JP2008011021A - Content reproduction right sharing method, system thereof, and mobile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To securely rent a content reproduction right possessed by a mobile terminal to other reproduction terminal. <P>SOLUTION: After the mobile terminal 110 acquires the content reproduction right managed by a content server 101, the mobile terminal 110 detects the reproduction terminal 120 in proximity relationship with the mobile terminal 110 and capable of reproducing contents by using proximity communication sections 118, 128. The mobile terminal 110 transmits a content request to the content server 101 to distribute the content with the reproduction right to the detected reproduction terminal 120. The mobile terminal 110 for receiving a notice denoting that the content server 101 authenticates the reproduction right of the reproduction terminal 120 transmits a receiving instruction of the content to the reproduction terminal 120 whose authentication is approved. The reproduction terminal 120 receiving the receiving instruction reproduces the content transmitted from the content server 101 while consecutively checking the proximity relationship. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for sharing distributed content between terminals.

  Services for distributing digital contents such as videos, music, and game applications over a network are provided. In such a service, from the viewpoint of copyright protection, a technology of digital rights management (Digital Rights Management, DRM) that restricts terminals that can play back digital contents is used. Such content protection technology is applied to each terminal, and in order to play it on another terminal, a procedure for obtaining a reproduction right is separately required.

  In the example of Patent Document 1, a device that has been registered as being owned by the same user with respect to the content for which the user ID and the device owned by the user have been subjected to the procedure for obtaining the reproduction right once with the registered user ID. Shows that the reproduction right is shared and the procedure for obtaining the reproduction right is omitted. It also shows sharing playback rights within a user group. When distributing content, the content quality such as resolution and the number of colors is determined by the profile of the terminal that has acquired the content reproduction right. However, in Patent Document 1, the content quality appropriate for the device is determined by the pre-registered device profile. Selected and downloadable.

JP 2005-351994 A

  In the method of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, it takes time to register a device owned by a user. Further, the sharing range of users or user groups is limited, and sharing of content reproduction rights is not realized in any terminal such as a public terminal.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a content reproduction right sharing method capable of safely sharing a content reproduction right acquired by a first terminal such as a portable terminal with a second terminal without prior registration, its system, and a portable terminal Is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a content reproduction right sharing method in a system in which content managed by a reproduction right is distributed from a server to a terminal, and the reproduction right of the content managed by the server is acquired. The mobile terminal detects a playback terminal that is in close proximity to the mobile terminal and can play back content, requests the server to distribute the content having playback rights to the detected playback terminal, and the mobile terminal When a playback right authentication notification is received at the playback terminal, a content playback right sharing method for transmitting a content reception instruction to the playback terminal that has received the playback right authentication is provided.

The present invention also relates to a content reproduction right sharing system for distributing content managed by the reproduction right, a server for distributing the content managed by the reproduction right, and obtaining the reproduction right of the desired content from the server. The first terminal and the second terminal that can play back the content,
The first terminal acquires the right to play the content managed by the server, detects the second terminal that is in proximity to the first terminal, and distributes the content that has acquired the right to play to the detected second terminal. As described above, a content reproduction right sharing system is provided that issues a content reception instruction to the second terminal when the server requests it and receives authentication of reproduction right at the second terminal from the server.

  Furthermore, the present invention provides a mobile terminal to which content is distributed from a server that manages playback rights, a detection unit that detects a playback terminal that is in close proximity to the mobile terminal and that can play back content, and playback. A content requesting unit that requests the server to distribute the content having the right to the playback terminal detected by the detection unit, an authentication receiving unit that receives a notification of the playback right authentication at the playback terminal from the server, and a playback Provided is a portable terminal having a reception instructing unit that transmits a content reception instruction to a reproduction terminal that has received right authentication.

  There are two methods for protecting the right to reproduce the content: a method in which the content data itself is not duplicated, and a method in which authentication is performed at the time of reproduction to authenticate the reproduction right. In a portable terminal that can be arbitrarily carried, a terminal capable of reproducing adjacent content changes as the user moves.

  In the present invention, paying attention to this proximity relationship, the content reproduction right at the target terminal is authenticated with the proximity relationship established when the mobile terminal that has acquired the content reproduction right has moved. This makes it possible to lend (share) the reproduction right to another terminal around the portable terminal having the reproduction right. Validity / invalidity of the reproduction right lent to another terminal is determined by the presence of a portable terminal having the original reproduction right in the vicinity (condition that there is a close relationship).

  By having this mechanism, in the present invention, even if the content data itself is copied to an arbitrary terminal, the portable terminal must be in a close position where the “proximity relationship” is established in order to reproduce it. The purpose is not lost.

  In the present invention, the “proximity relationship” refers to a case where the distance between two terminals is a distance of up to 10 m (meter), preferably 3 to 5 m (meter). The distance at which this “proximity relationship” is established is a distance that can be sufficiently communicated by current proximity communication technology such as Bluetooth and infrared communication. “Public terminal” refers to a terminal whose affiliation is not fixed to one user. For example, a karaoke box is included. Needless to say, content distribution includes not only downloading but also distribution of content by streaming. A server that distributes content is used as a general term for computers and systems that provide data and functions owned by terminals to terminals in a computer network.

  In the present invention, when a proximity relationship with a first terminal such as a portable terminal having a reproduction right is established, the first terminal possessed by the owner is moved to the destination and is more suitable for content reproduction than is nearby. It is possible to play protected content by sharing playback rights with two terminals. As a result, it is possible to view the content protected by any second terminal having the proximity relationship with the reproduction right acquired by the first terminal in a form closer to the quality inherent to the content. Like that.

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

  An embodiment of a content reproduction right sharing method and system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a system for realizing the first embodiment. This system includes a content server 101 as a computer system capable of distributing content, a mobile terminal 110 as a first terminal, and a playback terminal 120 as a second terminal. These are connected via the network 104.

  In the system configuration of FIG. 1, the content server 101 has a function of performing content distribution and playback right authentication, and is connected to the content database 102 and the playback right management database 103. The content database 102 stores various contents, and the reproduction right management database 103 manages the reproduction right for each content stored in the content database 102. Although the illustration of the internal configuration of the content server 101 is omitted, a normal server having access to the databases 102 and 103 and having a storage device (memory) for storing programs and data and a processing device (CPU) for executing the programs, Needless to say, a computer is fine.

  On the other hand, the mobile terminal 110 as the first terminal is assumed to be an electronic terminal that can be carried and moved, such as a mobile phone. As shown in FIG. 1, the portable terminal 110 includes a processing device (CPU) 111, a wide area communication unit 112 connected to the network 104, a main storage device 113, a secondary storage device 114, and an output device 115 such as a display or a speaker. , An input device 116 such as a keypad or a microphone, a reproduction right management unit 117 that stores and manages a terminal identification ID unique to a portable terminal, and a proximity communication unit 118 that can perform near field communication by wired, wireless, infrared, etc. The

  The playback terminal 120 as the second terminal is an arbitrary terminal having content playback capability, and is not uniquely determined for the mobile terminal 110. The configuration includes a processing device (CPU) 121, a wide area communication unit 122 connected to the network 104, a main storage device 123, a secondary storage device 124, an output device 125 such as a display and a speaker, and an input device 126 such as a keyboard and a microphone. The reproduction right management unit 127 stores and manages a terminal identification ID unique to the reproduction terminal, and the near field communication unit 128 capable of near field communication by wired, wireless, infrared, or the like.

  As is clear from FIG. 1, the internal configuration of the portable terminal 110 and the playback terminal 120 is similar, and various contents can be obtained by configuring the CPU 111/121, the main memory 113/123, the output devices 115 and 125, and the input device 116/126. With the ability to play. Further, the wide area communication unit 112/122 can acquire the content from the content server 101 through the network 104, and further has the ability to save the content in the secondary storage device 114/124 as necessary. The reproduction right management unit 117/127 is realized by hardware or software responsible for ID management and encryption / decryption for content protection.

  The near field communication units 118/128 are compatible with each other. The proximity communication unit 118/128 is a communication means capable of responding at a proximity distance of about 3 to 5 m in terms of operation and specifications such as infrared communication, proximity wireless, and wired connection inside an automobile. The establishment of communication by these communication means means that both terminals are in a close relationship. As a specific example, it may be assumed that a mobile phone having a right to reproduce predetermined content is brought into a car in which a car navigation terminal is installed. In this case, the mobile phone is the mobile terminal 110, and the car navigation terminal is the playback terminal 120. A proximity relationship is established between these terminals when proximity communication is possible using wired such as in-vehicle LAN, infrared communication, or proximity wireless such as Bluetooth.

  Next, the operation of the first embodiment having the system configuration of FIG. 1 will be described using the processing flow of FIG. In the flow of FIG. 2, the process on the mobile terminal 110 is expressed as step 20x, the process on the playback terminal 120 is expressed as step 22x, and the process on the content server 101 is expressed as step 23x. The flow of each process is indicated by a solid line, and the communication between the processes is indicated by a broken line. It goes without saying that the processing in each of the terminals 110 and 120 and the content server 101 is advanced by executing the program stored in each internal storage device by each internal processing device.

  As a premise of the description, it is assumed that the right to reproduce any content provided by the content server 101 is acquired by the mobile terminal 110. Further, it is assumed that the specifications of the mobile terminal 110 cannot reproduce the original quality of the content, and the playback terminal 120 has a higher content playback capability than the mobile terminal 110. Under such circumstances, it is an object to reproduce the content with better quality on the reproduction terminal 120. Further, the specifications (specifications) necessary for reproducing the content are determined according to the type.

(1) The mobile terminal 110 accepts a user instruction to request content playback. At this time, if the target terminal is not uniquely determined by the near field communication described later, the user designates the playback terminal 120 to be played simultaneously with the type of content from the mobile terminal 110 at the same time. (Step 201)
(2) The proximity communication unit 118 of the mobile terminal 110 is used to confirm the connection with the playback terminal 120. Specifically, the portable terminal 110 transmits a signal requesting a response through the proximity communication unit 118. (Step 202)
(3) When the reproduction terminal 120 receives a signal requesting the above response by the proximity communication unit 128, the reproduction terminal 120 returns the terminal information of the reproduction terminal 120 via the proximity communication unit 128 as a response thereto. (Steps 221 and 222)
The terminal information includes specifications information of each device that can be used for content reproduction, such as the CPU 121, the main storage device 123, the output device 125, and the input device 126 that constitute the reproduction terminal 120, and the driver / middleware that drives the device. The terminal identification ID of the playback terminal managed by the right management unit 127 is included.

  (4) In step 203, the portable terminal 110 receives the reply of step 222 and can acquire the terminal information, so that it is considered that the proximity relationship with the playback terminal 120 is established. If there is no reply after a certain period of time, it is considered that the proximity relationship is not established, and the processing is stopped. In step 204, the spec information and the like in the response information in step 222 are checked (result evaluation), and the process is stopped even if the specs for reproducing the content specified in step 201 cannot be satisfied. (Steps 203 and 204) Accordingly, the processing of these steps 202, 203, and 204 can also be referred to as a detection unit that detects a playback terminal capable of playing back content in the mobile terminal 110.

  (5) If the result evaluation in step 204 is successful, the mobile terminal 110 makes a content request to the content server 101. As a content request, together with its own terminal identification ID managed by the reproduction right management unit 117, together with the ID for identifying the content to be reproduced, terminal information such as the terminal identification ID of the reproduction terminal 120 transmitted in step 222 is transmitted. To do. (Step 205) Therefore, this step can be said to be a content request unit of the mobile terminal 110.

(6) The content server 101 collates with the reproduction right database 103 to determine whether the request in step 205 is valid. In the reproduction right database 103, a terminal identification ID and a content ID of a content to which a reproduction right is given to a terminal having the terminal identification ID are stored in association with each other. Then, the collation result is returned to the portable terminal 110, and when it is determined to be valid (reproduction right authentication), it is prepared to accept download by the reproduction terminal 120. (Steps 231, 232)
(7) The portable terminal 110 receives the reply of step 231 and, if a content transmission request has been received, issues a content reception instruction (reception instruction) to the playback terminal 120. (Steps 206, 207, and 208) Accordingly, in portable terminal 110, steps 206 and 208 can be called an authentication reception unit and a reception instruction unit, respectively.

(8) The playback terminal 120 receives the reception instruction in step 208, which is a reception instruction unit, and downloads content from the content server 101. At this time, the playback terminal 120 transmits its terminal identification ID managed by the playback right management unit 127 together, and the content server 101 confirms that it is a playback terminal according to the request from the mobile terminal 110 permitted in step 231. And allow / execute downloads. Further, it is stored in the main storage device 113 and the secondary storage device 114 according to the type of content and the necessity of distribution means such as download. (Step 223)
(9) In the content server 101, the content distribution request in step 223 is received, and content data of suitable content quality that can be played back on the playback terminal 120 based on the specification information of the playback terminal 120 acquired in step 205 is retrieved from the content database 102, Prepare by converting on the content server. Further, encryption is performed so that the data can be reproduced only by the reproduction terminal 120, and information indicating that reproduction is not possible if there is no close relationship with the portable terminal 110 is added as information, and transmitted to the reproduction terminal 110. (Step 233) Since the information related to encryption is included in the terminal information of the playback terminal 120 transmitted in step 205, it is used.

(10) The content downloaded in step 223 is played on the playback terminal 120. Note that processing may be performed in parallel with step 223 as in streaming distribution. (Step 224)
(11) In the system configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the playback terminal 120 confirms the proximity relationship (proximity authentication) with the portable terminal 110 at regular intervals when content is played back. As long as a response is received from the portable terminal 110 and it is established, playback is permitted. On the other hand, when the proximity relationship is no longer established, reproduction is not permitted. A similar procedure for proximity authentication also occurs when the content stored in the secondary storage device 114 is reproduced again in step 223. (Steps 225, 226)
According to the first embodiment described above, with the content reproduction right acquired by the mobile terminal 110, the reproduction right can be shared by any reproduction terminal 120 in a close relationship, and the content can be reproduced. In addition, it is possible to avoid generation of illegal copies from the viewpoint of content protection.

  In the above description, an example in which the playback terminal 120 corresponding to the mobile terminal 110 is uniquely determined is shown. However, when the proximity communication unit 118 adopts a communication method having no directivity such as radio communication by radio waves, A suitable playback terminal can be detected from a plurality of terminals in proximity to the terminal 110. As a modification of the first embodiment, the flow of processing up to selection of a playback terminal will be described with reference to FIG. The processing illustrated in FIG. 3 is also realized by a program executed by the CPU 111 inside the mobile terminal 110.

(1) The content that the user wants to reproduce is designated by the portable terminal 110. (Step 301)
(2) The mobile terminal 110 uses the proximity communication unit 118 to multicast the profile request to all nearby terminals. (Step 302)
(3) Each terminal that has received the request in step 302 transmits its own terminal profile information to the mobile terminal 110. Note that the configuration of these terminals is the same as that of the playback terminal 120. (Step 311)
(4) The mobile terminal 110 accepts reception of profile information from a nearby terminal for a certain period of time. (Step 302)
(5) If there is no response for a certain period of time, it is assumed that no playback terminal has been found, and the processing is interrupted. When the responding playback terminal is determined to be single, the process proceeds to the step in which the playback terminal illustrated in FIG. 2 is determined. ((Step 303, 304)
(6) When there are responses from a plurality of terminals, the optimum terminal is selected by comparing the profile information with the content information of the content to be reproduced, as will be described in detail later. (Step 305)
Through the above steps, it is possible to select and detect a suitable terminal from neighboring terminals. After this, the flow shown in FIG. 2 is performed. In the case of the method shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the processing in steps 201, 202, 203, and 204 has already been performed. Content request processing can be performed.

  Note that when selecting a suitable playback terminal from a plurality of terminals in step 305, comparison of profile information is performed. This is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, device information necessary for reproducing the content is added as content information 401 to the content. In this example, the resolution and the number of colors are required for content reproduction as shown in the figure. The content information 401 is stored at the same time when the content is stored in the content database 102.

  In FIG. 3, the plurality of terminals to be processed in step 305 are represented as three terminals A, B, and C in the drawing. Each has profiles (information) 402, 403, and 404. In the example of FIG. 4, in comparison with the content information 401, it is determined that the profile information 403 is close in terms of resolution and number of colors, and the terminal B with high reproduction reproducibility is reproduced as a reproduction terminal.

  At this time, it can be said that the profile information 402 of terminal A and the profile information 403 of terminal A are superior to the profile information 402 of A in terms of resolution, but the content information 401 only requires a resolution of up to 320x240, The resolution 640x480 of the profile information 402 of terminal A is not required. In this way, instead of simply comparing the specifications of the terminals, the optimum playback terminal is selected based on the specification information required for playback of the content. Needless to say, these selection processes are realized by program processing by the processing unit (CPU) 111 as described above.

  Note that although FIG. 4 focuses on two parameters, the resolution and the number of colors on the terminal profile, it is possible that these parameters will increase depending on the content to be played back. In some cases, the superiority or inferiority of specifications between terminals differs for each parameter, and it may be impossible to determine which playback terminal is good. In such a case, a more suitable playback terminal can be selected by weighting each parameter. Parameter weighting is realized by accumulating in the database in advance such that resolution is important and sound quality is important depending on the nature of the content. The user's preference can also be used for parameter weighting. It is possible to use for weighting by inputting in advance what parameters are to be emphasized for each content and each content type.

  In addition to attributes required by the content, parameters such as speaker quality and screen size of the terminal can be added to the parameters of the terminal specification. For example, even with terminals that can reproduce the same audio data, the quality of reproduction varies greatly depending on the type of speaker. Therefore, more accurate terminal comparison can be performed by refining the parameters of such a reproduction environment.

  In addition, there is a method of selecting by a user input from the input device 516 when there are a plurality of playback terminal candidates. Furthermore, by using the history, it is possible to extract the user's preference for each content and each content type described above.

  In the first embodiment described in detail above, proximity communication is used as step 202 to confirm the proximity relationship. There is a method of using position information as another proximity relationship confirmation method. The system configuration in this case is shown in FIG. 5 as a second embodiment. The basic configuration is the same as in FIG. 1, and 501 to 504, 510 to 517, and 520 to 527 constituting the system are configured by the same elements as 101 to 104, 110 to 117, and 120 to 127, respectively. The difference is that the proximity communication units 118 and 218 are eliminated, and instead, location information acquisition units 519 and 529 are mounted on both the portable terminal 510 and the playback terminal 520, respectively.

  In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, on the assumption that both the portable terminal 510 and the playback terminal 520 have a means for acquiring position information, the distance relationship between the two is calculated from the position information, The reproduction right authentication is realized by the establishment of the proximity relationship of the present invention.

  A GPS (Global Positioning System) is an example of position information acquisition means. There are actually mobile terminals equipped with GPS, and terminals that can acquire GPS input such as car navigation terminals can be used as playback terminals. In addition, since it can be said that the position information is fixed in a fixedly installed terminal, it can be used as position information on the playback terminal side by obtaining reliable installation information. In either method, the relative distance can be measured in a coordinate system that is common or compatible with the portable terminal 510 and the playback terminal 520.

  By using the position information in this way, the proximity relationship can be confirmed without the proximity communication units 118 and 128 used in the first embodiment. However, a difference appears at a place where proximity communication is used in the flow shown in FIG. FIG. 6 shows a main processing flow in the case of the second embodiment using position information. The processing flow of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The process on the mobile terminal 510 is expressed as step 60x, and the process on the playback terminal 520 is expressed as step 61x. Similar to the first embodiment, these processes are realized by a program process executed by each internal processing unit (CPU).

(1) As in step 201 in FIG. 2, the content to be played back and the playback terminal 520 are designated by the user on the portable terminal 510. At this time, the portable terminal 510 and the playback terminal 520 can communicate with each other by the wide-area communication unit 512 and the wide-area communication unit 522. Here, the playback terminal uses name resolution or address designation according to the type of the wide-area network 504. Specify 520. (Step 601)
(2) The portable terminal 510 requests the playback terminal 520 for location information and terminal information through the wide area network 504. (Step 602)
(3) In the mobile terminal 510, the position information acquisition unit 519 of the mobile terminal 510 acquires the position information of itself. (Step 603)
(4) The playback terminal 520 receives the information request in step 602, and acquires its own position information by its own position information acquisition unit 529. (Steps 611, 612)
(5) The playback terminal 520 returns the position information acquired in step 612 and the terminal information held by itself. The terminal information here is the same as that described in step 222 of FIG. (Step 613)
(6) The mobile terminal 510 receives the result of step 603 and the return information from step 613, compares the positional information of the mobile terminal 510 and the playback terminal 520, and calculates the distance between the terminals. If the proximity relationship is not recognized by the predetermined threshold value, the process is interrupted. Similarly to steps 203 and 204, if it is determined that the terminal information of playback terminal 520 included in the information returned in step 613 is not capable of playing back the content, the process is stopped. (Steps 604 and 605) In the proximity relationship in the present embodiment, for example, a distance of about 3 m, 5 m, and 10 m can be set as a predetermined threshold value.

  (7) If there is no problem in the confirmation in steps 604 and 605, the process proceeds to the next step. That is, it leads to the processing after the content request in step 205 shown in FIG.

  When the location information is used, the proximity authentication method in steps 209 and 225 in FIG. 2 also changes. The processing flow of this part will be described with reference to FIG.

(1) The playback terminal 520 requests location information to the portable terminal 510 through the wide area network 504. (Step 711)
(2) In the playback terminal 520, the position information acquisition unit 529 acquires its own position information (step 712).
(3) The mobile terminal 510 receives the request at step 711, acquires position information by its own position information acquisition unit 519, and returns it through the wide area network 504. (Steps 701, 702, 703)
(4) The playback terminal 520 compares the data obtained in step 712 and step 703, calculates the distance between the terminals, and determines whether the proximity relationship is recognized by a predetermined threshold. (Step 713) By evaluating the result of Step 713 in Step 226 of FIG. 2, the position information can be reflected in the proximity authentication.

  In the above description, it has been assumed that the playback terminal is superior to the mobile terminal in the playback capability required by the content. Depending on the type of content, there may be a need for a playback capability of a plurality of playback elements such as moving images, sounds, and operations. For example, movie content can be divided into moving images and audio as playback elements. In such a case, even with the portable terminal and the reproduction terminal, even though the reproduction terminal is superior in the reproduction capability of some reproduction elements, the reproduction capability of other reproduction elements has the same capability in the portable terminal. Cases are also envisaged.

  In such a case, in the processing flow of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, there is a method of handling content separately for each playback element in content reception (step 223) or playback (step 224) by the playback terminal. . This case will be described as a third embodiment with reference to FIG. The system configuration will be described by taking the configuration shown in FIG. 1 as an example, but it is needless to say that the system configuration is not limited to the configuration of FIG.

  In FIG. 8, assuming that the downloaded data 801 is stored in the storage device 114 of the mobile terminal, as shown in the figure, the terminal profile information 802 of the mobile terminal 110 and the terminal profile information 803 of the playback terminal 120 are The playback terminal 120 is superior in the ability to play back moving images, but has the same ability in terms of sound playback. In addition, the downloaded content 801 is degraded in quality for the portable terminal 110 from the original content 804 on the content database 102, and is newly downloaded for the playback terminal 120 as described in the previous embodiment. As a result, it is possible to realize content reproduction with quality close to the original.

  However, in this embodiment, paying attention to the fact that the audio playback capability is the same in the comparison of both profile information 802 and 803 of the mobile terminal 110 and the playback terminal 120, only the audio data of the downloaded content 801 is mobile terminal The video is copied directly from 110 to the playback terminal 120, and only a moving image portion having different playback capabilities is newly downloaded. The amount of data downloaded from the content server 101 can be reduced by performing direct communication between the portable terminal 110 and the playback terminal 120 using the near field communication units 118 and 128 or the wide area communications 112 and 122 in FIG. This leads to cost reduction in wide area communication.

  Also, audio data whose quality does not change even when played back on the mobile terminal 110 is played back on the mobile terminal 110 without being copied to the playback terminal, and both the content and the video data downloaded on the playback terminal 120 are combined. It can also be played across terminals. This method is not limited to the case where the content has already been downloaded to the mobile terminal 110, and can be similarly realized even for streaming content.

  By combining the method of the third embodiment described above with the method of collecting profile information of peripheral terminals described above with reference to FIG. 3, each reproduction element (video, audio, operation, etc.) included in the content In addition, the most appropriate playback terminal can be selected from a plurality of terminals close to the mobile terminal itself. That is, it is possible to realize optimal cooperative reproduction of content using a plurality of terminals.

  The cooperative reproduction by a plurality of terminals will be described with reference to the flow of FIG. 3 and FIG. In step 301 of FIG. 3, content specification is performed in order to play back the content composed of the playback elements of the moving image, sound, and operation indicated in the content information 901. The point that the content information is transmitted to surrounding terminals in step 311 is the same as in the previous embodiment. In step 302, terminals A, B, and C are detected as reproducible terminals around the portable terminal, and the respective profile information is acquired as terminal profile information 902, 903, and 904 as shown in FIG. To do.

  In this embodiment, in step 305, an optimum terminal is detected for each playback element such as a moving image, sound, or operation. It goes without saying that step 305 can be realized by a program executed by a processing device (CPU) inside the portable terminal, as in the first embodiment. In the example of FIG. 9, by comparing the terminal profile information 902, 903, and 904 for each playback element, the terminal A is selected for playback of moving images, the terminal B is used for playback of audio, and the terminal B is also used for playback of operation systems. Will be selected. As a result, the terminals A and B operate in cooperation with these content reproduction elements. In this case, the reproduction right lending in this embodiment is performed for each reproduction terminal on the condition that the proximity relationship is established, and the confirmation of the proximity relationship with the portable terminal being reproduced is performed for each reproduction terminal. Will be done about.

  In this embodiment, since playback is divided into a plurality of terminals, it is necessary to synchronize playback elements. For this reason, measures such as timing of the start of reproduction are taken based on the proximity communication between terminals or the wide area communication time lag. Specifically, after actually measuring the time required for communication between the terminal A that plays the video and the terminal B that plays the sound, the side that initiates playback sends a playback request to the other side, and then waits for that time. By performing the reproduction, the reproduction can be performed while suppressing the synchronization error as much as possible. It is possible that content that requires strict synchronization does not allow such synchronization errors, and when such a request is added to the content information described above and divided into multiple terminals for playback. It goes without saying that such a divided reproduction can be prevented by using a processing program for checking the added information.

  As described above, in general, a mobile terminal cannot have a rich content reproduction environment due to problems such as size, weight, and power supply because of its portability. Most of the content is provided by adjusting the content quality such as resolution and sound quality according to the device on which the playback is performed. In each of the embodiments described above, protected content is shared by sharing a playback right with a terminal that is closer to the content and is closer to the destination where the portable terminal with the playback right is possessed / moved by the owner. To be able to play. As a result, the playback right acquired by the mobile terminal can be viewed in a manner closer to the quality originally possessed by the protected content on any playback terminal that has established a proximity relationship. The service for the owner who has acquired the renewal right can be improved.

1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a system that realizes a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the processing flow in the system configuration | structure of a 1st Example. It is a figure which shows the processing flow until reproduction | regeneration terminal selection as a deformation | transformation processing flow in the system configuration | structure of a 1st Example. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing comparison of profile information when a playback terminal is selected in step 305 in FIG. 3. It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the system which implement | achieves the 2nd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the processing flow in the system configuration | structure of a 2nd Example. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of proximity | contact authentication in the system configuration | structure of a 2nd Example. It is a figure which shows typically the process in the 3rd Example of this invention. It is the figure which showed typically the comparison of the profile information at the time of selecting the reproduction | regeneration terminal in a 3rd Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Content server, 102 ... Content database, 103 ... Reproduction right management database, 110 ... Portable terminal, 111 ... CPU, 112 ... Wide area communication part, 113 ... Main storage device, 114 ... Secondary storage device, 115 ... Output device, 116 ... Input device, 117 ... Reproduction right management unit, 118 ... Proximity communication unit, 120 ... Reproduction terminal, 121 ... CPU, 122 ... Wide area communication unit, 123 ... Main storage device, 124 ... Secondary storage device, 125 ... Output device , 126, an input device, 127, a reproduction right management unit, and 128, a proximity communication unit.

Claims (10)

A content reproduction right sharing method in a system in which content managed by a reproduction right is distributed from a server to a terminal,
A portable terminal acquires the right to play the content managed by the server;
The portable terminal detects a reproduction terminal that is in proximity to the portable terminal and is capable of reproducing the content;
The portable terminal requests the server to distribute the content having the reproduction right to the detected reproduction terminal;
The mobile terminal receives a notification of playback right authentication for the playback terminal from the server,
A content playback right sharing method in which the portable terminal transmits an instruction to receive the content to the playback terminal that has received playback right authentication. The content reproduction right sharing method according to claim 1, wherein the server transmits the content with quality according to profile information of the reproduction terminal that has authenticated the reproduction right. The content reproduction right sharing method according to claim 1, wherein the receiving terminal that has received an instruction to receive the content from the portable terminal reproduces the content while sequentially confirming a proximity relationship with the portable terminal. When there are a plurality of playback terminals in a close relationship, the mobile terminal requests transmission of profile information related to content playback capability to the plurality of playback terminals by multicast,
The content playback right according to claim 1, wherein the playback terminal that plays back the content is selected by comparing the profile information transmitted from a plurality of playback terminals with the quality of the content that can be distributed by the server. Sharing method. The content is composed of a plurality of playback elements, and for each playback element, the content playback capability of the mobile terminal and the playback terminal is compared with the quality that can be distributed by the server,
For the playback element whose content playback capability of the mobile terminal is not inferior to that of the playback terminal, playback is performed on the mobile terminal,
The content playback right sharing method according to claim 1, wherein only the playback elements that can be played back better on the playback terminal are acquired from the server and played back on the playback terminal. A content playback rights sharing system in which content managed by playback rights is distributed,
A server that distributes the content managed by the reproduction right, a first terminal that has acquired the reproduction right of the desired content from the server, and a second terminal that can reproduce the content,
The first terminal obtains the right to play the content managed by the server;
Detecting the second terminal in a proximity relationship with the first terminal;
Sending a request to the detected second terminal for distribution of the content for which reproduction rights have been acquired to the server,
A content reproduction right sharing system that instructs the second terminal to receive the content when receiving the reproduction right authentication of the second terminal from the server. 7. The first terminal and the second terminal each include a proximity communication unit capable of communicating with each other, and confirming the proximity relationship by establishing communication between the respective proximity communication units. Content playback rights sharing system. A mobile terminal that delivers content from a server that manages playback rights,
A detection unit that detects a playback terminal that is in a proximity relationship with the mobile terminal and is capable of playing back the content;
A content requesting unit that requests the server to deliver the content having the reproduction right to the reproduction terminal detected by the detection unit;
An authentication receiving unit for receiving notification of authentication of the reproduction right at the reproduction terminal from the server;
A portable terminal comprising: a reception instruction unit that transmits a reception instruction of the content to the reproduction terminal that has received reproduction right authentication. 9. The mobile terminal according to claim 8, wherein the detection unit includes a proximity communication unit capable of communicating with the playback terminal in order to detect establishment of the proximity relationship in the previous period. 9. The mobile terminal according to claim 8, wherein the detection unit includes a position information acquisition unit for acquiring position information of the mobile terminal in order to detect establishment of the proximity relationship in the previous period.

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