a content list as an object to be output to an external recording medium.

  In these content management apparatuses and content management methods, the validity of the viewing and external output licenses for various digital contents held in the storage unit is confirmed, and there is content for which the external output license is valid and the viewing license is invalid. When the storage capacity of the storage unit is insufficient, it is clearly shown in the content list as an object to be output to the external recording medium. Therefore, when the user looks at this content list, it is possible to easily specify the content to be output externally when the storage capacity is insufficient.

  Hereinafter, a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows a content distribution system for the digital broadcast receiving apparatus to acquire digital content via a network. In this content distribution system, a digital broadcast receiver 10 is connected to a portal 11, a DRM server 12, and a distribution server 13 via a network. The digital broadcast receiving apparatus 10 first accesses the portal 11 to perform a purchase procedure for a desired digital content, and acquires a content ID and a license ID issued by the portal 11. Further, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 10 accesses the distribution server 13 to present the content ID, and downloads the digital content distributed as a result. When using the downloaded digital content, the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 10 accesses the DRM server 12 to present the license ID, and as a result, obtains a license (viewing license, external output license). The viewing license here includes a content key Kc for decrypting the digital content and information including at least the expiration date of the license, and is a license used for viewing the content on the receiver. The external output license is a license for outputting decrypted content to a medium or an externally connected device using an appropriate content protection method, and is a license issued for each output request. That is, as a result of viewing the content with the viewing license, when the viewer thinks that the content is to be stored in the media, an additional external output license is purchased, so that the content can be stored in the media. As described above, since the timing for viewing content and the timing for external output are basically different for the viewer, the expiration date of the viewing license and the expiration date of the external output license are made different. Further, there is a case where an external output license is basically operated without setting an expiration date as a license permitting output once.

The viewing license and the external output license may be operated as different information, but the viewing license and the external output license may be integrated and operated.

  FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of a license issued by the DRM server 12, where (a) is an example in which a viewing license and (b) an external output license are configured as separate licenses, and the license is specified. The viewing license is composed of information such as license ID, key identification information, key, expiration date, etc., the external output license changes to the expiration date, CCI (Copy Control Information) information specified for each output destination is written, and the viewing license Is a license that can be viewed any number of times within the expiration date, and the external output license is acquired once every time. Here, the validity period of the external output license is eliminated and the CCI information is used. However, an area for the validity period may be provided and may be subordinate to the validity period of the viewing license.

  These licenses are acquired after establishing a secure communication path between the DRM server 12 and the digital broadcast receiver 10. For example, mutual authentication is performed between the DRM server 12 and the digital broadcast receiving apparatus, and then encrypted and distributed using the key shared by the key sharing means.

  The digital broadcast receiving apparatus decrypts the content with the content key Kc included in these licenses, and presents it to the user or performs an external output operation.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the digital broadcast receiving apparatus 10. The digital broadcast receiver 10 includes a control unit 21, a memory 22, a key input unit 23, a communication processing unit 24, a tuner unit 25, a descrambler 26, a TS decoding unit 27, a video / audio decoding unit 28, a display processing unit 29, and an HDD unit. 30, an external output interface 31, and a DRM processing unit 32.

  The control unit 21 is bus-connected to these components 22 to 32, and performs control necessary for the operation of the entire digital broadcast receiving apparatus 10 on these components 22 to 32. The memory 22 stores the control program of the control unit 21 and initial data, and temporarily stores data input to and output from the control unit 21. The key input unit 23 is a user interface for inputting various commands to the control unit 21 and can receive an infrared signal corresponding to a key input operation of the external remote controller RM. The communication processing unit 24 is connected to a network such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and performs data communication with the portal 11, the DRM server 12, and the distribution server 13 via the network. The tuner unit 25 selects a desired channel from the received signal from the antenna that receives the broadcast wave of the digital broadcast, and outputs a transport stream (TS) of this selected channel to the descrambler 26. This transport stream is scrambled (encrypted) for content protection. The descrambler 26 performs descrambling of the transport stream from the tuner unit 25 or the communication processing unit 24, and outputs it to the TS decoding unit 27. The TS decoding unit 27 separates necessary packets from the transport stream, and extracts broadcast program signals (video, audio), SI (Service Information) information, ECM, EMM, and other data multiplexed in the stream. It has a function to do. The extracted broadcast program signal is output to the video / audio decoding unit 28. The video / audio decoding unit 28 decodes the broadcast program signal and outputs it to the display processing unit 29.

  The display processing unit 29 outputs the broadcast program signal of the decoding result to the external display device DP as a video and audio monitor output. The display device DP performs video display and audio reproduction corresponding to the monitor output. Further, the display processing unit 29 has a user interface function for generating a display image signal of various error information and outputting the generated image signal in combination with the broadcast program signal instead of the broadcast program signal. The display processing unit 29 also has a function of outputting the EPG screen signal generated from the SI information separated by the TS decoding unit 27, instead of the broadcast program signal or by synthesizing it with the broadcast program signal.

  The CAS processing unit 33 is a processing unit that performs digital broadcast subscriber management and program viewing control input via the tuner unit 25, and decrypts the EMM input from the TS decoding unit 27 with its own key. The contract contents are stored, and when the ECM is input, the contents are decrypted and compared with the contract contents, if the contents can be viewed, the decryption key of the contents is returned.

  The CAS processing unit 33 has an IC card shape defined by ARIB STD-B25 in the current digital broadcasting.

  The HDD unit 30 is a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk, and may be a built-in digital broadcast receiver or an externally connected device such as a USB. This is a storage unit having a large capacity to hold. The external output interface 31 is an interface for externally outputting digital content held on the hard disk of the HDD unit 30, for example, a function of outputting to a fixed medium such as a drive such as an HD-DVD or an SD card slot, and other devices. And an interface having a function of outputting content via a network while being protected by a protection means such as DTCP-IP. The recording device MD corresponds to a medium such as an HD-DVD or an SD card, or a device such as an HD-DVD recorder.

The DRM processing unit 32 acquires licenses for viewing content and external output input from the communication processing unit 24, and performs determination operations for viewing licenses and external output licenses during content viewing and external output. Now, the function to manage the contents that are held is also included here. That is, viewing and external output control when content is used based on the expiration date, and periodic content management are performed. For example, content management is performed at power-on, once a day, or when a title list display command is input from a user. The function of presenting the latest information on each content is also performed here.

  The DRM processing unit 32 may be realized by secure hardware as in the case of the CAS processing unit 33 or may be realized by software installed in the receiver, but the memory or CPU to be stored is the CPU of the receiver. Or a memory or a CPU or a memory in an IC card, for example, and the basic processing operation is almost the same.

  As the viewing determination operation in the DRM processing unit 32, the license state of the content selected for viewing by the user is confirmed, and when the license within the expiration date is held, the decryption key of the content obtained from the license is output, If there is no license, a license acquisition request is made to the DRM server, the obtained license is stored in the memory 22 or the HDD unit 30, and then viewing judgment is performed again.

  Further, the content management processing includes the remaining amount management of the storage area of the HDD unit 30 and state confirmation processing for confirming the validity of the viewing and external output licenses for various digital contents held.

  FIG. 3 shows a state confirmation process for confirming what kind of license state each content is performed by the DRM processing unit 32 when displaying the content list. When this state confirmation process is started, the digital content viewing license and the external output license are inspected in step S1. In subsequent step S2, it is checked whether or not the inspection result is that the viewing license is expired (that is, the viewing license is invalid due to expiration). If the viewing license is valid, in step S3, the digital content is regarded as not to be deleted when the storage capacity is insufficient, and is normally displayed in, for example, green in the content list, and the status confirmation process for this content is completed. On the other hand, if the viewing license is invalid in step S2, it is checked in step S4 whether the inspection result is an external output license (that is, the external output license is valid within the expiration date). If the external output license is invalid, in step S5, the digital content is regarded as a target to be deleted when the storage capacity is insufficient, and is displayed in, for example, a yellow deletion candidate color in the content list. To do. Further, if the external output license is valid, the digital content is regarded as a target to be externally output when the storage capacity is insufficient in step S6, and is displayed in, for example, a red warning message color in the content list. The process ends. The digital content can be deleted or externally output by selecting the content with the key input unit 23 or the remote controller RM during the display of the content list and performing a key operation for deletion or external output.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4, content whose viewing license is invalid and whose external output license is valid is displayed in red, and content whose viewing license is invalid and whose external output license is invalid is displayed in yellow. Content for which the license is valid is displayed in green regardless of the external output license. Here, the content for which the viewing license is invalid and the external output license is invalid should be deleted, but the user may purchase a viewing license for this content again. In this case, if the content is deleted, it is necessary to download it again. For this reason, it is preferable that the content whose viewing license is invalid and whose external output license is invalid is deleted from the HDD unit 30 with the highest priority by external output.

  In the present embodiment, the validity of the viewing and external output licenses for various digital contents held in the HDD unit 30 is confirmed, and the content for which the external output license is valid and the viewing license is invalid is stored in the HDD unit 30. It is clearly shown in the content list as an object to be output to the external recording medium when the storage capacity is insufficient. Therefore, when the user looks at this content list, it is possible to easily specify the content to be output externally when the storage capacity is insufficient.

  Here, an example is shown in which the viewing license and the external output license are separate, but when the expiration date of the external output license depends on the expiration date of the viewing license, external output is performed before the expiration date of the viewing license. It is also possible to issue a warning.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, It can deform | transform variously in the range which does not deviate from the summary.

  In the above-described embodiment, the display position of the content is not changed in the content list. However, for example, content to be output externally (red), content to be deleted (yellow), content to be deleted (yellow) as shown in FIG. If the display positions of the contents are arranged in order of priority according to the state in the order of green), the user can easily grasp the state of the contents in the HDD unit 30 when the storage capacity is insufficient.

  In the above embodiment, content management is performed once when the power is turned on, once a day, or when a title list display command is input from the user. For example, the remaining storage capacity of the HDD unit 30 has decreased beyond a predetermined value. Sometimes it may be executed. In this case, a message such as “HDD capacity has been reduced. Output of AAA content is recommended.” Shown in FIG. 6 may be displayed on the display device DP in addition to the content list.

1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a content distribution system for a digital broadcast receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention to acquire digital content via a network. It is a figure which shows the structure of the digital broadcast receiver shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the state confirmation process performed by the DRM process part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the content list of the content hold | maintained at the HDD unit shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the deletion candidate list which changed the content display position of the content list shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the message displayed when the remainder of the storage capacity of the HDD unit shown in FIG. 1 exceeds predetermined value. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the license issued by the DRM server shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Digital broadcast receiver, 11 ... Portal, 12 ... DRM server, 13 ... Distribution server, 24 ... Communication processing part, 21 ... Control part, 23 ... Key input part, 30 ... HDD unit, 31 ... External output interface, 32 ... DRM processing unit, RM ... remote controller, DP ... display device, MD ... recording device.

Claims (6)

  A communication unit connected to a network, various digital contents distributed via the network, a storage unit that holds viewing and external output licenses of these contents, and a content of the various digital contents held in the storage unit Confirming the validity of the viewing and external output licenses for the various digital contents stored in the storage unit and a display unit for displaying a list, and the external output license is valid and the viewing license is invalid And a processing unit that makes the content list clearly indicate a target content to be output to an external recording medium when the storage unit has insufficient storage capacity.   The content management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit arranges content display positions in the content list in priority order according to states corresponding to the validity confirmation result.   The content management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit confirms the validity when the remaining storage capacity of the storage unit decreases beyond a predetermined value.   The content management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit displays a message that prompts external output for content that is to be output to the external storage medium.   The content management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content management apparatus is incorporated in a digital broadcast receiving apparatus.   Various digital contents distributed via a network and viewing and external output licenses of these contents are held in a storage unit, a content list of the various digital contents held in the storage unit is displayed, and held in the storage unit The validity of the viewing and external output licenses is confirmed for the various digital contents to be recorded, and the external recording is valid when the external output license is valid and the viewing license is invalid when the storage unit has insufficient storage capacity. A content management method characterized in that a content to be output to a medium is specified in the content list.

Images