WO2004072853A1

WO2004072853A1 - Information providing method, information management device, and program

Info

Publication number: WO2004072853A1
Application number: PCT/JP2003/001577
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hirokazu Sugiyama; Tsuyoshi Suzuki; Toshihiko Oda; Yoshiaki Imajima
Original assignee: Fujitsu Limited
Priority date: 2003-02-14
Filing date: 2003-02-14
Publication date: 2004-08-26
Also published as: GB0502513D0; GB2407895A; JPWO2004072853A1

Abstract

A person to be accessed specifies terminal device users desiring to access the same information as members belonging to a group. Any one of the terminal device users specifies information to be accessed by the members of the group as common information to be shared by the group among information provided via a communication network by an information providing system, so that the information specified as the common information is presented to and accessed by the terminal device users constituting the group.

Description

Description Information providing method, information management device, and program

The present invention relates to a technique for allowing a user of a terminal device to access information (content) provided by an information providing system via a communication network. Background art

In recent years, communication networks have been rapidly developing as information infrastructures. As a result, communication networks are now being used to provide various services. For example, on the Internet, which is a global information infrastructure that connects various communication networks, there are many sites that provide various services such as information transmission (distribution) and product sales. Information provision systems are built to provide services that transmit information. Hereinafter, the information to be transmitted will be referred to as “content”. The content transmitted using the communication network can be shared between users using terminal devices connectable to the communication network. The sharing can be done by the person who wants to share the content by sending access information (URL (Uniform Resource Locator) etc.) for accessing the content to the person who wants to share it. However, in such a method, those who wish to share the content must give the access information to the other party, and the person to whom the information is communicated must access according to the access information. No. In other words, both the side transmitting the access information and the side transmitting the information must perform complicated operations. Under such circumstances, a method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-268986 has been devised as an information providing method that makes it easier to share contents.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a conventional information providing method described in that publication. The conventional method will be described with reference to FIG. Here, in FIG. 1, 11 is a content provider (CP) that provides a service for providing content, 12 is a management server that provides a service for distributing the content provided by CP 11, 13 is a CP 11, and A user company that has signed a contract to use the management server 12. The CP 11 and the management server 12 are connected to, for example, the Internet, and the terminal devices used by employees of the user company 13 are connected to, for example, the Internet or a public network such as a telephone network or a mobile phone network. It is connected.

For the employees A to C belonging to the user company 13, it is assumed that the employee A has an ID for using CP12 for IJ and that the other employees B and C do not have it. Thus, the method will be described with an example where employee A shares the content provided by CP 12 with employees B and C.

Employee A accesses CP 11 and browses the content provided by it (sequence II). If it is determined that the viewed content should be shared, the user accesses the management server 12 and specifies the content and the sharing partner (here, employees B and .C) (sequence I). The content is specified by, for example, its URL, and the sharing partner is specified by, for example, inputting an address or a telephone number. The management server 12 requested to share the content by specifying the content and the sharing partner downloads the content from the CP 11 (sequence ③). The downloaded content is distributed to the terminal device used by the designated sharing partner (sequence I).

If the content downloaded to the management server 12 is charged, the CP 11 requests the management server 12 to collect the price associated with the distribution. The management server 12 requested to do so performs a process for billing the employee A who has requested sharing of the content, and notifies the CP 11 of the processing result (sequence I). For example, if the employee A uses a mobile phone as a terminal device, the payment is made to the carrier.

As described above, in the conventional information providing method, by distributing the content provided by the CP 11 to the management server 12, the content provided by the CP 11 can be easily provided even to a person who cannot use the CP 11. So that they can be shared. However, such sharing by distribution is performed unconditionally, so if paid content is charged regardless of the content, there was a problem.

Sharing partners who want to browse repeatedly must manage the distributed content themselves. For this reason, content management was troublesome.

Sometimes a person wants to share content (information), but the other party may think that the content is unnecessary. The sharing partner may already be viewing the content. In such a case, if the content is paid, the cost associated with sharing is wasted. Because of this, sharing content It is also important to avoid such waste.

Patent Document 1

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-2669886 Disclosure of the Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a technology for making it possible to share contents more easily while avoiding collection of a fee accompanying sharing of pay contents (information) unnecessary for a sharing partner.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing method, comprising the steps of: A notification that designates, among the information provided by the information providing system, information accessed by a terminal device of one user belonging to a group as shared information of a user belonging to the group; and Receiving information for accessing shared information from a terminal device of a user belonging to a group, and receiving information for accessing shared information from a terminal device of a user belonging to the group. Is transmitted to the terminal devices of the users belonging to the group.

An information providing method according to a second aspect of the present invention is a method in which an information providing system provides information via a communication network (information network), wherein the provided information belongs to a group that desires access to the same information. It is transmitted to the terminal device together with a picture or display indicating a command to be designated as the user's shared information.

In the first aspect, when the information management device receives from the terminal device of the user a notification that information for accessing the shared information is selected, the information management device transmits the shared information to the shared information. It is desirable to transmit to one terminal device. When the information provided by the information providing system for a fee is designated as shared information, the information management apparatus determines, by the information providing system, a payment to be made when the user of the terminal device selects the shared information. It is desirable to manage collection data for collection.

Further, it is preferable that the information management device authenticates a user who has accessed the information management device via a terminal device, and specifies a group to which the user belongs based on the authentication result. Further, when receiving the information for accessing the shared information, the information management device receives the data related to the sharing of the shared information, and accesses the shared information based on the data related to the sharing. It is desirable to transmit the information for performing this to the terminal devices of the users belonging to the group.

Each of the information management devices according to the first to third aspects of the present invention is provided with the following means on the premise that the information provided by the information providing system is accessed by the user of the terminal device via the communication network.

An information management device according to a first aspect includes: group designation means for designating a user of a terminal device who desires access to the same information as a member of a group to a person who desires the access; information provided by the information provision system Information acquisition means for acquiring at least relevant information relating to information specified as shared information to be shared by the user of the terminal device among the groups, and the user of the terminal device belongs to the user of the terminal device using the relevant information. And shared information presenting means for presenting shared information designated by the group.

The information management device according to a second aspect, in addition to the configuration according to the first aspect, further comprises, when the user of the terminal device selects the shared information presented by the shared information presentation means, Transmission control means for controlling the terminal device to transmit the presence information. The transmission control means according to the second aspect, for the shared information provided by the information providing system for a fee, the information providing system determines a payment to be paid when the user of the terminal device selects the shared information. It is desirable to manage the collection data for the side to collect.

The information management device according to a third aspect, in addition to the configuration according to the first or second aspect, further includes an authentication unit that authenticates a user who has accessed the terminal device. A group to which the user who has accessed the terminal device belongs is specified based on the authentication result by the authentication unit, and the shared information specified by the group is presented.

In any one of the first to third aspects, when the user of the terminal device specifies the shared information, the information acquiring means causes the user to input data related to sharing of the shared information, and presents the shared information. Preferably, the means presents the shared information based on data input by a user who has designated the shared information.

A program according to the present invention is a program for causing an information management device to allow a user of a terminal device to access information provided by an information providing system via a communication network, and executes a program for a terminal device that desires access to the same information. A function for designating a user who wants the access as a member of the group, and information provided by the information providing system to information designated by the terminal device user as shared information to be shared by the group. A function of at least obtaining related information and a function of presenting, to the user of the terminal device, shared information designated by a group to which the user belongs using the related information are realized.

In the present invention, a user of a terminal device desiring access to the same information belongs to a group. Related information relating to the information that the user of the terminal device has specified as shared information to be shared by the group from among the information provided by the information provision system via the communication network. At least, and using the related information, presents the shared information specified by the group to the users belonging to the group.

By presenting the shared information, users can access it arbitrarily. Access to it is also easy. These capabilities make it easier to share content while avoiding the collection of fees associated with sharing of unnecessary paid content (information) to the sharing partner.

If the user of the terminal device selects the presented shared information and the shared information is transmitted to the terminal device, access to the shared information can be performed more easily. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional information providing method.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a network system having an information (content) management device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating services provided by the content management device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data registration sequence performed when a contract is made between the CP side and the content management device side.

Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the sequence of data registration performed when a contract is made between the user company and the CP side.

Fig. 6 is executed when a contract is made between the user company and the content management device FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data registration sequence.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a sequence when an employee of a user company instructs sharing of content provided by a CP.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a sequence when an employee of a user company accesses the content shared by the content management device.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a sequence in a case where the content management device provides billing information to the CP.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the terminal device when the user instructs to share content.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the CP when the user instructs to share content.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the content management device when a user instructs sharing of content.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the terminal device when a user accesses content shared.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the content management device when a user accesses shared content.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the list transmission process.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the CP when a user accesses content shared.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a content display screen.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a sharing setting screen.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a content list screen.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of content information obtained by adding a CPID. FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the discount information registered in the discount information DB managed by the CP and the content management device.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of authentication information registered in the authentication DB managed by the content management device.

FIG. 23 is a view for explaining the configuration of access information registered in the content management DB 58b.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of authentication information registered in the authentication DB managed by the CP for content sharing.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of authentication information transmitted at the time of an authentication request. FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating information transmitted from the terminal device to the content management device when content sharing is instructed.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of content sharing information registered in the content management DB managed by the content management device.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of charging information registered in charging management DB managed by the content management device.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a recording medium on which a program is recorded. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The content management device 50 shares the content (information) provided by the content provider (CP) 30 as a service among the employees of the using company 40. It is to provide a service to make it. As shown in FIG. 2, the network system is constructed such that its management device 50, a plurality of CPs 30, and a plurality of use companies 40 are connected to the Internet 20.

An intranet 41 is built in the user company 40, which is one of the user companies 40, and the terminal devices 42 used by the employees are connected to the intranet 41. The intranet 41 is connected to the Internet 20 via a router 43. Thereby, each terminal device 42 is connected to the Internet 21 via the Internet 41 and the router 43. The terminal device 42 is, for example, a personal computer (PC), a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), or a mobile phone.

CP 30 provides paid content, for example, to contracted persons. Employees of the company 40 are issued an IDZ password (PW) to use the service in accordance with the contract with the company 40 or the employee. The ID / PW issued under a contract with the company 40 is notified to the employee from the company 40, for example. Here, for the sake of convenience, the following description will be made on the assumption that the ID / PW possessed by the employees of the company 40 is issued under a contract signed by the company 40.

The information required for employees varies depending on the job or job title. Even if the company 40 decides the scope (group) of employees who use CP 30 and enters into a contract, the content provided by CP 30 is useful only to employees within that range. Not always. In other words, it may provide useful content to employees who cannot use CP30. Such content is It is desirable to share it with employees who cannot use 0. The content management device 50 provides a service that enables such content to be shared between employees who can use CP 30 and those who cannot use it.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating services provided by the content management device 30. Here, the service will be specifically described with reference to FIG. “C—A” and “C—B” in FIG. 3 represent different C 30. When distinguishing CP, the same notation will be used hereafter.

Employee A of Company A 40 has a contract (use) ID of CP-A30 and has no contract ID other than CP-A30. Employee B has a contract ID of CP-B30 and has no contract ID other than CP-B30. Employee C shall not have any CP 30 contract ID. An example in which content is shared among such employees A to C will be described.

Employee A makes the terminal device 42 used to access CP-A 30 and browses the content provided by it (sequence I). If the user wishes to share the viewed content with employees B and C, the user instructs the sharing (sequence ②). According to the instruction, information related to the content that employee A has instructed to share (hereinafter, referred to as “content information”) is transmitted from CP-A 30 to content management device 50 (sequence ③).

For example, when the employee B accesses the terminal device 42, the content management device 50 presents the content that the employee A has instructed to share. If the sharing partner, Employee B, instructs you to view the presented content, the content Is transmitted to the terminal device 42 for viewing (sequence ④). If the viewed content is charged, the accounting information for collecting the fee is registered in the accounting management database (DB) 58a. The charging information registered in the DB 58a is provided to the CP-A 30 at a predetermined timing (sequence I). This is true even if the content viewer is another employee, and the content sharing director is another employee.

In this way, the content instructed to be shared is browsed at the request of the sharing partner. This allows the sharing partner to select the content they deem necessary. For this reason, if the content is charged, the waste caused by browsing unnecessary content to the sharing partner is avoided.

In order for the content sharer (here, an employee) to select the content, the content instructed to be shared is integrally managed by the content management device 50. Since the content management device 50 centrally manages the content instructed to be shared, the sharer can browse necessary content at any time, and the necessity of managing the content is avoided. For this reason, content sharing is realized in a very easy way.

In order to provide the above-mentioned services (hereinafter referred to as “shared services”), as shown in FIG. Reception unit 51 that issues DZ PW, user authentication unit 52 that authenticates the user (employee) who accessed terminal device 42, and inputs and outputs various information including the above-mentioned content information An information input / output unit 53, a content display unit 54 for presenting the content instructed to be shared, and the presented content A content sharing unit 55 for allowing the user to browse the content desired to be browsed, a content charging unit 56 for charging a fee for browsing the paid content instructed to be shared, and a browsing of the paid content If a contract is made with the CP 30 side to discount on, a content discount section 57 that calculates the actual amount to be paid to the CP 30 side by browsing it is provided. . Various databases constituting the database group 58 are constructed on a storage unit (not shown).

Although not particularly shown, the content management device 50 including the above-described units 51 to 57 is constructed from a plurality of servers such as a Web server and a DB server. The storage unit in which various databases constituting the database group 58 are constructed is, for example, a storage device such as a hard disk device mounted on the DB server or connected thereto.

The other CP 30 is a user authentication unit 31 that authenticates the user who has accessed the terminal device 42, and a reception unit 3 that issues ID / PW to employees who use it according to a contract with the user company 40. 2, an information input / output unit 33 for inputting / outputting various types of information including the above content information, a content search / display unit 34 for presenting content matching the search conditions input by the user, and content sharing And a sharing instruction unit 35 for instructing the user to perform the following operations. The various databases constituting the database group 36 are constructed on a storage unit (not shown).

The CP (information providing system) 30 including the units 31 to 36 described above is constructed from a plurality of servers such as a Web server and a DB server, for example, like the content management device 50. Various databases that make up database group 36 Is a storage device such as a hard disk device mounted on the DB server or connected thereto, for example.

Hereinafter, the operation of the content management device 50, CP 40, and the terminal device 42 used by the employees of the user company 40 for realizing the shared service described with reference to FIG. This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data registration sequence performed when a contract is made between the CP 30 and the content management device 50. The content of the contract also includes the scope of the content management device 50 that can be covered by the shared service among the content that can be provided by the CP 30 and how to discount access to paid content by sharing. ing.

The content DB 36a managed by the CP 30 includes content information of the content provided by the CP 30 via the Internet 20, such as the content title, a URL for accessing the content, its price, and the like. Is registered for each content. When a contract is concluded between the CP 30 and the content management device 50, the CP 30 reads the content information to be subjected to the shared service from the content DB 36a (sequence I) and manages the content. Transmit to device 50 (sequence ②).

Upon receiving the content information from the CP 30, the content management device 50 adds a CPID, which is an identification ID assigned to the CP 30, to each piece of content information and registers (stores) it in the content management DB 58 b. Yes (sequence ③).

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of content information to which the ID has been added. As shown in Figure 20, the CPID assigned to CP30 and the content type The title, URL, and price are registered as content information in the content DB 58 b for each content.

The record in which the content information of the content DB 36a is registered includes a sharing target flag indicating whether or not the content management device 50 is a target of the shared service, and whether or not the content management device 50 is a target for discounting the price. Items for registering discount target flags, etc. are provided. The CP 30 registers a sharing target flag indicating that it is a target of the shared service in a record in which each piece of content information transmitted to the content management device 50 is registered, and the discount target flag indicates a contract content. Register according to (Sequence ④).

The content management device 50, which has completed the registration of the content information in the content management DB 58b, registers discount information indicating a discount method in the discount information DB 58c (sequence I). Similarly, the CP 30 that has finished registering the flag in the content DB 36 a registers the discount information in the discount information DB 36 b (sequence ⑥).

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the discount information registered in the discount information DB 58 c or 36 b in the above sequence ⑤ or ⑥.

The discount information is prepared for each discount method specified by the contract. For example, as shown in Fig. 21, it is composed of a discount type that has a role to uniquely identify discount information, a discount rate, and discount conditions that must be satisfied in order to discount the price at that discount rate. “500 purchases / month” in the figure indicates that no discount will be made unless at least 500 accesses are made in one month.

In this way, a contract is concluded between CP 30 and the content management device 50. Then, the information necessary for providing the shared service is registered in the corresponding DB of both the CP 30 and the content management device 50. The registration and the transmission of the information for the registration are performed by the information input / output units 33 and 53 together with the CP 30 and the content management device 50.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data registration sequence performed when a contract is made between the user company 40 and the CP 30 side. The contract is for one or more employees.

The user company 40 wishing to enter into a contract with CP 30 applies a contract to CP 30 from the terminal device 42 used by the person in charge, for example (sequence I). The contract application is made, for example, by inputting personal information such as a name and an employee number for each employee who uses the CP 30 and transmitting it to the CP 30.

Upon receiving the contract application, the CP 30 issues an IDZ PW (Password) for each employee and registers the issued ID / PW in the authentication DB 36c along with the personal information (sequence II). . After the registration is performed in this way, all the issued IDZPWs are transmitted to the terminal device 42 used by the person in charge (sequence ③). Such an operation of the CP 30 is realized by, for example, the reception unit 32 and the information input / output unit 33.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a data registration sequence performed when a contract is made between the user company 40 and the content management device 50. The contract is usually made to a large number of employees, as it is desirable to share content between workers who have the same or common tasks.

For example, a user company 40 wishing to enter into a contract with a content management device 50 For example, a contract application is made from the terminal device 42 used by the person in charge to the content management device 50 (sequence I). Since the content to be shared differs depending on the business content, the contract application is performed, for example, by specifying the department to which the employee who uses the content management device 50 belongs.

Upon receiving the contract application, the content management device 50 issues an ID / PW (password) for each employee, authenticates the ID (company ID) that assigned the issued ID / PW to the company 40, and certifies the ID / PW together with the department. Register as authentication information in DB 58d. As a result, the authentication DB 58d stores, in the employee DB, the authentication information having the configuration shown in FIG. 22, that is, the ID, the PW, the company ID of the company 40 to which the employee belongs, and the department of the employee. Register separately.

After the registration, an IDZPW for requesting the content provided by the CP 30 is issued for each CP 30, and other information is registered in the content management DB 58b as access information.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of access information registered in the content management DB 58b.

As shown in Fig. 23, the access information is defined by the company ID, the identification information indicating the CP 30 to be accessed, the ID and PW issued for access, and the access to the content provided by the CP 30. From the table consisting of discount type, and the first record consisting of the company ID and the corresponding category indicating the category of the content considered necessary for employees of company 40, and from the sharing range indicating the company ID and the content sharing range And the second record.

Usually, a plurality of first and second records are prepared. Register with them The assigned company ID indicates the correspondence with the table. In the present embodiment, by preparing such first and second records, the category (classification) of the content to be shared by the employees of the company 40 and the range of sharing the content are determined in advance. ing. This allows employees to select content categories (classifications) and their sharing ranges (groups sharing the content) from predetermined ones. Since the sharing range is determined according to the organization of the company 40, that is, it is determined in units such as “sections”, the members of the group sharing the content themselves are one group .

After registering the access information as shown in FIG. 23 in the content management DB 58b, the content management device 50 notifies the corresponding CP 30 of the ID, PW, and company ID constituting the access information, as shown in FIG. (Sequence II). The CP 30 receiving the notification registers in the authentication DB 36 c. At this time, as shown in Fig. 24, for each employee having the ID of the company 40 to which the company ID is assigned, the company ID and the ID issued by CP 30 to the employee are assigned. Register at the same time. Registering the company ID and ID for each employee in this way is to identify the company ID assigned by the content management device 50 to the company 40 to which the user who has contracted with CP 30 belongs. It is. In other words, the purpose is to identify the correspondence between the company ID and the users belonging to the company 40 to which the company ID is assigned.

After notifying the ID and PW to the CP 30, the content management device 50 notifies all of the IDZ PWs issued to the contracted employees to the person in charge of the company 40 (sequence ③). .

The operation of the CP 30 and the content management device 50 is, for example, as follows. This is realized by the receiving units 32, 51 and the information input / output units 33, 53.

The user company 40 makes a contract with the CP 30 and the content management device 50, respectively, and the CP 30 and the content management device 50 make a contract, so that the content management device 5 The service is now available to 40 employees.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a sequence when an employee of the user company 40 instructs sharing of the content provided by CP 30. The sequence shown in FIG. 7 shows the sequence (1) to (3) in FIG. 3 more specifically.

The employee of the user company 40 sends an IDZ PW issued by the CP 30 as shown in Fig. 25 to the terminal device 42 as authentication information, thereby requesting authentication for the CP 30. Yes (sequence ①). The CP 30 that has requested it performs authentication by checking the combination of I DZ PW received from the terminal device 42 with that registered in the authentication DB 36 c, and the authentication result is transmitted to the terminal device 4. Notify 2 (sequence ②). If the result of the authentication is OK, the employee can use the service provided by CP30. That is, login is performed. Such an operation is realized by the user authentication unit 31.

The employee then selects the desired content and requests browsing (sequence ③). The CP 30 refers to the content DB 36 a in order to collect the price of the requested content, and then transmits the content to the terminal device 42.

(Sequence II). In the present embodiment, the content is displayed in the form of a content display screen (for example, data described in a markup language such as HTML, and the other screens are similar) as shown in FIG. Send to 2. The content display screen is a frame screen having a frame in which the content is arranged, as shown in FIG. Outside the frame, there is a “share” button that indicates the sharing of the content. When the content is requested, the CP 30 creates a display screen as shown in FIG. 17 and transmits it to the terminal device 42.

In this embodiment, the “share” button is set to the content management device 50 as a link destination. Thereby, when the employee (user of the terminal device 42) clicks the button, the content management device 50 is controlled to share the content. Instead of placing a "Share" button, you may be able to display a menu item to which the function is assigned. It may be displayed in the form of an icon.

When a display screen as shown in FIG. 17 in which the “share” button is arranged is transmitted to the terminal device 42, a person who thinks that the display screen should be shared can perform the instruction very easily and quickly. As a result, sharing can be easily performed, and the possibility of not instructing sharing is greatly reduced due to annoyance. As a result, it is expected that useful content will be shared with a higher probability. The browsing of contents by creating a display screen as shown in FIG. 17 is realized by the search display unit 34 and the sharing instruction unit 35.

When the employee clicks on the “share” button, the terminal device 42 notifies the content management device 50 of that (sequence I). At this time, as shown in Fig. 26, the company ID, the title of the content, and the access to it are used as data for sharing the content whose sharing was instructed by pressing the button. The content management device 50 is notified of the URL for the request. For this purpose, the CP 30 makes a description on the content display screen to notify the content management device 50 of the data by clicking the “share” button. Upon receiving the notification, the content management device 50 transmits a sharing setting screen as shown in FIG. 18 to the terminal device 42 (sequence I).

The sharing setting screen allows the employee who instructs to share the content to make various settings related to the sharing. As shown in Fig. 18, the setting items include the registrant's name (name of the person who instructed sharing), comment, sharing range, classification, and expiration date. If you want to share, enter the data in the boxes arranged for those setting items, and then click (press) the “OK” button. The data entered for each setting item is hereinafter referred to as “registered supplementary information”.

After inputting data in each box and pressing the “〇Κ” button, the terminal device 42 displays the registration additional information, which is the data of each setting item entered on the setting screen, as shown in FIG. 27. Further, the content management device 50 is notified of the company ID, the title of the content, and the URL for accessing the content ID (sequence ⑦). The content management device 50 registers the notified data in the content management DB 58b. The content ID and the title of the content are described on the shared setting screen by the content management device 50 so as to be notified by, for example, clicking the “0K” button. The data shown in FIG. 27 is hereinafter referred to as “content sharing information”.

Content management D Β The sharing is specified by registering the content sharing information in 58b. The indicated content is ready to be shared. Although not specifically shown, after the registration is completed, the content management device 50 instructs the terminal device 42 that the processing accompanying the sharing instruction has been completed, thereby instructing the sharing. The employee is informed. The operation including this is realized by the content sharing unit 55.

In the present embodiment, the terminal device 42 transmits the press information to the content management device 50 by clicking the “share” button. In other words, the click causes control to be performed from the CP 30 to the content management device 5. Although the transition to 0 is performed, the transition may be performed by control of CP 30. In other words, when the CP 30 receives the press information, the necessary information may be passed to the content management device 50 to perform subsequent control.

When sharing is instructed in the sequence shown in FIG. 7, the terminal device 42, the CP 30 and the content management device 50 used by the employees of the user company 40 perform the following processing. Next, the processing will be described in detail with reference to various flowcharts shown in FIGS.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the terminal device 42 when the user instructs sharing of content. It focuses on the process for realizing the sequence shown in Fig. 7, and extracts the process and shows its flow. First, the processing executed by the terminal device 42 in that case will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The processing performed in the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 is performed, for example, by the CPU mounted on the terminal device 42, for example, by operating the operating system stored in the hard disk device. It is realized by executing programs such as system (OS) and browser. This is the same in the case of FIG. 13 described later.

The CP 30 transmits, for example, an authentication screen for authentication to the accessed terminal device, and requests input of IDZPW. The authentication screen includes, for example, boxes for inputting ID and PW, and buttons for “OK” and “Cancel”. Here, a process executed after the authentication screen is displayed on the display device mounted or connected to the terminal device 42 will be described.

First, in step S # 1, it is determined whether or not the ΓΟΚ] button has been clicked while the IDZPW required for requesting authentication has been input. If the user clicks the “〇K” button after inputting I DZPW, the determination is YES, then transmit them to the CP 30 as authentication information in step ST2, and then proceed to step ST3. I do. Otherwise, the determination is no and the process moves to step ST3. Sequence 示す shown in FIG. 7 is implemented in this way.

The CP 30 that has received the authentication information transmits the result of the authentication performed from the information to the terminal device 42. If the result is ΔK, the CP 30 transmits, for example, a screen in which a list of accessible contents is arranged (hereinafter, referred to as “content list screen”) together with the result (sequence の in FIG. 7). Therefore, receiving the screen indicates that the authentication result is 〇K.

Accordingly, the terminal device 42 that has proceeded to step ST3 determines whether or not the list screen has been received from the CP 30. If the authentication result is 〇K, CP 30 transmits the list screen, so the determination is YES and step S Move to T4. Otherwise, the determination is Ν〇, and a series of processes for realizing the sequence shown in FIG. 7 ends here.

In step ST4, the list screen received from CP 30 is displayed on the display device. In the following step ST5, it is determined whether or not the content has been requested. If the user clicks on any of the contents arranged as a list on the list screen, the judgment is YES, and the content is requested to CP 30 in step ST6 (sequence ③ in FIG. 7). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step ST7. Otherwise, the determination is no and the process proceeds to step ST7.

In step ST7, it is determined whether or not the content has been received. At this time, the content received from CP 30 is a screen on which a “share” button is arranged, as shown in FIG. When the screen is received (sequence の in FIG. 7), the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step ST8. Otherwise, the determination is NO, and the series of processing ends here.

In step ST8, the received content is displayed on the display device as the content display screen. In the next step ST9, it is determined whether or not the “share” button has been clicked (pressed). When the user clicks the button, the judgment is YES, the process proceeds to step ST10, and the fact is notified to the content management device 50 (sequence (2) in FIG. 7). At this time, as described above, data such as the company ID, the title of the content, and the URL for accessing the content are notified to the content management device 50. Hereinafter, such data will be referred to as “press information”. The process proceeds to step ST11 thereafter. On the other hand, Otherwise, the determination is no, and the process of step ST11 is then performed.

In step ST11, it is determined whether or not the sharing setting screen as shown in FIG. 18 transmitted by the content management device 50 is received by receiving the press information. When the sharing setting screen is received (sequence の in FIG. 7), the determination is YES and the process moves to step ST12. Otherwise, the determination is NO and a series of processing ends here.

In step ST12, the received sharing setting screen is displayed on the display device. Data entry and display in the boxes arranged on the screen are performed according to the operations performed by the user. When the user presses (clicks) the "OK" button, the process proceeds to step ST13, and it is determined whether data has been input to each box on the screen. If the user clicks the [ΓΟΚ] button after entering data in each box, the determination is YES and the process moves to step ST14, where the data entered in each pottus is registered as supplementary information and the content management device is used. Send to 50 (sequence の in Figure 7). At this time, the company ID, the title of the content, and the URL for accessing it are also transmitted. The process then proceeds to step ST15. On the other hand, if not, that is, if there is a box for which data has not been input among the boxes to which data is to be input, the determination is NO, and then the processing in step ST 15 Execute

The content management device 50 that has received them registers the data in the content management DB 58, and notifies the terminal device that the processing accompanying the sharing instruction has been completed. Notify location 42. Therefore, in step ST15, it is determined whether or not the notification (sharing completion notification) has been received. If the notification has been received, the determination is YES, and then it is displayed on the display device in step ST6, followed by terminating the series of processes. Otherwise, the determination is NO and the series of processing ends here.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the CP 30 when a user instructs to share content. It focuses on the processing to realize the sequence shown in Fig. 7, and extracts the processing and shows the flow. Next, the processing executed by the CP 30 in that case will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The processing performed in the flowchart shown in FIG. 11 is performed, for example, when the information providing system for providing the service in the CP 30 is configured from a plurality of servers, the CPU mounted on each server is, for example, a hard disk. This is realized by executing each program (for example, network OS or application program) stored in the device. This is the same in the case of FIG. 16 described later. First, in step SP1, the process waits for receiving an authentication request from the terminal device. If the ID / PW is received as authentication information from the terminal device 42 (sequence の in FIG. 7), the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step SP2, where it is determined that the ID / PW has been registered in the authentication DB 36c. Perform collation. Then, the process proceeds to step SP3. In step SP3, it is determined whether the received ID / PW is correct. If the received ID / PW matches any of the ID / PW registered in the authentication DB 36c, the judgment is YES and the process proceeds to step SP4, and the authentication result is determined to be OK. Sends the content list screen to the terminal device 42 (sequence in FIG. 7). ②). Then, the process proceeds to step SP5. Otherwise, the judgment is NO, and the series of processing ends here.

In step SP5, the process waits for a request for content from the terminal device 42. Upon receiving the request (sequence ③ in Fig. 7), the process proceeds to step SP6, where a content display screen as shown in Fig. 17 with the requested content and the “Share” button is created and the terminal is created. It is transmitted to the device 42 (sequence 図 in FIG. 7). As described above, the display screen includes a description for notifying the content management device 50 of the company ID, the title of the content, the URL for accessing the content, and the like by clicking the “share” button. Is what it is.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the content management device 50 when a user instructs sharing of content. It focuses on the processing for realizing the sequence shown in Fig. 7, and extracts the processing and shows its flow. Next, with reference to FIG. 12, the processing executed by the management device 50 in that case will be described in detail.

The processing performed in the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 is, for example, when the management device 50 is configured from a plurality of servers, the CPU mounted on each server is, for example, a program (for example, a network) stored in a hard disk device. It is realized by executing each of OS and application program. This is the same in the case of FIG. 14 described later.

First, in step SM1, the process waits for receiving press information from the terminal device 42. When the press information is received (sequence の in FIG. 7), the process proceeds to step SM2, where a sharing setting screen as shown in FIG. 18 is created and transmitted to the terminal device 42 (see FIG. Sequence 7).

On the sharing setting screen, “Sharing range” and “Category” are selected from the options arranged in the box displayed by clicking the pull-down button. The options vary from company to company. For this reason, the sharing setting screen is created by selecting options according to the company ID received from the terminal device 42.

In step S M3 to which the process proceeds after transmitting the sharing setting screen, the system waits for reception of the content sharing information (see FIG. 27) including the registration additional information input on the screen. When the data is received (sequence (2) in FIG. 7), the process proceeds to step SM4, registers them in the content management DB 58b, and transmits a sharing completion notification to the terminal device 42. After that, a series of processing ends.

In this way, when the user of the terminal device 42 instructs to share the content, various data for accessing the content are registered in the content management DB 58b together with the registration additional information input by the user. . As a result, the content is shared with the people in the range specified by the user in the supplementary information.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a sequence when an employee of the user company 40 accesses the content shared by the content management device 50. The sequence shown in FIG. 8 shows the sequence における in FIG. 3 more specifically. The employee of the user company 40 uses the ID / PW issued by the content management device 50 as authentication information as a terminal device. By transmitting the request to 42, authentication is requested to the management device 50 (sequence I). The management device 50 that has been requested performs authentication by comparing the combination of IDZPW received from the terminal device 42 with that registered in the authentication DB 58d. If the authentication result is OK, the content management DB 58 b is searched using the company ID of the company 40 to which the employee belongs and the applicable sharing range (see FIG. 22) as a key. The shared information of the content to be presented to the employee is extracted, a content list screen as shown in FIG. 19 is created using the extracted shared information, and transmitted to the terminal device 42 (the above is sequence I). This is realized by the content display section 54.

In the list screen, the title of the content that the user or another employee has instructed to share, a folder indicating a sharing range, a classification, a price, and the like are arranged for each content. The user of the terminal device 42 requests browsing by clicking on the desired content in the list (sequence ③.

"All affiliation + * * display" and "all classification display" shown in Fig. 19 respectively indicate the contents displayed in the buttons. These boxes are provided so that the user can select display conditions that specify the range of content to be displayed. Since the conditions that can be specified differ from user to user, inputting the conditions in each box is performed, for example, by clicking a drop-down button and selecting a desired option from the options arranged in the displayed potato. It is intended to be.

The content management device 50 that has been requested to browse the content management DB 58 b, etc., provides an ID / PW (see FIG. 23) for requesting the content to the CP 30 that provides the content. Extract and use it as a HIDDEN parameter The URL is transmitted to the terminal device 42 together with the access URL (sequence I). The extraction is performed using the company ID of the company 40 to which the user of the terminal device 42 belongs and the identification information of the CP 30 providing the content requested by the user as keys (see the access information in FIG. 23). ). On the other hand, the CP 30 registers various data as shown in FIG. 28 in the charging management DB 58a as charging information in order to collect the price for providing the content from the company 40. The registration of the charging information is realized by the content charging unit 56.

The terminal device 42 that has received the ID / PW from the management device 50 transmits the ID / PW to the CP 30 together with the URL, and requests the content specified by the URL (sequence I).

The CP 30 receiving the terminal device 42 ID and the IDZPW in this manner checks the ID with the ID / PW registered in the authentication DB 36c according to sequence (2) in FIG. 6 to determine whether the combination is correct. judge. If the combination is determined to be correct, the authentication result is determined to be OK, the content DB 36a is referred to, and the content requested by the received URL is transmitted to the terminal device 42 (sequence I :).

When accessing the content shared in the sequence shown in FIG. 8, the terminal device 42, the CP 30, and the content management device 50 used by the employees of the user company 40 perform the following processing. Next, the processing will be described in detail with reference to various flowcharts shown in FIGS.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing executed by the terminal device 42 when a user accesses content shared. The sequence shown in Figure 8 It focuses on the process that realizes the process and extracts the process and shows its flow. First, with reference to FIG. 10, the processing executed by the terminal device 42 in that case will be described in detail.

The content management device 50 transmits, for example, an authentication screen for authentication to the accessed terminal device 42, and requests input of IDZPW. The authentication screen has, for example, boxes for inputting ID and PW, and buttons for “OK” and “Cancel”. Here, a process executed after the terminal device 42 is displayed on the display device connected thereto or connected thereto will be described.

First, in step SΤ21, it is determined whether or not the rOKj button has been clicked while the IDZPW required for requesting authentication has been input. If the user clicks the “〇K” button after inputting the ID / PW, the determination is YES, and then they are sent as authentication information to the content management device 50 in step ST22, and then the process proceeds to step ST23. Move to Otherwise, the determination is no and the process moves to step ST23. Sequence 示す shown in FIG. 8 is realized in this way.

If the result of the authentication performed from the information is OK, the content management device 50 that has received the authentication information transmits a content list screen as shown in FIG. 19 to the terminal device 42, for example. Thus, in step ST23, it is determined whether or not the list screen has been received from the management device 50. If the authentication result is OK, since the management device 50 transmits the list screen (sequence (2) in FIG. 8), the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step ST24. If not, Is NO, and a series of processes for realizing the sequence shown in FIG. 8 ends here.

In step ST24, the list screen received from the management device 50 is displayed on the display device. In the following step ST25, it is determined whether or not the content has been requested. If the user clicks on any of the contents arranged as a list on the list screen, the determination is YES, and the content is requested to the management device 50 in step ST26 (sequence ③ in FIG. 8). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step ST27. Otherwise, the determination is no and the process proceeds to step ST27.

In step ST27, it is determined whether or not the ID / PW and the URL have been received. If they are received (sequence ④ in FIG. 8), the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step ST28. Otherwise, the determination is NO, and the series of processes ends here.

In step ST28, the received IDZPW and URL are transmitted to the CP 30 (sequence の in FIG. 8). Accordingly, after requesting connection with the URL, the process proceeds to step ST29, and it is determined whether or not the data of the URL, that is, the content desired by the user has been received from the CP 30. When the content is received from the CP 30 (sequence の in FIG. 8), the determination is YES, and the content is displayed on the display device in step ST30, and then a series of processes is ended. Otherwise, the determination is NO and the series of processing ends here.

Figure 14 shows content when users access shared content. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing flow executed by the management device 50. It focuses on the processing for realizing the sequence shown in Fig. 8, and extracts the processing and shows its flow. Next, the processing executed by the management device 50 in that case will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, in step SM11, the process waits for reception of authentication information, ie, ID / PW, from the terminal device. When the ID / PW is received (sequence (2) in FIG. 8), the process proceeds to step SM12, where it is compared with the one registered in the authentication DB 58d for authentication. In step SM13 to which the process proceeds after the comparison, it is determined whether or not the received ID / PW is correct. If it is confirmed by matching that it matches the one registered in the authentication DB 58d, the determination is YES and the process moves to step SM14. Otherwise, the determination is NO and the series of processing ends here.

In step SM14, a list transmission process for creating and transmitting a content list screen as shown in FIG. 19 is executed (sequence の in FIG. 8). After that, the process moves to step SM15.

Here, the list transmission processing will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in step SM21, the authentication DB 58d is accessed to extract the ID of the company to which the employee who has confirmed the ID / PW belongs and the range of sharing the ID (see FIG. 22). In the following step SM22, it waits to extract such information. After extracting the information, the process proceeds to Step SM23.

In step SM23, the extracted company ID and shared Then, by searching the content management DB 58b, content sharing information (see FIG. 27) having both of them is extracted, and a content list screen as shown in FIG. 19 is created using the extracted shared information. To the terminal device 42 (sequence (2) in FIG. 8). Thereafter, a series of processing ends. The process proceeds to step SM15 in FIG. 14 after transmitting the list screen to the terminal device 42 in this manner. In step SM15, the process waits for a request for content from the terminal device. When the content is requested (sequence (3) in Fig. 8), the process proceeds to step SM16, where the URL for accessing the content and the ID / PW are accessed.

(See FIG. 23) to the terminal device 42 (sequence (2) in FIG. 8). In the following step SM17, charging information as shown in FIG. 28 is generated based on the authentication result, the requested content, and the current date and time, and registered in the charging information DB 58a. The series of processing ends after registration.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the CP 30 when a user accesses shared content. It focuses on the process for realizing the sequence shown in Fig. 8, and extracts the process and shows its flow. Next, the processing executed by the CP 30 in that case will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

First, in step SP 11, the process waits for receiving an authentication request from the terminal device 42. At this time, the authentication request to be received is IDZPW and URL. When such data is received as authentication information from the terminal device 42 (sequence (2) in FIG. 8), the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step SP12, where the ID / PW registered in the authentication DB 36c is registered. (See Fig. 24). Stets After that, it moves to SP13.

In step SP13, it is determined whether or not the received ID / PW is correct. If the received I 0 /? Matches any of the IDs / PWs registered in the authentication 13736c, the determination is YES and the process proceeds to step SP14. The data of the received URL is transmitted to the terminal device 42 (sequence の in FIG. 8). Thereafter, a series of processing ends. On the other hand, if not, the determination is NO, and the series of processing ends here.

As described above, when the terminal device 42 is accessed by the content management device 50 and the user requests the content presented by the management device 50, the content is transmitted from the CP 30 to the terminal device 42. This makes it possible to access shared content at any time.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a sequence when the content management device 50 provides the CP 30 with charging information. The billing information is the price that CP 30 needs to provide content from company 40! It is for doing. The sequence shown in FIG. 9 shows the sequence ⑤ in FIG. 3 more specifically.

The content management device 50 provides the CP 30 with charging information at a predetermined timing. For this purpose, the charging information having the ID of the CP 30 is extracted from the charging information DB 58a. Also, from the content management DB 58b, the content information registered in sequence ③ in Fig. 4 (see Fig. 20), the access information registered in sequence ① in Fig. 6 (see Fig. 23), and the discount information DB 58c Then, the discount information (see Fig. 21) corresponding to the discount type in the access information is extracted. After information is extracted from each of the DBs 58a to c, processing is performed on the charging information extracted from the charging information DB 58a in accordance with the discount information extracted from the discount information DB 58c. The amount that CP 30 can charge the company 40 is calculated for each company 40. For example, when the discount information shown in FIG. 21 is extracted from the discount information DB 58 c, the number of billing information (the number of accesses) extracted from the billing information DB 58 a is counted for each content. Each figure 6 is multiplied by the price in the content information corresponding to each content to calculate the total price for each content, and by accumulating the total price, the amount charged by the company 40 is calculated. This is done by judging whether the accumulated value of the count value satisfies the discount condition, and operating the billing amount according to the judgment result. As a result, only when the discount condition is satisfied, an operation is performed in which the amount obtained by subtracting the discount rate from the invoiced amount is used as the invoiced amount. The calculated billing amount is transmitted to CP 30 as billing information for each company 40 (sequence I). Such calculation of the billing amount is performed by the content discount unit 57.

When the other CP 30 receives the charging information transmitted from the content management device 50 in this way, it registers it in the charging management DB 36 d. Thereafter, the user company 40 is charged for the charge in accordance with the charge information registered in the charge management DB 36 d (sequence I).

In the above description, it is assumed that CP 30 claims for 40 companies, but it is also possible to charge for each employee's affiliation (shared range) or for each employee. good. The billing information provided by the content is managed by the content management device 50, but the management may be performed by the CP 30. Regarding the sharing range, since it is assumed that shared services will be provided to companies 40, it is not necessary to limit the ability S to select from predetermined options. That is, the sharing range may be arbitrarily set.

The shared content is provided to the terminal device 42 from the CP 30 via the content management device 50, but this is not always necessary. For example, the content instructed to be shared may be acquired by the content management device 50, and the content may be provided by the content management device 50.

The content to be shared is presented by automatically transmitting the content list screen shown in Fig. 19 to the terminal device 42 that has accessed the content management device 50, but a different method is used. You may. For example, it may be presented in the form of e-mail or the like. It may be presented at the request of the user (employee).

As shown in FIG. 29, the data of a program that realizes the operation of the content management device 50 as described above or the operation of the modification thereof is stored in a CD-R〇M, DVD, or magneto-optical disk. It may be recorded on the recording medium 69 and distributed. Alternatively, part or all of the program data may be distributed from the server 70 via a transmission medium used in a public network or the like. In such a case, the user obtains the program data and loads it into an information processing device such as a computer, thereby realizing a content (information) management device to which the present invention is applied using the information processing device. Can be done.

As described above, the present invention provides a terminal device that wants to access the same information. The user was designated as a member of the group as a member of the group, and the user of the terminal device specified the information to be shared by the group among the information provided by the information provision system via the communication network. Acquire at least related information related to the information, and use the related information to present the shared information specified by the group to users belonging to the group.

By presenting the shared information, users can access it arbitrarily. Access to it is also easy. For these reasons, content sharing can be performed more easily while avoiding the collection of fees associated with sharing paid content (information) that is unnecessary for the sharing partner.

If the user of the terminal device selects the presented shared information and the shared information is transmitted to the terminal device, access to the shared information can be performed more easily.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. An information providing method in which an information management device accesses information provided by an information providing system via a communication network to a terminal device of a user belonging to a group who desires to access the same information,

Of the information provided by the information providing system, a notification designating information accessed by a terminal device of one user belonging to the group as shared information of a user belonging to the group; and accessing the shared information. Information from the terminal device of the one user,

Upon receiving a request for information for accessing the shared information from a terminal device of a user belonging to the group, transmitting information for accessing the shared information to a terminal device of a user belonging to the group.

An information providing method, comprising:

2. An information providing method in which the information providing system provides information via a communication network,

Transmitting the provided information to a terminal device together with a picture or display indicating a command for designating the information as a shared information of a user belonging to a group who wants to access the same information;

An information providing method, comprising:

3. The information providing method according to claim 1, wherein

When the information management device receives, from the terminal device of the user, a notification that information for accessing the shared information has been selected, the information management device transmits the shared information to the terminal device of the user.

4. The information providing method according to claim 3, wherein

When the information provided by the information providing system for a fee is designated as the shared information, the information management device sets a payment amount to be paid when a user of the terminal device selects the shared information. Manages collection data for the information provision system to collect.

5. The information providing method according to claim 1, wherein

The information management device authenticates a user who has accessed the information management device via the terminal device, and specifies a group to which the user belongs based on the authentication result.

6. The information providing method according to claim 1, wherein

The information management device,

When receiving information for accessing the shared information, receiving data related to the sharing of the shared information;

Based on the data relating to the sharing, information for accessing the shared information is transmitted to the terminal devices of the users belonging to the group.

7. A device for allowing a user of a terminal device to access information provided by an information providing system via a communication network,

Group designating means for designating a user of a terminal device who desires access to the same information as a member of the group to a person who desires the access,

Information acquisition means for acquiring, from among information provided by the information providing system, at least related information relating to information designated by the user of the terminal device as shared information to be shared by the group,

Shared information presenting means for presenting, to the user of the terminal device, shared information designated by a group to which the user belongs using the related information; An information management device, comprising:

8. The information management device according to claim 7, wherein

When the user of the terminal device selects the shared information presented by the shared information presenting device, the terminal device further includes a transmission control unit that controls transmission of the shared information to the terminal device.

9. The information management device according to claim 8, wherein

The transmission control means collects, for the shared information provided by the information providing system for a fee, the information providing system side a pay price generated by a user of the terminal device selecting the shared information. Manage data for collection.

10. The information management device according to claim 7, wherein

An authentication unit for authenticating a user who has accessed the terminal device, wherein the shared information presenting unit specifies a group to which the user who has accessed the terminal device belongs based on an authentication result by the authentication unit. Then, the shared information specified by the group is presented.

11. The information management device according to claim 7, wherein

When the user of the terminal device specifies the shared information, the information acquiring means causes the user to input data related to sharing of the shared information,

The shared information presenting means presents the shared information based on data input by a user who has designated the shared information.

1 2. A program to be executed by an information management device for allowing a user of a terminal device to access information provided by an information providing system via a communication network,

Members of a terminal device user who want to access the same information belong to a group A function for designating a person who desires the access as

A function of acquiring at least related information related to information specified by the user of the terminal device as shared information to be shared by the group, from information provided by the information providing system,

A function of presenting, to the user of the terminal device, shared information designated by a group to which the user belongs using the related information;

The program to realize.