JP2010273152A - Parental control system, information recorder, and server - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a parental control system wherein a content acquired from a server on a network conforms to the parental setting of an information recorder and is displayed as intended by a content provider. <P>SOLUTION: When receiving a request message containing place information of a content, from an information recorder, a server confirms whether the place information of the content is included in a parental control object list, and if it is included, the server transmits a redirect request message containing a parental setting value request to the information recorder. Then, when receiving a request message containing parental setting value from the information recorder, the server refers to the parental control object list to search for a line where the place information of the content contained in the request message matches an object path. Then it generates a response message by reading data from a reference path of the line in which a rate matching the parental setting value is described, and transmits it to the information recorder. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a parental control system applied between an information terminal that controls display / playback of content based on parental settings and a server.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, information recording apparatuses that can store contents such as TV broadcast programs and download programs provided on the Internet on a recording medium such as a hard disk (HDD) or a Blu-ray disc (BD) and reproduce them later have been widely used. It is popular. In particular, an HDD-equipped information recording apparatus can store a large amount of various contents by taking advantage of the HDD, which is a large-capacity recording medium.

  Consumer information recording devices are designed to be easily used by everyone in the family. For example, in an information recording apparatus for consumer use, anyone who is operating a device can record a broadcast program that is currently being viewed by pressing the record button on the remote controller. On the other hand, the recorded program can be played back by anyone by giving a playback instruction on the playback application.

  However, depending on the content, there may be cases where violent scenes or romance scenes that are undesirable for children to watch are included. For such contents, viewing age restriction information such as “for 12 years and over” and “for adults” is transmitted through broadcast signals and meta information. There is also an information recording apparatus provided with a “parental control function” for preventing children from viewing inappropriate content by using such viewing age restriction information indicating viewing restrictions according to age.

  Hereinafter, a conventional information recording apparatus 100 having a parental control function will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, the connection relationship between the configuration of the conventional information recording apparatus 100 and the server 200 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship between a configuration of a conventional information recording apparatus and a server.

  In FIG. 16, an information recording apparatus 100 includes a control unit 110 configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that controls and operates hardware and software programs, a communication unit 120 such as an Ethernet (registered trademark) interface terminal, software, and the like. Program storage unit 130 composed of ROM (Read-Only Memory) and FLASH-RAM (Random Access memory) that store programs, etc., and content data and content management files, HDD, nonvolatile memory, etc. Storage unit 140.

  The information recording apparatus 100 is connected to a network via the communication unit 120 and communicates with a server 200 that provides content such as a download program and a Web page. As shown in FIG. 17, the program storage unit 130 includes a browser application 131 that acquires and displays content from the server 200, and a reproduction application 132 program that can display and operate information stored in the storage unit 140. Codes are stored and read from the control unit 110 and executed as necessary. FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing the relationship between the browser application 131 and the reproduction application 132 in the program storage unit 130 of the information recording apparatus 100 and other functional blocks. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a playback application screen 133 that is output to a monitor or the like when the playback application 132 is executed.

  The storage unit 140 includes a recording medium, a content file 141 such as broadcast program data and download program data, a content list 142 that manages the content file 141, and parental setting information 143 that stores various parameters of parental settings. Accumulate.

  Next, the content list 142 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a content list.

  In FIG. 19, the column “content ID” indicates an identifier for uniquely identifying each content within the information recording apparatus 100. The column “Recording Date / Time” indicates the date and time when the program was recorded. The column “ch” indicates a channel number on which the content is broadcast. The column “content name” indicates a content name acquired from EPG (Electronic Program Guide) or program information attached to program data. The column “viewing restriction” indicates the age value of the viewing age restriction set for the content. In the example shown in FIG. 19, the viewing age limit of “12 years or older” is set for the content with the content ID (IDentification) 00001, and the viewing age limit of “18 years or older” is set for the content with the content ID 00001. Yes. The content whose viewing age limit is “0” (the content whose content ID is “00002” in FIG. 19) indicates that the viewing age limit is not set. The column “file path” indicates a file path in which the content file 141 in which the content data is recorded is accumulated.

  Next, the parental setting information 143 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of parental setting information.

  20, the parental setting field 160 indicates whether or not the parental control function is enabled in the information recording apparatus 100. If the value of the parental setting field 160 is “present”, it indicates that the parental control function is valid. The set age field 161 stores an upper limit age that is not restricted by the parental control function. The cancellation code field 162 stores a password for canceling the parental control function.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 20, the value of the parental setting field 160 is set to “present”, the value of the age setting field 161 is set to “12”, and the value of the release code field 162 is set to “2345”. In this case, the parental control function works for content whose viewing age restriction is “13 years old or older”, and the content cannot be played unless the release code “2345” is input.

  Next, a processing flow of the parental control function in the information recording apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the information recording apparatus when a user gives a reproduction instruction to content for which viewing age restriction is set on the reproduction application screen. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display when the cursor is placed on content in which the content name is set to “Midnight Channel” and the viewing age limit is set to “18 years old or older” on the playback application screen. FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of a playback application screen when input of a release code is requested. Here, it is assumed that a parent of a child has set a set age and a release code for the information recording apparatus 100 in advance (hereinafter referred to as parental setting).

  In FIG. 21, first, referring to the content list, it is determined whether or not the viewing age limit is set for the reproduction target content (S211).

  If the viewing age limit has not been set (NO in step S211), the process proceeds to step S216 to start reproduction of the target content, and if the viewing age limit has been set (YES in step S211) ) Reads the value of the set age field 161 of the parental setting information 143 in the information recording apparatus 100 (S212), and compares the value of the set age field 161 with the viewing age limit value of the playback target content (S213).

  If the value of the set age field 161 exceeds the value of the viewing age limit (in the case of NO in step S213), the process proceeds to step S216 to start playback of the target content, and the value of the set age field 161 is the viewing age. If it is below the limit value (YES in step S213), the user (viewer) is requested to input a release code (S214). It is checked whether or not the cancellation code input from the user in response to the cancellation code input request matches the cancellation code 162 stored as parental setting information in the storage unit 140 (S215).

  If the match of the release code is confirmed in step S215 (YES in step S215), the reproduction of the target content is started (S216), and the match of the release code is not confirmed (NO in step S215). ) Makes it impossible to reproduce the target content (S217), and terminates the process.

  As described above, if the set age value is lower than the viewing age limit value, the content starts playing only when the correct release code is entered. Can be prevented from watching.

  In a specific example, as shown in FIG. 22, when the cursor is placed on content in which the content name is set to “Midnight Channel” and the viewing age limit is set to “18 years old or older” on the playback application screen 133, When the value of the set age field 161 is set to “12”, the information recording apparatus 100 displays a release code input box and requests the user to input the release code as shown in FIG.

  Since the content name itself may include inappropriate content, depending on the information recording apparatus 100, the content name subject to viewing age restriction is displayed on the playback application screen 133 until a correct release code is input once. Sometimes not. In this case, the presence of viewing-restricted content can be confirmed by inputting a cancellation code from a menu for canceling parental settings.

  Next, the flow of processing in the information recording apparatus 100 until the parental control target content is displayed on the playback application screen 133 after the release code is input will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the information recording apparatus until the parental control target content is displayed on the playback application screen after the release code is input. Here, it is assumed that a parent of a child has set parental settings, that is, a set age and a release code, in the information recording apparatus 100 in advance.

  In FIG. 24, when the user presses the menu button on the remote controller and selects a parental cancellation menu (not shown) from the menu list while the playback application screen 133 is displayed, the information recording apparatus 100 requests input of a cancellation code ( S241).

  When the user inputs the release code in response to the release code input request from the information recording device 100, the information storage device 100 matches the release code input by the user with the value stored in the release code field 162. It is confirmed whether or not to perform (S242).

  In step S242, if the release codes do not match (NO in step S242), the process is terminated without displaying the viewing age-restricted content (viewing age restriction target content), and the release code is If they match (YES in step S242), the viewing age restriction target content is displayed on the playback application screen 133 (S243), and the process is terminated.

  25 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display of the playback application screen 133 before inputting the release code, and FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display of the playback application screen 133 when the input of the release code is requested. FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an example of the display of the playback application screen 133 when a correct release code is input, that is, when the release code matches in step S242.

  On the other hand, there is a case where viewing age restrictions are set also for contents of package media such as DVD-ROM and BD-ROM, and when the information recording apparatus 100 tries to reproduce the contents for which these viewing age restrictions are set. The parental control function also works. Specifically, viewing age restriction information is recorded along with content data such as video and audio on the media, and the information recording apparatus 100 reads the viewing age restriction information during reproduction and determines whether or not reproduction is possible. That is, when the user tries to play back the content for which the viewing age limit is set to “13 years or older” with the information recording device 100 in which the value of the set age field 161 is set to “12”, the information recording device 100 is requested to input a release code.

  As described above, the parental control function is set so that the viewing age limit is set for the content to be viewed or reproduced, and the parental control function of the information recording apparatus 100 that intends to view or reproduce the content is enabled. The information recording apparatus 100 operates.

  Also, depending on recent content and package media, it is possible to download and view additional content via the Internet, separately from the main content recorded on the content itself or the media, or to a web page related to the content A function to access and acquire related information may be enclosed. Such content is mainly processed by the browser application 131 shown in FIG.

  The processing flow until the browser application 131 acquires content from the server 200 shown in FIG. 16 and displays it on the screen will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when the browser application in the program storage unit of the conventional information recording apparatus acquires content from the server.

  28, the browser application 131 transmits a request message including content location information on the server 200 to the server 200 via the communication unit 120 (S281). The server 200 refers to the location information (URL) included in the request message received from the browser application 131, generates a response message including the corresponding content in the message body, and generates the generated response message as the information recording device 100. Send to.

  The browser application 131 of the information recording apparatus 100 receives the response message transmitted by the server 200 via the communication unit 120 (S282), analyzes the received response message, and displays the content content on the screen ( S283).

  A general Web page is displayed by mixing multiple contents such as texts and images, so if you try to operate the parental control function with such contents, you will not be able to Viewing age restriction information must be given without omission and processed on the information recording apparatus 100 side. Further, since the information recording device 100 checks and processes the viewing age restriction information for each content, the processing resources of the information recording device 100 are consumed as the content constituting the Web page increases.

  In this way, when there are many contents constituting a Web page, there is no problem because a filtering process for each content is realized in a personal computer or the like with abundant CPU resources. However, in the information recording apparatus 100 that is an embedded device, There are cases where CPU resources are limited. In such a case, there is a problem that processing for displaying a Web page takes time or other processing cannot be performed.

  On the other hand, when a part of the content constituting the Web page is filtered by the parental control function, there is a problem that the page is displayed with a page configuration not intended by the content provider.

  As a method for solving the above problems, in Patent Document 1, location information (URLs) of a plurality of related information access destinations according to viewing age restrictions in parental settings are recorded on a medium, and contents are being reproduced. A method of applying a parental control function to related information by determining an access destination with reference to a set age value when access to the related information is selected is disclosed.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, user registration with parental setting information is performed at the first access to the server, and thereafter, the server is accessed with user information, and based on the parental setting information on the server side. A method for performing access control is disclosed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-226840 JP-T-2006-501714

  However, in the conventional method disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to prepare location information of an access destination for each set age, and it is necessary to notify the information recording apparatus 100 of the location information in advance. There is. For this reason, there is a problem that the viewing age limit of the access destination content cannot be changed later. In addition, there is a problem that it cannot be followed when the parental setting age or content viewing age restriction category is updated in accordance with the standard.

  In addition, in the conventional method disclosed in Patent Document 2, user registration is required for each server. However, since there are many servers that provide content, the user changes each time the server that provides desired content changes. There is a problem that it takes time and effort to register parental setting information. In addition, when the setting age of the viewing age limit is changed in the information recording apparatus 100, in order to apply the parental control function based on the set age to the content provided from the server, the parental setting registered once for each server There is also a problem that it takes time and effort to update information.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and when displaying content acquired from a server on a network or a Web page, parental processing is performed without increasing the consumption of processing resources of the information recording apparatus 100. Settings can be adapted, and parental settings applied content and web pages can be adjusted to display as intended by their providers, and prior user registration is not required It is an object to provide a parental control system, an information recording apparatus, and a server.

  In order to achieve the above object, the parental control system of the first invention of the present application displays / displays content in its own device based on parental setting information including parental setting values representing viewing restrictions according to age. A parental control system comprising an information recording device for controlling reproduction and at least one server communicating with the information recording device via a network, the information recording device holding the parental setting information Parental setting information holding means, first request transmission means for transmitting a request message (first request message) of the desired content including location information of the desired content to the server, and the first request Receiving a first response message sent from the server in response to the message, The parental setting value request determining means for determining whether or not the parental setting value request is included in the response message, and the parental setting value request determining means includes the parental setting value request. Is determined, the request message of the desired content (second request message) is included in the first response message together with the parental setting information read from the parental setting information holding unit. The second request transmission means for transmitting to the server that is the redirect destination and the second response message that is transmitted corresponding to the second request message from the server that is the redirect destination, and received Play and display data contained in the second response message A parental control target list holding a parental control target list in which a list of contents subject to parental control for controlling viewing restrictions based on the parental setting information is stored. And the first request message transmitted from the information recording device, and whether or not the desired content included in the received first request message is a parental control target. A control object confirmation unit for confirming based on a rental control object list; and when the desired content is confirmed to be a parental control object in the control object confirmation unit, The parental setting value request together with the redirect destination information of the content is sent to the first response message. If the second request message is received and the first response transmitting means that transmits the desired content, the desired content is parented based on the parental setting information included in the received second request message. Parental control applying means for converting into controlled content, and second response transmitting means for transmitting the parental controlled content as the second response message are provided. .

  Further, the parental control system of the second invention of the present application is the parental control system of the first invention of the present application, wherein the information recording device can be operated from at least one remote operation device, The parental setting information holding means further holds parental setting information including parental setting values set for each remote control device that can be specified, and the parental setting value request is received from the server. If there is, the parental setting information including the parental setting value set for each remote control device is transmitted.

  The parental control system of the third invention of the present application is the parental control system of the first or second invention of the present application, wherein the information recording device holds a parental setting response permission list in which server information is described. Only when the server (a) that has transmitted the request for the parental setting value is described in the parental setting response permission list, the server (a) The parental set value information is transmitted.

  The parental control system according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the parental control system according to the second aspect of the present invention, wherein the remote control device is a remote controller or the network or a network other than the network. It is a network terminal capable of operating the information recording apparatus.

  An information recording apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is an information recording apparatus constituting the parental control system according to the first aspect of the present invention, comprising parental setting information holding means for holding the parental setting information; First request transmission means for transmitting a request message (first request message) of the desired content including location information of the desired content to the server, and from the server corresponding to the first request message A parental set value request determining means for receiving a first response message to be transmitted and determining whether or not the request for the parental set value is included in the first response message; and the parental set value If the request determination means determines that the request for the parental setting value is included, the parental A request message (second request message) of the desired content together with the parental setting information read from the fixed information holding means is transmitted to the server that is the redirect destination included in the first response message. The second response message transmitted in response to the second request message from the request transmission unit 2 and the server that is the redirect destination, and the data included in the received second response message is received. And a reproducing means for reproducing and displaying.

  An information recording apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the information recording apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, wherein the information recording apparatus can receive an operation from at least one remote control device, and the parental setting information holding means Further holds parental setting information including parental setting values set for each remote control device that can be specified, and when there is a request for the parental setting values from the server, The parental setting information set for each remote operation device is transmitted.

  The information recording device of the seventh invention of the present application is the information recording device of the fifth or sixth invention of the present application, further comprising server information holding means for holding a parental setting response permission list in which server information is described. The parental setting information is transmitted to the server (a) only when the server (a) that has transmitted the request for the parental setting value is described in the parental setting response permission list. It is characterized by doing.

  The server of the eighth invention of the present application is a server constituting the parental control system of the first invention of the present application, and is a parental control target for controlling viewing restrictions based on the parental setting information. A parental control target list holding means for holding a parental control target list describing a list of contents, and the first request message transmitted from the information recording device are received, and the received first request message Control target confirmation means for confirming whether or not the desired content included is a parental control target based on the parental control target list, and the desired content is a parental control target in the control target confirmation means. If it is confirmed that there is, the redirect of the desired content to the information recording device When receiving the second response message and the first response transmission means for transmitting the parental set value request together with the information as the first response message, it is included in the received second request message. Based on the parental setting information, parental control applying means for converting the desired content into parental controlled content, and second response transmission for transmitting the parental controlled content as the second response message And means.

  According to the parental control system of the present invention, the content reflecting the parental settings of the information recording apparatus can be displayed as intended by the content provider without user registration for each server.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the parental control system in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The block diagram which showed the relationship between the structure of the program storage part in Embodiment 1 of this invention, and another functional block The figure which shows an example of the parental control object list in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the information recording device in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the message which the information recording device in Embodiment 1 of this invention transmits to a server. The figure which shows an example of the message which the information recording device in Embodiment 1 of this invention receives from a server. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the server in Embodiment 1 of this invention. (A) The figure which shows an example of the data of "/list/recommend1.dat" which the server in Embodiment 1 of this invention refers, (b) "/ list / which the server in Embodiment 1 of this invention refers to The figure which shows an example of the data of "recommend2.dat" (A) The figure which shows an example of the data display of "/img/banner.cgi?rate=preschool" which the server in Embodiment 1 of this invention refers, (b) The server in Embodiment 1 of this invention refers The figure which shows an example of the data display of "/img/banner.cgi?rate=platen" to do, (c) "/img/banner.cgi?rate=tenen" which the server in Embodiment 1 of this invention refers to Figure showing an example of data display (A) The figure which shows an example of the content displayed on a browser etc. when the information recording device in which "12" was set to the age setting field in Embodiment 1 of this invention accessed "/list/recommend.html" (B) An example of the screen display of the browser application when the information recording device in which “13” is set in the age setting field in Embodiment 1 of the present invention accesses “/list/recommend.html” of the server Illustration The figure which shows an example of the display screen of a browser application when the input of the cancellation | release code in Embodiment 1 of this invention is requested | required The block diagram which shows the structure of the parental control system in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the parental setting information list which the parental setting information in the memory | storage part of the information recording device in Embodiment 2 of this invention hold | maintains. The block diagram which showed the relationship between the structure of the program memory | storage part in Embodiment 2 of this invention, and another functional block The flowchart which shows the flow of a process when the information recording device in Embodiment 2 of this invention acquires a parental control object content from a server with the operation signal from a remote control apparatus. The block diagram which shows the connection relationship between the structure of the conventional information recording device, and a server The block diagram which showed the relationship between the browser application and reproduction | regeneration application, and other functional blocks in the program storage part of the conventional information recording device The figure which shows an example of the reproduction | regeneration application screen output to a monitor etc. when the reproduction | regeneration application is performed in the conventional information recording device. The figure which shows an example of the content list in the conventional information recording device The figure which shows an example of the parental setting information in the conventional information recording device The flowchart which shows the flow of a process in the conventional information recording device when the reproduction | regeneration instruction | indication is made from the user with respect to the content in which viewing age restrictions were set on the reproduction | regeneration application screen. The figure which shows an example of a screen display when a cursor hits the content with the content name set to “Midnight Channel” and the viewing age limit set to “18 years old or older” on the conventional playback application screen The figure which shows an example of the display of the conventional reproduction | regeneration application screen when the input of cancellation | release code is requested | required Flowchart showing the flow of processing in the conventional information recording apparatus until the parental control target content is displayed on the playback application screen after the release code is input The figure which shows an example of the display of the playback application screen before inputting the release code The figure which shows an example of the display of the reproduction | regeneration application screen when the input of cancellation | release code is requested | required The figure which shows an example of the display of the reproduction application screen when the correct release code is inputted The flowchart which shows the flow of a process in case the browser application in the program storage part of the conventional information recording device acquires a content from a server.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a parental control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the parental control system includes an information recording apparatus 500 and at least one server 600 connected to each other via a network.

  The configuration of the information recording apparatus 500 is basically the same as that of the conventional information recording apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 16, and the same components as those of the information recording apparatus 100 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Description is omitted.

  1, the information recording apparatus 500 includes a control unit 110, a communication unit 120, a program storage unit 530, and a storage unit 140 including parental setting information holding means described in the claims. A content file 141, a content list 142, parental setting information 143, and the like are stored.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the program storage unit 530 stores program codes for a browser application 531 that acquires and displays content from the server 600 and a playback application 132.

  The browser application 531 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention has the same function as the conventional browser application 131 shown in FIG. 17 and further has a function of responding to a parental setting information request from the server 600. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the relationship between the configuration of the program storage unit and other functional blocks in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  The server 600 has a function similar to that of the conventional server 200 shown in FIG. 16, and further, a parental control target list 610 describing a list of contents to be restricted for viewing age is stored in a parental control target list holding unit (not shown). Z). FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the parental control target list in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 3, the column “target path” 611 represents position information of the content to which the viewing age restriction is applied, the column “rate” 612 represents the target age of the viewing age restriction, and the column “reference path” 613 , Represents the position information of the content to be referred to when matching the target age in the column of “Rate” 612.

Next, using FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, the process of the information recording apparatus 500 when the browser application 531 in the program storage unit 530 acquires and displays the parental control target content from the server 600 (process S ₁ ). The procedure of will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the information recording apparatus in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 4, first, the browser application 531 of the information recording apparatus 500 sends a request message R1 (first request message described in claims) including the location information URL1 of the content to be acquired (desired content) to the communication unit. It transmits to the server 600 via 120 (S41).

  Note that the first request transmission means described in the claims includes a control unit 110, a browser application 531 and a communication unit 120, and transmits a first request message R1 to the server 600.

  Next, the parental set value request discriminating means (not shown) receives a response message (first response message described in claims) transmitted from the server 600 in response to the request message R1, The type of the received response message is confirmed (S42).

  Note that the parental set value request determination means described in the claims comprises a control unit 110 and a browser application 531.

  When it is determined in step S42 that the response message received from the server 600 is the redirect request message R2 including the redirect destination location information URL2 and the parental setting value request (in the case of “(a)” in step S42) The browser application 531 sends a request message R3 (second request message described in claims) containing the value read from the set age field 161 shown in FIG. A (may be the server 600 or a server other than the server 600) (S43).

  The second request transmission means described in the claims is composed of the control unit 110, the browser application 531 and the communication unit 120, and transmits the second request message R3 to the server A.

  Thereafter, the browser application 531 interprets the message body included in the response message R4 received from the redirect-destination server A, and the content is reproduced by the reproduction unit 540 and / or the storage unit corresponding to the reproduction unit described in the claims. The data is output to 140 for reproduction / display and / or storage (S45).

  Note that the information recording apparatus 500 is not necessarily provided with the reproducing unit 540 and may be provided outside.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S42 that the response message received from the server 600 is a redirect request message that does not include a parental setting value request (in the case of “(I)” in step S42), the browser application 531 The parental setting value is not transmitted to the redirect-destination server A. That is, when the browser application 531 receives the redirect request message R5 that does not include the parental setting request only from the location information URL2 of the redirect destination from the server 600, the browser application 531 sends the request message R6 that does not include the parental setting value to the communication unit 120. To the redirect destination server A (S44). When the message received from the redirect destination server A in response to the request message R6 is a normal response message R4, the browser application 531 interprets the message body, and the content is reproduced by the reproduction unit 540 and / or the storage unit. The data is output to 140 for reproduction / display and / or storage (S45).

  Furthermore, when the response message received from the server 600 is not a redirect request message in step S42 (in the case of “other than (a) and (b)” in step S42), the browser application 531 has received from the server 600. The message body is interpreted, and the content is output to the reproduction unit 540 and / or the storage unit 140 for reproduction / display and / or storage (S46).

  Here, the messages R1 to R5 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message transmitted to the server by the information recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram received from the server by the information recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the message to do.

  FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating an example of a request message R1 transmitted from the information recording apparatus 500 to the server 600, and “/list/recommend.html” represents the content location information URL1.

  FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an example of a redirect request message R2 sent back from the server 600 to the information recording apparatus 500. “X-Request-Parental:” indicates a parental setting value request. The character string after “Location:” indicates the location information URL 2 of the redirect destination.

  FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating an example of a request message R3 that includes a parental setting value that the information recording apparatus 500 transmits to the server A that is the redirect destination, and “X-Parental:” and thereafter. Is the value of the age restriction field 161 (see FIG. 20) set in the information recording apparatus 500.

  FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating an example of a response message R4 that the information recording apparatus 500 receives from the server A as a redirect destination.

  FIG. 6C is a diagram showing an example of a redirect request message R5 sent back from the server 600 to the information recording apparatus 500, except that the parental setting value request is not included. ).

  FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating an example of a request message R6 including a parental setting value that the information recording apparatus 500 transmits to the redirect destination server A.

Next, the flow of the process (process S ₂ ) of the server 600 when the parental control target content is requested from the information recording apparatus 500 will be described using FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 with reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. To do. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the server in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 7, when a request message R7 including content location information arrives from the information recording device 500, the control target confirmation means (not shown) of the server 600 confirms the access page (S71), and the parental control target It is confirmed whether or not the parental control target list 610 held in the list holding means (not shown) includes the location information of the content (S72).

  In step S72, when the control object confirmation unit (not shown) confirms that the location information of the content is included in the parental control object list 610 (YES in step S72), the server 600 It is confirmed whether or not the parental setting value of the information recording apparatus 500 has been acquired (S73), and when it is confirmed that the location information of the content is not included in the parental control target list 610 (NO in step S72) In the case of), the process is terminated.

  If it is confirmed in step S73 that the parental setting value has not been acquired (NO in step S73), the first response transmission means described in the claims sends the information recording apparatus 500 Then, a redirect request message (first response message) R8 including a parental set value request is transmitted (S74).

  Thereafter, when the server 600 receives a request message (second request message) R9 including a parental setting value from the information recording device 500 (S75), the parental control application means (not shown) The list 610 is referenced to search for a line where the content location information included in the request message R9 matches the target path 611 (see FIG. 3) in the parental control target list 610, and further matches the parental setting value. Data is read from the reference path 613 in the row describing the rate 612, and a response message R10 is generated (S76).

  On the other hand, when it is confirmed that the parental set value has been acquired (YES in step S73), the response message R10 is generated in the same manner (S76).

When the second response transmission means (not shown) of the server 600 generates the response message R10, the generated response message (second response message) R10 is transmitted to the information recording apparatus 500. If the generated response message R10 includes location information URL4 of another content, the request message R11 including the location information URL4 of the content may arrive at the server 600 from the information recording device 500. However, in that case, the server 600 recursively executes the process S ₂ in the server 600.

Hereinafter, a specific example of a process S _2. For example, when the server 600 receives a request message including the location information of “/list/recommend.html” as shown in FIG. 5A, the server 600, as shown in FIG. Then, a redirect request message including the parental set value request and specifying “/list/recommend.html” as the redirect destination is transmitted to the information recording apparatus 500.

  When the request message whose parental setting value is “12” as shown in FIG. 5B is received from the information recording apparatus 500, the server 600 includes “12” in the rate column 612 shown in FIG. A response message using the data in the row reference path 613 “/list/recommend1.dat” as a message body is generated and transmitted to the information recording apparatus 500.

  (A) of FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of data of “/list/recommend1.dat”. The data of “/list/recommend1.dat” includes “/ img / banner” using <img> tag. Reference to ".jpg" is included. Therefore, the information recording apparatus 500 that has received the data “/list/recommend1.dat” as response data further transmits a request message including the location information “/img/banner.jpg” to the server 600.

Since the location information of “/img/banner.jpg” is included in the parental control target list, the server 600 recursively executes the process S ₂ and sends a response message in which matching data is embedded as a response body. It transmits to the information recording device 500. In this specific example, data of “/img/banner.cgi?rate=preteen” is transmitted to the information recording apparatus 500.

  FIG. 9B is a diagram showing an example of data display of “/img/banner.cgi?rate=platen”. FIG. 10A shows “12” in the age setting field 161 shown in FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of content displayed on a browser or the like when the information recording apparatus 500 in which “is set” accesses “/list/recommend.html”. FIG.

  On the other hand, when the information recording device 500 in which “13” is set in the age setting field 161 accesses “/list/recommend.html”, the server 600 sends the data “/list/recommend2.dat” to the response body. Response data included in is sent. For a request message including location information of “/img/banner.jpg”, data of “/img/banner.cgi?rate=tenen” is transmitted.

  8B is a diagram showing an example of data of “/list/recommend2.dat”, and FIG. 9C is an example of data display of “/img/banner.cgi?rate=ten”. In the case of FIG. 10, the content displayed by the browser application 531 (see FIG. 2) of the information recording apparatus 500 is as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating an example of data display of “/img/banner.cgi?rate=preschool”.

  According to the above configuration, when the parental control target content is accessed, the server 600 transmits the parental setting value request together with the redirect destination information to the information recording apparatus 500, and the parental setting value request The information recording device 500 that has received the message transmits the parental setting value to the redirect destination server A (the server 600 or a server other than the server 600) (if there is no request for the parental setting value from the server 600) The redirected server A that has received the parental setting value generates content based on the parental setting value and transmits it to the information recording apparatus 500 without user registration for each server. The content reflecting the parental setting of the information recording apparatus 500 is transmitted as intended by the content provider. It can be displayed.

  The information recording apparatus 500 includes server information holding means (not shown) that holds a parental setting response permission list in which server information is described. The parental setting value may be transmitted only when it is described in the parental setting response permission list. In general, as the value of the set age field 161, the age of a child of a household who uses the information recording apparatus 500 is set, so that the parental set value itself may be recognized as personal information. By limiting the servers that transmit the parental setting values, the parental setting values of the information recording device 500 may be inadvertently transmitted to a server of a business operator that has not been agreed as a provider of personal information. Can be prevented.

  The communication between the information recording device 500 and the server A may be encrypted. By encrypting, it is possible to prevent the parental setting of the information recording apparatus 500 from leaking outside on the communication path.

Further, when the server 600 recursively executes the process S ₂ , the server 600 has already obtained the parental setting value from the information recording device 500, and therefore requests the parental setting value from the information recording device 500 each time. It is not necessary to do. Thus, by not performing the parental set value request each time, it is possible to reduce the communication message amount and the processing time of both the information recording apparatus 500 and the server 600.

Also, in the process S ₁ , when a correct release code has been input once in the information recording device 500, the information recording device 500 sends an empty parental setting value to the server 600 in response to the parental setting value request. You may reply by including it in the response message. For example, a response message having no value after “Parental:” shown in FIG. 5B may be returned. In addition, when the server 600 receives a request message including an empty parental setting value from the information recording apparatus 500 in the process S ₂ , the reference path 613 (see FIG. 3) of the line with the highest rate is returned as a response. It may be generated as data. Thus, when a user other than the parental control target user uses the information recording apparatus 500, the server 600 can transmit the intended content to the user.

In processing S ₁ , when a parental setting value request is received from the server 600, the information recording apparatus 500 may request the user to input a release code. When a correct release code is input from the user, a response message including an empty parental setting value is transmitted to the server 600. In addition, in the process S _2, if the server 600 receives a request message including the empty parental setting value, the reference path of the most rate row, it may be generated as a response data. Thus, when a user other than the parental control target user uses the information recording apparatus 500, the server 600 can transmit the intended content to the user. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the browser application 531 (see FIG. 2) when requesting the input of the release code.

In step S ₂ , if there is no rate that matches the parental setting value transmitted from the information recording apparatus 500, the server 600 generates response data from the reference path 613 (see FIG. 3) of the row with the lowest rate. You may do it. By doing so, it is possible to display content even in the case of rate mismatch.

In the process S ₂ , when the parental setting value is not transmitted from the information recording apparatus 500, the server 600 may generate response data from the reference path 613 (see FIG. 3) of the row with the lowest rate. good. In this way, content can be displayed even when the information recording apparatus 500 does not have a function of transmitting parental setting values.

In the process S ₂ , a line in which the rate 612 is set to empty or 0 may be provided in the parental control target list 610 of the server 600. If there is no rate that matches the parental setting value transmitted from the information recording apparatus 500, the response data is generated from the reference path 613 in the row where the rate is empty or set to 0, so that even if the rate does not match, the content Can be displayed.

  Even when the parental setting value is not transmitted from the information recording apparatus 500, the information recording apparatus 500 generates the parental setting by generating response data from the reference path 613 of the row where the rate 612 is empty or set to zero. Even when the function for transmitting the value is not provided, the content can be displayed.

(Embodiment 2)
The configuration of the parental control system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the parental control system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The same components as those of the parental control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted here.

  12, in the parental setting information 743 in the storage unit 740 of the information recording device 700, in addition to the information held by the parental setting information 143 in the storage unit 140 of the information recording device 500 shown in FIG. Each parental setting information list is retained. In addition, the information recording apparatus 700 has a function of performing processing in response to an operation signal such as an infrared ray, a radio, a network packet, or the like received from a remote operation device α (not shown) such as a remote controller or a network device.

  A unique unique ID is set at least from the information recording device 700 in the remote operation device α (not shown), and an operation signal transmitted from the remote operation device α (not shown) to the information recording device 700 is included in the remote operation device α (not shown). , An identification number associated with the unique ID is included. The information recording apparatus 700 recognizes from which remote operation device α the operation signal is received based on the identification number included in the received operation signal.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a parental setting information list held by the parental setting information 743 in the storage unit 740 of the information recording apparatus in Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In addition to the information held by the parental setting information 143 in the storage unit 140 of the information recording device 500, an identification number field 763 storing an identification number of the remote control device α (not shown) is added.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 14, the program storage unit 730 stores program codes of a browser application 731 and a playback application 132 that acquire and display content from the server 600. The browser application 731 according to the second embodiment of the present invention has the same function as the browser application 531 according to the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, and further includes a remote control device α (see FIG. (Not shown) has a function of responding to operation signals such as infrared, wireless, and network packets. FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing the relationship between the configuration of the program storage unit and other functional blocks in the second embodiment of the present invention.

Next, referring to FIG. 15, the information recording apparatus 700 performs processing when the information recording apparatus 700 acquires the parental control target content from the server 600 by an operation signal from the remote operation device α (not shown). The flow of (Processing S ₃ ) will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when the information recording apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention acquires parental control target content from a server by an operation signal from a remote operation device.

  In FIG. 15, first, when the information recording apparatus 700 receives a content acquisition instruction from a remote operation device α (not shown), the browser application 731 shown in FIG. 14 receives a request message R21 including the location information URL1 of the content to be acquired. Is transmitted to the server 600 via the communication unit 120 (S151).

  It is determined whether or not the response message corresponding to the request message R21 received from the server 600 is a redirect request message including a parental setting value request (S152), and the redirect destination location information URL2 and the parental setting value request are received. When it is determined that the redirect request message R22 is included (in the case of “(a)” in step S152), the browser application 731 of the program storage unit 730 recognizes the recognition number sent from the remote control device α (not shown). And the parental setting information 743 that matches the value of the recognition number field 763 of the parental setting information 743 (S153), and a request message R23 including the value read from the setting age field 161 of the parental setting information 743 is sent. , Via the communication unit 120 Irekuto destination server B (to some cases of the server 600, in some cases a server other than the server 600) to the (S154).

  Thereafter, the browser application 731 interprets the message body included in the response message R24 received from the redirect destination server B, and displays the content on the playback unit 540 or outputs it to the remote control device α (not shown). (S156).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S152 that the message is not a redirect request message including a parental setting value request (in the case of “(A)” in step S152), the browser application 731 requests a request message R25 that does not include a parental setting value. Is transmitted to the redirect destination server B via the communication unit 120 (S155). Thereafter, the browser application 731 interprets the message body included in the response message R26 corresponding to the request message R25 received from the redirect destination server B, and displays the content on the playback unit 540 or the remote operation device α ( (S156).

  Furthermore, in step S152, when the response message received from server 600 is not a redirect request message (in the case of “other than (a) and (b)” in step S152), browser application 731 has received from server 600. The message body is interpreted, and the content is displayed on the playback unit 540 or output to the remote control device α (not shown) (S156).

  According to the configuration as described above, in the information recording apparatus 700 that can set parental setting information for each remote operation device α, the parental setting for each remote operation device α is reflected in advance without user registration for each server B. The displayed content can be displayed and reproduced as intended by the content provider.

  The parental setting information 743 may be held on the remote operation device α side instead of being held in the information recording apparatus 700. In this case, the value of the set age field 161 (see FIG. 13) is included in the operation signal transmitted from the remote operation device α. When receiving an operation signal from the remote operation device α, the information recording apparatus 700 stores the value of the set age field 161 and transmits it to the server 600 as necessary.

  The parental control system according to the present invention can display the content reflecting the parental settings of the information recording apparatus as intended by the content provider without user registration for each server. It is useful as a parental control system or the like applied between an information recording device that displays and reproduces content based on the server and a server.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Information recording device 110 Control part 120 Communication part 130 Program memory | storage part 131 Browser application 132 Reproduction application 133 Reproduction application screen 140 Storage part 141 Content file 142 Content list 143 Parental setting information 160 Parental setting field 161 Setting age field 162 Release code Field 200 Server 500 Information recording device 530 Program storage unit 531 Browser application 540 Playback unit 600 Server 610 Parental control target list 611 Target path 612 Rate 613 Reference path 700 Information recording device 730 Program storage unit 731 Browser application 743 Parental setting information 763 Identification number field

Claims (8)

An information recording device that controls display / playback of content in the device based on parental setting information including parental setting values representing viewing restrictions according to age, and at least communicates with the information recording device via a network A parental control system composed of one server,
The information recording device includes:
Parental setting information holding means for holding the parental setting information;
First request transmission means for transmitting a request message (first request message) of the desired content including the location information of the desired content to the server;
A first response message transmitted from the server in response to the first request message is received, and a parameter for determining whether or not the request for the parental setting value is included in the first response message. Rental setting value request discrimination means,
When the parental setting value request determination unit determines that the request for the parental setting value is included, the request for the desired content is transmitted together with the parental setting information read from the parental setting information holding unit. Second request transmission means for transmitting a message (second request message) to a server that is a redirect destination included in the first response message;
Reproducing means for receiving a second response message transmitted in response to the second request message from the server that is the redirect destination, and reproducing / displaying data included in the received second response message; ,
With
The server
Parental control target list holding means for holding a parental control target list describing a list of contents subject to parental control for controlling viewing restrictions based on the parental setting information;
The first request message transmitted from the information recording device is received, and whether or not the desired content included in the received first request message is the parental control target is determined by the parental control target. Control target confirmation means for confirming based on the list,
When the control object confirmation unit confirms that the desired content is a parental control object, a request for a parental setting value is sent to the information recording apparatus together with the redirect destination information of the desired content. First response transmission means for transmitting as a first response message;
Parental control applying means for converting the desired content into parental controlled content based on the parental setting information included in the received second request message when the second request message is received When,
Second response transmission means for transmitting the parental-controlled content as the second response message;
A parental control system characterized by comprising: The information recording device can receive an operation from at least one remote control device,
The parental setting information holding means further holds parental setting information including parental setting values set for each remote control device that can be specified, and the parental setting value request is received from the server. 2. The parental control system according to claim 1, wherein if there is, the parental setting information including the parental setting value set for each remote operation device is transmitted. The information recording apparatus further includes server information holding means for holding a parental setting response permission list in which server information is described, and the server (b) that has transmitted the request for the parental setting value receives the parental setting. 3. The parental control system according to claim 1, wherein the parental setting value information is transmitted to the server (a) only when it is described in the response permission list. 3. The parental control system according to claim 2, wherein the remote operation device is a remote control, or a network terminal capable of operating the information recording apparatus via the network or a network other than the network. An information recording device constituting the parental control system according to claim 1,
Parental setting information holding means for holding the parental setting information;
First request transmission means for transmitting a request message (first request message) of the desired content including the location information of the desired content to the server;
A first response message transmitted from the server in response to the first request message is received, and a parameter for determining whether or not the request for the parental setting value is included in the first response message. Rental setting value request discrimination means,
When the parental setting value request determining unit determines that the request for the parental setting value is included, the request for the desired content is transmitted together with the parental setting information read from the parental setting information holding unit. Second request transmission means for transmitting a message (second request message) to a server that is a redirect destination included in the first response message;
Reproducing means for receiving a second response message transmitted in response to the second request message from the server that is the redirect destination, and reproducing / displaying data included in the received second response message; ,
An information recording apparatus comprising: The parental setting information holding means can receive an operation from at least one remote operation device, and includes a parental setting value set for each remote operation device that can be specified. 6. The parental setting information set for each of the remote control devices is transmitted when the setting information is further held and the parental setting value is requested from the server. Information recording device. Server information holding means for holding a parental setting response permission list describing server information is further included, and the server (b) that has transmitted the request for the parental setting value is described in the parental setting response permission list. 7. The information recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the parental setting information is transmitted to the server (a) only when the information has been received. A server constituting the parental control system according to claim 1,
Parental control target list holding means for holding a parental control target list describing a list of contents subject to parental control for controlling viewing restrictions based on the parental setting information;
The first request message transmitted from the information recording apparatus is received, and whether or not the desired content included in the received first request message is the parental control target is determined by the parental control target. Control target confirmation means for confirming based on the list,
When it is confirmed by the control target confirmation means that the desired content is a parental control target, a parental setting value request is sent to the information recording device together with the redirect destination information of the desired content. First response transmission means for transmitting as a first response message;
Parental control applying means for converting the desired content into parental controlled content based on the parental setting information included in the received second request message when the second request message is received When,
Second response transmission means for transmitting the parental-controlled content as the second response message;
A server characterized by comprising:

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