JPH10111856A - Data providing device, terminal equipment to be connected thereto and program storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To securely prevent a terminal device from illegally using data which has expired by adopting constitution wherein the data providing device judges whether or not the use period of data has expired by using its own timer and acknowledges the use of the data provided to the terminal device. SOLUTION: This data providing device 1 is equipped with a changing means 155 which changes the use period that a managing means 11 manages in response to a request from the terminal device 2. Further, the terminal device 2 is equipped with a rewriting means 26 which rewrites acknowledgement needed data added to provided data from an acknowledgement necessary state to an acknowledgement unnecessary state on condition that the data providing device 1 acknowledges that. Then the data providing device 1 judges whether or not the use period of the data has expired by using its own timer and acknowledges the use of the data provided to the terminal device 2, so the terminal device 2 is securely prevented from illegally using the data having expired.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data providing device for providing data to a terminal device connected via a network, a terminal device connected to the data providing device, and a program used to realize the data providing device. And a program storage medium for storing a program used for realizing the terminal device, in particular, a data providing device for preventing unauthorized use exceeding the data expiration date, and a data connection device connected thereto. The present invention relates to a terminal device, a program storage medium storing a program used to realize the data providing device, and a program storage medium storing a program used to realize the terminal device.

With the development of networks such as the Internet, host systems have provided useful programs and data to terminal devices connected to the networks.

[0003] In such a data service, data is distributed and is usable for free by delimiting the expiration date, or is distributed when a usage fee is paid, and is delimited by the expiration date. May be used. In such a configuration, the data may be used illegally beyond the expiration date,
It is necessary to construct a configuration to prevent this.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when giving an expiration date to data to be delivered to a terminal device, the host system employs a configuration in which an expiration date is added to the data to be distributed, and the host system gives the terminal device an expiration date. The decision was made to decide whether or not to enter, so that the expiration date of the data was separated.

That is, upon receiving data from the host system whose expiration date is defined, the program of the terminal device that uses the data compares the date and time of the clock of the own device with the expiration date added to the data. By doing so, when determining whether use of the data is permitted, when determining that use is permitted, entering the use of data and when determining that use is not permitted,
By not being able to use the data, it was configured to comply with the expiration date specified by the host system.

[0006]

However, according to such a conventional technique, data which cannot be used can be used by intentionally changing the date and time of the clock of the terminal device. There was a problem.

That is, when there is data whose expiration date has passed, there is a problem that the data can be used by changing the date and time of the clock to a date and time before the expiration date.

In addition, the conventional system does not employ a configuration for providing extension or cancellation of the expiration date, which causes a problem of lack of practicality. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has been made in consideration of a case where a data providing device adopts a configuration for providing data with a limited expiration date to a terminal device connected via a network. Provision of a new data providing device capable of preventing unauthorized use exceeding the time limit, provision of a new terminal device connected thereto, and a new program storage medium for storing a program used to realize the data providing device And a new program storage medium for storing a program used for realizing the terminal device.

[0009]

FIG. 1 shows the principle configuration of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a data providing device equipped with the present invention, 2 is a terminal device equipped with the present invention, and 3 is a network connecting between the data providing device 1 and the terminal device 2.

[0010] The data providing device 1 of the present invention comprises a terminal device 2
To provide data to
0, management means 11, addition means 12, and determination means 13
, A notification unit 14 and a change unit 15.

The transmission / reception means 10 manages communication processing with the terminal device 2. The management unit 11 manages the expiration date of the data provided to the terminal device 2. The adding unit 12 adds approval necessity data to data provided to the terminal device 2. The deciding unit 13 decides whether to approve the use of the data provided to the terminal device 2. Notification means 14
Notifies the terminal device 2 of the decision result of the decision means 13.
The change unit 15 changes the expiration date managed by the management unit 11.

Here, the functions of the data providing apparatus 1 of the present invention are specifically realized by a program.
This program is provided from a medium, and the data providing device 1
The present invention is realized by being installed in a memory and operating on a memory.

On the other hand, the terminal device 2 of the present invention uses data provided from the data providing device 1,
Transmission / reception means 20, data storage means 21, utilization means 2
2, determining means 23, issuing means 24, permitting means 25
And rewriting means 26.

The transmission / reception means 20 includes the data providing device 1
Manages communication processing between The data storage unit 21 stores data provided from the data providing device 1. The use unit 22 uses data stored in the data storage unit 21. The determining unit 23 determines whether it is necessary to request the data providing device 1 to approve the use of the data. The issuing unit 24 issues a data use approval request to the data providing device 1. The permission unit 25 determines whether to permit the use unit 22 to use the data. The rewriting means 26 rewrites the approval necessity data of the data stored in the data storage means 21.

Here, the functions of the terminal device 2 of the present invention are specifically realized by a program, which is provided from a medium, installed in the terminal device 2 and operated on a memory. Thus, the present invention is realized.

In the present invention configured as described above, when receiving the data to be provided to the terminal device 2, the adding means 12 of the data providing device 1 transmits approval necessity data indicating the necessity of approval to the data. In addition, in response to this, the transmission / reception unit 10 transmits the provided data to which the approval necessity data is added to the terminal device 2. At this time, when another data providing apparatus 1 is connected to the network 3, the adding means 12 also adds its own address.

Receiving the processing of the data providing device 1, the transmitting / receiving means 20 of the terminal device 2 receives the data to which the approval necessity data is added from the data providing device 1, and stores it in the data storage means 21. . Then, when there is a use request of the data stored in the data storage unit 21, the determination unit 23 needs to request the data providing apparatus 1 for approval by referring to the approval necessity data added to the use target data. The issuing unit 24 issues a use approval request to the data providing apparatus 1 that has provided the use target data.

At this time, when a plurality of data providing apparatuses 1 are connected to the network 3, the determining means 23 determines whether the data providing apparatus 1
By referring to the device address, the data providing device 1 that is the provider of the data to be used is specified. Further, the issuance unit 24 receives the use approval from the data providing device 1 and, after the use unit 22 starts using the data,
A use approval request may be issued to the data providing apparatus 1 periodically.

In response to the processing of the terminal device 2, the determining unit 13 of the data providing device 1 determines whether the expiration date managed by the managing unit 11 has arrived when the terminal device 2 receives a data use approval request. By determining whether or not to use the data, it is determined whether or not to approve the use of the data. Upon receiving the determination result, the notification unit 14 notifies the terminal device 2 of the determination result of the determination unit 13.

At this time, when the decision means 13 decides to approve the use because the expiration date has not been reached,
Also judge whether the expiration date is approaching or not,
When the determining unit 13 determines that the expiration date is approaching, the notifying unit 14 also notifies the terminal device 2 of that fact.

In response to the processing of the data providing device 1, the permission unit 25 of the terminal device 2 permits the use unit 22 to use the data when the use approval is notified from the data providing device 1, and When a disapproval is notified,
The use means 22 is prohibited from using the data.

At the time of adopting this configuration, the data providing device 1 includes a changing unit 15 for changing the expiration date managed by the managing unit 11 in response to a request from the terminal device 2, Means for rewriting the approval necessity data added to the provided data from the approval necessity to the approval unnecessary, on condition that the data providing apparatus 1 permits the rewriting.
6 may be provided.

As described above, according to the present invention, the data providing apparatus 1 employs the configuration of determining whether or not the expiration date of the data has expired by using the clock of the own apparatus. Since the use of the data provided to the terminal device 2 is approved, it is possible to reliably prevent the terminal device 2 from improperly using the data beyond the expiration date. And
Since a configuration that allows extension or cancellation of the expiration date is adopted, the system can be made practical.

[0024]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail according to embodiments. FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 4 is a plurality of host computers equipped with the present invention, 5 is a plurality of terminal computers equipped with the present invention connected to the host computer 4, and 6 is a connection between the host computer 4 and the terminal computer 5. Network.

The host computer 4 processes the terminal computer 5 so as to provide media data such as audio and images having a limited expiration date to the terminal computer 5. The program 42 includes a program 42, an expiration date changing program 43, and a data approval program 44.

On the other hand, the terminal computer 5 stores media data provided from the host computer 4 and processes the media data to reproduce the media data in response to a request from the user. A replay program 50, an approval request program 51, and an additional information change program 52.

Here, these data providing programs 4
2, an expiration date changing program 43, a data approval program 44, a reproduction program 50, and an approval request program 51.
And the additional information change program 52 are installed from the program storage medium.

As shown in FIG. 3, the expiration date table 40 provided in the host computer 4 corresponds to the ID of the media data provided to the terminal computer 5 and the period in which the media data can be used (the period from the transmission of the media data). Manage relationships. Further, the management table 41 corresponds to FIG.
As shown in (1), it manages which media data is provided to which terminal computer 5 and when the expiration date of the provided media data is expired.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a processing flow executed by the data providing program 42 expanded on the host computer 4. FIG. 6 shows a processing flow executed by the expiration date changing program 43 expanded on the host computer 4. FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the processing flow executed by the data approval program 44 loaded on the host computer 4 in an embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of a processing flow executed by the approval request program 51 expanded on the terminal computer 5. FIG. 9 shows a processing executed by the additional information change program 52 expanded on the terminal computer 5. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a flow.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail according to these processing flows. Upon receiving a media data providing request from the terminal computer 5, the data providing program 42 loaded on the host computer 4
As shown in the processing flow of FIG.
In addition to adding the network address of the own device and the ID of the media data to the media data to be provided, when the media data has an expiration date, it indicates the necessity of approval, and when the media data does not have an expiration date, And approval necessity data indicating the need for approval is added.

Subsequently, in step 2, the term table 40
, The usage period of the media data to be provided is specified, the usage period of the media data is calculated from the usage period of the clock of the own device, and the usage period of the media data is calculated. The expiration date, the network address of the terminal computer 5 that is the transmission destination, and the ID of the media data are registered.

Subsequently, in step 3, the media data to which the network address / data ID / approval necessity data has been added is transmitted to the terminal computer 5 that has provided the request, and the process ends.

As described above, when the data providing program 42 loaded on the host computer 4 receives the media data providing request from the terminal computer 5, the data providing program 42 adds the approval necessity data to the media data and sends the media data to the terminal computer 5. It is processed as it is provided.

In response to the provision of the media data, the approval request program 51 of the terminal computer 5 receives a request from the user to reproduce the media data provided from the host computer 4 as shown in the processing flow of FIG.
First, in step 1, the approval necessity data added to the media data requested to be reproduced is obtained.

Subsequently, in step 2, it is determined whether or not the acquired approval necessity data indicates the necessity of approval.
The reproduction program 50 is activated to reproduce the media data requested by the user.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step 2 that the approval necessity data indicates the need for approval, the process proceeds to step 4 where the host computer 4 indicated by the network address added to the media data requested to be reproduced. (Host computer 4 that provided the media data requested to be reproduced) to its own network address and data ID added to the media data
Is issued, and an approval request as to whether or not reproduction is permitted is issued.

As will be described later, in response to the issuance of the approval request, the data approval program 44 of the host computer 4 transmits a message indicating that the reproduction is permitted or non-reproducible (also notifies that the expiration date is near). Then, in step 5, the message is received, and in step 6, the message is displayed to the user.

Subsequently, in step 7, it is determined whether or not the received message indicates that reproduction is permitted. When it is determined that reproduction is permitted, the process proceeds to step 8, where the reproduction program 50 is executed. By activating (if it has already been activated, the activation is continued), the reproduction process of the media data requested to be reproduced by the user is started.

Subsequently, in step 9, it is determined whether or not the reproduction of the media data that has been reproduced has been completed. If it is determined that the reproduction has been completed, the process is terminated. Proceeding to determine whether the specified inspection cycle has been reached, to return to step 9 when determining that the inspection cycle has not been reached, and to return to step 9 when determining that the inspection cycle has been reached, use the expiration date during playback. In consideration of the fact that the process may reach step (4), the process returns to step 4 to repeat the processing from step 4 to step 10.

When it is determined in step 7 that the received message indicates that reproduction is impossible,
The media data requested by the user will not be reproduced. At this time, in consideration of the fact that the expiration date may be reached during the reproduction, the reproduction program 50 has already been activated and If there is, step 11
As shown by, processing to stop the start of the reproduction program 50 is performed.

As described above, when the user requests the reproduction of the media data provided from the host computer 4, the approval request program 51 of the terminal computer 5 performs the processing on the condition that the host computer 4 has approved the reproduction. Processing is performed so that media data is reproduced.

Upon receiving the playback request issued by the approval request program 51, the data approval program 44 of the host computer 4 issues the playback request, and first, as shown in the processing flow of FIG. In step 1,
By referring to the table data of the management table 41,
The data ID specified by the reproduction request and the expiration date indicated by the network address of the terminal computer 5 are obtained.

Subsequently, in step 2, the current date and time are obtained by referring to the clock of the own device.
Then, it is checked whether or not the acquired date and time falls within the expiration date acquired in step 1, and if it is determined that the expiration date does not fall, the process proceeds to step 4 and data reproduction is disabled.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step 3 that the expiration date will be reached, the process proceeds to step 5 to set data reproducibility, and in subsequent step 6, it is determined whether the time until the expiration date is shorter than the specified time. Is checked to determine whether it is near to the expiration date. When it is determined that the expiration date is near, in the subsequent step 7, it is set that it is near to the expiration date.

When the setting process of step 4 / step 5 / step 7 is completed, the process proceeds to step 8, where a message to be transmitted to the reproduction request issuing terminal computer 5 is set in accordance with the value set in the setting process. In a succeeding step 9, the set message is transmitted to the terminal computer 5 which has issued the reproduction request, and the process is terminated.

As described above, when the data approval program 44 of the host computer 4 receives a media data reproduction request from the approval request program 51 of the terminal computer 5, it determines whether or not the media data has exceeded the expiration date. It makes a determination and notifies the approval request program 51 of the determination result.

In response to the processing of the data approval program 44, the approval request program 51 of the terminal computer 5
As described above, on the condition that the reproduction permission message is received from the data approval program 44, the processing is performed so as to reproduce the media data requested to be reproduced by the user.

When adopting such a media data reproduction configuration, the expiration date changing program 43 of the host computer 4 issues a request to extend the expiration date of the media data from the terminal computer 5 as shown in FIG. As shown in the processing flow, it is determined whether or not an extension condition (for example, payment of a fee) is satisfied, and when the extension condition is satisfied, a process of extending the expiration date registered in the management table 41 is performed. I do.

When the user issues a request to release the expiration date of the media data, the additional information change program 52 of the terminal computer 5 releases the release request to the host computer 4 as shown in the processing flow of FIG. Inquiring whether or not to approve, and receiving approval (for example, issued on condition of payment of the fee) that approval is allowed, approves the approval necessity data indicating the necessity of approval added to the media data. Unnecessary rewriting cancels the expiration date.

By extending or canceling the expiration date of the media data provided to the terminal computer 5 in this manner, a practical operation of the system is realized.

The present invention was invented according to the illustrated embodiment.
The present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the embodiments, the present invention has been disclosed according to an example of application to a system for providing media data such as audio and images. However, the present invention is not limited to such a system, but may be applied to other data. It can be applied to systems that provide programs and programs.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a data providing device provides data to a terminal device connected via a network, the data providing device uses its own clock to determine whether the data expiration date has expired. With this configuration, the use of the data provided to the terminal device is approved, so that it is possible to reliably prevent the terminal device from using the data beyond the expiration date. Then, since a configuration that allows extension or cancellation of the expiration date is adopted, the system can be made practical.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of a time limit table.

FIG. 4 is an example of a management table.

FIG. 5 is an embodiment of a processing flow executed by a data providing program.

FIG. 6 is an example of a processing flow executed by a use-by date change program.

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of a processing flow executed by a data approval program.

FIG. 8 is an embodiment of a processing flow executed by an approval request program.

FIG. 9 is an embodiment of a processing flow executed by an additional information change program.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 data providing device 2 terminal device 3 network 10 transmitting / receiving means 11 managing means 12 adding means 13 determining means 14 notifying means 15 changing means 20 transmitting / receiving means 21 data storing means 22 using means 23 determining means 24 issuing means 25 permitting means 26 rewriting means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Honda 4-1-1, Uedanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Yuji Motofuji Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture 4-1-1 1-1 Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Mori Uchikawa 1-765 Fukashi, Matsumoto-shi, Nagano Pref.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A data providing device for providing data to a terminal device connected via a network, comprising: management means for managing a use period of data provided to the terminal device; Means for adding approval necessity data indicating the necessity of approval, and when the terminal device receives a data use approval request based on the approval necessity data added by the addition means, Determining means for determining whether to approve the use of the data by determining whether or not a use expiration date has been reached; and notifying means for notifying the terminal device of the determination result of the determining means. A data providing device, comprising: 2. The data providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said adding means adds an own device address to the data to be provided to the terminal device. 3. The data providing device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines whether the expiration date is approaching when deciding to approve the use because the expiration date has not been reached. And a notifying unit that, when the determining unit determines that the expiration date is approaching, notifies the terminal device also to that effect. 4. The data providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a change unit that changes a use period managed by the management unit in response to a request from the terminal device. Providing device. 5. A terminal device using data provided from a data providing device connected via a network, wherein the terminal device approves the data providing device by referring to the approval necessity data added to the use target data. Determining means for determining whether it is necessary to request, and issuing means for issuing a use approval request to the data providing apparatus that provided the use target data when the determining means determines the need for approval. And a permission unit for determining whether to permit use of the use target data in accordance with a use approval result notified from the data providing device in response to the issuance of the issuance unit. 6. The terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the judging unit refers to the device address of the data providing device added to the use target data to determine a data providing device that is a provider of the use target data. A terminal device characterized by identifying. 7. The terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the issuing unit periodically issues a use approval request to the data providing device even while using the data. . 8. The terminal device according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the approval necessity data indicating the necessity of approval added to the data is written without approval under a condition that the data providing device permits. A terminal device characterized by comprising rewriting means for changing. 9. A program storage medium for storing a program used for realizing a data providing device for providing data to a terminal device connected via a network, wherein the program storage medium stores Adding means for adding approval necessity data indicating the necessity of approval; and managing the expiration date of the data when there is a data use approval request from the terminal device based on the approval necessity data added by the addition means. According to the management data of the management means
Deciding means for deciding whether to approve the use of the data by deciding whether or not the data expiration date has been reached, and notifying means for notifying the terminal device of the decision result of the deciding means. A program storage medium, characterized by storing a program for realizing the following. 10. A program storage medium for storing a program used for realizing a terminal device using data provided from a data providing device connected via a network, wherein the program storage medium is a program storage medium. A determination unit that determines whether it is necessary to request approval from the data providing device by referring to the necessity data; and a data source of the use target data when the determination unit determines the need for approval. Issuing means for issuing a use approval request to the providing apparatus; and determining whether to permit use of the use target data according to the use approval result notified from the data providing apparatus in response to the issuance of the issuing means. A program storage medium characterized by storing a program for realizing the permission means.