JP2601247B2 - Recording medium copy inhibiting method and reproducing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for inhibiting copying of a recording medium such as an optical disk capable of optically recording and reproducing data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Programs for performing desired data processing, in particular, basic programs such as an OS (operating system) and various programming languages, simple program languages, word processors, and the like, which are indispensable to these programs. Basic data, such as dictionary data, kanji pattern data, and parameter data for pattern recognition, often do not require rewriting unlike various types of general data to be processed. To prevent the occurrence of
It is often desired to perform some kind of write-protection processing. For this reason, in a magnetic disk such as a so-called floppy disk, the above-described basic program and basic data are protected by software in a manner of designating the presence or absence of write protection for each file. However, the write protection provided by software is released relatively easily by software. For example, when a program runs out of control or a software error occurs, a write-protected file is May also be written. For this reason, in order to ensure more protection, a disk on which a program and basic data are recorded is prepared as a so-called program disk separately from a normal data disk. Therefore, a mechanical (hardware-like) write prohibition process using a so-called protect seal or protect notch is often performed.

As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-100249, for example, by providing a signal track section composed of read-only concave and convex pits, it is possible to easily adjust an optical system for recording and reproduction. Such an optical information recording carrier has been conventionally proposed.

[0004]

In recent years, recording media having extremely high recording densities, such as magneto-optical disks, have been put into practical use. The above program
Providing a write-only disk with a dedicated file disk is disadvantageous in terms of effective use of the recording capacity. That is, a basic program such as the OS described above generally ranges from several tens of Kbytes to at most several hundreds of Kbytes, and the basic data also generally ranges to several hundreds of Kbytes. Even so, a recording capacity of about several Mbytes is sufficient, whereas the optical disc generally has a recording capacity of several hundred Mbytes, which is, for example, about two digits larger. Therefore, as in the case of the above-mentioned floppy disk, if one optical disk is set to be non-rewritable as a so-called program disk, only a very small portion of the total recording capacity is recorded, and Most of the data will not be used unrecorded, which is extremely uneconomical. Therefore, it is inevitable to protect against erroneous writing by designating write-protection for each file by software. However, as described above, there is a drawback that protection ability against software errors and the like is weak.

Conventionally, a program disk has been subjected to various copy protection measures so as to prevent unauthorized use by copying the program disk in addition to use by an authorized user. Therefore, there is a great possibility that the information is copied without permission using a copy program or the like and illegally used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of prohibiting copying of a recording medium which can reliably prevent unauthorized use by copying to a rewritable recording medium.

Another object of the present invention is to enable a software program recorded above on a regular recording medium to be normally executed, and that the recorded contents of the recording medium be copied. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recording medium reproducing apparatus capable of reliably preventing unauthorized use of a rewritable recording medium.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for prohibiting copying of a recording medium having a read-only data area and a recordable data area, the method comprising recording the data on the recording medium in the read-only data area of the recording medium. A software program for handling data that has been erased and / or an erasing program for executing an erasing operation on the read-only data area are recorded in advance together with basic data required for the execution of the program. When the recorded content is reproduced from the rewritable recording medium on which the recorded content of the recording medium is copied, the data reproduced from the rewritable recording medium area corresponding to the read-only data area of the recording medium is included. Based on the included erasing program, the area of the rewritable recording medium corresponding to the read-only data area of the recording medium And executes the erase operation on.

Further, the present invention has a read-only data area and a recordable data area, and the read-only data area has a software program and / or a data program for handling data recorded on a recording medium. What is claimed is: 1. A reproducing apparatus for a recording medium in which an erasing program for performing an erasing operation on said read-only data area is recorded in advance together with basic data required for executing said program. And a erasing operation for an area on a recording medium corresponding to the read-only data area based on the erasing program reproduced by the reproducing means. Is provided.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

The present invention is embodied using, for example, an optical disk having a configuration as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, an optical disc 1 is capable of recording and reproducing signals, for example, magneto-optically. A concentric or spiral (spiral) track is divided at a predetermined length or at a predetermined angle. Form a plurality of sectors. For these sectors, an ID section 2 in which an ID code including a track address and a sector address is recorded is pre-recorded (pre-formatted) at the head position of each sector by, for example, so-called embossing. ing. A so-called lead-in section or disc ID section 3 is recorded and formed in the area on the innermost track side of the optical disc 1, and an area adjacent to the outer periphery of the disc ID section 3 relates to the recorded contents of the disc. This is a so-called TOC (table of contents) unit 4 in which index information is recorded. A region from the outer peripheral position a of the TOC unit 4 to a position b which is outwardly separated by a predetermined distance is a read-only ROM unit 5 that cannot be rewritten. Remaining outermost disk position c
The area up to this is a rewritable RAM section 6 for realizing the original function of the magneto-optical recording type disk 1.

Here, the ROM section 5 cannot physically write a signal depending on the optical pickup head of the optical disk apparatus on the user side. For example, as in the case of the ID section 2 of each preformatted sector, a method of recording a signal by forming a concavo-convex shape or a hole on a recording surface by so-called embossing is referred to as RO.
It is also used in the M section 5. However, the address data and the like of the sector ID section 2 are information dedicated to disk control used in an optical disk apparatus such as a so-called disk controller, but the contents recorded in the ROM section 5 are a host computer outside the disk apparatus. And an erasing program for executing an erasing operation of a program and data transmitted and received between the recording area and the recording area. That is, the ROM 5
In addition to the above-mentioned OS, a programming language, a simple programming language, or a basic software program such as word processor software, and data such as dictionary data and kanji patterns essential for these programs, An erasing program for performing an erasing operation by designating a recording area is recorded and formed in advance by the disk supplier. Note that identification information indicating whether the optical disk is of the type having the ROM unit 5 is written in the disk ID unit 3, and is used when the disk system is started up at the time of use on the user side. ,
When the initialization is performed by a reset operation or the like, the optical pickup head or the like first reads the disc ID section 3 to determine whether or not the optical disc has the ROM section 5. The TOC unit 4 has an inner boundary position a and an outer boundary position b of the ROM unit 5.
Is recorded.

The configuration and operation of the optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing information on / from the optical disk on which such boundary position information of the ROM section 5 is recorded will be described with reference to FIGS. .

First, at the start of use of the optical disk 1, the optical pickup head 10 scans the disk ID section 3 of the optical disk 1 and reproduces recorded contents by the signal reading circuit 11. In accordance with the reproduced disk ID information, the disk controller 12 determines whether or not the currently used optical disk 1 is of the type having the ROM unit 5 (steps S1 and S2 in FIG. 3). If the determination result at this time is NO (in the case of a disk having no ROM portion), a normal disk control operation is performed. On the other hand, if the determination result is YES, the inner / outer boundary positions a and b of the ROM unit 5 are read by reading the TOC unit 4 of the optical disk 1, and the boundary position information is stored in a memory or the like. (Steps S3 and S3 in FIG. 3)
4) Yes. Then, the contents of the ROM section 5 are read, an erasing operation is performed on the ROM section 5 by an erasing program given as the recorded contents of the ROM section 5, and then the given contents are given as the recorded contents of the ROM section 5. The main program such as word processing is executed (steps S5, S6, S7 in FIG. 3).

Here, this optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus
The transmission and reception of data and control signals to and from an external host computer 20 are performed via a disk controller 12, and signals from the optical pickup head 10 are transmitted to a disk via a signal reading circuit 11. -It has been sent to the controller 12. The disk controller 12 controls a laser driver 13 and a head movement control circuit 14 in response to a control command from the host computer 20 to perform a reading operation, a writing operation, and an erasing operation by the optical pickup head 10. Control in each operation mode is performed. The head movement control circuit 14 controls the movement of the optical pickup head 10 in the disk radial direction via the head support plate 16 by rotating the head movement motor 15.

In the optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus having such a configuration, the recorded contents of the optical disk 1 are copied to a rewritable optical disk such as another magneto-optical disk to create a duplicate disk. Since the erase program is executed in step S6 and the contents of the copied ROM portion are automatically erased, the duplicated disk cannot be used illegally. However, even if an erasing operation is performed on the non-rewritable ROM section 5 of the optical disk 1, the recorded contents of the ROM section 5 cannot be rewritten or erased. An adverse effect can be completely prevented, and strong write protection for the data in the ROM section 5 can be realized.

[0018]

According to the method of prohibiting copying of a recording medium according to the present invention, data recorded on the recording medium is handled in a read-only data area of the recording medium having a read-only data area and a recordable data area. And an erasing program for executing an erasing operation on the read-only data area together with the software program and / or the basic data required for executing the program. When reproducing the recorded content from the rewritable recording medium on which the content is copied, based on an erasing program included in data reproduced from the rewritable recording medium corresponding to the read-only data area of the recording medium. Performing an erase operation on an area of the rewritable recording medium corresponding to the read-only data area of the recording medium. Since rows, it is possible to reliably prevent unauthorized by the copy. That is, when the rewritable recording medium on which the recorded content of the recording medium is copied is used, the software program and the basic data are erased by executing the erasing program, so that unauthorized use by copying can be surely prevented. In addition, a software program for handling data recorded on the recording medium and / or basic data required for executing the program and an erasing operation for executing the erasing operation on the read-only data area are performed. The software program and the basic data are not erased even if the erase program is executed on a regular recording medium in which the erase program is recorded in the read-only data area.

Also, in the recording medium reproducing apparatus according to the present invention, an erasing operation is automatically performed on an area on the recording medium corresponding to the read-only data area based on the erasing program reproduced by the reproducing means. And then execute the software program.
The above software program can be normally executed on a regular recording medium in which the program is recorded in the read-only data area, and the rewritable recording medium in which the recorded contents of the recording medium are copied can be executed normally. Since the software program and the basic data are erased by executing the erase program, illegal use by copying can be reliably prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a configuration example of an optical disk used for implementing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a recording and reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing the optical disc.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the recording / reproducing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical disk 5 ROM part 6 RAM part 10 Optical pick-up head 11 Signal reading circuit 12 Disk controller 13 Laser driver 14 Head movement control circuit 15 Head movement motor 16 Head support plate 20 Host computer

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for prohibiting copying of a recording medium having a read-only data area and a recordable data area, the method comprising the steps of: handling data recorded on the recording medium in the read-only data area of the recording medium. An erasure program for executing an erasure operation on the read-only data area is recorded in advance together with the software program and / or basic data required for the execution of the program. When reproducing the recorded content from the rewritable recording medium copied, based on the erasing program included in the data reproduced from the area of the rewritable recording medium corresponding to the read-only data area of the recording medium, Perform an erase operation on the rewritable recording medium area corresponding to the read-only data area of the recording medium Copy inhibition method of recording medium characterized Rukoto. 2. A read-only data area and a recordable data area, wherein the read-only data area includes a software program for handling data recorded on a recording medium and / or execution of the program. A reproduction apparatus for a recording medium in which an erasing program for executing an erasing operation on the read-only data area is recorded in advance together with basic data required for the recording medium. Means for executing an erasing operation on an area on a recording medium corresponding to the read-only data area based on the erasing program reproduced by the reproducing means, and then executing the software program An apparatus for reproducing a recording medium, characterized by comprising means.