JP2002203118A - Content distribution method, content distribution server, content distribution device, and content reception device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for promoting distribution of a content. SOLUTION: A content distribution server 20 transmits the content added with identification information of a user by an identification information adding part 114 when the distribution of the content is required. The user is able to distribute the content to other user. When the user obtaining a reprint requires distribution of a decode key, a reprinter specifying part 122 specifys a reprinter, a profit restoration part 124 restores a profit to the user. Although the user expends a communication fee when the content is downloaded, the user obtains a prifit by distributing the content.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a content distribution technique. The present invention particularly relates to a method of distributing content, and a content distribution server, a content distribution device, and a content receiving device that can use the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the rapid spread of the Internet and mobile phones, the distribution of information has become more intense than before. The network infrastructure is also being improved, and more people can receive communication services with higher transfer rates. The communication speed of mobile phones has also been significantly improved compared to before, and contents such as images, music, and moving images having a relatively large data amount have been exchanged using mobile phones.

[0003]

However, in the conventional data transfer by a portable telephone, a communication fee is charged according to a transfer time or a transfer data amount, so that contents such as images and music having a large data amount are transferred to a server. It costs a lot of money when downloading from.
For this reason, there is a fear that the user feels resistance to downloading the content and decreases his / her purchase desire, which may hinder the expansion of the content distribution market.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for promoting download of contents by a user.

[0005]

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a content distribution method. The method comprises the steps of: accepting, from a second user who has acquired a copy of an encrypted content from a first user, a distribution request for information for decrypting the copy; and transmitting the information for decryption to the second user. Transmitting to the terminal of the second user, identifying the first user who provided the copy to the second user, and performing a process of giving preferential treatment to the identified first user Steps.

The contents include, for example, images, music,
There are videos. When the first user who has paid the communication fee to download the content provides the content to the second user, the first user is given preferential treatment to promote the download of the content.

[0007] In the content distribution method, prior to the accepting step, a step of receiving a content distribution request from a first user, a step of transmitting encrypted content to a terminal of the first user, Transmitting information for decrypting the encrypted content to the terminal of the first user.

[0008] The content distribution method may further include a step of embedding identification information for specifying the first user in the encrypted content, and the specifying step includes obtaining the identification information, First
May be specified.

[0009] Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a content distribution server. The content distribution server includes a first request reception unit that receives a content distribution request from a user, an encryption unit that encrypts the content, and a first request that transmits the encrypted content to a terminal of the user.
And a second request receiving unit for receiving, from a user who has acquired a copy of the encrypted content, a distribution request for information for decrypting the content, and a decryption unit for decrypting the encrypted content. A second transmitting unit that transmits information for performing the duplication to a user terminal, a duplication source specifying unit that specifies a duplication source user of the duplication, and a profit returning unit that performs a process of favoring the duplication source user. .

[0010] The content distribution server may further include an identification information adding unit for embedding identification information for specifying the user in the encrypted content before transmitting the encrypted content to the user. . The identification information may be a user ID, a telephone number of a user terminal, a serial number, a device ID, and the like.

[0011] The content request receiving unit may acquire a telephone number assigned to the terminal of the user, and the identification information adding unit may embed the telephone number in the encrypted content. The identification information adding unit may imprint the identification information as digital watermark information on the encrypted content.

[0012] The content distribution server may further include a charging unit for charging a user who has distributed the information for decryption, and the profit returning unit may reduce a charging amount of the copy source user. The profit returning unit may determine an amount to be reduced according to a communication cost required when the copy source user receives the encrypted content from the content distribution server. That is, in the case of a content having a large data amount and requiring a high communication cost, the user may be encouraged to download by increasing the return amount.

[0013] Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a content distribution device. The content distribution device includes a content receiving unit that receives the encrypted content, an identification information adding unit that embeds identification information for identifying the own device in the encrypted content, and a content that embeds the identification information. And a content transmitting unit that transmits the mobile communication terminal. The identification information is a telephone number assigned to the mobile communication terminal.

[0014] Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a content receiving apparatus. The content receiving apparatus includes: a content receiving unit that obtains a copy of the encrypted content; a decryption information obtaining unit that obtains information for decrypting the copy from a server; And a notifying unit for notifying the server of identification information to be performed.

[0015] The notifying unit may extract the identification information embedded in the encrypted content and notify the server of the identification information. The content receiving device further includes a copy source information storage unit that stores the copy and identification information of a copy source user of the copy in association with each other, and the notification unit transmits the identification information from the copy source information storage unit. The information may be read and notified to the server.

It is to be noted that any combination of the above-described components and any conversion of the expression of the present invention between an apparatus, a method, a system, and a computer program are also effective as embodiments of the present invention.

[0017]

FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a content distribution system 10 according to an embodiment. In the content distribution system 10, the first user terminal 30 and the second
Is connected to the content distribution server 20 via the mobile phone packet network 60 and the Internet 50. In the present embodiment, a case where the first and second user terminals are portable mobile communication terminals will be described. Hereinafter, when the user is simply referred to as “user”, the user and the user terminal are not particularly distinguished.

FIG. 2 describes a series of processes in the content distribution system 10 by exchanges between the content distribution server 20, the first user 30, and the second user 40. The details will be described later, and the outline will be described here.

First, a first user requests content distribution to the content distribution server 20 (S10). The content distribution server 20 performs a process of charging the first user (S12), and transmits the encrypted content and a key for decrypting the encrypted content to the first user (S12).
14, S16). The first user can reproduce and enjoy the content by decrypting the encrypted content with the decryption key (S18).

The first user can provide a copy of the received content to a second user who wants to copy the content (S20). At this time, a copy of the encrypted content is provided instead of the decrypted content. Transmission of content from the first user terminal to the second user terminal is performed by wired communication such as a connection cable or wireless communication using an infrared port or the like. The second user that has received the copy requests the content distribution server 20 to distribute a key for decrypting the copy (S22). The content distribution server 20 performs a process of charging the second user (S24), and specifies the copy source user (S26). The content distribution server 20
The user transmits the decryption key to the first user (S28), and performs processing for favoring the first user (S30). The second user decrypts the copy with the received decryption key (S
32), content can be reproduced.

When the first user receives the content from the content distribution server 20 via the mobile phone packet network 60, the first user is charged for the communication fee according to the amount of data or the communication time. If the data amount of the content is large, a large communication fee will be charged, and the user may be discouraged from downloading the content. Therefore, when a user who downloads the content distributes the copy to another user, the profit is returned to the user, thereby promoting the download of the content.

FIG. 3 shows the internal configuration of the content distribution server 20. This configuration can be realized by a hardware component such as a CPU of any computer, a memory, a program having a content distribution function loaded in the memory, and the like. Here, functional blocks realized by their cooperation are illustrated. ing. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by hardware only, software only, or a combination thereof.

The content distribution server 20 includes a communication unit 10
0, content distribution request receiving unit 110, encryption unit 11
2, identification information adding unit 114, content transmitting unit 116,
Decryption key distribution request receiving unit 120, copy source specifying unit 122,
It includes a profit returning unit 124, a decryption key transmitting unit 126, a content database 130, a billing unit 140, and a billing database 150.

The communication unit 100 controls communication with the user terminals 30 and 40 via the Internet 50. The communication unit 100 includes hardware such as a modem necessary for communication and a driver and other programs for controlling communication. Content distribution request receiving section 110 receives a content distribution request transmitted from a user terminal. At this time, identification information for identifying the user is obtained. In the present embodiment, a telephone number assigned to a user terminal is obtained as identification information. The telephone number may be obtained by using the caller ID notification function of the user terminal.

The encryption section 112 reads out the requested content from the content database 130 and encrypts it. At this time, a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted content is generated and the content database 130 is generated.
To be stored. The decryption key may be generated differently for each user, or may be common to all users.
In the latter case, the content may be encrypted in advance, and the encrypted content and the decryption key may be stored in the content database 130.

The identification information adding unit 114 adds the user identification information obtained by the content distribution request receiving unit 110 to the encrypted content. In this embodiment,
The telephone number assigned to the user terminal is imprinted on the encrypted content as digital watermark information. By using the digital watermark technology, the risk of falsification of the identification information can be reduced. In addition to the digital watermarking technology, a known tamper-resistant technology may be used.

The content transmitting section 116 is encrypted,
The content to which the identification information is added is transmitted to the user terminal 30 via the communication unit 100. Decryption key transmission unit 126
Transmits to the user terminal 30 a key for decrypting the encrypted content.

The decryption key distribution request receiving unit 120 receives a distribution request for a key for decrypting the copy from the second user who has obtained the copy of the encrypted content from the first user. At this time, in order to charge the second user for the content, identification information for specifying the second user is acquired. In the present embodiment, the telephone number assigned to the user terminal is obtained.

The copy source specifying unit 122 specifies a first user who provided a copy of the encrypted content to a second user. In the present embodiment, the second user terminal 40 extracts the telephone number of the first user, which is imprinted on the encrypted content as digital watermark information, and notifies the content distribution server 20 of the extracted telephone number. The copy source identification unit 122
The first user is specified by the notified telephone number of the first user.

The profit returning unit 124 performs a process of giving preferential treatment to the first user who is the copy source of the content. In the present embodiment, the billing amount of the first user is reduced. When a user downloads a content from the content distribution server 20, a communication cost is required according to the data amount of the content. When the data amount of the content is large, a large amount of communication cost is required. Therefore, the user may feel difficulty in downloading the content and may hinder the distribution of the content. Therefore, when the downloaded content is provided to another user, a part of the profit is returned to the user, thereby promoting the download of the user. The amount to be reduced may be determined according to the communication cost required when the first user first downloads the content from the content distribution server 20. That is, when the data amount of the content is large, a large amount of communication cost is required. Therefore, the amount to be returned when the content is provided to another user may be set to be relatively large.

[0031] The decryption key transmitting unit 126 reads a key for decrypting the requested content from the content database 130 and transmits the key to the second user terminal 40. The charging unit 140 charges the user to whom the decryption key transmitting unit 126 has transmitted the decryption key for the content.

The contents database 130 stores contents, encrypted contents, decryption keys, and the like. When the content is encrypted in a different format for each user, each of them may be stored.

The accounting database 150 holds accounting information. FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration, and the user ID column 30
0, a telephone number column 302, and a billing amount column 304 are provided. For example, as information of the user with the user ID “0001”, the telephone number “090-xxxx-xxxx” and the charge amount “1500”
"Circle" is stored. The billing unit 140 receives the content distribution request receiving unit 110 or the decryption key distribution request receiving unit 12
The record of the corresponding user is extracted by the telephone number of the user acquired at 0, and the price of the content purchased by the user is added to the charge amount column 304 of the user. The profit returning unit 124 extracts a record of the corresponding user from the telephone number of the copy source user specified by the copy source specifying unit 122, and returns the return amount corresponding to the content provided by the user to the charge amount of the user. The amount is reduced from the column 304.

FIG. 5 shows the internal configuration of the user terminals 30 and 40. In the present embodiment, the first user terminal 30 is an example of a content distribution device, and the second user terminal 40
Has been described as an example of a content receiving apparatus.
As shown in (1), these terminals may be mobile communication terminals having both a function as a content distribution device and a function as a content reception device. This configuration can be realized in various forms by using only hardware, only software, or a combination thereof, as in the case of the content distribution server 20 shown in FIG.

The user terminals 30 and 40 are
0, content receiving section 210, decryption key receiving section 212,
Decoding unit 214, content storage unit 216, playback unit 21
8, copy prohibition unit 220, encrypted content storage unit 22
2 and a content transmission unit 224.

First, the operation of each component when the user terminal 30 functions as a content distribution device will be mainly described.

The communication unit 200 includes the content distribution server 2
0 and communication with other user terminals. Communication unit 2
Reference numeral 00 includes hardware such as a modem necessary for communication and a driver and other programs for controlling communication. The content receiving unit 210 requests the content distribution server 20 to download the content, and receives the encrypted content. At that time, the decryption key is received by the decryption key receiving unit 212.

[0038] The decryption unit 214
0 decrypts the encrypted content received by the decryption key receiving unit 212 using the decryption key received. The decrypted content is stored in the content storage unit 216 and played by the playback unit 218. The decrypted content is copy protected by the copy prohibition unit 220 so that it cannot be copied.

The encrypted content storage unit 222 stores the encrypted content received by the content receiving unit 210. The content transmission unit 224 reads out the encrypted content from the encrypted content storage unit 222 and transmits it to another user terminal. Communication with another user terminal may be wired communication using a communication cable or the like, or may be wireless communication using an infrared port or the like. With the above configuration and operation, the encrypted content can be acquired from the content distribution server 20 and distributed to another user terminal.

Next, the operation of each component when the user terminal 40 functions as a content receiving device will be mainly described.

[0055] The content receiving section 210 receives a copy of the encrypted content from the first user terminal 30. The received encrypted content is stored in the encrypted content storage unit 222. Decryption key receiving unit 212
Requests the content distribution server 20 to distribute the decryption key, and receives the decryption key. At this time, the decryption key receiving unit 2
12 extracts the telephone number of the copy source user imprinted as digital watermark information on the encrypted content and notifies the content distribution server 20 of the extracted telephone number. That is, the decryption key receiving unit 212 has a function as a notification unit.

The content is decrypted by the decryption unit 214, stored in the content storage unit 216, and read out and reproduced by the reproduction unit 218 as necessary. With the above configuration and operation, the encrypted content can be received from another user terminal and decrypted.

FIG. 6 shows another example of the user terminals 30 and 40. In the user terminals 30 and 40 shown in FIG. 6, an identification information adding unit 226 is provided in addition to the configuration of the user terminal shown in FIG. Identification information adding unit 226
When the user terminal 30 functions as a content distribution device, the content reception unit 210 adds identification information for identifying the own device to the encrypted content received from the content distribution server 20. The identification information may be a telephone number, a serial number, a device ID, or the like of the user terminal 30 or a user ID issued from the content distribution server 20. The identification information may be imprinted on the content encrypted as the digital watermark information. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the user terminal shown in FIG.

When the content distribution system 10 is configured by the user terminals 30 and 40, the identification information adding unit 114 need not be provided among the components of the content distribution server 20 shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows another example of the user terminals 30 and 40. In the user terminals 30 and 40 shown in FIG. 7, a copy source information storage unit 228 is provided in addition to the configuration of the user terminals shown in FIG. Copy source information storage 2
28, when the user terminal 40 functions as a content receiving device, when the encrypted content is obtained from another user terminal 30, the identification information for identifying the copy source user of the content is associated with the content. And store. Other positives and operations are the same as those of the user terminal shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 shows an example of internal data of the copy source information storage unit 228. The copy source information storage unit 228 includes a content ID column 310 and a copy source telephone number column 312. For example, it is recorded that the content having the content ID “0037” has been acquired from the user terminal having the telephone number “090-xxxx-xxxx”. When requesting the content distribution server 20 for the decryption key of the content with the content ID “0037”, the decryption key receiving unit 212 notifies the telephone number “090-xxxx-xxxx” of the copy source user. As a result, the content distribution server 20 can specify the copy source user and return profit to the copy source user.

When the content distribution system 10 is configured by the user terminals 30 and 40, the identification information adding unit 114 need not be provided among the components of the content distribution server 20 shown in FIG.

The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. The above embodiment is an exemplification, and it is understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the combination of each component and each processing process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. is there.

As an example of such a modification, in the embodiment, the telephone number assigned to the user terminal is used as the identification information, but the serial number of the user terminal, the user ID, or the like may be used. These pieces of information may be fixedly stored in the user terminal by hardware from the manufacturing stage, or may be stored later by software. The user ID assigned by the server may be stored in the user terminal. At this time, the user ID may be stored as cookie information.

[0050] The content distribution server 20 may further include a user registration unit. A user ID may be issued to the user whose registration has been accepted by the user registration unit, the user may be specified using the user ID, and a charging process or a profit returning process may be performed.

A user ID is automatically issued to the user who has requested the download of the content, and the user ID
D may be imprinted on the content. At this time, a user ID may be issued at random to prevent the user ID from being misused by a third party.

[0052]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a technology for promoting the distribution of contents.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a content distribution system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline procedure of a content distribution process in the content distribution system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a content distribution server.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing internal data of a charging database.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a user terminal.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the internal configuration of the user terminal.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the internal configuration of the user terminal.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing internal data of a copy source information storage unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 content distribution system, 20 content distribution server, 30 first user terminal, 40 second user terminal, 110 content distribution request receiving unit,
112 encryption unit, 114 identification information adding unit, 11
6 content transmission unit, 120 decryption key distribution request reception unit, 122 copy source identification unit, 124 profit return unit, 126 decryption key transmission unit, 140 charging unit,
210 content receiving unit, 212 decryption key receiving unit, 224 content transmitting unit.

Claims (12)

[Claims] Receiving, from a second user who has acquired a copy of an encrypted content from a first user, a distribution request for information for decrypting the copy, and information for decrypting the copy. Transmitting to the terminal of the second user, identifying the first user who has provided the copy to the second user, and performing a process of giving preferential treatment to the identified first user And a content distribution method. 2. A step of receiving a content distribution request from a first user prior to the step of receiving; transmitting an encrypted content to a terminal of the first user; Transmitting the information for decrypting content to the terminal of the first user. The method of claim 1, further comprising: 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the encrypted content is the first content.
3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of embedding identification information for identifying the first user, wherein the identifying step identifies the first user by acquiring the identification information. Content distribution method described. 4. A first request receiving unit that receives a content distribution request from a user, an encryption unit that encrypts the content, and a first transmission that transmits the encrypted content to a terminal of the user. A second request receiving unit for receiving, from a user who has acquired a copy of the encrypted content, a distribution request for information for decrypting the content, and a second request receiving unit for decrypting the encrypted content. A transmitting unit that transmits the information of the source to the user terminal; a source specifying unit that specifies the source user of the copy; and a profit returning unit that performs a process of giving preferential treatment to the source user. A content distribution server characterized by the following. 5. An identification information adding unit for embedding identification information for identifying the user in the encrypted content before transmitting the encrypted content to the user. The content distribution server according to claim 4. 6. The content request receiving unit acquires a telephone number assigned to the user terminal, and the identification information adding unit embeds the telephone number in the encrypted content. The content distribution server according to claim 5. 7. The system according to claim 4, further comprising a charging unit that charges a user who has delivered the information for decryption, wherein the profit returning unit reduces a charging amount of the copy source user. 6. The content distribution server according to any one of 6. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the profit returning unit determines an amount to be reduced according to a communication cost required when the copy source user receives the encrypted content from the content distribution server. The content distribution server according to claim 7, wherein: 9. A content receiving unit that receives encrypted content, an identification information adding unit that embeds identification information for identifying an own device in the encrypted content, and a content that embeds the identification information. And a content transmission unit for transmitting, wherein the device is a mobile communication terminal, and the identification information is a telephone number assigned to the mobile communication terminal. 10. A content receiving unit that obtains a copy of an encrypted content, a decryption information obtaining unit that obtains information for decrypting the copy from a server, and specifies a copy source user of the copy. And a notifying unit for notifying the server of identification information. 11. The content receiving apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the notifying unit extracts the identification information embedded in the encrypted content and notifies the server of the identification information. 12. A copy source information storage unit that stores the copy and identification information of a copy source user of the copy in association with each other, wherein the notifying unit transmits the identification information from the copy source information storage unit. The content receiving apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the content is read and notified to the server.