JPH04158441A - Soft leasing system and leased soft copy preventing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the illicit copy of the leased software by erasing automatically and forcibly the leased software after executing it. CONSTITUTION:The application side is provided with an AP (application software) file reception means 8 which receives the AP from the supply side, an AP file execution means 9 like a computer, etc., which carries out the AP, and an AP file deletion means 10 which deletes the executed AP out of a system of the application side. At the application side, the information on an AP file, etc., are stored in a memory which is not backed up by a battery, etc., and has its contents to be erased with a power failure or a power OFF mode. When the AP file is totally stored in the memory, the control is transferred to the AP file and this file is carried out. Then the control is transferred to the means 10 and the AP file is deleted. Thus the illicit copy can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application J] The present invention relates to computer software, and particularly to a software rental system.

[Prior Art] In the past, there was no concept of renting computer software from the standpoint of copyright protection, and only pieces that were protected to prevent copying were sold one by one.

In addition, as related to the prior art, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-12
No. 1463 and JP-A-59-116868.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Computers have become widespread, and various types of software have been developed and are on the market. Most software typically costs tens of thousands of yen each, making it difficult for individuals to own multiple types of software. Moreover, if you use a piece of software frequently, there is an advantage in buying that software, but if you have to buy software that you rarely use, you will end up giving up on that software. This means that even if the software is useful, it will not become popular and the software developer will not be able to recover the development costs. In order to avoid such a situation, it would be desirable to develop a system for renting software, but if illegal copying becomes widespread, it will infringe on copyright and cause more harm than good.

An object of the present invention is to provide a software rental system and a method for preventing copying of rental software, which can establish a sound software rental system.

[Means for solving the problem] The above purpose is to provide a software lending side that is equipped with a storage means that stores a large number of software and a means for reading and transmitting the requested software from the storage means, and a software that the software lending side wants to use. and a means for automatically deleting the software after executing the received software, and the software lending side and the software using side are connected by a communication line, and the software lending side is provided with a means for requesting the software and a means for automatically deleting the software after executing the received software. This is achieved when the software user uses the software held by the software.

The above purpose is also to automatically delete the software that is read out to the user via a communication line from the software supplier who has stored a large number of software in a storage device, and upon a software termination command after being executed on the user's side. This can be achieved by ensuring that

[Operation] When software is rented out, if the software is illegally copied, the copyright will be infringed and this software lending system will not become popular.

Therefore, after the lent software is executed, it is automatically forcibly deleted to prevent it from being copied.

[Example] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a software lending system according to an embodiment of the present invention. When renting computer software using a communication line, it is essential to provide a function to prevent unauthorized copying of the software. In order to satisfy this condition, the software lending system in this embodiment is configured as follows.

First, the software supplier has a storage means 1 that stores various application software (hereinafter referred to as AP), a means 2 that receives AP file read information in response to a request from the user, and a member AP lending management means 3 that analyzes the information of and confirms the membership number, etc.;
A desired by the user upon receiving the command from this management means 3
It consists of a means 4 for reading the P file from the storage means 1 and a means 5 for transmitting the read AP file to the user side through the line 6.

The user side provides its own requested information to the software supplier side.

A means 7 for transmitting member number information, etc., a means 8 for receiving the AP sent from the supply side, an execution means 9 such as a computer for executing the AP, and a system on the user side for executing the AP after executing the AP. It consists of means 10 for deleting from.

In such a software lending system, first, the user uses the transmitting means 7 to transmit information such as the AP file name and membership number that the user wishes to use to the supplying side through the line 6. This request information is received by the receiving means 2 on the supply side. This information is passed to the management means 3, and it is confirmed whether the member is registered or not. If the member is registered, the next step is to manage AP lending fees, etc., and if there are no particular problems, the AP file is The name is sent to the successive output means 4. The reading means 4 reads this AP file from the storage means 1 and sends it to the transmitting means 5 to transmit it to the user side.

On the user side, information such as this AP file is stored in a memory that is not backed up by a battery or the like and whose contents are erased when there is a power outage or the power is turned off. When the entire AP file has been stored in this memory, control is transferred to the AP file and executed, and after the execution is completed (or when a predetermined period of time has passed from the time when the AP was lent), Alternatively, when the user executes this AP and the amount of input data reaches a certain set amount, or the amount of output of created data reaches a certain set amount, control is transferred to the deletion means 10 and the AP is deleted. Delete files.

In this way, the AP file is deleted after the execution of the AP file is completed to prevent it from being illegally copied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the main processing procedure in the supply side system. First, it is determined whether there is a request from the user to send an AP file. If there is a transmission request, the AP file transmission mode processing unit AP-3-MAI
N is executed, and if there is no transmission request, member number registration mode processing MN-W-MAIN can be performed. After these processes, the input key is read, and if there is a termination command key, the process is terminated, and if not, the process returns to the original state and waits for a transmission request.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the AP file transmission mode process shown in FIG. First, the AP file transmission process 5END is performed, and then it is checked whether or not the transmission was performed normally. If the transmission was not performed normally, error handling is performed and the program returns to the program shown in FIG. If the transmission is normal, accounting processing is performed to collect the rental fee, and the process returns to the program shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the AP file transmission process 5END in FIG. First, a line connection is made, and the supply side and the user side are connected by four wires 6. Then, the member number is received and the member number confirmation process MNOC is performed. As a result of the confirmation process, if the member is not registered (joined), the transmission error flag is turned on and the process returns to the program shown in FIG. If the member is already registered, the name of the loaned AP file is received and the AP file is sent.

Then, it is determined whether or not the transmission was carried out normally, and if it is normal, the transmission error flag is turned off and the process returns to the program shown in FIG. If the transmission is not normal, the transmission error flag is turned on and the process returns to the program shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the member number confirmation process MNOC of FIG. 4. First, a member file read pointer is initialized, and the read pointer is updated to find out whether a record matching the received member number exists according to this pointer. If a matching member number is not detected, the membership completion flag is turned off, and if a matching record is found, the membership completion flag is turned on, and the process returns to the program shown in FIG.

Figure 6 shows the membership number registration mode processing type -W-M in Figure 2.
3 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of AIN.

First, open the member file and manually enter information about the member, such as member number and member address. Then, the input information is written to the member file, the file is closed, and the program returns to the program shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the main processing procedure on the user side. First, AP file reception processing REC
Do V. Then, it is determined whether the reception is normal or not, and if it is abnormal, an error process is performed and the process ends. If it is normal, execute the execution process APEXE of that AP, and when it is finished, delete the AP and let the user try this AP again.
If the user wants to run this AP again, he/she will have to rent it again from the supplier. ), the process ends.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the AP file receiving process RECV in FIG. This reception process is
This corresponds to the transmission process on the supply side shown in Figure 2. In this transmission process, the AP file sent is received, and it is determined whether the reception was performed normally. If the reception is abnormal, an error is detected. The flag is turned on and the process returns to the program shown in FIG. 7. If the reception is normal, the error flag is turned off and the process returns to the program shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the AP execution process APEXE shown in FIG. AP execution is basically A
Although it depends on P itself, in general, initial processing is performed,
Normal processing is performed until a termination command is received, and upon receiving the termination command, execution of the AP is terminated. However, too long AP
If this is made possible, problems may arise from the perspective of copyright protection. Therefore, when the accumulated execution time of the AP or the existing time of the AP memory passes a predetermined time, or the number of input keys reaches a predetermined number, or the output amount of created data reaches a predetermined amount. When this occurs, the AP automatically issues a termination command, stores the data etc. created by the previous execution of the AP on a disk, etc., and forcefully terminates the application.

When the execution of the AP is terminated by this termination command, the AP is deleted from the user's system and cannot be used again.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, illegal copying of rented software is prevented and copyright protection is achieved, thereby eliminating obstacles to popularizing software rental.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a software lending system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are flowcharts showing processing procedures on the software supply side; FIG. 7, FIG. 8, and FIG. 9 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure on the software user side. 1... AP file storage means, 2... AP file successive information reception means, 3... Member AP lending management means, 4
. . . AP file succession means, 5 . . . AP file transmission means, 6 . . Line, 7 . . .
P file execution means, 10... AP file deletion means. Agent Patent Attorney Tadashi Akimoto Figure 2 Figure 3 AP-5JAIN Figure 4 END Figure 5 Figure 6 MN W MAIN Figure 7 Figure 8 ECV

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A software lending side comprising a storage means storing a large number of software, a means for reading and transmitting the requested software from the storage means, and means for requesting the software desired to be used from the software lending side. The software user is equipped with a means for automatically deleting the received software after executing it, and the software lending side and the software user are connected via a communication line, and the software held by the software lending side can be used for a fee or free of charge. A software lending system 2 characterized in that it is used by the software user.The user executes the software read out from a storage means storing a large number of software to the user's terminal via a communication line, and then the software is automatically executed. A software lending system characterized by being equipped with communication software having an erasing function. 3. A software lending system characterized in that a storage device stores a large number of software that has a function of automatically erasing itself after being read out and executed by the user through a communication line. 4. The software read out from the software supplier side, which stores a large amount of software in a storage device, to the user side via a communication line is stored in the memory of the user's terminal, and its contents are erased when the power goes out or the power is turned off. A method for preventing copying of lending software, characterized in that it can only be read into memory. 5. The software read out from the software supplier, which stores a large number of software in a storage device, to the user via a communication line,
A method for preventing copying of rental software, characterized in that it is automatically deleted by a software termination command after being executed by a user. 6. Software read out to the user via a communication line from the software supplier, which stores a large number of software in a storage device,
A method for preventing copies of lending software, characterized in that the copying of lending software is automatically deleted when the execution time on the user side reaches a set time. 7. Software read out to the user via a communication line from the software supplier, which stores a large number of software in a storage device,
A method for preventing copies of loaned software, characterized in that when the amount of input or output reaches a set value when executed on the user's side, the software is automatically deleted.