JP5106251B2 - Information processing system, information processing apparatus, information processing method, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a recording medium.

  Conventionally, a technique called DRM (Digital Rights Management) has been used for the purpose of managing the copyright of content represented by electronic data such as music, moving images, and still images. In the DRM technology, a policy describing usage conditions for each content is set for the content, and the content can be used only when the policy is satisfied.

  Here, an example of content management by the DRM technique is shown. In the following description, content protected by the DRM technology is called protected content, and content not protected by the DRM technology is called unprotected content.

  First, the right holder of the content encrypts the content, and generates a license composed of a decryption key for releasing the encryption and a policy in which usage conditions for the content are set. Then, meta information for acquiring the license is added to the encrypted content and distributed as protected content. A consumer who has received this protected content requests a license using the meta-information given to the protected content, and the right holder of the content issues a license only to an authenticated user or a user who has paid a fee. The consumer who acquired the license uses the decryption key included in the license according to the policy and consumes the content.

  Here, content consumption refers to processing for processing data such as images and moving images and outputting them as screens or printed materials, content copying and editing processing, and the like. The policy evaluation described later refers to whether or not the protected content can be consumed by inspecting whether the environment (use time or user) when using the protected content satisfies the conditions described in the policy. It is processing to do.

  As another example of applying the DRM technology, for example, content is restricted to be distributed only on a dedicated network represented by a mobile phone network and the terminal, and the use of the content on the terminal is set to the content. Can be restricted according to policy.

  Such DRM technology is usually often used to protect the copyright of a single content, but a system for protecting the copyright of a composite content composed of a plurality of contents has also been proposed. (See Patent Document 1).

In the technique of Patent Document 1, the composite content is composed of a plurality of protected contents and is given a description structure. Here, the description structure is data indicating the policy relationship of each protected content constituting the composite content for controlling the consumption of the composite content. The description structure may be, for example, “permit consumption specified if it conforms to all protected content policies” or “allow consumption specified if it conforms to at least one protected content policy” "Is described. When the composite content is consumed, the policy of each protected content constituting the composite content is evaluated, and the consumption of the composite content is controlled based on each evaluation result and description structure.
Japanese Patent No. 033738020

  However, in the conventional DRM technology, when complex content is consumed, it is necessary to evaluate the policy of each protected content that constitutes the complex content.

  First, when it is necessary to repeatedly consume composite content, the evaluation of the policy of each protected content is repeated each time it is consumed, which is inefficient. For example, each time the composite content is printed or output on the screen, the policy of the protected content included in the composite content is evaluated one by one.

  Further, when consumption of all the protected content included in the composite content is required when the composite content is consumed, it is not possible to determine whether the composite content can be used or not until the policy evaluation for all the protected content is completed. For this reason, even if the user requests consumption of composite content, in order to obtain the consumption result (to obtain output on the screen), it is necessary to wait until the policy evaluation of all the protected content is completed.

  Obviously, such a problem becomes more prominent as the number of protected contents included in the composite contents increases.

  Therefore, in view of such a problem of the conventional technology, the present invention provides a technology capable of determining whether or not the composite content can be consumed in a shorter time when the composite content including a plurality of protected contents is consumed. It is for illustrative purposes to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing system according to one aspect of the present invention is an information processing system that includes a composite content generation device and a composite content consumption device, and processes a plurality of protected contents. The content generation device includes a composite content generation unit that generates composite content from a plurality of protected content for which a policy is set for each protected content , and the composite content consumption device stores a composite policy for the composite content If the first determination unit and the first determination unit determine that the composite policy is not stored, the policy condition set for each protected content included in the composite content by determining the product set of values, and the composite policy generation unit configured to generate a composite policy, the In the first determining means, when it is determined that a composite policy is stored, it is determined whether or not the use of the composite content is permitted according to the stored composite policy, and in the first determining means, If it is determined that a composite policy is not stored, second determination means for determining whether or not use of the composite content is permitted in accordance with the composite policy generated by the composite policy generation means; and The determination unit includes a composite content consumption unit that consumes the composite content when it is determined that the use of the composite content is permitted .

  Further objects and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the preferred embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  According to the present invention, for example, when consuming composite content composed of a plurality of protected contents, it is possible to provide a technique for determining whether or not the composite content can be consumed in a shorter time.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same reference number is attached | subjected about the same member and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the following embodiment, the protected content is protected by encryption, and the consumption of the protected content will be described using a system to which a DRM technique that requires a license including a key for decrypting the above-described encryption is applied. However, the present invention is not limited to a system to which the DRM technology is applied, and can be applied to any system that restricts the use of content by policy.

  According to the present invention, a policy is expressed by a combination of a plurality of conditions, and each condition is described by a condition item and a condition value. Here, the condition item is an item that is inspected when content usage is controlled, and the condition value is a value that serves as a criterion for pass / fail of the determination by the inspection. For example, if the condition item is “available user”, the condition value is a value for identifying user A, user B, or the like. Examples of other condition items include a content use period, the number of uses, and a use place.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the policy is described in XML. In the figure, a Policy tag indicates that this policy is a policy, and a ContentID attribute indicates an identifier of an object whose consumption is controlled by the policy. The Condition tag indicates a condition, and the Type attribute in the tag indicates the condition item described above, and the element content indicates the condition value described above. The condition item specified by Valid_Time represents the usage period, and the condition item specified by Action represents the type of consumption permitted for the content. That is, the policy represented by 1301 means that browsing and printing of the content specified by ID_A is permitted during the period from 2006/10/01 to 2006/12/31.
<First Embodiment>
System Overview FIG. 1 shows an overview of the information processing system in this embodiment. In FIG. 1, the protected content generation apparatus 101, the composite content generation apparatus 102, and the composite content consumption apparatus 103 exchange electronic data via the content distribution path 104.

  Here, the content in the present embodiment refers to electronic data composed of digital information such as text, documents, images, and videos. In the present embodiment, the content distribution route 104 is described assuming a distribution route via a computer network represented by the Internet, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the content distribution route 104 includes a dedicated network constituted by dedicated devices such as a mobile phone, a distribution route through which a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM is distributed.

  Further, the protected content generation apparatus 101, the composite content generation apparatus 102, and the composite content consumption apparatus 103 are not limited to the mode of directly transferring data as shown in FIG. 1, but are connected via other apparatuses. Is also possible. Furthermore, the protected content generation apparatus 101 and the composite content generation apparatus 102, and the composite content generation apparatus 102 and the composite content consumption apparatus 103 may be connected by different forms of content distribution paths 104.

  The protected content generation apparatus 101 generates protected content whose use is controlled by a policy. Here, as a method of restricting the use of protected content, a method of restricting use by managing a key for decrypting encrypted protected content, or a device that restricts user access represented by a mobile phone, etc. The method etc. which restrict | limit use by using are mentioned.

  The composite content generation apparatus 102 generates composite content using a plurality of protected contents generated by the protected content generation apparatus 101. Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which the protected content generation device 101 and the composite content generation device 102 are connected in a one-to-one relationship, the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. It is also possible for the composite content generation apparatus 102 to receive protected content from a plurality of protected content generation apparatuses 101. Details of the composite content will be described later.

The composite content consumption device 103 consumes the composite content generated by the composite content generation device 102. Further, when the composite content is consumed, whether or not it can be consumed is determined by a composite policy described later.
Complex Content Configuration Here, the complex content in the present embodiment will be described. The composite content in the present embodiment is content generated by combining a plurality of protected content and / or non-protected content (hereinafter, simply referred to as an object if they are not distinguished from each other), and the object and its configuration information Described by.

  The configuration information is information indicating how the objects are arranged to generate composite content. For example, if the composite content is document data, it is information for specifying an object such as an image or text by coordinates and size, and information for specifying a page configuration. If the composite content is moving image data, it is information indicating the timing for displaying an object composed of an image, a moving image, and sound.

  The object may be held outside the composite content or may be held inside the composite content. When the object is held outside the composite content, the position of the object is designated using reference information represented by a URL.

  FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of composite content. In the figure, 201 is a document composed of a plurality of protected contents, and is composed of pages P1, P2, and P3 indicated by 202, 203, and 204. Further, each page is composed of contents 205 to 211. Note that the content includes protected content and non-protected content. In the figure, content C1 (205) is unprotected content, and other shaded contents C2 to C7 (206 to 211) are protected content.

  For example, the page P1 (202) includes unprotected content C1 (205), protected content C2 (206), and protected content C3 (207). In order to print the page P1 (202), it is necessary to evaluate the policies set in the protected content C2 and the protected content C3.

  In order to print the document 201 in units of pages, whether or not each of the pages P1 to P3 can be printed is determined by evaluating the policy of the protected content included therein. Then, whether or not the document 201 can be printed on a page basis is determined based on the policy evaluation result of each page. When the document 201 is printed in document units, whether or not the document 201 can be printed is determined by evaluating the policies of all protected contents included in the document 201.

  Next, a description example of composite content will be described with reference to FIG. 2B. In FIG. 2B, reference numeral 212 denotes an example in which the complex content having the configuration shown in the document 201 in FIG. 2A is described in XML. In 212, the Page tag describes pages 202, 203, and 204 in the document 201 that is composite content. The Object tag describes the contents 205 to 211 in the document 201 that is composite content.

  The Page tag defines a page of a document, and an object constituting the page is specified by describing an Object tag inside the Page tag. Further, information for identifying the object is designated by the File tag inside the Object tag, and the position in the page where the object is drawn is designated by the Position tag and the Size tag. The Paper tag specifies the page size of the document.

Hereinafter, the processing of the present embodiment will be described using the document 201 shown in FIG. 2 as an example of composite content. Applicable to any data.
Host computer configuration Next, a host computer applicable to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a basic configuration of a host computer that functions as the protected content generation apparatus 101, the composite content generation apparatus 102, and the composite content consumption apparatus 103 in this embodiment, and the relationship with peripheral devices.

  In FIG. 3, a host computer 315 is, for example, a widely used personal computer. The host computer 315 can store data in the HD 305, CD, FD, DVD, or the like, or display the stored data on the monitor 314. Further, the host computer 315 can transmit and receive electronic data via the Internet or the like using the NIC 313 or the like. Further, various instructions from the user are performed by input from the mouse 311 or the keyboard 312. A monitor 314 displays various information from the host computer 315.

  Inside the host computer 315, blocks to be described later are connected by a bus 301, and various data can be transferred.

  Reference numeral 302 denotes a CPU that controls the operation of each unit in the host computer 315 or that can execute a program loaded in the RAM 304. A ROM 303 stores BIOS and a boot program. A RAM 304 temporarily stores a program and image data to be processed in order for the CPU 302 to perform processing. The RAM 304 is loaded with programs for the OS and the CPU 302 to perform various processes described later.

  A hard disk (HD) 305 is used for storing an OS and a program transferred to the RAM 304 and the like, and storing and reading image data during operation of the apparatus. Reference numeral 306 denotes a CD-ROM drive that reads data stored in a CD-ROM (CD-R), which is one of external storage media, or writes data to a CD-ROM (CD-R). .

  Similar to the CD-ROM drive 306, reference numeral 307 denotes an FD drive that reads data from an FD (floppy (registered trademark) disk) and writes data to the FD. Reference numeral 308 denotes a DVD-ROM (DVD-RAM) drive that reads data from a DVD-ROM and writes data to a DVD-RAM, as with the CD-ROM drive 306. Note that when a program for image processing is stored in a CD-ROM, FD, DVD-ROM or the like, these programs are installed in the HD 305 and transferred to the RAM 304 as necessary.

  An interface (I / F) 310 connects the host computer 315 and various peripheral devices. The mouse 311 and the keyboard 312 are connected to the host computer 315 via the I / F 310. Various instructions input from the mouse 311 and the keyboard 312 are input to the CPU 302 via the I / F 310.

  Reference numeral 309 denotes an ASIC for processing data processed in the host computer 315 at high speed instead of the CPU 302. For example, the ASIC 309 processes encryption processing and RIP processing that can be processed by the CPU 302 at high speed instead of the CPU 302.

The information reading device 316 is a device for reading digital data from the outside of the host computer 315, and includes, for example, an SD card or a compact flash (registered trademark) card reading device, a scanner device, and the like.
Protected Content Generation Device Configuration The internal configuration of the protected content generation device 101 in this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. As described above, the protected content generation apparatus 101 according to the present embodiment is realized by executing a protected content generation program in the host computer 315 illustrated in FIG. 3.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the protected content generation apparatus 101 in this embodiment includes a content generation unit 401, a protected content generation unit 402, a protected content output unit 403, and a license output unit 404.

  The protected content generation unit 402 sets a policy for the content generated by the content generation unit 401 when the operator operates the mouse 311 or the keyboard 312. The protected content generated by the protected content generation unit 402 is output to the protected content output unit 403. Further, the protected content generation unit 402 outputs a license necessary for consumption of the protected content to the license output unit 404. Here, the license in the present embodiment is information including key information necessary for consumption of protected content and a policy describing usage conditions of the protected content.

  The protected content generation unit 402 encrypts the input content and gives meta information necessary for acquiring a license. The protected content generation unit 402 describes the decryption key and policy corresponding to the encryption key used for encryption in the license, and outputs the generated license to the license output unit 404.

  The protected content output unit 403 outputs the protected content generated by the protected content generation unit 402 in a format that can be distributed through the content distribution path 104. The protected content output from the protected content output unit 403 may be output via the NIC 313 connected to the host computer 315, or may be recorded and output on a recording medium represented by a CD-R or DVD-R. May be.

The license output unit 404 outputs the license information input from the protected content generation unit 402 so that it can be safely managed. For example, the license is encrypted and output so that only the user or the device that has acquired the license can decrypt the license, or the license is transmitted to a device that safely manages the license. In addition, the license is written in an area in the recording medium that cannot be read by a normal device.
Configuration of Composite Content Generation Device Hereinafter, the internal configuration of the composite content generation device 102 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the composite content generation apparatus 102 according to the present embodiment is realized by executing a composite content generation program in the host computer 315 illustrated in FIG. 3. An example of such a program is general document creation software.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the composite content generation apparatus 102 according to this embodiment includes a content input unit 501, a composite content generation unit 502, and a composite content output unit 503.

  The content input unit 501 reads the object into the composite content generation apparatus 102 via the NIC 313, the CD-ROM drive 306, and the DVD drive 308. Here, the object read from the content input unit 501 includes the protected content generated by the protected content generation apparatus 101.

  In the composite content generation unit 502, the operator places the content received by the content input unit 501 on the page using the mouse 311 or the keyboard 312, thereby generating composite content. Then, the composite content generation unit 502 outputs the generated composite content to the composite content output unit 503.

  The composite content output unit 503 outputs the composite content generated by the composite content generation unit 502 in a format that can be distributed through the content distribution path 104. The composite content output from the composite content output unit 503 may be output via the NIC 313 connected to the host computer 315 or may be output after being recorded on a recording medium represented by a CD-R or DVD-R. May be.

In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which only the object is input to the composite content generation apparatus 102. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the composite content generated in advance is input to the composite content generation apparatus 102 again. May be. When composite content is input in this way, the composite content is changed by changing the configuration information included in the input composite content, or by changing / adding / deleting an object in the composite content. Can be edited.
Complex Content Consumption Device Configuration The internal configuration of the complex content consumption device 103 in this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. As described above, the composite content consumption apparatus 103 of this embodiment is realized by executing a composite content consumption program in the host computer 315 shown in FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the composite content consumption apparatus 103 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a composite content input unit 601, a composite content analysis unit 602, an object management unit 603, and an object usage control unit 604. In addition, the composite content consumption apparatus 103 includes a composite content consumption unit 605, a composite policy storage unit 606, a consumption content output unit 607, a composite license acquisition unit 608, and a consumption unit storage unit 609.

  The composite content input unit 601 reads the composite content generated by the composite content generation apparatus 102 into the composite content consumption apparatus 103 via the NIC 313, the CD-ROM drive 306, and the DVD drive 308.

  The complex content analysis unit 602 extracts identification information such as an object identifier and configuration information by analyzing the complex content input by the complex content input unit 601. The composite content analysis unit 602 sends the object identification information to the object management unit 603 and sends the configuration information to the composite content consumption unit 605. Further, when an object is included in the composite content, the composite content analysis unit 602 extracts the object and sends it to the object management unit 603.

  The object management unit 603 receives the object identification information passed from the composite content analysis unit 602, and returns the object to the object usage control unit 604 in response to a request from the object usage control unit 604. The object management unit 603 obtains an object from the outside of the composite content consumption device 103 using reference information when an object necessary for consumption of the composite content is held outside the composite content consumption device 103. .

  If the object identification information received from the object management unit 603 indicates unprotected content, the object usage control unit 604 returns an object in response to a request from the composite content consumption unit 605. On the other hand, if the object identification information indicates protected content, the object usage control unit 604 requests the composite license acquisition unit 608 to acquire a license using the meta information given to the protected content. When the license can be acquired, the object usage control unit 604 controls the usage of the protected content according to the policy included in the license. On the other hand, when the license cannot be acquired, the object usage control unit 604 stops the consumption of the protected content and notifies the composite content consumption unit 605 to that effect. The object usage control unit 604 obtains a license for each protected content in this way, and then performs a process for generating a composite policy included in each license. Therefore, the object usage control unit 604 also functions as a composite policy generation unit that generates a composite policy. The details of the composite policy generation process will be described later.

  The composite license acquisition unit 608 acquires the license output from the license output unit 404 of the protected content generation apparatus 101 using the protected content meta information passed from the object usage control unit 604, and obtains the license. To pass.

  The consumption unit storage unit 609 stores information on a unit for consuming a plurality of objects collectively. Examples of the object consumption unit include a page unit, a page group unit, and a document unit. When the consumption unit of an object is a page unit, if all the object groups necessary for composing a page can be consumed, the object group is consumed. Further, when the consumption unit of an object is a page group unit, such an object is consumed if all the object groups necessary for constituting a page of 5 to 10 pages can be consumed. Similarly, when the consumption unit of an object is a document unit, such an object is consumed if all the object groups in the document can be consumed. Note that the information regarding the consumption unit held by the consumption unit storage unit 609 may be a value set in advance in the composite content consumption apparatus 103 or a value set by the user.

  The composite content consumption unit 605 acquires information related to the consumption unit of the object from the consumption unit storage unit 609. Further, the composite content consumption unit 605 requests the object usage control unit 604 for information on the consumption unit and identification information of the object group necessary for consumption of the composite content. When the composite content consumption unit 605 can receive an object from the object usage control unit 604, the composite content consumption unit 605 consumes the object in the composite content according to the configuration information of the composite content. On the other hand, if the composite content consumption unit 605 fails to acquire an object from the object usage control unit 604, the composite content consumption unit 605 stops the consumption of the composite content or consumes the composite content using only the acquired object. . The case where the object cannot be acquired from the object usage control unit 604 is, for example, a case where access to the protected content is prohibited by policy evaluation or a case where the composite license acquisition unit 608 cannot acquire the license for the protected content. is there.

  The composite policy storage unit 606 stores the composite policy generated by the object usage control unit 604.

  The consumption content output unit 607 outputs the consumption result of the composite content by the composite content consumption unit 605. For example, the output by the consumption content output unit 607 is screen output or print output to a paper medium if the composite content is document data, and screen output and / or audio output if the composite content is a moving image or music.

Note that the object management unit 603, the object usage control unit 604, the composite content consumption unit 605, the composite policy storage unit 606, and the consumption content output unit 607 desirably have tamper resistance. That is, it is necessary to prevent the data handled by each processing unit from being read illegally and the processing assumed in advance from being changed illegally.
● Composite policy generation processing (composite content generation processing)
Here, the composite policy generation processing in the present embodiment will be described in detail. The composite policy generation process in the present embodiment is a process for generating a composite policy by collectively optimizing condition items and condition values of a plurality of policies set in protected content included in the composite content. is there. The composite policy generation process is performed by the object usage control unit 604, and access control for the protected content used for generating the composite policy is performed by evaluating the generated composite policy.

  Here, the composite policy includes information for identifying a set of protected content controlled by the composite policy and a policy for performing access control to the set of protected content. In the condition item of the composite policy, a condition item specified in the policy (hereinafter referred to as a partial policy) used for generating the composite policy is set. A value obtained by multiplying the condition values set in the condition items of the respective partial policies is set as the condition value of each condition item in the composite policy.

  The product set of condition values is a process of calculating a value common to each condition value. For example, if the condition item of the partial policy specifies “usable number of times”, the minimum number of the “number of times” as the condition value in all the partial policies is the product of the condition values. . Also, if the partial policy condition item specifies “available period”, the period that is included in the “period” as the condition value in all partial policies is the product of the condition values. Become. If there is no value that satisfies the condition values of all the partial policies as a result of the product set of the condition values, a value indicating “unusable” is set as the condition value of the composite policy.

  Hereinafter, an example of the composite policy generation process in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, each of the partial policy 1301 and the partial policy 1302 indicates a protected content policy whose identifier is ID_A and a protected content policy whose ID_B is ID_B. As a result of generating the composite policy of the partial policy 1301 and the partial policy 1302, a composite policy 1303 is generated.

  In FIG. 8, the protected content ID_A is “Period from October 1, 2006 to October 31, 2006” indicated by the ValidTime attribute value, and “Screen output (View) and print” are indicated by the Action attribute value. "Output (Print) is permitted". In addition, the protected content ID_B is “Period from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006” indicated by the ValidTime attribute value, and “Print output (Print) is permitted” as indicated by the Action attribute value. ing. When composite policy generation processing is performed from these partial policies, “(common period) from October 1, 2006 to October 31, 2006”, “(common action) printing” A composite policy 1303 is generated so that “output is permitted”.

  The object usage control unit 604 determines whether or not the protected content ID_A and the protected content ID_B can be consumed simultaneously by evaluating the composite policy 1303 generated as described above.

  If the condition value of the condition item set in the partial policy is a condition that is updated along with the consumption of protected content, for example, “usable number of times”, the condition value of the partial policy is set when the composite policy is generated. It is desirable to update. Further, when the protected content is consumed by evaluating the composite policy, the condition value of the consumed protected content may be updated.

  Also, if policy A of the protected content ID_A describes “user: Yamada; possible processing: printing” and policy B of the protected content ID_B describes “user: Suzuki, Sato; possible processing: printing” There is no user who satisfies the conditions of both policies. In this case, the composite policy becomes “unusable”.

  Here, an example in the case where the result of generating the composite policy is “unusable” will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 14, each of the partial policy 1801 and the partial policy 1802 indicates a protected content policy whose identifier is ID_E and a protected content policy whose ID_F is ID_F. As a result of generating the composite policy of the partial policy 1801 and the partial policy 1802, a composite policy 1803 is generated. In FIG. 14, the protected content ID_E is set as follows. That is, “Period from October 1, 2006 to October 31, 2006” indicated by the ValidTime attribute value, “Up to five times” indicated by the Count attribute value, and “Screen output (View) indicated by the Action attribute value ”And print output (Print) are permitted”. Further, the protected content ID_F is indicated by an Action attribute value “a period from January 1, 2006 to June 30, 2006” indicated by a ValidTime attribute value, “up to five times” indicated by a Count attribute value. As described above, “print output (Print) is permitted”. When a composite policy is generated from these partial policies, there is no expiration date that satisfies both the expiration date (ValidTime) condition values set in the respective policies. As a result, when a composite policy is generated from these partial policies, a “unusable” composite policy 1803 is generated, as indicated by the Type attribute of NotAvailable.

  In the present embodiment, the case has been described as an example where each partial policy that is the target of a product set includes a condition item to be producted, but the present invention is not limited to this, It is also applicable when there are no common condition items in the partial policy. In this case, regarding the condition items that are not set in each partial policy for generating the composite policy, the composite policy generation process may be performed on the assumption that the condition value “unlimited” is set. For example, let us consider the generation of a composite policy in the case where the partial policy A is set to “use count: 10 times” and the partial policy B is set to “use period: 2006/10/01 to 2006/10/21”. In this case, the partial policy A is “use count: 10 times; use period: unlimited”, and the partial policy B is “use count: unlimited; use period: 2006/10/01 to 2006/10/21”. The composite policy generation process may be performed.

  Here, an example in which a composite policy is generated from a policy that does not have condition items common to the partial policies will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 12, each of the partial policy 1701 and the partial policy 1702 indicates a protected content policy whose identifier is ID_C and a protected content policy whose ID is ID_D. As a result of generating a composite policy of the partial policy 1701 and the partial policy 1702, a composite policy 1703 is generated. In FIG. 12, the protected content ID_C is set as follows. That is, “Period from October 1, 2006 to October 31, 2006” indicated by the ValidTime attribute value, “Up to five times” indicated by the Count attribute value, and “Screen output (View) indicated by the Action attribute value ”And print output (Print) are permitted”. In addition, the protected content ID_D is “Period from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006” indicated by the ValidTime attribute value, and “Print output (Print) is permitted” as indicated by the Action attribute value. ing. When a composite policy generation process is performed from these partial policies, a composite policy 1703 is generated. The composite policy 1703 describes the following policy regarding consumption of the protected content ID_C and the protected content ID_D. In other words, the policies are “Period from October 1, 2006 to October 31, 2006 (which is a common period)”, “Consumable up to 5 times”, and “Allow print output (which is a common action)”. Is described.

Another example is given. For example, “User: Suzuki, Sato, Yamada; Usage period: 2006/10/01 to 2006/10/21; Possible processing: Printing; Usage count: 3 times” is described in policy A of protected content A. Yes. On the other hand, in the policy B of the protected content B, “user: Suzuki, Sato; usage period: 2006/01/01 to 2006/12/31; possible processing: printing” is described. In this case, the composite policy evaluated for consuming the protected content A and the protected content B together is “User: Suzuki, Sato; Usage period: 2006/10/01 to 2006/10/21; : Print; Usage count: 3 times "is set. In this case, regarding the condition item of “number of times of use”, as described above, the condition value of policy B is assumed to be “unlimited”, and composite policy generation processing is performed.
Composite Content Consumption Processing Hereinafter, composite content consumption processing in the composite content consumption apparatus 103 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the composite content consumption unit 605 acquires information related to a content consumption unit from the consumption unit storage unit 609 (S701). Subsequently, the composite content consumption unit 605 requests the object usage control unit 604 for information on an object necessary for consumption of the composite content (S702). Here, the composite content consumption unit 605 makes a request to the object usage control unit 604 with a set of protected content to be consumed as a unit (content consumption unit). For example, when one page or document is consumed, the objects included in the page or document are requested collectively. Taking the composite content 212 shown in FIG. 2B as an example, it is consumed to output a set of protected content consumed to output a page described by a Page tag or a group of pages described by a PageSet tag. Protected content is requested collectively.

  When the composite policy corresponding to the protected content set requested by the composite content consumption unit 605 is not stored in the composite policy storage unit 606 (NO in S703), the object usage control unit 604 sends the license information to the protected content generation apparatus 101. A request is made (S704). That is, the license output unit 404 in the protected content generation apparatus 101 is requested for license information of the protected content.

  When the object usage control unit 604 obtains license information from the license output unit 404 (YES in S705), the object usage control unit 604 performs composite policy generation processing from each protected content policy included in the license information (S706). . The composite policy generation process is performed for each consumption unit of the requested object. Then, the composite policy generated in S706 is stored in the composite policy storage unit 606 (S707).

After the composite policy is stored in the composite policy storage unit 606 in S707 or when the composite policy is stored in the composite policy storage unit 606 in S703 (YES in S703), the object usage control unit 604 performs the composite policy storage. Is evaluated (S708). As a result of evaluating the composite policy, if the usage is within the policy condition (YES in S709), the object usage control unit 604 passes the requested set of protected content to the composite content consumption unit 605 (S710).
On the other hand, as a result of evaluating the composite policy, if the usage exceeds the policy condition (NO in S709), the object usage control unit 604 notifies the composite content consumption unit 605 that the protected content cannot be used (S711). .

  Even when license information cannot be acquired from the license output unit 404 (NO in S705), the object usage control unit 604 notifies the composite content consumption unit 605 that protected content cannot be used (S711).

  Next, the composite policy generation process (S706) in the object usage control unit 604 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the object usage control unit 604 initializes the composite policy (S801). Initialization refers to processing for setting, for example, an empty usage condition (there is no case where it can be used). Next, the object usage control unit 604 reads the protected content policy used to generate the composite policy from the composite license acquisition unit 608 (S802). Further, the object usage control unit 604 acquires the condition item set in the policy read in S802 (S803), and when the condition item is not set in the compound policy (NO in S804), A condition item related to the condition item is added (S805). Here, the condition items added to the composite policy in S805 may be all condition items included in the policy, or may be condition items that are predetermined by system settings or user designation. Subsequently, the object usage control unit 604 obtains a product set of condition values for the same condition items included in the composite policy and the policy (S806), and sets the result as a condition value for the composite policy (S807). The object usage control unit 604 repeats the processing from S802 to S807 for each read policy (S808), sets the composite policy as the policy of the content group used to generate the composite content, and stores the composite policy in the composite policy storage unit 606. (S809). It is also possible to perform the composite policy generation process step by step. For example, as shown in FIG. 2B, a composite policy is first generated from the protected content policy in the range described by the Page tag, and then a new composite policy is generated from the page tag composite policy in the range described by the PageSet tag. It is also possible to do.

  The processing for generating a composite policy by the protected content generation apparatus 101 has been described above in the present embodiment. In this embodiment, an example in which the composite content consumption unit 605 requests an object group of consumption units from the object usage control unit 604, and the object usage control unit 604 generates (implicitly) a composite policy in consumption units. did. However, the complex content consumption unit 605 can request the object usage control unit 604 for each object as a unit. In this case, the composite content consumption unit 605 notifies the object usage control unit 604 of the unit (consumption unit) for generating the composite policy in addition to the request for each object. Then, the object usage control unit 604 performs composite policy generation processing (S706) when all licenses for consumption units (explicitly specified) have been acquired.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the process from the generation of the protected content by the protected content generation apparatus 101 to the generation and consumption of the composite content 212 illustrated in FIG. 2B has been described.

  In the above description, the example in which the composite policy generation process is executed when the composite content is consumed has been described. However, the composite policy generation process may be performed prior to the consumption of the composite content. For example, an operator of the composite content consumption device 103 that has received the composite content operates the composite content consumption device 103 in advance to generate a composite policy. Thereafter, when the composite content consumption apparatus 103 is requested to consume the composite content, the composite policy generation process is not executed, and the use of the composite content is controlled according to the composite policy generated in advance.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, for a set of protected contents whose use is determined by composite policy evaluation, the composite policy only needs to be evaluated once for the condition item for which the composite policy generation processing has been performed. . Therefore, when the composite content is consumed repeatedly, the processing amount is reduced as compared with the case where the policy of each protected content is evaluated.

Further, when printing is to be executed, the availability of the protected content in the document is determined by evaluating the policy of the composite content, so the availability of the composite content is determined at an earlier stage (ie, in a short time). You can find out at
Second Embodiment
Hereinafter, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, an example in which the composite content consumption apparatus 103 performs generation of the composite policy and consumption of the composite content according to the composite policy has been described. In this case, when receiving the composite content, the composite content consumption device 103 needs to generate a composite policy from the partial policy and evaluate the generated composite policy. For this reason, when it takes time to generate the composite policy, the operator of the composite content consumption apparatus 103 knows whether or not the composite content can be used after waiting until the composite policy generation processing is completed.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, an example will be described in which composite policy generation and consumption of composite content in accordance with the composite policy are executed by different apparatuses, so that determination of availability of composite content can be performed at higher speed. .

The system configuration in the second embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 1 shown in the first embodiment, that is, includes a protected content generation device 101, a composite content generation device 102, and a composite content consumption device 103. The protected content generation apparatus 101 according to the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the above-described embodiment, and thus will not be described. explain.
Composite Content Generation Device First, the internal configuration of the composite content generation device 102 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the composite content generation apparatus 102 according to the present embodiment is realized by executing a composite content generation program in the host computer 315 illustrated in FIG. 3. An example of such a program is general document creation software.

  As illustrated in FIG. 9, the composite content generation apparatus 102 according to the second embodiment is similar to the composite content generation apparatus 102 according to the first embodiment in that a content input unit 901, a composite content generation unit 902, and a composite content output unit. 903. Furthermore, the composite content generation apparatus 102 according to the second embodiment includes a license acquisition unit 904, a composite license output unit 905, and a consumption unit storage unit 906. Note that the content input unit 901 and the composite content output unit 903 perform the same processing as the content input unit 501 and the composite content output unit 503 in FIG. 5 described in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted here.

  Similar to the consumption unit storage unit 609 in the first embodiment, the consumption unit storage unit 906 stores information related to the consumption unit of the object group in the composite object. In the composite content generation unit 902, the content received by the content input unit 901 is arranged on the page by the operator using the mouse 311 or the keyboard 312, thereby generating composite content and a composite license. Therefore, the composite content generation unit 902 functions as a composite policy generation unit that generates a composite policy. Then, the generated composite license is passed to the composite license output unit 905, and the composite content is passed to the composite content output unit 903. Here, the composite license is data including a key and a composite policy necessary for consumption of composite content.

  The license acquisition unit 904 acquires the license output by the license output unit 404 of the protected content generation apparatus 101 in accordance with a request from the composite content generation unit 902.

The composite license output unit 905 outputs the composite license information passed from the composite content generation unit 902 so that it can be managed safely. For example, the composite license is encrypted and output so that only the user or the device that has acquired the composite license can decrypt the license, or the license is transmitted to a device that safely manages the composite license. In addition, the composite license is written in an area in the recording medium that cannot be read by a normal device.
Composite Content Generation Processing Hereinafter, processing when the composite content generation unit 902 generates composite content will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the composite content generation unit 902 acquires information related to the consumption unit of the object from the consumption unit storage unit 906 (S1601). Subsequently, the composite content generation unit 902 requests the license acquisition unit 904 for a license for protected content necessary for generating the composite content (S1602). When the license acquisition unit 904 can acquire the necessary license (YES in S1603), the composite content generation unit 902 decrypts the protected content using the decryption key included in the license (S1604). Then, for each consumption unit acquired in S1601, a composite policy is generated from each policy included in the license (S1605). The composite policy generation process is the same as the process in the first embodiment described with reference to FIG.

  Next, the composite content generation unit 902 generates an encryption key for encrypting the protected content included in the composite license (S1606), and encrypts the protected content decrypted in S1604 using the encryption key (S1607). Then, a composite license in which a decryption key corresponding to the composite policy and the encryption key of the composite content is described is generated and passed to the composite license output unit 905 (S1608). Here, meta information for obtaining a composite license is added to the protected content and / or composite content encrypted in S1606.

  On the other hand, if the license acquisition unit 904 cannot acquire the necessary license (NO in S1603), the generation of the composite content is stopped (S1609).

In the above, an example in which each protected content is encrypted with a new encryption key has been described. However, the encrypted protected content can be directly used for composite content without being decrypted. In that case, a decryption key and a composite policy corresponding to each protected content are described in the composite license.
Complex Content Consumption Device Hereinafter, the internal configuration of the complex content consumption device 103 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 10, the composite content consumption apparatus 103 according to the second embodiment includes a composite content input unit 1501, a composite content analysis unit 1502, an object management unit 1503, an object usage control unit 1504, and a composite content consumption unit. 1505. Furthermore, the composite content consumption apparatus 103 includes a consumption content output unit 1506 and a composite license acquisition unit 1507. Note that the composite content input unit 1501, the composite content analysis unit 1502, and the object management unit 1503 are the same processes as the composite content input unit 601, the composite content analysis unit 602, and the object management unit 603 shown in FIG. 6 in the first embodiment. I do. Also, the composite content consumption unit 1505 and the consumed content output unit 1506 perform the same processing as the composite content consumption unit 605 and the consumed content output unit 607 in FIG. Therefore, the description about these structures is abbreviate | omitted.

  The composite license acquisition unit 1507 acquires the composite license generated by the composite content generation apparatus 102 using the meta information for composite license acquisition described in the composite content and / or protected content.

  If the object received from the object management unit 1503 is unprotected content, the object usage control unit 1504 returns the object in response to a request from the composite content consumption unit 1505. On the other hand, if the object is protected content, the object usage control unit 1504 acquires the composite license output from the composite license output unit 905, and controls the use of the protected content according to the composite policy specified in the composite license. When the composite license cannot be acquired from the composite license acquisition unit 1507 or when the usage exceeds the range of the composite policy condition, the object usage control unit 1504 stops using the composite content.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the composite policy generation process is executed in the composite content generation apparatus 102, so that the composite policy generation process is not performed in the composite content consumption apparatus 103. Therefore, the composite content consumption apparatus 103 can determine whether or not the composite content can be consumed only by evaluating the composite policy once with respect to the condition item for which the composite policy generation processing has been performed.
<Other embodiments>
The present invention can take the form of, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium (storage medium). Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, an imaging device, a web application, etc.), or may be applied to an apparatus including a single device. Good.

  In the present invention, a software program that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied directly or remotely to a system or apparatus, and the program code supplied by the system or apparatus computer is read out. It is also achieved by executing. The program in this case is a program that can be read by a computer and corresponds to the flowchart of the above-described embodiment.

  Therefore, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention also includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, and the like.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, the following recording media can be considered. That is, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, etc. It is.

  As a program supply method, the following method is also possible. That is, the browser of the client computer is connected to a homepage on the Internet, and the computer program itself (or a compressed file including an automatic installation function) of the present invention is downloaded to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, the present invention includes a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to the user, and key information for decrypting the encryption from the homepage via the Internet is provided to the user who has cleared a predetermined condition. It can also be downloaded. The user can execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install it on the computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. Furthermore, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  In addition, the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, and then executed, the program of the above-described embodiment. Function is realized. That is, based on the written program instructions, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit can perform part or all of the actual processing.

  As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing system in an embodiment according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example of composite content in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of composite content in this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the host computer applicable as each apparatus in this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the protected content production | generation apparatus in this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the composite content production | generation apparatus in this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the composite content consumption apparatus in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the composite content consumption process in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a production | generation process of the composite policy in this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the composite content production | generation apparatus in 2nd Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the composite content consumption apparatus in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the composite content production | generation process in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the production | generation example of the composite policy in 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the production | generation process of the composite policy in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a production | generation of the composite policy in this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Protected content production | generation apparatus 102 Compound content production | generation apparatus 103 Compound content consumption apparatus 104 Content distribution channel 401 Content production | generation part 402 Protected content production | generation part 403 Protected content output part 404 License output part 501 Content input part 502 Compound content production | generation part 503 Compound content output Unit 601 compound content input unit 602 compound content analysis unit 603 object management unit 604 object usage control unit 605 compound content consumption unit 606 compound policy storage unit 607 consumption content output unit 608 compound license acquisition unit 609 consumption unit storage unit 901 content input unit 902 Compound content generation unit 903 Compound content output unit 904 License acquisition unit 905 Compound license output unit 906 Consumption unit storage unit 15 1 compound content input unit 1502 compound content analysis unit 1503 object management unit 1504 object usage control unit 1505 compound content consumption unit 1506 consumption content output unit 1507 compound license acquisition unit

Claims (11)

An information processing system that has a composite content generation device and a composite content consumption device and processes a plurality of protected content,
The composite content generation device includes:
For each protected content, there is a composite content generation means for generating composite content from a plurality of protected content for which a policy is set ,
The composite content consumption device is:
First determination means for determining whether a composite policy for the composite content is stored;
When the first determination unit determines that the composite policy is not stored, the composite policy is obtained by obtaining a product set of the condition values of the policies set in the respective protected contents included in the composite content. A composite policy generation means to generate;
When the first determination unit determines that a composite policy is stored, the first determination unit determines whether the use of the composite content is permitted according to the stored composite policy. The second determination means for determining whether the use of the composite content is permitted according to the composite policy generated by the composite policy generation means when it is determined that the composite policy is not stored;
If the second determination means determines that the use of the composite content is permitted, the composite content consumption means for consuming the composite content;
An information processing system comprising: The composite content consumption apparatus further includes an acquisition unit that acquires information related to a consumption unit of the composite content,
The composite policy generation unit generates the composite policy based on information about the consumption unit and a policy set for each protected content included in the composite content. Information processing system. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the composite content generation unit generates the composite content so as to include the plurality of protected contents. The policy set for the protected content has a condition item indicating a use condition of the protected content and a condition value for the condition item,
The composite policy generation means generates the composite policy that satisfies a condition item included in the policy set in the plurality of protected contents constituting the composite content and a condition value for the condition item. Item 4. The information processing system according to Item 1 . The composite policy generation means obtains a product set of condition values for the condition items for condition items common to the policies set in the plurality of protected contents constituting the composite contents. Item 4. The information processing system according to Item 1 . An information processing apparatus that processes a plurality of protected contents for which a policy is set for each protected content ,
Composite content acquisition means for acquiring composite content generated from a plurality of protected contents;
First determination means for determining whether a composite policy for the composite content is stored;
When the first determination unit determines that the composite policy is not stored, the composite policy is obtained by obtaining a product set of the condition values of the policies set in the respective protected contents included in the composite content. A composite policy generation means to generate;
When the first determination unit determines that a composite policy is stored, the first determination unit determines whether the use of the composite content is permitted according to the stored composite policy. The second determination means for determining whether the use of the composite content is permitted according to the composite policy generated by the composite policy generation means when it is determined that the composite policy is not stored;
If the second determination means determines that the use of the composite content is permitted, the composite content consumption means for consuming the composite content;
An information processing apparatus comprising: Further comprising information acquisition means for acquiring information related to the consumption unit of the composite content;
The said composite policy production | generation means produces | generates a composite policy based on the information regarding the said consumption unit, and the policy set to each protected content contained in the said composite content, The composite policy is produced | generated. Information processing device. The policy set for the protected content has a condition item indicating a use condition of the protected content and a condition value for the condition item,
The composite policy generation means generates the composite policy that satisfies a condition item included in the policy set in the plurality of protected contents constituting the composite content and a condition value for the condition item. Item 7. The information processing device according to Item 6. The composite policy generation means obtains a product set of condition values for the condition items for condition items common to the policies set in the plurality of protected contents constituting the composite contents. Item 7. The information processing device according to Item 6. An information processing method for processing a plurality of protected contents for which a policy is set for each protected content ,
A composite content acquisition step in which the composite content acquisition means acquires composite content generated from a plurality of protected contents;
A first determination unit for determining whether a composite policy for the composite content is stored;
In the first determination step, when it is determined that the composite policy is not stored, the composite policy generation unit obtains a product set of the condition values of the policies set in the respective protected contents included in the composite content. A composite policy generation step for generating a composite policy,
When it is determined in the first determination step that the composite policy is stored, the second determination unit determines whether the use of the composite content is permitted according to the stored composite policy. In the first determination step, when it is determined that the composite policy is not stored, a second determination is made as to whether the use of the composite content is permitted according to the composite policy generated in the composite policy generation step. A determination step of
In the second determination step, when said use of the compound content is determined to be permitted, compound content consumption unit, the compound content consumption step of consuming before Symbol compound content,
An information processing method characterized by comprising: A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to function as the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 9 .

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