JP2013025569A - Content management method, content browsing program and management server device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic content management method dispensing with management of terminal identification information that users use in a server side, offering the users flexibility of using purchase content on two or more terminals and imposing low management load on the server side, and to provide a program to be installed in users' terminals and a management server device.SOLUTION: A management server manages the number of registered management browsing applications for every user, and provides a purchase user with content data and a bookshelf index information file paired with the content data. The management server verifies a consistency check of the management browsing application installed in the user's terminal, a consistency check of the bookshelf index information file and a consistency check of the content and, if all of the verifications are not all right, performs control not to permit the browsing of the content.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for managing digital contents, a computer program therefor, and a server device therefor.

  Along with the widespread use of dedicated browsing terminals and highly functional portable information terminals, an environment for services in which books, magazines, comics, etc. are digitized and distributed as digital contents has been established.

  In order to browse digital content, a browsing application program (viewer) corresponding to the data format of the content file is required. The viewer usually does not have an editing function such as rewriting or a function of creating a copy, but exclusively plays a role of rendering content data in a form visible to the viewer.

  On the other hand, since digital data is inherently easy to copy, when distributing digital content, it is desired from the content providing side to distribute it in such a form that it is not copied unnecessarily. The technology and mechanism for this purpose are generally called DRM (Digital Rights Management). A typical DRM is a method in which digital content is encrypted and distributed, while a key for decrypting the content is distributed as a license for a fee. If the license (content decryption key) is encrypted and distributed with the public key of the content purchaser, it can be controlled so that only the content purchaser himself can extract the content decryption key and use it.

  However, strict DRM is usually not compatible with the convenience of the user who uses the content, and it is not possible to lend purchased content to friends like analog content, There is a risk that the digital content purchaser may be impressed with the ease of use, such as being unable to browse immediately on the desired terminal. Therefore, a system has been proposed that ensures a certain degree of user convenience while maintaining the DRM mechanism. This system allows viewing of purchased content or use of paid software at a plurality of terminals designated by the user.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an invention of a content distribution mechanism provided with a DRM that enables one purchased content to be viewed on a plurality of terminals.
Patent Document 1 contemplates a content distribution apparatus and a content distribution method capable of permitting viewing of content not only to a terminal that has purchased content but also to at least one specified terminal that is legally limited. Therefore, the purchase data and the terminal limited information are registered in association with each other in the management database provided in the content distribution apparatus.

  Further, although it is not the distribution management of electronic contents, Patent Document 2 whose subject is distribution software management discloses an identifier management apparatus that manages user information and terminal information in association with each other. The identifier management device disclosed in Patent Document 2 manages all terminal information owned by a user for each user.

  In this way, several mechanisms have been proposed that allow the use of paid content and purchased software on multiple user terminals in consideration of user convenience, while preventing unnecessary duplication of digital data. However, there is a problem that the management center side needs to manage user terminal information, and the management load and management cost on the management side increase.

JP 2004-48557 A Japanese Patent No. 3366143

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to purchase a user with two or more terminals without having to manage terminal identification information used by the user on the server side. An object is to provide an electronic content management method, a program installed in a user terminal, and a management server device that give flexibility to use content and have a small management load on the server side.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a management browsing program that operates on a user terminal and a management server connected to the user terminal through a network to control browsing of electronic content on the user terminal. A content management method,
The management browsing program is
There is provided an area for storing, as terminal information, information for specifying a terminal on which the program operates, user identification information for specifying a user registered by the user using the program as user information, and both as registration information. When the user terminal is activated with user identification information,
When user information is not set in the registration information storage area, a registration request including the user identification information received from the user is sent to the management server, and a response indicating that registration has been approved is received. Only, a function of reading out terminal specifying information for specifying a user terminal, writing the terminal specifying information as terminal information, and writing user identification information as user information in the registration information area,
A function to request download to the management server and acquire an index information file of the same content as the purchased content when the purchased electronic content is specified,
When electronic content for browsing is designated, terminal identification information of the user terminal is read, information for identifying a purchaser of the selected electronic content is read, and these are stored as terminal information in the registration information storage area, A function to check each selected user's electronic content if it does not match,
A function for browsing and displaying the selected electronic content only when the verification is passed,
A computer program including a series of instructions for performing each function of
The management server
The management browsing program registration count information corresponding to the user identification information is held and managed.
When the registration number information has not reached the upper limit when a registration request is received from the user, the registration number information of the management browsing program corresponding to the user identification information is increased by 1, and a registration approval response is returned. If the information reaches the upper limit, the management browsing program registration process that returns a registration rejection response,
When a registered user purchases content, a process of creating an index information file that records purchaser identification information paired with content data;
A purchase content download process in which a registered user designates purchase content and the purchaser downloads content data and a pair of index information files.
The browsing of electronic content on the user terminal is controlled by a procedure including the above.

  According to such a method, the management browsing program performs the browsing operation only when the specific information of the user terminal and the terminal information registered in the registration area of the management browsing program are collated, and Since the management browsing program limits the number of registrations to a predetermined number or less by the management server, the management server does not manage the identification information of the user terminal, and the number of user terminals that can browse the purchased content indirectly. It can be limited to a predetermined number or less. At this time, the user information in the registration information storage area is also checked against the information specifying the purchaser specified in the electronic content. Therefore, when the content purchased by another person is copied to his / her terminal, Since it is impossible to view the copy content, there is an effect that the unauthorized copying of the content is made useless.

  Here, the function of refusing to browse the management browsing program is to read the terminal identification information of the user terminal when electronic content to be browsed is specified, and the terminal information specified to the selected electronic content May be read out and collated with the terminal information in the registered information storage area, and if the three parties do not match, the browsing of the selected electronic content may be refused. The same effect is obtained when the management browsing program writes the terminal information of the registration information area in the terminal information recording area of the index file immediately after downloading the index file.

  In addition, when the electronic content to be browsed is designated, the management browsing program is selected when the consistency between the electronic content and the index information file paired with the electronic content is determined and it is determined that they are not consistent. A function of rejecting browsing of the electronic content may be provided. Among the content data and index information copied from others, illegal copy content can be viewed using index information obtained by replacing the latter purchaser identification information or terminal information with user identification information indicating the user or information identifying the terminal. You can refuse.

  In addition, when the management browsing program sends a registration cancellation request including the user identification information to the management server and receives a response that the cancellation is approved, the management browsing program discards the contents of the registration information area. When the management server receives the deregistration request, and the registration number information of the management browsing program corresponding to the user identification information is 1 or more, the management server receives a registration cancellation request. It may further include a step of decrementing 1 and returning a release approval response. This is because by adding such a process, it is possible to request the user side to cancel the registered user terminal.

  The second invention of the present application that solves the problem is each management browsing program installed in the registration terminal in each of the above-described contents management methods.

A third invention of the present application that solves the problem is a management server device that services electronic content to a user terminal equipped with a management browsing program according to the second invention,
Storage means for holding and managing the registration number information of the management browsing program corresponding to the user identification information;
When the registration number information has not reached the upper limit when a registration request is received from the user, the registration number information of the management browsing program corresponding to the user identification information is increased by 1, and a registration approval response is returned. If the information reaches the upper limit, the management browsing program registration means for returning a registration denial response,
Means for creating an index information file that records purchaser identification information and actual download request destination information of the content data that is paired with the content data at the time of content purchase;
Purchase content download means for returning an index information file paired with the content to the request source upon receiving a download request for the purchase content;
A management server device comprising:

  Each of the above means is actually realized by a computer program being interpreted and executed by a central processing circuit (CPU) of a computer constituting the management server and appropriately driving and controlling the hardware of the computer. Details thereof will be described in the description of an embodiment described later.

According to the present invention,
While giving users the flexibility to use purchased content on two or more terminals, it is not necessary to manage the terminal identification information used by the user on the server side, so the electronic content management with a small management load on the server side A method, a management browsing program, and a management server device can be realized.

1 is an overall configuration diagram illustrating an overview of an electronic content distribution system 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of a use procedure of the electronic content distribution system 1. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a management server 40. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a management server 40. FIG. It is a hardware block diagram of a content server. 3 is a functional block diagram of a management server 40. FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a user terminal 10. FIG. It is a sequence diagram explaining the registration step of a management browsing application in detail. It is a sequence diagram explaining the download step of the purchase content of a management browsing application in detail. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement at the time of browsing on the user terminal (browsing terminal) in the electronic content delivery system. It is a reference figure explaining operation | movement at the time of browsing on the user terminal (browsing terminal) in the electronic content delivery system. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement at the time of browsing on the user terminal (browsing terminal) in the electronic content delivery system. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement at the time of browsing on the user terminal (browsing terminal) in the electronic content delivery system. It is a sequence diagram explaining in detail the registration cancellation step of the purchase content of the management browsing application.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram illustrating an outline of an electronic content distribution system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic content distribution system 1 is configured by connecting a browsing terminal 10 used by a user, a management server 40, and a content server 70 to a network 9.

  The browsing device 10 is connected to a host computer on the network and exchanges IP with a wireless communication function for performing wireless communication with the base station 20 constituting the mobile phone network 8 by a communication method compliant with the IMT-2000 standard. Network communication function. The browsing device 10 is, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, or an electronic book terminal, and includes a Web browser and a dedicated program described later.

  The management server 40 implements a bookstore site that provides a bookstore function to the user. Also responsible for membership management and payment requests. A server computer equipped with a database management program is loaded with a management database and a dedicated program described later.

  The content server 70 is a server device that holds various content data in a content database and distributes content data in response to a download request from a purchaser. Although only one unit is shown in the figure for simplicity, a plurality of content servers may exist.

  In addition, the management server 40 and the content server 70 are servers having some functions to be described later. However, in an actual implementation, these functions may be distributed to a plurality of computers. The management server 40 or the content server 70 may be configured as a group of computers.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the outline of the use procedure of the electronic content distribution system 1 according to the present invention. The flow of services provided by the electronic content distribution system 1 as viewed from the user will be described with reference to FIG. (Here is an overview, and details of each step will be described later)
First, the user registers as a member at the bookstore site. The user accesses a bookstore site (management server 40) on the Internet, transmits information necessary to be able to purchase an electronic book on the site, and registers as a member. The information input here may include a user name, a password, an e-mail address, and information related to payment. The management server 40 issues a member ID and associates the user name / password and other personal information entered by the user with the member ID and registers them in the database as a new member information record (S10). The issued member ID is returned to the user. Instead of directly replying to the terminal of the accessing user, the user may be notified by e-mail at the e-mail address given by the user, and the existence of the e-mail address of the user and the user may be confirmed.

  Next, the user downloads an installer program (hereinafter referred to as “installer program”) of an electronic book content management browsing application program for browsing the purchased electronic book content to the user terminal (S20). However, since anyone can download the installer program, S20 may be performed first and the member registration process (S10) may be performed later.

  The user executes the downloaded installer program to install the electronic book content management browsing application program (hereinafter “management browsing application”) on the user terminal. After the installation is completed, the user activates the management browsing application and inputs the member ID and password. The member ID and password are sent to the management server 40. The management server 40 checks the member information database, and if it can be confirmed, returns a response of the authentication pass to the terminal. The management browsing application of the user terminal that has received the response of the authentication pass sucks up the terminal unique ID and records and embeds (embeds) the terminal ID together with the user information in itself. The management browsing application in which the terminal unique ID is embedded in itself is in a state where it can be used for content browsing (it is said to be activated). The user terminal in which the activated management browsing application is installed becomes the browsing terminal 10 (S30).

  A user accesses a bookstore site, finds a favorite content, and purchases it. When the payment process is successful, the bookstore site returns the payment process completion information including the content ID and the download destination URL to the user browsing terminal (S40).

  The user accesses the URL of the download destination and obtains the purchased electronic book content (S50, details will be described later).

  The user selectively browses the electronic book purchased by the management browsing application (S70, details will be described later).

  FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the management server 40. As shown in FIG. 3, in the management server 40, a control unit 41, a local storage unit 42, a peripheral device I / F unit 43, an input unit 44, a display unit 45, and a communication unit 46 are connected via a bus 49.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the management server 40. The management server 40 includes an overall control unit 60, a transmission / reception unit 61, a bookstore function providing unit 62, a settlement unit 63, a terminal registration unit 64, an index providing unit 65, and a database management unit 66.

  The transmission / reception means 61 receives various requests sent from the user terminal (browsing terminal) 10 and transmits response information from the management server 40 to the request source.

  The bookstore function providing means 62 provides a user login process and subsequent online bookstore functions. The settlement means 63 performs a credit inquiry to a settlement institution when a member purchases content with a credit card or the like and processing according to the inquiry result. The terminal registration unit 64 performs a process of registering the management browsing application on the user terminal when a registration request for the management browsing application is received from the user terminal (viewing terminal) 10. The index generation means 65 generates a bookshelf index information file in response to an index download request from the management browsing application when one of the purchase contents is designated on the user terminal (viewing terminal) 10. Perform the provided process.

  The storage unit 42 of the management server 40 includes a hard disk device 50 that is a large-capacity storage. The hard disk device 50 stores a management database file and various management files including a member master 51, a member content table 52, and a content management table 53, which are member information databases.

  The member master 51 is a management file corresponding to a member management original book that holds one or more terminal registration flags, which will be described later, in addition to registered personal information such as a registered member's member ID, login password, and name. The member content table 52 is a file that manages information such as the date of purchase, the number of downloads, and the latest download date and time for a combination of (member ID, content ID) each time a member purchases content. The most distracted by authors and copyright holders is the overlooked mischief of electronic content. For this reason, the copyright holder's understanding of digitization can be obtained by providing a content downloadable period or setting an upper limit on the number of downloads for legitimate purchasers of electronic content. The current situation is. The member content table 52 is a table for performing such management.

  The content management table 53 includes bibliographic information (content title, volume, author, cover thumbnail image, table of contents, etc.), product information (sales price, inventory information, publisher, etc.) for configuring the bookstore site. ) Management file. It is also referred to when a bookshelf index information file described later is generated.

  The database management unit 66 updates and deletes the member master 51, the member content table 52, and the content management table 53, and creates and registers a new record.

  The overall control unit 60 controls the units 60 to 66, and controls the input unit 44, the display unit 45, the communication unit 46, and the peripheral device I / F unit 46.

  3 and FIG. 4, the storage unit 42 of the management server 40 receives a request from the client by the program code of the OS of the computer used as the management server 40 and the HTTP protocol, and responds to it. In addition to the Web server software to be returned (main part of the transmission / reception means 61), a computer program module for performing terminal registration processing (main part of the terminal registration means 64) and a computer program module for generating a bookshelf index information file (index provision means 65) A computer program module (main part of the settlement means 63) and a transmission / reception means 61 for creating a transmission message to the settlement organization in response to the content purchase application and receiving a response message from the settlement organization. Management browsing via A computer program module (bookstore function providing means 62) that receives a request relating to search, search, selection, and purchase of electronic content from a pre, creates an interactive screen corresponding to each request, and sends it back through the transmission / reception means 61 And main program (main part of the overall control means 60) for controlling the entire management server 40 are stored, and these program codes are read out by the control unit 41 for management. It functions as each means 60-66 by driving and controlling the hardware of the server 40. Since the bookstore function providing means 62 and the settlement means 63 are existing technologies, further explanation is omitted. The functions of other means will be described later in detail.

  Next, FIG. 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of the content server 70. As shown in FIG. 5, the content server 70 is connected to a control unit 71, a local storage unit 72, a peripheral device I / F unit 73, an input unit 74, a display unit 75, and a communication unit 76 via a bus 79. The storage unit 72 of the content server 70 includes a hard disk device 90 that is a large-capacity storage. The hard disk device 90 stores and manages a content database 91 that centrally manages content data that is the content itself.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the content server 70. The content server 70 includes an overall control unit 80, a transmission / reception unit 81, a content providing unit 82, and a database management unit 83. The transmission / reception means 81 receives various requests sent via the network and transmits response information from the content server 70 to the request source. The content providing unit 82 determines whether or not download is possible in response to a content download request from the management browsing application, and then prepares content data if it can be downloaded and transmits it to the request source. The database management unit 83 updates and deletes registration information in the content database 91 and registers a new record.

  The storage unit 72 of the content server 70 stores the program code of the OS of the computer used as the content server 70, and Web server software (main part of the transmission / reception means 81) that receives a request from the client and returns a response to it. In addition, a computer program module for performing content data provision processing (main part of the content providing unit 82), a database application program for registering, updating, deleting, and searching records of the content database (main part of the database management unit 83), content A main program (main part of the overall control means 80) for controlling the entire server 70 is stored, and these computer programs are read out by the control unit 71 and stored in the contents server 70. It functions as each means 80-83 by driving-controlling the software.

  FIG. 7 is a hardware configuration diagram of a portable information device as an example of a user terminal (browsing terminal 10) according to the embodiment of the present invention. A processor unit 11 controls the portable information device. This is an integrated circuit in which a central processing circuit that reads and interprets a control program, a RAM (random access memory) that holds temporary data, a sound processing circuit that connects a speaker 111, a microphone 112, and the like are integrated. Reference numeral 12 denotes a ROM (Read Only Memory). The program code of the OS of the portable information device is stored. Reference numeral 13 denotes a display unit. It is a small liquid crystal display device. Reference numeral 14 denotes a touch panel unit. A contact detection element (not shown) on the two-dimensional array is mounted integrally with the display unit, for example, by being inserted into the surface portion of the display unit 13. Reference numeral 15 denotes a display control unit. A video RAM that temporarily stores display data to be displayed on the display unit 13 is included. The display unit 13 is controlled by receiving a control signal and display data through the bus 19 and displaying an image. In addition, the display control unit 15 scans the contact detection element to detect contact of a finger on the display unit 13 of the operator and notifies the processor unit 11 that an input event has occurred along with the contact position information. Reference numeral 16 denotes a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory. Stores application programs and the like. Reference numeral 17 denotes a communication function unit. Provide voice communication and packet communication with a base station by CDMA2000 or W-CDMA. Reference numeral 18 denotes a SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module Card). In normal use, the SIM card is inserted and fixed in a socket provided in the user terminal. A unique number called IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) is given inside. The processor unit 11, ROM 12, display control unit 15, nonvolatile memory 16, and communication function unit 17 are connected by a bus 19.

  Next, as steps in which the features of the present invention are manifested, the steps of S30—management browsing application registration, S50—purchased content download, and S70—content browsing in FIG. 2 will be described in detail.

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram for explaining in detail S30 of FIG. 2 and the management browsing application registration step. The management browsing application registration step will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

  The user activates the management browsing application and inputs the member ID and password (S31). The member ID and password are sent to the management server 40 by the operation of the management browsing application (S32). When the transmission / reception means 61 of the management server 40 receives the member ID and password, it passes them to the overall control means 60. The overall control means 60 calls a user authentication processing program. The user authentication processing program searches the member management database (member master 51) to check whether there is a registration record that matches the combination of (member ID, password) (S33). If there is no member record having the corresponding combination, the overall control unit 60 immediately notifies the authentication failure and ends the process. That is, the authentication failure notification page is returned to the management browsing application through the transmission / reception means 61 (S34). If there is a member record having the corresponding combination, the overall control unit 60 calls the terminal registration unit 64. The terminal registration means 64 sets an unused one (a flag value of “0”) among terminal registration flags provided in advance in the member record for the member to “1” (S35). Setting the terminal registration flag from “0” to “1” indicates that the management browsing application is newly “registered” for the member. When registration of up to n managed browsing apps is permitted for one member (n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1), n terminal registration flags are prepared in advance for one member. Since only one managed browsing application needs to be installed on one user terminal, the number n that can be registered for the managed browsing application is the same as the number of terminals on which one member can browse the electronic book content purchased by the member. If n terminal registration flags are already set to “1”, the terminal registration means 64 notifies the error that the number of registered management browsing applications has been exhausted via the transmission / reception means 61 and terminates the process. To do. (S36). If the terminal registration flag can be set from “0” to “1”, the terminal registration unit 64 notifies the completion of authentication via the transmission / reception unit 61 and ends the process (S37). The transmission / reception means 61 returns a notification of authentication completion as a response to the terminal registration request to the management browsing application.

  When the management browsing application receives the authentication completion notification, the management browsing application acquires the terminal unique ID of the user terminal in which the management browsing application is operating, and the terminal unique ID is stored in the predetermined memory area of the management browsing application as the user ID. The data is written together (S38). The terminal unique ID may be any fixed information that can uniquely identify the user terminal and can be read by the management browsing application. For example, it is preferable to use the IMSI that is fixedly recorded in the SIM 18. Furthermore, the fact that the user information and the terminal unique ID are registered in the management browsing application is displayed (S39). The user knows that the registration of the management browsing application has been completed. As a result, the management browsing application can browse the electronic book content.

  FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram for explaining in detail the step of downloading purchased content of the management browsing application in S50 of FIG. The content purchase / download step will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

  When the content is newly purchased and the settlement information including the content ID for specifying the content and the URL of the download request destination of the content data is received by the management browsing application, the management browsing application performs the content ID by the user's operation. The content title character string designated by or an icon representing the content can be displayed on the purchased content list selection screen together with other purchased content. The content newly purchased by the user's operation is selected (S51). The management browsing application transmits an index information download request including information (content ID) designating the selected content to the URL of the download request destination (S52). When the user selects and downloads the purchased content on the management browsing application, the electronic content distribution system 1 first downloads the bookshelf index information file related to the content to the user terminal, and then Thus, a two-step procedure of downloading actual content data is taken. The description is continued below.

  When receiving the selection of the content to be downloaded from the member in S51, the management browsing application first issues an index download request to the management server. The URL of the download request destination of the content data indicated in the payment completion information obtained by the purchaser after purchasing the content is actually the URL of the server (management server 40) that receives the index download request. When the transmission / reception means 61 of the management server 40 receives the index download request, it passes the received information to the overall control means 60. The overall control unit 60 calls the index providing unit 65. The index providing means 65 determines whether or not the requesting member may be permitted to download the content (S53). Here, it is determined whether or not the member is a valid purchaser for the target content and other conditions are determined. As a desirable specific example, referring to the member content table 52, whether or not the combination of the member and the content ID is registered first, the total number of downloads associated with the combination, etc. If the inspection is smaller than the predetermined number of times, it is considered that the download is permitted, and a procedure such as incrementing the download number counter is performed. According to such an inspection, only the content purchaser who is a valid purchaser of the content and satisfies the predetermined conditions such as the number of downloads and whether or not it is within a certain period of time after the purchase can advance the content download procedure. Can do.

  The index providing unit 65 immediately returns an error notification through the transmission / reception unit 61 when the download is not permitted. When the download is permitted, a bookshelf index information file is generated here, and the created bookshelf index information file is transmitted to the user terminal through the transmission / reception means 61 as a response to the index information download request (S54).

  A bookshelf index information file (index information for short) is information that is always paired with purchased content. Member ID (member ID), member password, content bibliographic information (content title, cover thumbnail image, author, publisher, publication year, etc.), content data DL request destination URL, terminal specific information (drawn later) Included). The URL is a URL of a content server that holds content data and actually downloads the content data. As will be described in detail later, the bookshelf index information file plays an important role in the DRM mechanism of the electronic content distribution system 1.

The management browsing application that has received the bookshelf index information file decrypts it with an appropriate decryption key if it is encrypted, and records the member information (member identifier, member) It is checked whether or not the password and those in the bookshelf index information file match (S55). If there is a match, the content data DL request destination URL is read out and stored in the temporary storage area, and the terminal identification information of the user terminal on which the management browsing application is operating is acquired, and this is stored in the bookshelf index information terminal Write and encrypt the specific information recording area (S56). with this,
The member ID (user information) and terminal identification information (terminal information) are written in the bookshelf index information, so that the bookshelf index information loaded on the user terminal functions correctly as part of the DRM mechanism of the electronic content distribution system 1 Will do.

  Next, the management browsing application reads the content data DL request destination URL saved in the temporary storage area, and issues a content download request to this URL (S57). This URL is the URL of the content server 70 that holds the content data and actually downloads the content data. In the preferred embodiment, the management server 40 and the content server 70 are separate. By doing so, the functions of bookstore management, member management, settlement (request) processing, and management and provision of content data can be distributed. Upon receiving the content download request, the content server 70 performs some kind of determination processing as to whether or not content data may be provided in response to this request. As the determination processing, the content server 70 may confirm by making a confirmation inquiry to the management server 40, or when the index providing means 65 of the management server 40 creates the bookshelf index information file, the content download destination URL is managed. A method may be used in which additional information that can be confirmed to be surely provided by the server is included, and the content server 70 checks it. If the determination process is OK, the content data to be provided by the designated content ID is extracted from the content database 91 and returned to the management browsing application of the user terminal through the transmission / reception means 81 (S58). The management browsing application receives the content data, displays a screen for notifying the completion of the content DL, and notifies the user (S59).

  FIG. 10 to FIG. 13 are diagrams for explaining the operation at the time of browsing on the user terminal (viewing terminal) in the electronic content distribution system 1. Hereinafter, the operation of the user terminal during content browsing will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, a description will be given with reference to FIG. At the user terminal where the content has been downloaded normally, there is content data 210 and a bookshelf index information file 220 corresponding to the content. In the bookshelf index information file 220, the terminal identification information of the user terminal as the terminal information 222 is recorded together with the member ID as the user information 221 by the process of S56. On the other hand, user information 101 and terminal information 102 are embedded in the registration information area inside the management browsing application 100. Furthermore, the terminal identification information 300 of the user terminal is fixedly recorded in a predetermined area of the memory inside the terminal. This terminal identification information can be read by calling a specific function of the OS (Operating System) of the user terminal.

  When the management browsing application is activated, terminal identification information 300 is first acquired using a specific function of the OS via the API. Then, the management browsing application checks whether or not the terminal identification information 300 matches the terminal information 102 embedded in itself. If they do not match, the management browsing application is forcibly terminated. The management browsing application can continue processing only when both match. In this way, checking whether the terminal information 102 embedded in the management browsing application matches the terminal identification information 300 of the user terminal 10 is referred to as “application consistency check”. Due to the “consistency check of app”, the browsing management application is a legitimate one activated on the terminal, and the one that was activated on the other terminal was copied and brought to the own terminal It can be confirmed that it is not a thing.

  When the management browsing application intends to browse content, it is determined whether the user information 221 and the terminal information 102 embedded in the management browsing application match the user information 221 and the terminal information 222 of the bookshelf index information file. Check for verification. This inspection is referred to as “book shelf index information file consistency check”. It is possible to verify whether or not the content has been purchased by the registrant of the management browsing application by checking the consistency of the bookshelf index information file.

The reason for performing the “book shelf index information file consistency check” will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a case where only “application consistency check” is performed. In this case, the management browsing application uses the terminal identification information of the terminal that is operating at a predetermined timing (such as the timing when the user specifies the download content) and the terminal information recorded in the registered information area of the terminal. If the number does not match, further operations will be rejected, and the number of managed browsing apps registered on the management server will be kept below a predetermined number, resulting in a reduction in the number of terminals used per registered member. Will limit. Since the purchased content is downloaded via the management browsing application, the download of the content is also controlled within the range of the terminal on which the management browsing application operates. However, if a pair of content that has been obtained by another person and a bookcase index information file of the content is copied to the terminal, it cannot be prevented. (Even if the "content consistency check" described later is performed at the same time, it is not hindered because the consistency is maintained when the pair is copied)
However, if “consistency confirmation of the bookshelf index information file” is also performed, it can be seen that the user information 101 and the user information 221 and the terminal information 102 and the terminal information 222 do not match. This is the reason why “consistency check of bookshelf index information file” is necessary.

  Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment, the management browsing application performs a consistency check between the content data and the bookshelf index information file. This is a process of checking whether the pair of the content data and the bookshelf index information file is a correct combination when the pair is created, and whether the content data has been downloaded to the terminal. This inspection will be referred to as “content consistency check”. When the management server creates the bookshelf index information file, the data of a predetermined part of the content data (for example, a part of a predetermined number of bytes continuous from the first byte of the content data) is stored in the bookshelf index information file. It is copied in a predetermined area (content consistency check area). In addition, immediately after receiving the bookshelf index information file, the management browsing application performs a process of writing the terminal identification information of the user terminal into the file (S56). And the terminal identification information of the user terminal is added to the end of the data to reconstruct the data in the consistency check area, which is encrypted with a predetermined encryption key and rewritten in the content consistency check area. At the time of “consistency of content”, after decrypting this part with a decryption key, a part with content data and terminal identification information are extracted, and each is compared with the corresponding part of content data, terminal information 102 to obtain a bookshelf index It is possible to verify whether the information file is correct associated with the content and downloaded to the terminal.

  In this way, the “content consistency check” is a copy of the bookshelf index information file that is paired with the other content purchased by the other person after copying the content that the other person has obtained to the terminal. This is a procedure for judging an unauthorized copy that is disguised as a bookshelf index information file paired with the copied content.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a modification of FIG. “Consistency check of bookshelf index information file” may be performed only by collating the terminal information 222 (bookshelf index information file) and the terminal information 102 (registration information of the management browsing application). This is because it is the same as collating the terminal information 222 (bookcase index information file) with the terminal information 300 (specific information specific to the terminal). FIG. 13 is also a diagram showing a modification of FIG. “Consistency check of bookshelf index information file” may be performed only by comparing user information 221 (bookshelf index information file) with user information 101 (registration information of the management browsing application). In either case, it is possible to prevent a pair of content purchased by another person and its index information from being copied to the terminal and viewed. However, in the case of FIG. 12, the content purchased by the user and downloaded to another terminal cannot be copied and transferred to the own terminal for viewing. In that case, there is no substantial problem because it is only necessary to download from the content server.

  Thus, “consistency confirmation of bookshelf index information file” is not limited to a method of collating both user information and terminal information as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing procedure for canceling terminal registration of the management browsing application. The processing steps for terminal registration cancellation of the management browsing application will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  The user activates the management browsing application and requests terminal registration cancellation processing on the screen of the management browsing application. A terminal release request including the member ID and password is sent to the management server by the operation of the management browsing application (S92). When the transmission / reception means 61 of the management server 40 receives the terminal release request, it passes it to the overall control means 60. The overall control means 60 calls a user authentication processing program. The user authentication processing program searches the member management database (member master 51) to check whether there is a registration record that matches the combination of (member ID, password) (S93). If there is no member record having the corresponding combination, an authentication failure is immediately notified and the process is terminated. The transmission / reception means 61 returns an authentication failure notification page to the management browsing application (S94). If there is a member record having the corresponding combination, the overall control unit 60 calls the terminal registration cancellation unit 67. The terminal registration cancellation means 67 sets one of the terminal registration flags provided in advance for the member whose flag value is “1” to “0” (S95). As a result, when registering up to n managed browsing apps for each member (n is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1), if all terminal registration flags are in use, one free space can be created. Thus, there is room for a new terminal to be used as a browsing terminal. If one of the terminal registration flags can be turned off, a terminal release permission notice is transmitted through the transmission / reception means 61 in order to deactivate the management browsing application of the terminal in use (S97). If there is no flag in which the terminal registration flag is set to “1” in step S95, there is a possibility that the database registration is inconsistent or the management server database administrator has manually turned off the terminal registration flag. In this case, processing at the server is not performed, but a terminal release permission notification is also transmitted in order to deactivate the management browsing application of the used terminal (S97). The transmission / reception means 61 returns a notification of terminal release permission as a response to the terminal release request to the management browsing application.

  When receiving the terminal release permission notification, the management browsing application discards the terminal unique ID as the terminal information and the user ID as the user information recorded in the predetermined memory area of the management browsing application (S98). Further, a message indicating that the user information and terminal information have been discarded is output (S99). The user can see that the registration cancellation (deactivation) of the management browsing application has been completed. As a result, the electronic book content cannot be browsed on the terminal.

  Finally, a supplementary explanation will be given regarding the meaning of the terminal registration flag. As already described, the electronic content distribution system 1 manages how many times a member has registered the management browsing application. Since the management browsing application performs “application consistency check” at the time of activation, it operates only on the user terminal specified by the terminal information 102. In addition, since it is usually sufficient to register one managed browsing application for each user terminal, if the number of times the managed browsing application is registered for each member is managed, the member effectively uses the content for browsing the content. The number of terminals can be managed. At this time, the management server 40 does not need to know what user terminal is used for each individual member. In other words, it is not necessary for each member to register a new terminal that the member wants to use, and for the management server to record and manage the terminal identification information that the member has offered as a terminal for each member. The disadvantage of this method is that if you use another person's member ID (such as a friend's member ID) to register the management browsing app on your terminal with the other person's member ID, you will not be able to obtain the content that the other person has purchased properly. It is unimpeded. This content can be browsed (the management browsing application is registered with the member ID of another person (friend)). However, the ability to do such things (giving your own ID and password so that users other than yourself can log in) will be limited to a limited number of things, such as between family members, There is an upper limit on the number of registered apps, so it is not considered a substantial disadvantage.

  Instead of preparing n terminal registration flags that can be used for one member, a counter that counts the number of times that the management browsing application has been registered for each member may be provided. In this case, the initial value of the counter is zero, and the counter is incremented in step S35 each time the member registers the management browsing terminal. However, if the upper limit value n has already been reached, an error indicating that the registered number of managed browsing applications has been used up is notified (S36), and the process is terminated. In addition, when canceling the registration of the management browsing application in the management server in accordance with the terminal release request, in step S95, instead of setting one of the terminal registration flags whose flag value is “1” to “0”, If the member's counter value is 1 or more, 1 should be subtracted (not smaller than zero).

1 Electronic content distribution system 8 Wireless communication network 9 Internet 10 User terminal (or browsing terminal)
18 SIM card 20 base station 40 management server 50 hard disk 51 member master 52 member content table 53 content management table 70 content server 90 hard disk 91 content database

Claims (8)

A content management method for controlling browsing of electronic content on a user terminal using a management browsing program that operates on the user terminal and a management server connected to the user terminal through a network,
The management browsing program is
An area for storing information for identifying a terminal on which the program operates as terminal information, user identification information for identifying a user registered by the user using the program as user information, and storing both of them as registration information When the user terminal is activated with user identification information provided,
When user information is not set in the registration information storage area, a registration request including the user identification information received from the user is sent to the management server, and a response indicating that registration has been approved is received. Only, a function of reading out terminal specifying information for specifying a user terminal, writing the terminal specifying information as terminal information, and writing user identification information as user information in the registration information area,
A function to request download to the management server and acquire an index information file of the same content as the purchased electronic content when the purchased electronic content is specified,
When electronic content for browsing is designated, terminal identification information of the user terminal is read, information for identifying a purchaser of the selected electronic content is read, and these are stored as terminal information in the registration information storage area, A function to check each selected user's electronic content if it does not match,
A function for browsing and displaying the selected electronic content only when the verification is passed,
A computer program including a series of instructions for performing each function of
The management server
The management browsing program registration count information corresponding to the user identification information is held and managed.
When the registration number information has not reached the upper limit when a registration request is received from the user, the registration number information of the management browsing program corresponding to the user identification information is increased by 1, and a registration approval response is returned. If the information reaches the upper limit, the management browsing program registration process that returns a registration rejection response,
When a registered user purchases content, a process of creating an index information file that is paired with content data including a record of purchaser identification information;
A purchase content download process in which a registered user designates purchase content and the purchaser downloads content data and a pair of index information files.
The content management method which controls browsing of the electronic content on a user terminal by the procedure including this. A content management method for controlling browsing of electronic content on a user terminal using a management browsing program that operates on the user terminal and a management server connected to the user terminal through a network,
The management browsing program is
There is provided an area for storing, as terminal information, information for specifying a terminal on which the program operates, user identification information for specifying a user registered by the user using the program as user information, and both as registration information. When the user terminal is activated with user identification information,
When user information is not set in the registration information storage area, a registration request including the user identification information received from the user is sent to the management server, and a response indicating that registration has been approved is received. Only, a function of reading out terminal specifying information for specifying a user terminal, writing the terminal specifying information as terminal information, and writing user identification information as user information in the registration information area,
When purchased electronic content is specified, download is requested to the management server, an index information file of the same content as the purchased content is obtained, and the terminal information is immediately stored in the terminal information recording area of the index information file. Writing function,
When the electronic content to be browsed is specified, the terminal identification information of the user terminal is read, and the record of the terminal information recording area of the index information file paired with the selected electronic content is read, and these are registered as described above A function of checking the terminal information in the information storage area and refusing to view the selected electronic content if the three parties do not match,
A function for browsing and displaying the selected electronic content only when the verification is passed,
A computer program including a series of instructions for performing each function of
The management server
The management browsing program registration count information corresponding to the user identification information is held and managed.
When the registration number information has not reached the upper limit when a registration request is received from the user, the registration number information of the management browsing program corresponding to the user identification information is increased by 1, and a registration approval response is returned. If the information reaches the upper limit, the management browsing program registration process that returns a registration rejection response,
When a registered user purchases content, a process of creating an index information file that is paired with content data including a record of purchaser identification information;
A purchase content download process in which a registered user designates purchase content and the purchaser downloads content data and a pair of index information files.
The content management method which controls browsing of the electronic content on a user terminal by the procedure including this. The content management method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
When the electronic content to be browsed is specified, the management browsing program checks the consistency between the electronic content and the index information file that forms a pair with the electronic content. With the ability to refuse to view content,
The step of creating the index information file further includes a sub-step of writing consistency check information for verifying that the index information is associated with the purchase content data and the terminal that has downloaded the purchase content into the index information file. A content management method, comprising: The content management method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein
When the management browsing program is started by being given user identification information at the user terminal,
A series of instructions that exhibit the function of destroying the contents of the registration information area when a registration cancellation request including the user identification information is sent to the management server and a response indicating that the cancellation is approved is received. A computer program comprising:
The management server further includes a step of returning, when receiving the deregistration request, a decrement approval response by decrementing by 1 if the registration count information of the management browsing program corresponding to the user identification information is 1 or more. Content management method characterized by the above. The management browsing program used with the content management method of Claim 1 or Claim 2. A management browsing program used in the content management method according to claim 3. A management browsing program used in the content management method according to claim 4. A management server device that services electronic content to a user terminal equipped with the management browsing program according to claim 5,
Storage means for holding and managing the registration number information of the management browsing program corresponding to the user identification information;
When the registration number information has not reached the upper limit when a registration request is received from the user, the registration number information of the management browsing program corresponding to the user identification information is increased by 1, and a registration approval response is returned. If the information reaches the upper limit, the management browsing program registration means for returning a registration denial response,
Means for creating an index information file that records purchaser identification information and actual download request destination information of the content data that is paired with the content data at the time of content purchase;
Purchase content download means for returning an index information file paired with the content to the request source upon receiving a download request for the purchase content;
A management server device comprising:

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