JPS63153633A - Use limitation system for program - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a program from being utilized illegally by limiting the number of times of the utilization of the program to a constant value previously and inhibiting the program from being copied to another storage medium while the program is usable. CONSTITUTION:Information regarding how many times a program can be executed and whether or not the program can be copied is stored on a storage medium where the program is stored corresponding to the program. An execution frequency check part 12 checks the corresponding possible number of times of execution in response to the program execution command of a program execution control part 11, and controls the execution of the corresponding program and also decreases the number of times when the checked number of times is >=1 to update the possible number of times of execution. Then when the possible number of times reaches zero, the corresponding program is erased and the information about how many times the program can be executed is so changed as to indicate that the program can be copied. When the information indicating whether or not the program can be copied indicates that the program can not be copied, a copying permission/inhibition information check part 13 inhibits the corresponding program from being copied.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] 艮J口口! The present invention relates to a 70-gram usage restriction system, and more particularly to a program usage restriction system for preventing unauthorized use of software programs provided to various data processing devices.

A program provided to a conventional data processing device is stored in a storage medium, but it is extremely easy to copy the program stored in this storage medium to another storage medium and execute the program. It has become. Therefore, unauthorized use of the program will occur. Therefore, in order to prevent unauthorized use of such programs, measures are taken such as prohibiting copying of storage media and registering executable programs in data processing devices.

Since the operation of software such as programs cannot be confirmed from the outside, demonstration software may be distributed to users to confirm its operation, and the purchase of the software may be encouraged based on the results. However, as described above, it is possible to easily copy to other storage media, so there is a possibility that software media distributed for demonstration purposes may be copied and used for business purposes. Therefore, for the manufacturer who provided the software, even though the software was developed at a huge cost, it not only does not generate any profit, it is also impossible to recover the costs.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, even if measures are taken to prohibit copying of storage media or to register executable software for data processing, software storage media distributed for demonstration purposes cannot be diverted for business use. This also has the disadvantage that it is not profitable for the software provider.

Purpose of the Invention Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional ones, and its purpose is to limit the number of times a program stored in a storage medium can be used and copy it. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for restricting the use of programs, which allows effective unauthorized use of programs.

Structure of the Invention According to the present invention, there is provided a usage restriction method for a program stored in a storage medium, in which the number of times a program can be executed and information on whether or not a program can be copied are stored in correspondence with the program, and program execution commands are issued. In response to this, the corresponding number of executable times is checked, and if the number of times is 1 or more, the execution of the corresponding program is controlled, and the number of times that can be executed is updated by subtracting the number of times, and the number of times that can be executed is updated. When the number becomes zero, the corresponding program is deleted and the copy permission information of the corresponding program is updated to allow copying, and when the copy permission information indicates that copying is prohibited, copying of the corresponding program is prohibited. A method for restricting the use of a program is obtained.

Example Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the invention. The keyboard 5 is an input device through which a user inputs various commands and the like necessary for executing a software program. The display 6 is a display device that displays various messages from the data processing device control section 1, commands input from the keyboard 6, and the like. The external storage device 7 is
A storage medium 8 such as a magnetic disk is mounted to perform processing such as copying and execution.

Keyboard control section 2. The display control section 3 and the storage device control section 4 each have a keyboard 5. It has a function of controlling the display 6 and the external storage device 7, and its operation is controlled by the data processing device control section 1.

FIG. 2 shows functional blocks of the data processing device control section 1, including a program execution control section 11 that executes a program stored in the storage medium 8, and the storage medium 8.
an execution count check unit 12 that checks the number of executable times (indicating how many more times it can be executed) of a program stored in the storage medium 8; and a copy unit 12 that checks copy permission information of the program stored in the storage medium 8. It consists of a feasibility information checking section 13.

It is assumed that the above-mentioned executable number of times and copy permission information are both stored in the storage medium 8 in advance together with the program, and if there are a plurality of stored programs, they are stored corresponding to each program.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the recording format of the recording medium 8. For example, when a recording disk is used as the recording medium, the program storage area 31 is provided within cylinders 1 to 7, and the 7th sector of cylinder 0 is provided with a program storage area 31. A copyability information area 32 is provided that indicates whether or not this program can be copied.

The 75th cylinder is provided with an area 33 for the number of times this program can be executed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of the copy permission information area 32. For example, the copy permission information 321 of the program is stored in the 10th byte. Further, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the contents of the executable number of times area 33, which is assumed to consist of, for example, 3 bytes of information.

In this configuration, it is assumed that in the storage medium 8 before being distributed to users for demonstration purposes, the copy permission information 321 is "no" and the number of times of execution 33 is rloooJ. Therefore, even if the user tries to copy this recording medium 8, the copy permission information check unit 13 checks this copy permission information and detects that copying is not possible, so it is determined that copying of this program is not possible. It will be done.

Next, when the user inputs a command to run a program from the keyboard 5, the execution number checking section 12 of the data processing device control section 1 reads and checks the executable number of times 33 of this program before executing the program. Now, if this executable number of times is "1" or more,
The content is updated by writing a value obtained by subtracting "1" from the current number of possible executions into the number of possible executions area 33. Control is then passed to the program execution control unit 11 to execute the program.

If the number of executions checking section 12 detects that the possible number of executions is "0", the display 6 will display, for example, "The number of times this program has been used has reached the specified value, so it will no longer be possible to execute it. ” is displayed, all contents of the program area 31 are erased, and the copy permission information area 32 is changed to “
You will need to set it to "Yes" and update. Storage medium 8 where the contents of program executable number of times area 33 are rOJ
Since the content of the copy permission information area 32 is "permitted," the user can use the recording medium for storing data files, etc.

By doing this, after a program has been used a certain number of times, the program cannot be executed and copying of the program can be prohibited during that time, making it possible to eliminate unauthorized use of the program.

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, the number of times a program can be used is limited in advance to a certain value, and copying of the program to another storage medium is prohibited while the program can be used. This has the effect that it is possible to prevent a software program distributed to users for demonstration use from being diverted to business use and continued to be used, thereby making it possible for the software developer to secure profits.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the data processing device control section of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a recording format of a storage medium, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the copy permission information area, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the possible execution number information area. Explanation of symbols of main parts 8...Storage medium

Claims (1)

[Claims] A method for restricting the use of a program stored in a storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores the number of executable times and copy permission information of a program in correspondence with the program, and the executable program is configured to respond to a program execution command. The number of times is checked, and if the number of times is 1 or more, the execution of the corresponding program is controlled, and the number of times that can be executed is updated by subtracting the number of times, and when the number of times that can be executed becomes zero, the corresponding program is executed. and update the copy permission information of the corresponding program to be copyable;
A method for restricting the use of a program, characterized in that when the copy permission information indicates that copying is prohibited, copying of the corresponding program is prohibited.