JP2010009458A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for enhancing dealing convenience for a rental content, in users of sharing an information processor. <P>SOLUTION: A use license specifying means 282 determines effectiveness of a license of the user selecting an icon image, and specifies an effective other user license as a use license, when not effective. The use license specifying means 282 specifies the license of the earliest expiration date, as the use license, out of the effective other user licenses. A confirmation screen generating part 360 generates a confirmation screen for confirming the propriety of starting processing for the content to the user, when the use license specifying means 282 specifies the other user license as the use license. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique used in an information processing apparatus that processes content, and particularly to a technique used in an information processing apparatus that processes rental content.

With the development of the Internet, a system has been proposed in which video content can be purchased and downloaded from a content distribution server on a network to an information processing device for viewing. As a form of purchase, there are a form in which video content is purchased and a form in which rental is possible for a predetermined period of time. In the case of rental, since it is assumed that the viewing period is limited, the information processing apparatus needs to make the video content unviewable after the rental period has passed.
US Pat. No. 6,563,999

  When the information processing device holds not only video content but also various other program files and data files, the rental content is buried in many files, and the user forgets the rental content or stores it. A situation can occur where the location is lost. In such a case, the expiration date of the rental passes without the user using the rental content. Therefore, in order to avoid such a situation, the information processing apparatus preferably provides a user interface that allows the user to easily recognize the rental content. Furthermore, if the information processing apparatus can effectively present the rental period to the user, the convenience of the rental service is improved.

  When the information processing apparatus is shared by a plurality of users, different users may download the same rental content. In such a case, how to permit the use of rental contents to each shared user is extremely important in providing a rental service.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for improving the convenience of handling rental content.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus that processes content, and selects a content, a storage device that stores license information of a plurality of users of the content, and the content A display processing unit that generates a display screen including an icon image to be displayed, and a control unit that controls processing of content corresponding to the selected icon image when the icon image is selected. The control unit determines whether the license of the user who selected the icon image is valid. If the license is not valid, the control unit identifies a license of another valid user as a license to be used, and the identified license And an instruction unit for instructing processing of content using.

  Another embodiment of the present invention is also an information processing apparatus. This device is an information processing device that processes content, and a display processing unit that generates a display screen including content, a storage device that stores license information of a plurality of users of the content, and an icon image for selecting the content And a control unit that controls processing of content corresponding to the selected icon image when the icon image is selected. The control unit includes a use license specifying unit that specifies a license that expires earliest among licenses of a plurality of users as a license to be used, and an instruction unit that instructs processing of content using the specified license. .

  It should be noted that any combination of the above-described constituent elements and a conversion of the expression of the present invention between a method, an apparatus, a system, a recording medium, a computer program, etc. are also effective as an aspect of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technique for improving the convenience of handling rental content.

  FIG. 1 shows a content purchase system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The content purchase system 1 includes a remote controller 40, an information processing device 10 that processes content, and an output device 12 that outputs a processing result by the information processing device 10. The remote controller 40 is an input interface device that allows a user to input an operation to the information processing apparatus 10. The remote controller 40 transmits the operation input wirelessly, but an input interface device connected to the information processing apparatus 10 with a cable may be used. The output device 12 may be a television having a display for outputting an image and a speaker for outputting sound. The output device 12 may be connected to the information processing device 10 by a wired cable, or may be wirelessly connected by a wireless local area network (LAN) or the like. The information processing apparatus 10 is communicably connected to the content distribution server 18 connected to the network 16 via the router 15 and can download desired content.

  The content distribution server 18 is operated by a video distribution company or the like, and receives an encrypted video content file, a license file permitting content viewing, and a key file for decoding the content file for the information processing apparatus 10. provide. The content distribution server 18 may provide not only the video content file but also a music content file, a game software file, and the like as the content file to the information processing apparatus 10. Hereinafter, an example in which the content distribution server 18 provides a file related to video content will be described.

  In the content purchase system 1, the information processing apparatus 10 purchases desired video content according to a user instruction transmitted from the remote controller 40 and downloads it from the content distribution server 18. As a form of purchase, there are a form for purchasing video content and a form for renting. In the form purchased by the user, the user can view the video content at any time. On the other hand, in the rental form, the user needs to view the video content before the expiration date, and after the expiration date, the user cannot view the video content. Management of the rented video content is performed by the information processing apparatus 10.

  The information processing apparatus 10 may have not only a video content playback processing function but also a music content playback function. The information processing apparatus 10 may have a game software processing function, and may be configured to have another content processing function. Accordingly, the rental content in this embodiment includes not only video content but also various types of content such as music content and game content.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of the information processing apparatus 10. The information processing apparatus 10 includes a power button 20, an LED 22, a system controller 24, a device controller 30, a media drive 32, a hard disk drive 34, a switch 36, a wireless interface 38, a main controller 100, a main memory 102, and an output processing unit 104. Configured.

  The power button 20 is an input unit where an operation input from a user is performed, and is operated to turn on or off the power supply to the information processing apparatus 10. The LED 22 illuminates and displays the power on / off state. When the system controller 24 detects the pressed state or the non-pressed state of the power button 20 and detects a state transition from the power-off state to the pressed state, the system controller 24 starts up the main controller 100 and starts up the operating system boot sequence. At the same time, the lighting of the LED 22 is controlled. When the power cable is inserted into the information processing apparatus 10, the system controller 24 maintains the standby mode even when the power is off, and monitors the pressing of the power button 20.

  The device controller 30 is configured as an LSI (Large-Scale Integrated Circuit) that exchanges information between devices like a south bridge. As illustrated, devices such as a system controller 24, a media drive 32, a hard disk drive 34, a switch 36, and the main controller 100 are connected to the device controller 30. The device controller 30 absorbs the difference in electrical characteristics of each device and the difference in data transfer speed, and controls the timing of data transfer. The hard disk drive 34 drives an internal hard disk to write / read data. The built-in hard disk functions as a storage device that stores data. The media drive 32 is a drive device that drives and recognizes the recording medium 50 when the read-only recording medium 50 is loaded, and reads out necessary data from the recording medium 50. The recording medium 50 may be a medium such as an optical disk or a magneto-optical disk.

  The switch 36 is an Ethernet switch (Ethernet is a registered trademark), and is a device that transmits and receives data by connecting to an external device in a wired or wireless manner. The switch 36 receives a content file, a license file, and a key file from the content distribution server 18 via the network 16. The switch 36 is connected to a wireless interface 38, and the wireless interface 38 is connected to the remote controller 40 by a wireless communication protocol such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) protocol or IEEE802.11 protocol. User operation information input to the remote controller 40 is supplied to the main controller 100 through the wireless interface 38, the switch 36, and the device controller 30.

  The main controller 100 includes a multi-core CPU, and includes one general-purpose processor core and a plurality of simple processor cores in one CPU. The general-purpose processor core is called a PPU (Power Processing Unit), and the remaining processor cores are called a SPU (Synergistic-Processing Unit). The main controller 100 executes an operating system (hereinafter simply referred to as “OS (Operating System)”) that provides functions and environment for efficiently using the information processing apparatus 10 and controls the entire apparatus in an integrated manner. The The OS layer of the information processing apparatus 10 in the present embodiment has three layers from the top: the user layer, the kernel (Kernel) layer, and the hypervisor (Hypervisor) layer, and the software of the user layer, the kernel layer, and the hypervisor layer are integrated. Thus, it functions as the “OS” of the information processing apparatus 10.

  When power is turned on by the power button 20, the system controller 24 supplies power to the main controller 100 and the output processing unit 104 via the device controller 30. When power is supplied to the main controller 100, the PPU first executes the OS boot loader to start the hypervisor layer. Subsequently, the PPU activates the kernel layer of the OS, and further activates the user layer, and prepares to receive data supplied from the hard disk drive 34 or the recording medium 50.

  The main controller 100 includes a memory controller connected to the main memory 102. The PPU has a register, has a main processor as an operation execution subject, and efficiently assigns a task as a basic processing unit in an application to be executed to each SPU. Note that the PPU itself may execute the task. The SPU has a register, and includes a sub-processor as an operation execution subject and a local memory as a local storage area. The main memory 102 and the local memory are configured as a RAM (random access memory). The SPU has a dedicated DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller as a control unit, and can transfer data at high speed by transferring data between the main memory 102 and the local memory, and is built in the output processing unit 104. High-speed data transfer can be realized between the frame memory and the local memory.

  The output processing unit 104 is connected to the output device 12 and outputs a video signal and an audio signal that are processing results of the application. The output processing unit 104 includes a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) that realizes an image processing function. The GPU may employ HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface).

  In the information processing apparatus 10 of this embodiment, the hard disk drive 34 stores various contents such as video contents, music contents, and game contents. These contents may be downloaded from the content distribution server 18 or may be installed from the recording medium 50. These content files are classified by folders in the hard disk drive 34.

FIG. 3A shows an example of a folder structure for storing video content formed on the hard disk. The video content file (XYZ.VDO) is stored in the VIDEO folder.
FIG. 3B shows another example of a folder structure for storing video content formed on the hard disk. This folder structure has a hierarchical structure. The video content file (XYZ.VDO) is stored in the AA folder formed in the VIDEO folder.

  As described above, the rental content has a valid expiration date. Therefore, the information processing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment provides a GUI (graphical user interface) that can effectively present the existence of rental content to the user and can also effectively present the validity period. As a result, the user can watch without forgetting that the rental content has been acquired.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a folder structure for storing license files formed on the hard disk. The license file (ABC.LCN) is stored in the (USER_ID) folder formed in the LICENSE folder. Note that (USER_ID) is an identification number of a registered user of the information processing apparatus 10, and therefore the license file is stored in a folder for each user. Note that (USER_ID) may be the user identification number itself or a character string derived from the user identification number. The license file is configured to include license information such as content purchase form information, start time and end time of the validity period. The information processing apparatus 10 acquires and holds the license file, thereby recognizing that the license for rental content reproduction is received. Whether the license is valid is determined based on the license information and other conditions. Specifically, the license is valid if the current time is before the expiration date, and the license is invalid if the expiration date has passed. It becomes.

  In the content purchase system 1, the content reproduction effective period is set to a predetermined number of days, for example, 14 days. The valid period may be set for each content. The download date and time may be set as the start time of the valid period, or a predetermined date and time after download may be set. Note that once the content is played back, the information processing apparatus 10 resets the end time of the valid period 24 hours after the initial playback time.

  The information processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment can be shared by a plurality of users, but in principle, the data of each user is held in different folders on the hard disk drive 34. The folder name is formed for each user in association with the user ID (identification information), and the OS of the information processing apparatus 10 prohibits access to other users' folders based on the user ID input at the time of login. To do. Thereby, the user cannot use data of different users without permission, and the security of personal data is maintained.

  On the other hand, since the video content is not personal data, it is preferable that users other than the downloaded user can view it. For example, if the family shares the information processing apparatus 10, the downloaded video content may be viewed by the entire family. Conventionally, even when a video cassette or DVD is rented from a video shop, it has been possible for a family to look around. The information processing apparatus 10 of this embodiment is based on this situation and has registered a plurality of video contents. Can be used by other users.

  FIG. 5 mainly shows the internal configuration of the main controller 100. The main controller 100 includes an instruction generation unit 200, a validity period processing unit 220, a license information processing unit 240, a rental mark processing unit 260, a reproduction control unit 280, a decoding unit 310, a reproduction time writing unit 320, and a display processing unit 340. . The storage device 300 is the hard disk drive 34, and stores a plurality of content files 302a to 302b, a plurality of license files 304a to 304d, and a plurality of key files 306a to 306d. The key file 306 includes key information for decoding the encrypted content file 302. In order to prevent the downloaded content file 302 from being reproduced by another information processing device, the key information is acquired via the content distribution server 18 and encrypted and stored using the device ID of the information processing device 10. Yes.

  The license file 304 and the key file 306 are given from the content distribution server 18 to the user who downloaded the content file 302. When the same content file 302 is downloaded a plurality of times by different users, the content file is overwritten and stored in the storage device 300. On the other hand, the license file 304 and the key file 306 are given to the user who downloaded the content file 302. In this case, a license file 304 and a key file 306 for a plurality of users are stored in the storage device 300 for one content file 302.

  The instruction generation unit 200 includes a menu screen generation instruction unit 202, a detailed information screen generation instruction unit 204, and a reproduction instruction unit 206. When the instruction generation unit 200 receives an operation input or power-on information from the remote controller 40 by the user, the validity period processing unit 220, the license information processing unit 240, the rental mark processing unit 260, the reproduction control unit 280, the decoding unit 310, A predetermined instruction is issued to a necessary functional block in the display processing unit 340.

  The menu screen generation instruction unit 202 issues instruction information for generating a menu screen for selecting content to a necessary functional block. This instruction information is generated, for example, when the power button 20 is pressed, when returning from the detailed information screen to the menu screen, or when the menu screen is operated. The detailed information screen generation instruction unit 204 issues instruction information for shifting from the menu screen to the content detailed information screen from the remote controller 40 to the necessary functional blocks. This instruction information is generated, for example, when an operation input for shifting from the menu screen to the detailed content information screen is received from the remote controller 40. The reproduction instruction unit 206 issues instruction information for reproducing the content to a necessary functional block. This instruction information is generated when a reproduction instruction for content is given on the menu screen.

  The valid period processing unit 220 includes a reproduction time information acquisition unit 222, a start time derivation unit 224, an end time derivation unit 226, and a remaining time derivation unit 228. The valid period processing unit 220 performs a process for obtaining a valid period during which content can be used for each license information.

  The reproduction time information acquisition unit 222 acquires, from the storage device 300, time information when content is first reproduced using a license. This first playback time information is written in the key file 306 associated with the license file 304, and the playback time information acquisition unit 222 acquires the first playback time information from the key file 306. Note that when the content is not reproduced using the license, the first reproduction time information is not included in the key file 306. The start time deriving unit 224 derives the start time of the effective period of the content. The end time deriving unit 226 derives the end time of the effective period of the content. The end time of the validity period may be referred to as the validity period in this specification. The remaining time deriving unit 228 derives the remaining time until the expiration date.

  The license information processing unit 240 includes a license information acquisition unit 242, a purchase form determination unit 244, and an effective period extraction unit 246. The license information processing unit 240 performs processing on license information.

  The license information acquisition unit 242 acquires license information from the license file 304 stored in the storage device 300. The license information acquisition unit 242 recognizes that the license of the associated content is received when the license file 304 exists. The purchase form determination unit 244 determines the content purchase form from the purchase form information included in the license information. As described above, the content purchase mode includes purchase and rental. The valid period extraction unit 246 extracts the start time and end time of the valid period included in the license information when the content purchase form is rental.

  The rental mark processing unit 260 performs processing on a rental mark that is arranged near or over the icon image of the rental content on the menu screen. The rental mark is a mark for presenting to the user that the content is rental content.

  The expiration date determination unit 262 determines whether the expiration date has already arrived. The rental mark determination unit 264 determines a rental mark to be arranged in the vicinity of the icon image of the content or superimposed on the icon image from among a plurality of types of rental marks.

  In response to the reproduction instruction, the reproduction control unit 280 performs processing for controlling reproduction of the content. The use license specifying unit 282 specifies a license used for reproducing the content. The decode instruction unit 284 instructs the decode unit 310 to decode the content using the specified license.

  The decoding unit 310 performs content decoding processing using the identified license. The reproduction time writing unit 320 writes the first reproduction time information in the corresponding key file 306 when the decoding process using the license is the first time.

  The display processing unit 340 includes a menu screen generation unit 350, a confirmation screen generation unit 360, a detailed information screen generation unit 370, and a purchase screen generation unit 380. The display processing unit 340 performs processing for generating a display screen in the output device 12.

  The menu screen generation unit 350 includes an icon image processing unit 352, a folder image processing unit 354, a rental mark arrangement unit 356, and a time information arrangement unit 358. Upon receiving a menu screen generation instruction from the menu screen generation instruction unit 202, the menu screen generation unit 350 generates a menu screen for selecting content.

  The icon image processing unit 352 places the icon image of the content in the menu screen. Note that when the user gives a playback instruction to the icon image, the playback instruction unit 206 generates a playback instruction for the content associated with the icon image. The folder image processing unit 354 arranges folder images on the menu screen. The rental mark arrangement unit 356 arranges the rental mark in the vicinity of the icon image of the rental content or overlapping the icon image. In addition, the rental mark arrangement unit 356 arranges the rental mark in the vicinity of the folder image including the rental content and the folder image arranged above the folder including the rental content in the folder hierarchical structure or overlapping the folder image. The time information arrangement unit 358 arranges information on the end time (expiration date) of the validity period in association with the icon image of the rental content.

  The confirmation screen generation unit 360 generates a confirmation screen for confirming whether or not the user can start playing the content.

  The detailed information screen generation unit 370 includes a thumbnail image display unit 372, an owner information arrangement unit 374, a content information arrangement unit 376, and a time information arrangement unit 378. The detailed information screen generation unit 370 generates a detailed information screen indicating information on the content, the validity period, and the like.

  The thumbnail image display unit 372 places a thumbnail image for specifying content at a predetermined position in the detailed information screen. The owner information arrangement unit 374 arranges the license owner information in the detailed information screen. The content information arrangement unit 376 arranges information regarding the content in the detailed information screen. The time information arrangement unit 378 arranges time information related to the effective period in the detailed information screen.

  In FIG. 5, each element described as a functional block for performing various processes can be configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and other LSIs in terms of hardware. This is realized by a program loaded on the computer. As described above, the main controller 100 is provided with one PPU and a plurality of SPUs, and each of the PPUs and SPUs can be configured individually or in cooperation with each other. Therefore, it is understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by hardware only, software only, or a combination thereof, and is not limited to any one.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the menu screen 400 a displayed on the output device 12. In the menu screen 400a, a plurality of folder images 402a to 402e are arranged in the horizontal direction. Among these, the folder image 402b indicates a folder for music content, the folder image 402c indicates a folder for video content, and the folder image 402d indicates a folder for game content. Icon images 404a to 404d are arranged in the vertical direction. The user can execute a process associated with the icon by operating the remote controller 40 and scrolling and moving a desired icon to the position of the focus area. In the illustrated example, an icon image 404a of the video content is arranged in the focus area, and when the user presses a predetermined button of the remote controller 40, a playback instruction is issued, and the video content of the title “Airplane AAA” is played back. Hereinafter, the generation process of the menu screen 400a will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the menu screen generation instruction unit 202 issues a menu screen generation instruction, the menu screen generation unit 350 generates a menu screen for selecting content. Specifically, the folder image processing unit 354 determines the display positions of the highest folder images 402a to 402e and arranges them on the menu screen. Further, the icon image processing unit 352 searches for video content with reference to the VIDEO folder of the hard disk drive 34, and specifies an icon image 404 to be displayed. The icon image processing unit 352 determines the display position of the icon image 404 of the identified video content and arranges it in the menu screen. The icon image 404 is included in, for example, the content file 302, and the icon image processing unit 352 acquires the icon image from the content file shown in FIG. 3A or 3B. On the menu screen 400a, if the folder image 402b, which is a folder of music content, exists at the position of the folder image 402c, the icon image processing unit 352 searches for the music content with reference to the MUSIC folder of the hard disk drive 34, and displays it. The icon image is specified.

  At this time, in the license information processing unit 240, the license information acquisition unit 242 acquires the license information of the logged-in user from the license file 304. As shown in FIG. 4, the license information is held in a folder specified by the user ID, and the license information acquisition unit 242 acquires license information possessed by the user based on the user ID. . By generating the file name of the license file 304 using the content ID, it becomes easy to read the license file 304 associated with the content. The purchase form determination unit 244 determines from the purchase form information included in the license information whether the content is rental content that has an expiration date for use. The purchase form information is information representing either purchase or rental, and may be set as a flag value of 0 or 1, for example. In the content purchase system 1 of the present embodiment, the license information acquisition unit 242 confirms the presence or absence of the license file 304 of the icon image 404 of the video content to be displayed on the menu screen 400a based on the user ID. If the file 304 exists, it is confirmed whether the video content is rental content. When it is determined that the content is rental content, the valid period extracting unit 246 acquires valid period information indicating the start time of the valid period and the end time of the valid period from the license information. The effective period processing unit 220 is supplied.

  In the menu screen 400 a shown in FIG. 6, expiration date information 406 is displayed in association with the icon image 404. Therefore, in the process of generating the menu screen 400a, it is only necessary to derive the end time (expiration date) of the effective period and, in some cases, the remaining time of the effective period. On the other hand, on the detailed information screen 420 described later with reference to FIG. 9, in addition to the end time of the valid period, the start time of the valid period and the remaining time of the valid period are displayed. Since these time information deriving processes are executed in the effective period processing unit 220, the effective period processing unit 220 will derive the start time, the end time, and the remaining time in the following description in order to omit redundant description in this specification. Processing to be performed will be described.

  In the valid period processing unit 220, when the content is not reproduced, the start time deriving unit 224 derives the start time of the valid period of the content from the supplied valid period information. The end time deriving unit 226 derives the end time of the effective period of the content from the supplied effective period information. The start time and end time derived here coincide with the start time and end time included in the validity period information. The remaining time deriving unit 228 calculates the remaining time from the current time to the end time in principle.

  In the content purchase system 1, as described above, once the content is reproduced, the end time of the valid period of the content is reset 24 hours after the reproduction time. That is, after the content is reproduced, the first reproduction time is the start time of the effective period, and 24 hours later is the end time of the effective period. Hereinafter, the process for deriving the effective period will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a time chart for explaining the effective period derivation process. In FIGS. 7A to 7E, NOW indicates the time point for deriving the effective period (hereinafter referred to as the current time). The valid period derivation process is performed each time the display screen for displaying time information is switched. It is assumed that the start time included in the validity period information is 1:30 PM on June 3, and the end time is 1:30 PM on June 17.

FIG. 7A shows a state in which the current time is before the start time included in the validity period information. At this time, the user cannot view the content. The start time deriving unit 224 sets the start time included in the valid period information as the start time of the valid period, and the end time deriving unit 226 sets the end time included in the valid period information as the end time of the valid period. The remaining time deriving unit 228 sets the time from the end time to the start time as the remaining time.
Start time June 3rd 1:30 PM
End time June 17th 1:30 PM
14 days remaining

FIG. 7B shows a state in which the current time is before the start time included in the validity period information and the content is not reproduced. Since the content has not been played back, the start time deriving unit 224 sets the start time included in the valid period information as the start time of the valid period, and the end time deriving unit 226 validates the end time included in the valid period information. Set as the end time of the period. The remaining time deriving unit 228 sets the time from the end time to the current time as the remaining time.
Start time June 3rd 1:30 PM
End time June 17th 1:30 PM
11 days remaining

FIG. 7C shows a state where the first playback is performed and the current time is within 24 hours after the first playback. Referring to FIG. 5, when decoding unit 310 decodes and reproduces content using a license, reproduction time writing unit 320 writes initial reproduction time information into key file 306. When the validity period processing unit 220 is activated at the current time, the reproduction time information acquisition unit 222 acquires the first reproduction time information from the key file 306 corresponding to the license, and sends it to the start time derivation unit 224 and the end time derivation unit 226. Supply. When receiving the initial reproduction time information, the start time deriving unit 224 sets the time as the start time of the valid period. When the end time deriving unit 226 receives the initial reproduction time information, the end time deriving unit 226 sets a time after a predetermined time, that is, 24 hours after that time, as the end time of the valid period. If the time 24 hours after the initial reproduction time exceeds the end time included in the validity period information, the end time is set to the end time included in the license information. The remaining time deriving unit 228 sets the time from the end time to the current time as the remaining time.
Start time June 9th 3:00 PM
End time June 10th 3:00 PM
17 hours 30 minutes remaining

FIG. 7D shows a state where the first playback is performed and the current time is after the end time. The start time deriving unit 224 sets the initial reproduction time as the start time of the effective period, and the end time deriving unit 226 sets 24 hours after the initial reproduction time as the end time of the effective period. The remaining time deriving unit 228 determines that it is “expired” because the current time is later than the end time.
Start time June 9th 3:00 PM
End time June 10th 3:00 PM
Time remaining expired

FIG. 7E shows a state where the end time has passed without being played back. The remaining time deriving unit 228 determines that it is “expired” because the current time is later than the end time.
Start time June 3rd 1:30 PM
End time June 17th 1:30 PM
Time remaining expired

  Returning to FIG. 5, as described above, the valid period processing unit 220 performs processing related to the valid period. As described above, in the process for generating the menu screen 400a, the start time deriving unit 224 may not function because the start time of the valid period is not necessary. The end time derived by the end time deriving unit 226 and the remaining time derived by the remaining time deriving unit 228 are supplied to the rental mark processing unit 260, and the end time is also supplied to the display processing unit 340.

  In the rental mark processing unit 260, the expiration date determination unit 262 receives the end time and determines whether the end time (expiration date) has already passed by the current time. This determination may be performed from the remaining time.

  In response to the determination result by the expiration date determination unit 262, the rental mark determination unit 264 determines a rental mark to be assigned to the rental content. Specifically, the rental mark determination unit 264 assigns a first rental mark to rental content that has not expired, and assigns a second rental mark to rental content that has expired. In the menu screen 400a shown in FIG. 6, the rental mark 410a is assigned to the rental content of the title “Airplane AAA” that has not expired, and the rental content of the title “Birthday DDD” whose expiration date has passed has been rented. A mark 410b is assigned. The assigned rental mark is supplied to the rental mark arrangement unit 356, and the rental mark arrangement unit 356 arranges the rental mark 410 in the vicinity of each icon image 404 or overlapping the icon image. On the menu screen 400a, the rental mark arrangement unit 356 arranges the rental mark 410 along the left edge of the icon image 404.

  The rental mark placement unit 356 adds the rental mark 410a to the icon image 404a of the rental content that has not expired, so that the user can easily confirm the existence of the rental content that can be viewed. Incentives for viewing content can be obtained.

  In addition, the rental mark placement unit 356 adds the rental mark 410b to the rental content icon image 404b whose expiration date has passed, so that the user can easily confirm the presence of rental content that cannot be viewed. Thereby, an opportunity to increase the free capacity of the storage device 300, such as deleting a content file, can be given.

  The rental mark determination unit 264 may assign different rental marks for rental contents remaining for a predetermined time or more until the expiration date and rental contents for which the expiration date is less than the predetermined time. For example, it is preferable to notify the user urgently of the presence of rental content that has expired for 24 hours. For this reason, a rental mark for still images may be assigned to rental contents that remain for 24 hours or more until the expiration date, while a rental mark for moving pictures may be assigned to rental contents that have passed 24 hours. For example, by assigning a blinking rental mark, the user's attention can be drawn. It is also possible to call the user's attention by assigning a conspicuous rental mark such as a luminescent color.

  When receiving the end time from the end time deriving unit 226, the time information arranging unit 358 arranges the end time (expiration date) information 406 in association with the icon image 404 on the menu screen 400a. For example, by arranging the expiration date information 406 at the same height as the icon image 404, it becomes clear that the information is related to the icon image 404. In the menu screen 400, the expiration date information 406b that has already passed and the expiration date information 406a that has not yet arrived are arranged in association with the icon image 404b and the icon image 404a, respectively.

  FIG. 8 shows another example of the menu screen 400 b displayed on the output device 12. In this example, the folder structure has a hierarchical structure. In the menu screen 400b, the rental content is included in a folder below the top folder. Specifically, the rental content is stored in a folder corresponding to the folder image 408a. The rental mark determination unit 264 assigns a rental mark to the folder including the rental content, and the rental mark arrangement unit 356 arranges the rental mark 410c in the vicinity of the folder image 408a or overlapping the folder image 408a. The rental mark determination unit 264 also assigns a rental mark to a folder located at the top of a folder including rental content in the hierarchical structure. The rental mark placement unit 356 places the assigned rental mark 410d in the vicinity of the folder image 402c or overlapping the folder image 402c.

  When the rental content is included in a lower layer of a folder having a hierarchical structure, the user cannot confirm the rental content unless the hierarchical folder is opened in order. Therefore, by adding the rental mark 410 to the folder images at each stage constituting the hierarchical structure, the user can easily confirm the existence of the rental content.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of the detailed information screen 420 displayed on the output device 12. When the user performs a predetermined operation on the menu screen 400a, the detailed information screen generation instruction unit 204 issues a detailed information screen generation instruction, and the detailed information screen generation unit 370 displays the content information and valid information. A detailed information screen 420 including period information is generated. Upon receiving the detailed information screen generation instruction, the effective period processing unit 220 performs the effective period process, derives the start time, the end time, and the remaining time, and supplies them to the detailed information screen generation unit 370.

  The thumbnail image display unit 372 generates a thumbnail image 412 of the content and arranges it at a predetermined position on the detailed information screen 420. For example, the thumbnail image display unit 372 may acquire the icon image 404a and the rental mark 410a from the menu screen 400a and generate the thumbnail image 412. The thumbnail image display unit 372 may acquire a predetermined image from the content file 302 and generate a thumbnail image 412. The acquired image may be a still image or a moving image. Similarly to the icon image processing unit 352, the thumbnail image display unit 372 may search for video content with reference to the VIDEO folder of the hard disk drive 34 and extract an icon image to be displayed as a thumbnail image. At this time, the rental mark placement unit 356 adds a rental mark to the thumbnail image 412.

  The owner information arrangement unit 374 arranges the owner information 414 in the detailed information screen 420 in association with the thumbnail image 412. The owner information arrangement unit 374 acquires the user ID as owner information 414. The content information arrangement unit 376 arranges the content information 418 in the detailed information screen 420 in association with the thumbnail image 412. The content information arrangement unit 376 acquires content information 418 from the content file 302. The time information arrangement unit 378 arranges the start time, end time, and remaining time supplied from the valid period processing unit 220 in the detailed information screen 420 in association with the thumbnail image 412. The time information arrangement unit 378 may arrange the number of reproductions in the detailed information screen 420. Note that the thumbnail image 412 is arranged at the upper center portion, and the owner information 414, the time information 416, and the content information 418 are arranged below the thumbnail image 412.

  The time information arrangement unit 378 may switch the display format of the remaining time from the day unit to the hour unit when the remaining time is less than a predetermined time, for example, less than 48 hours. When the remaining time is short, the display in units of time can increase the incentive to view the content. In addition, when the remaining time becomes less than the predetermined time, the time information arrangement unit 378 may make the display of the remaining time conspicuous by giving a color scheme different from that of other displays. You may make it stand out differently from the display.

  By viewing the detailed information screen 420, the user can confirm the start time of the valid period and the remaining time of the valid period. On the menu screens 400a and 400b, although the expiration date is shown, the start time and the remaining time are not presented. By viewing the start time, the user can confirm whether the content has already been reproduced. In particular, when the rental mark for the unreproduced content and the rental mark for the reproduced content are made the same, it is possible to know that a user other than the user has watched, for example, by presenting the start time. In addition, the user can confirm that the content should be viewed early by viewing the remaining time. In particular, when the rental mark is not changed according to the remaining time, the incentive for viewing the content can be increased by presenting the remaining time.

  When the license information of a plurality of users exists for the same content, the time information arrangement unit 378 arranges the time information 416 of each license owner on the detailed information screen 420. As described above, since the file name of the license file 304 is created using the content ID, the time information arrangement unit 378 refers to the folder specified by each user ID included in the LICENSE folder shown in FIG. Thus, the license file 304 for the same content is searched. Thereby, the time information arrangement | positioning part 378 can acquire the license file 304 of the same content which other users other than a login user hold | maintain.

  At this time, the start time deriving unit 224 derives the start time of the valid period for each license owner according to the valid period information included in the license information of each license owner or the initial processing time when the content is first played back. The end time deriving unit 226 derives the end time of the valid period for each license owner according to the valid period information included in the license information or the initial processing time when the content is first reproduced. Accordingly, the time information 416 of a plurality of license owners is arranged on the detailed information screen 420. The owner information arrangement unit 374 identifies the license owner name based on the USER_ID folder name in which the license file 304 is stored, and arranges it on the time information 416 as the owner information 414. As a result, the set of owner information 414 and time information 416 is set with the logged-in user information at the top, and a plurality of sets of other license owner information are arranged below the set. Thus, the logged-in user can recognize that a plurality of license information exists for one content, and can check whether the content can be viewed.

  When the user issues a playback instruction to the icon image 404 on the menu screen 400a or 400b, the playback instruction unit 206 issues a playback instruction for content corresponding to the icon image 404a. Upon receiving the reproduction instruction, the reproduction control unit 280 controls the content reproduction process.

  The use license specifying unit 282 determines whether the license of the user who has instructed reproduction on the icon image 404 is valid. If the license is not valid, the use license specifying unit 282 specifies a license of another valid user as a license to be used. Whether or not the license is valid is determined by whether or not the expiration date has already been reached. For example, when the icon image 404b is moved to the focus area and playback is instructed, it is determined that the license for the video content of the title “Birthday DDD” is not valid because the expiration date of the content corresponding to the icon image 404b has already passed. Is done. If there is no license information of another user corresponding to the same content, that is, if there is no other user who has downloaded this content, the usage license specifying unit 282 determines that reproduction is not possible.

  Upon receiving the reproduction instruction, the end time deriving unit 226 derives the expiration date and supplies it to the usage license specifying unit 282. The use license specifying unit 282 compares the derived expiration date with the current time to determine whether the license is valid. In the content purchase system 1, since the content downloaded by another user can be reproduced, even if the license of the other person is not valid, the content can be viewed if the license of the other person is valid. Is possible. The decode instruction unit 284 uses the license specified by the use license specifying unit 282 to instruct the decode unit 310 to decode the content. The decoding unit 310 reads the content file 302, acquires key information from the key file 306, and decodes the content file.

  Note that the use license specifying unit 282 may specify the license having the earliest expiration date among other valid licenses as the license to be used. As a result, it is possible to realize a rental service that is highly convenient for users who share the information processing apparatus 10 without accelerating the expiration date of the entire apparatus.

  When the use license specifying unit 282 specifies a license of another user as a license to be used, the confirmation screen generation unit 360 displays a confirmation screen for confirming whether the user can start content processing. It may be generated.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the confirmation screen 430. When the user issues a playback instruction to the icon image 404b, the video content of the title “Birthday DDD” can be played back using the license of another user. At this time, the user recognizes that the license of another person is used. It is possible that this is not the case. Therefore, by presenting the confirmation screen 430, the user can avoid a situation in which another person's license is used by mistake.

  The use license specifying unit 282 may specify the license that has the earliest expiration date as the license to be used, regardless of whether it is a login user license or another user license. . As a result, it is possible to realize a rental service that is highly convenient for users who share the information processing apparatus 10 without accelerating the expiration date of the entire apparatus.

  When the icon image 404b of the rental content whose expiration date has passed is instructed to be played, if there is no valid license for another user, the purchase screen generation unit 380 generates a purchase screen for the content. May be. Thereby, a user who wants to view the content can easily purchase the content again. When the use license specifying unit 282 determines that there is no license that can be used for the content instructed to be played, the purchase instruction unit (not shown) sends a “Birthday DDD” video to the content distribution server 18. A request for acquisition of a license file for content 304 is transmitted. This acquisition request includes information for identifying “Birthday DDD”. When the content distribution server 18 receives an acquisition request for the license file 304 of the “Birthday DDD” content, the content distribution server 18 generates configuration data of the content purchase screen and transmits it to the information processing apparatus 10. The purchase screen generation unit 380 receives this configuration data and generates a content purchase screen. The user can download the license file 304 by pressing a predetermined button (for example, a purchase button) on the purchase screen. At this time, the content file 302 may be downloaded together. As described above, when a user gives a reproduction instruction to rental content whose expiration date has passed, the user can purchase the content again in an easy procedure. At this time, the user may be able to select whether the purchase format is purchase or rental.

  FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of the menu screen display process. Hereinafter, a process of displaying the menu screen 400a shown in FIG. 6 will be described. When the menu screen generation instruction unit 202 issues a menu screen generation instruction, the icon image processing unit 352 searches the video content with reference to the VIDEO folder of the hard disk drive 34 and specifies the icon image 404 to be displayed (S10). ). At this time, in the license information processing unit 240, the license information acquisition unit 242 confirms the presence or absence of the license file 304 of the icon image 404 of the video content to be displayed on the menu screen 400a (S12). If the license file 304 exists, the purchase form determination unit 244 determines whether or not the content is rental content that is valid for use from the purchase form information included in the license information (S14). If the content is not rental content (N in S14), the icon image processing unit 352 determines an icon image 404 indicating the presence of the content (S20). On the other hand, if it is rental content (Y in S14), the validity period processing unit 220 derives the validity period of the rental content (S16). The rental mark determination unit 264 determines the rental mark 410 to be displayed based on the relationship between the expiration date and the current time (S18). Subsequently, the icon image processing unit 352 determines an icon image of rental content (S20). Note that the order of the rental mark determination process and the icon image determination process may be switched, or may be performed in parallel. The processes of S16 to S20 are executed for all display objects (N in S22), and when executed for all display objects (Y in S22), the icon image processing unit 352 displays a menu screen (S24). At this time, the rental mark arrangement unit 356 arranges the rental mark 410 in the vicinity of the icon image 404 of the rental content or overlapping the icon image 404.

  FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of time information derivation processing. When the license information processing unit 240 determines that the content is rental content, the valid period extraction unit 246 obtains valid period information indicating the valid period start time and valid period end time from the license information. Then, the effective period information is supplied to the effective period processing unit 220. The valid period processing unit 220 acquires valid period information (S30). The reproduction time information acquisition unit 222 confirms whether or not the first reproduction time information exists from the key file 306 corresponding to the license (S32), and if there is the first reproduction time information (Y of S32), acquires (S34). This is supplied to the start time deriving unit 224 and the end time deriving unit 226. If there is no initial playback time information (N in S32), the start time deriving unit 224 and the end time deriving unit 226 derive the start time and end time of the effective period of the content based on the effective period information (S36). ). On the other hand, when the first reproduction time information is acquired, the start time deriving unit 224 and the end time deriving unit 226 are based on the first reproduction time information and the effective period information, and the start time and the end time of the effective period of the content Are derived respectively (S36). At this time, the remaining time deriving unit 228 may derive the remaining time of the effective period.

  FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of the use license specifying process. When the user issues a playback instruction to the icon image 404 on the menu screen 400, the playback instruction unit 206 issues a playback instruction for content corresponding to the icon image 404 (S50). In response to this, the use license specifying unit 282 determines whether or not the license of the user who has instructed the icon image 404 to be reproduced is valid (S52). If the license is not valid (N in S52), another valid user It is determined whether or not a license exists (S54). If the license of the user who has instructed playback is valid (Y in S52), the user's license is specified as a license to be used for playback (S56).

  If another user does not have a valid license (N in S54), it is determined that there is no valid license for the content instructed to be played. At this time, a content purchase screen may be displayed. On the other hand, if another user has a valid license (Y in S54), the use license specifying unit 282 specifies the license as a license to be used for reproduction (S56). Note that the use license specifying unit 282 may specify the license that has the earliest expiration date among the licenses of other valid license owners as the license to be used.

  In the above, this invention was demonstrated based on the Example. This embodiment is an exemplification, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component and each processing process, and such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. .

  When the icon image 404 in the focus area is instructed to be reproduced, the confirmation screen generation unit 360 may generate a confirmation screen for inquiring whether or not the reproduction control unit 280 starts the reproduction process. . In the content purchase system 1, when reproduction is started, the expiration date is set 24 hours later. For this reason, if the content is immediately reproduced by a reproduction instruction for the icon image 404, it is not preferable in the case where it is a user's erroneous operation. Therefore, after the confirmation screen is presented and the user's consent is obtained, the decoding unit 310 may start the decoding process.

  When there are a plurality of pieces of license information for the same content, the end time deriving unit 226 may derive the latest end time. Note that the end time deriving unit 226 may derive the latest arrival time when the validity periods specified by the plurality of license information overlap each other. Since the content purchase system 1 enables viewing of content regardless of whether or not it is the content owner, the latest arrival time is derived. For example, the time information arrangement unit 358 displays an icon image (thumbnail image). By associating and including the derived end time in the menu screen, the user can determine that he / she still has enough time even if he / she does not forcibly view the content when there is no time. Further, the time information arrangement unit 378 associates the thumbnail image with the time information regarding the derived effective period in the detailed information screen, so that the user can instantly grasp the license status of the license owner including himself / herself. It becomes possible. For example, on the detailed information screen 420, by displaying time information that summarizes the validity periods of a plurality of licenses immediately below the thumbnail image 412, the user can easily grasp the validity periods derived from the plurality of licenses. become.

  For example, the license validity period of user A is 6/1 to 6/14, the license validity period of user B is 6/7 to 6/21, and the license validity period of user C is 7/1 to 7/14. . Among these effective periods, the effective periods of user A and user B overlap each other, and the effective periods of user C do not overlap. At this time, the validity period processing unit 220 may derive two validity periods.

  That is, as the first effective period, the start time deriving unit 224 derives 6/1 as the start time of the effective period, and the end time deriving unit 226 derives 6/21 as the end time of the effective period. As the second effective period, the start time deriving unit 224 derives 7/1 as the start time of the effective period, and the end time deriving unit 226 derives 7/14 as the end time of the effective period. The time information related to the two effective periods may be displayed on the detailed information screen 420 by arranging the first effective period on the upper side and the second effective period on the lower part in the area immediately below the thumbnail image 412. It is preferable that the arrangement of the time information is such that the one whose expiration date arrives earlier is the upper stage. Note that these pieces of time information may be displayed on the menu screen.

  In addition, the end time deriving unit 226 may derive the apparent expiration date in consideration of the time taken to reproduce the content. Similarly, the remaining time deriving unit 228 may derive the apparent remaining time in consideration of the time taken to reproduce the content. Specifically, the end time deriving unit 226 derives the time obtained by subtracting the content reproduction time from the end time described in the embodiment as the end time. Similarly, the remaining time deriving unit 228 derives the time obtained by subtracting the content reproduction time from the remaining time described in the embodiment as the remaining time. Thereby, the time when the content can be completely reproduced can be presented to the user, and the user can start viewing the content using the time as a guide.

It is a figure which shows the content purchase system concerning the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the functional block diagram of information processing apparatus. (A) is a figure which shows an example of the folder structure which stores the video content formed in the hard disk, (b) is a figure which shows another example of the folder structure which stores the video content formed in the hard disk. is there. It is a figure which shows an example of the folder structure which stores the license file formed in the hard disk. An internal configuration of the main controller is mainly shown. It is a figure which shows an example of the menu screen displayed on an output device. It is a time chart for demonstrating the derivation | leading-out process of an effective period. It is a figure which shows another example of the menu screen displayed on an output device. It is a figure which shows an example of the detailed information screen displayed on an output device. It is a figure which shows an example of a confirmation screen. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of a menu screen display process. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the derivation | leading-out process of time information. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of a use license specific process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Content purchase system, 10 ... Information processing apparatus, 12 ... Output device, 18 ... Content distribution server, 34 ... Hard disk drive, 40 ... Remote controller, 100 ... Main Controller 200... Instruction generation unit 202 202 Menu screen generation instruction unit 204. Detailed information screen generation instruction unit 206. Reproduction instruction unit 220. ..Reproduction time information acquisition unit, 224... Start time deriving unit, 226... End time deriving unit, 228... Remaining time deriving unit, 240. Acquisition unit, 244... Purchase form determination unit, 246... Validity period extraction unit, 260... Rental mark processing unit, 262. Rental mark determination unit, 280... Playback control unit, 282... Use license identification unit, 284... Decode instruction unit, 300... Storage device, 302. , 306 ... Key file, 310 ... Decoding unit, 320 ... Playback time writing unit, 340 ... Display processing unit, 350 ... Menu screen generation unit, 352 ... Icon image processing unit 354... Folder image processing unit 356... Rental mark arrangement unit 358... Time information arrangement unit 360 .. confirmation screen generation unit 370 .. detailed information screen generation unit 372. Thumbnail image display unit, 374 ... owner information arrangement unit, 376 ... content information arrangement unit, 378 ... time information arrangement unit, 380 ... purchase screen generation unit

Claims (7)

An information processing apparatus for processing content,
A storage device for storing content and license information of a plurality of users of the content;
A display processing unit for generating a display screen including an icon image for selecting content;
A control unit that controls processing of content corresponding to the selected icon image when the icon image is selected;
With
The controller is
It is determined whether the license of the user who has selected the icon image is valid. If the license is not valid, a use license specifying unit that specifies a license of another valid user as a license to be used;
An instruction unit for instructing processing of content using the identified license;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the use license specifying unit specifies a license having the earliest expiration date among licenses of other valid users as a license to be used.   The display processing unit generates a confirmation screen for confirming whether the content processing may be started for the user when the use license specifying unit specifies a license of another user as a license to be used. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a confirmation screen generation unit. An information processing apparatus for processing content,
A storage device for storing content and license information of a plurality of users of the content;
A display processing unit for generating a display screen including an icon image for selecting content;
A control unit that controls processing of content corresponding to the selected icon image when the icon image is selected;
With
The controller is
Among the licenses of a plurality of users, a use license specifying unit that specifies a license that expires earliest as a license to be used,
An instruction unit for instructing processing of content using the identified license;
An information processing apparatus comprising: On the computer,
A function for generating a display screen including an icon image for selecting content;
A program for realizing a function for controlling processing of content corresponding to a selected icon image when an icon image is selected,
The ability to control content processing
It is determined whether the license of the user who selected the icon image is valid. If the license is not valid, the license of another valid user is identified as the license to be used, and content processing using the identified license is instructed. A program characterized by that. On the computer,
A function for generating a display screen including an icon image for selecting content;
A program for realizing a function for controlling processing of content corresponding to a selected icon image when an icon image is selected,
The ability to control content processing
A program characterized in that a license having the earliest expiration date among multiple user licenses is specified as a license to be used, and content processing using the specified license is instructed.   A computer-readable recording medium in which the program according to claim 5 or 6 is recorded.

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