JP3446697B2 - Content usage control system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a content distribution system for distributing information content, and more particularly to a content distribution system that realizes flexible and efficient usage control and charging control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since it is possible to make a copy of digital content that is completely indistinguishable from the original, it is not possible to buy or sell the "ownership" of the digital content itself, but to buy or sell the "use right" of the digital content. It is distributed and sold as a technology and system based on the concept called distribution, and is, for example, DDSA described in "Interaction '98, March 1998, p.145".
(Digital Document Secure
y Architecture) and "http: ///
www. mitsubishi. co. jp / right
tsworks / jpnz / drm / index12.
Right'sWorks described in "https://www.rightsworks.org".

Among these, in DDSA, the content body and the usage right for the content are separated and the content is encrypted, so that the user cannot use the content as it is. Also, it is called a token by the user,
A program for storing secret information unique to each user and electronically identifying the user is distributed. The user obtains a usage right called an access ticket customized for each token, and by combining it with the token held by the user, the content can be decrypted, and the content can be used based on the usage conditions of the access ticket.

[0004] In RightsWorks, the digital content body and the usage condition data are separated and then encrypted and processed into data called DigiBox.
The user decrypts the content using dedicated software that requires user registration, and uses the content based on the usage condition data included with the content. Further, by using dedicated DigiBox creating software, new usage condition data can be bundled with the already existing DigiBox.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention
DSA can control the period during which the content can be used by changing the existence time of the access ticket, but basically, by the authentication program bundled with the content under the predetermined use condition, It can only control permission / non-permission of content usage. In other words, it is impossible to change the usage conditions for the once-distributed content, and it is also impossible to control the usage according to the situation when the user uses the content.

That is, since the mechanism for authenticating whether or not to permit the use under the use condition already set in response to the user's request for use of the content, various contents having the same content can be authenticated. In order to apply various usage controls, there is a problem that contents corresponding to each usage condition must be prepared.

On the other hand, the Rights Work as described above
In s, a new DigiBox in which a usage condition is newly added to a DigiBox owned by a certain user
Is created, the user must use the newly created Di in order to use the content under the new usage conditions.
There is a problem that it is necessary to separately obtain giBox. For example, a DigiBox owned by the user A is a usage condition for a charge amount of 1000 yen, and a DigiBox to which a usage condition of reducing the charge amount to 800 yen is newly added to the DigiBox is created, and the DigiBox is created by the user B. If they get it, different usage fees will be charged for using the same content. Furthermore, it is also impossible to control the usage according to the situation when the user uses the content.

[0008] That is, at least in the distribution / sales system of digital information, various external information such as information about users and sales history / sales history of goods, for example, sales price of contents according to the situation at that time, There is an inconvenience that a method that can be used for usage control is not taken.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a content usage control system that can flexibly and efficiently implement various usage controls for the same content in usage control for content users.

[0010]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object,
The content use control system according to the invention of claim 1 is a content use control system in a system for distributing information content, comprising at least one use control module for determining a use condition and a charge amount for the content. Using the stored usage control module storage means and the received usage condition determination request,
Determine the usage conditions from the usage control module storage means
To find the usage control module for
Terms and conditions that require acquisition of external information required to execute
According to the request from the determining means and the use condition determining means,
Information used in the execution of the usage control module
Usage control information that refers to the external information resource where the
Information acquisition means, usage control module execution means for executing the usage control module stored in the usage control module storage means, and usage control module execution means provided in the usage condition means together with the usage control module Communication means for performing communication between the usage control module storage means and the usage control module storage means, and communication between the usage control module execution means and the usage control information acquisition means, and usage conditions for the usage condition determination means. And a usage control processing means for performing a usage control request to the user based on the usage conditions of the content determined by the usage condition means.

According to this aspect, since the external information resource is referenced from the usage condition determining means through the usage control information acquiring means, compared with the case where the external information resource is directly referenced from each usage control module. Can centrally manage references to external information resources,
For example, even when the authentication process or the billing process is required to refer to the target external information resource, these processes can be handled uniformly by the usage control processing means.

Further, in the content usage control system according to the invention of claim 2, the usage control information acquisition means accumulates the history of the content provided to the user in the usage control processing means as the external information resource. The usage history database is used to acquire the information necessary for executing the usage control module from the usage history database, and the usage conditions are determined using the obtained information.

According to this aspect, for example, by accumulating the information of the user and the used content as the use history information, as in the case of over-the-counter sales at a normal retail store,
It becomes possible to provide a usage control service based on the number of times of use, such as a coupon ticket and a stamp service. Further, it is possible to provide a usage control service based on the number of times of use of each content, such as restriction on the use of content, not limited to the number of times of use of each user.

Further, in the content usage control system according to the invention of claim 3, the usage control information acquisition means stores profile information for each user belonging to a certain user group as the external information resource. A user information database is included, information necessary for executing the usage control module is acquired from the user information database, and the usage conditions are determined using the obtained information.

According to this aspect, it becomes possible to provide the usage control service based on the attributes of the user profile such as the age and sex of the user and the usage control service for the group to which the user belongs. Further, by using together with the usage history database, it becomes possible to grasp the usage tendency of the entire group to which the user belongs, and provide recommended content and popularity ranking in that group.

Further, in the content usage control system according to the invention of claim 4, the usage control information acquisition means includes a current time acquisition means indicating the current time as the external information resource, and is necessary for executing the usage control module. Information is acquired from the present time acquisition means, and the usage conditions are determined using the acquired information.

According to this aspect, it is considered that the value of the limited-time content or news such as news will decrease as time passes from the time the content is registered, and the charge amount will be reduced. It becomes possible to provide a usage control service based on time and time transition from the time of content registration. further,
By using together with the usage history database and the user information database, not only the usage restriction based on the number of times the content is used, but for example, each user is allowed to use for a limited period of time, and the history is taken at each time By limiting the number of users of content at, it becomes possible to provide rental services that are usually carried out at stores, and it is also possible to limit or adjust the amount of content used at each point in time. it can.

Further, the content usage control system according to the invention of claim 5 is such that, when a database system is assumed as an external information resource, the usage control module sends the usage control information to the usage control information acquisition means as an inquiry to the database system. Instead of making an inquiry by sending a question sentence using SQL, S
External information resource inquiry means storage means for accumulating a template or library of QL, and an external information resource inquiry for using the external information resource inquiry means storage means from the usage control information acquisition means And a matching means reference means.

According to this aspect, by using the SQL questions that have been templated or made into a library and stored, it is possible to do without being aware of the difference in the database system as the external information resource such as the difference in the support level of the SQL language. , It becomes possible to make an inquiry more easily. At this time, instead of the SQL question sentence, an inquiry method corresponding to the target external information resource can be registered in the external information resource inquiry means storage means, and the object of the external information resource is not limited to the database system. Absent.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG.
The first embodiment of the present invention is a usage control module storage unit 1 that stores at least one usage control module for determining usage conditions and billing amounts for contents.
0, a use condition determining means 20 for executing the use control module stored in the use control module storing means 10 to determine the use condition of the content, and the use condition determining means 20 for determining the use condition of the content. External information resources 30 to 3n such as a content usage history database and a user information database in which profile information of each user is stored, which provides necessary information.
And a use control information acquisition unit 4 for referring to the external information resource in response to a request from the use condition determination unit 20.
0, a request to the use condition determining means to determine the use condition is made, the use condition determined by the use condition determining means 20 is received, and the user uses the content under the predetermined use condition. Usage control processing means 5 for controlling
It is composed of 0 and 0.

Further, among these, the use condition determining means 20 is provided between the use control module executing means 201 for executing the use control module and the use control module executing means 201 and the use control module storing means 10. Communication and the use control module execution means 2
01 and the use control information acquisition means 40, and a communication means 202 for performing communication. It should be noted that as the configuration of the communication unit 202, each communication unit may be arranged for each communication path, or one communication unit may collectively perform communication.

Next, the overall operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the user sends a content usage request to the usage control processing means 50 (step A1). The usage control processing means 50 sends a request for deciding usage conditions for the content from the usage request received in step A1 to the usage condition determining means 20 (step A2). The use condition determining means 20 searches the use control module storing means 10 for a use control module for determining the use condition through the communication means 202 using the received use condition determining request (step A).
3). The usage condition determining means 20 sends a request for acquiring external information necessary for executing the usage control module retrieved in step A3 to the usage control information acquiring means 40 through the control means 202 (step A4).

The use control information acquisition means 40 refers to a predetermined external resource using the received external information acquisition request (step A5), acquires the external information necessary for executing the use control module, and uses condition determining means. 20 (step A6). The usage condition determining means 20 is a communication means 202.
The external information obtained in step A6 through is received, the usage control module execution unit 201 executes the usage control module (step A7), and the usage conditions of the content are determined (step A8). The usage condition determining means 20 sends the determined usage conditions to the usage control processing means 50 (step A9). The usage control processing means 50 provides the content to the user based on the received usage conditions (step A10). At this time, if the received usage conditions do not allow the content to be provided, a message to that effect is presented to the user (step A1).
1).

In the first embodiment, since the usage conditions of the content for the content user can be determined while using various external information, it is more flexible and detailed. You can control the use of content. In addition, in the present embodiment, since the external information resources 30 to 3n are referenced from the usage condition determining unit 20 through the usage control information acquiring unit 40, the external information is directly output from each usage control module. Compared to the case of referring to the resources 30 to 3n, the reference to the external information resources 30 to 3n can be managed in a unified manner.
Even when the authentication process or the billing process is required to refer to 3n, the authentication information or the billing information can be handled in a unified manner.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 3, in the second embodiment of the present invention, an external information resource inquiry / storing means 60 and the external information resource inquiry / storing means 60 are used from the usage control information acquisition means 40 and the like. External information resource inquiry / reference means 70 for
1 is different from the first embodiment shown in FIG. The external information resource inquiry / storing means 60 accumulates the contents of the inquiry processing for the external information resource in the form of a template or a library in advance.

The operation of the second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The operation in this embodiment shown in steps A1 to A4 and steps A6 to A11 in FIG.
Since it is the same as the operation in the above embodiment, the duplicated description will be omitted.

In the first embodiment, only the usage condition determining means 20 transmits information necessary for making an inquiry from the usage control information acquiring means 40 to the external information resources 30 to 3n. In the second embodiment, the usage control information acquisition means 40 is made into a template or a library in advance from the external information acquisition request received from the usage condition determination means 20 through the external information resource inquiry / reference means 70. The inquiry request is retrieved (step B1), and the external information resources 30 to 3n are inquired (step B2).

In the second embodiment, the contents of the inquiry processing are made into a template or a library in advance and stored in the external information resource inquiry / storing means 60, and the use control information is obtained from the use condition determining means 20. Since the external information resource inquiry / reference means 70 searches the inquiry processing after executing the inquiry processing to the means 40, the difference in inquiry processing that can be accepted by each external information resource is taken into consideration. Without doing
Inquiries can be made more easily.

[0029]

EXAMPLE Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described by using a specific example shown in FIG. First, the user sends a content usage request to the usage control processing means 50 (step A1). The usage control processing means 50 is step A
A request as shown in FIG. 6 for determining the usage rule of the content from the usage request received in 1 is sent to the usage rule determining means 20 (step A2). In this embodiment, the user ID and the content ID are used as the content request data.
Have a set of. The use condition determining means 20 searches the use control module storing means 10 for a use control module for determining the use condition through the communication means 202 using the received use condition determining request (step A).
3).

In the first embodiment, the use control module storage means 10 is a relational database having columns as shown in FIG. Further, here, it is assumed that the external information acquisition request has a set of external information resource names and inquiries thereof. There are various possible formats for the external information acquisition request. In the example of FIG. 7, S as shown in the figure is used for the usage history database 80.
Inquiries shall be made using QL sentences. In this example, the number of SQL statements is one, but a plurality of SQL statements can be used depending on the case. Further, the inquiry itself may list not only the usage history database 80 but also a plurality of external information resources.

The use condition determining means 20 communicates the acquisition request of the external information necessary for executing the use control module retrieved in step A3 and the content request data with the communicating means 202.
Through the use control information acquisition means 40 (step A4). In the present embodiment, since the SQL statement shown in FIG. 7 includes the IN parameter represented by the question mark “?”, The usage control information acquisition unit 40 includes UserID and ContentsI included in the content request data.
The parameter part is converted to a predetermined value using D and then inquired.

The usage control information acquisition means 40 uses the received external information acquisition request to refer to the usage history database in which the usage history of the contents is stored in the table format as shown in FIG. 8 (step A5). As a result, external information in a tabular format as shown in FIG. 9 is acquired and sent to the usage condition determining means 20 (step A6). Here, various formats of the stored usage history are conceivable, and the format of the result also changes accordingly. The usage condition determining means 20 executes the number discount module using the external information obtained in step A6 through the communication means 202 (step A7),
The charge amount for the content is determined (step A8).
In this embodiment, the number-of-times discount module reduces the charge amount by 10% for users who have used the same content ten times or more.

At this time, the usage condition determining means 20 uses the processing result indicating that the billing amount is 900 yen as the usage control processing means 50.
To (step A9). The usage control processing means 50 provides the user with the content based on the received billing amount (step A10). Also, in the case where the usage control module for the content requested by the user is a number-of-times limiting module that rejects the content over a certain number of times,
When the content providing request of the user has already exceeded the limit number of times, a message to the effect that the content is refused is presented to the user (step A11).

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The second example corresponds to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the external information resource inquiry / storing means 60 for accumulating the contents of the inquiry processing for the external information resource, which have been templated or made into a library in advance, and the external information resource inquiry / storing means. This is different from the first embodiment in that it has an external information resource inquiry / reference means 70 for using 60 from the usage control information acquisition means 40 or the like.

Step A1 and Step A of the first embodiment
FIG. 11 shows the format of the usage control module storage means 10 in the second embodiment when the usage control module is retrieved from the usage control module storage means 10 in step A3 through the same processing as in 2. In the second embodiment, only the name of the inquiry template is set as the external information acquisition request. Here, a plurality of inquiry templates may be designated. Usage condition determining means 2
0 sends a request for acquisition of external information necessary to execute the usage control module retrieved in step A3 and content request data to the usage control information acquisition means 40 through the control means 202 (step A4).

The use control information acquisition means 40 is used by the external information resource inquiry / storage means 60 through the external information resource inquiry / reference means 70 to determine the use condition determining means 20.
Using the received inquiry name, an inquiry request that has been templated or made into a library in advance is searched (step B1). The format of the external information resource inquiry / storing means 60 in the second embodiment is shown in FIG.
Shown in. In the example of FIG. 12, the inquiry template name and
The information on the external information resource referred to in the inquiry and the content of the inquiry process that can be received by the external information resource are stored. In this example, the inquiry template name "number of times discount SQL01" is used, and the SQ that can be accepted by the usage history database 80 as the resource information and the usage history database 80 as the inquiry content.
As the format of L sentence, "SELECTCOUNT (*) F
ROM rirequitable WHERE Use
rID =? AND ContentsID =? "Is the search result. After this, step A in the first embodiment is performed.
The same processing as 6 to A11 is performed.

Further, in the second embodiment, the usage control module is registered in the usage control module storage means 10 by accumulating the queries to the external information resources 30 to 3n separately from the usage control module. At this time, it is possible to easily refer to the external information resources 30 to 3n without being aware of the difference in the inquiry method to the external information resources.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, by requesting the use of contents under the use condition required by each user or depending on the situation, and determining the use condition, It is possible to use the content under the usage conditions described above, and as a result, it is possible to obtain various effects of controlling various usages of the same content. In addition, it is possible to create or change a query to a usage control module or external resource independently of the content and apply it as usage control for the same content or already existing content, so usage control for content is easy. The effect of being able to add or change is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a content usage control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a content usage control system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a system configuration in the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a usage request message sent by the usage control processing means shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a format of a usage control module storage unit shown in FIG.

8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a format of the usage history database shown in FIG.

9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an inquiry result with respect to the usage history database shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a system configuration in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a format of a usage control module storage means according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a format of an external information resource inquiry database according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Usage control module storage means 20 Usage condition determination means 30, 31, 3n External information resource 40 Usage control information acquisition means 50 Usage control processing means 60 External information resource inquiry and storage means 70 External information resource inquiry / reference method 80 Usage history database 201 Usage control module execution means 202 Communication means

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A content use control system in a system for distributing information content, comprising use control module storage means for storing at least one use control module for determining a use condition and a charge amount for the content. , Using the received usage condition determination request, the usage control module
Usage system for determining usage conditions from the tool storage means
It is necessary to search for the control module and execute the usage control module.
Usage condition determining means for requesting acquisition of necessary external information, and the usage control according to a request from the usage condition determining means
Outside the information used in the execution of the module
Usage control information acquisition means that refers to a department information resource
A usage control module executing means for executing the usage control module stored in the usage control module storage means; and a usage control module execution means and the usage provided in the usage condition means together with the usage control module. Communication means for respectively communicating with the control module storage means and communication between the usage control module execution means and the usage control information acquisition means; And a usage control processing means for controlling the usage of the content to the user based on the usage condition of the content determined by the usage condition means. . 2. The usage control information acquisition means includes a usage history database in which a history of contents provided to the user in the usage control processing means is accumulated as the external information resource, and the usage control module includes: The content usage control system according to claim 1, wherein information necessary for execution is acquired from the usage history database, and the usage condition is determined using the obtained information. 3. The use control information acquisition means includes a user information database in which profile information for each user belonging to a user group as the external information resource is stored, and is necessary for executing the use control module. 2. The content usage control system according to claim 1, wherein the following information is acquired from the user information database, and the usage conditions are determined using the obtained information. 4. The usage control information acquisition means includes a current time acquisition means that indicates the current time as the external information resource, and acquires the information necessary for executing the usage control module from the current time acquisition means. The content use control system according to claim 1, wherein the use condition is determined using information. 5. An external information resource inquiry means storage means for accumulating a template or library of inquiries for the external information resource, and the usage control for the external information resource inquiry means storage means. 5. The content use control system according to claim 1, further comprising external information resource inquiry means reference means for making reference from the information acquisition means.