Content providing system

• US 6,201,771 B1
• Filed: 06/11/1999
• Issued: 03/13/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Otsuka, Satoshi, Marukawa, Kazuyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): DINH, TAN X
• Application Number:
  US09/330,892
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• Field of Search: 309/30, 309/32, 309/34, 309/33, 309/47, 309/48, 309/54, 309/58, 375/220, 705/53, 705/52, 705/17, 705/1, 705/28, 709/202, 709/203, 369/29, 369/24
• US Class Current: 369/30.32
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/123 Shopping for digital content
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0014 for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00 meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas or electricity G07F15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/16 for devices exhibiting advertisements, announcements, pictures or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00724 wherein a prepaid credit balance is registered on the recording medium
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 23/0302 Auxiliary features
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/82 using signals not modulated onto a carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/27 Arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information

Abstract

There is provided a content providing system in which many unspecified many people can arbitrarily use it to get (purchase) a recording medium in which desired content has been downloaded, and the recording medium itself can be effectively used. Some download data (content) are selected and set on the basis of exhibit information detected from a recording medium, and operation control is made so that the recording medium in which the download data are recorded is ejected. That is, the recording medium which records content desired by a user can be provided to the user in any one mode of returning, exchange, and selling.

Claims

1. An information providing apparatus, comprising:

a loading section in which a recording medium including use state identification information indicating one of a personal use and an unspecified user'"'"'s use is removably loaded;

recording means for recording content information in said recording medium loaded in said loading section;

use state detecting means for detecting which of said personal use and said unspecified user'"'"'s use said use state identification information of said recording medium loaded in said loading section indicates;

ejecting means for ejecting said recording medium to an outside of said apparatus;

content detecting means for detecting a kind of content information to be recorded in said recording medium ejected by said ejecting means;

a housing section capable of housing a recording medium in which one of various kinds of content information is recorded in advance; and

control means, wherein when said use state detecting means detects that said use state identification information of said recording medium indicates said personal use, said control means controls said recording means so that said content information of the kind detected by said content detecting means is recorded in said recording medium loaded in said loading section, and then, said control means controls said ejecting means so that said recording medium loaded in said loading section is ejected,

and when said use state detecting means detects that said use state identification information of said recording medium indicates said unspecified user'"'"'s use, said control means controls said ejecting means so that said recording medium in which said content information of the kind detected by said content detecting means is recorded is ejected among recording media housed in said housing section.

2. An information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said recording medium includes content identification information indicating the kind of said content information;

and

said content detecting means detects the kind of said content information to be recorded in said recording medium ejected by said ejecting means on the basis of said content identification information of said recording medium loaded in said loading section.

3. An information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

recording times detecting means for detecting the number of recording times of content information in said recording medium loaded in said loading section; and

discarding means for discarding said recording medium loaded in said loading section when said recording times detecting means detects that the number is a predetermined number of times or more.

4. An information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

recording times detecting means for detecting the number of recording times of content information in said recording medium loaded in said loading section; and

warning means for warning a user when said recording times detecting means detects that the number is a predetermined number of times or more.

5. An information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising charging means for carrying out a charging processing prior to ejection of said recording medium by said ejecting means.

6. An information providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said charging means carries out said charging processing at a fee determined according to the kind of said content information detected by said content detecting means.

7. An information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising recording position detecting means for detecting recording position information indicating a recording position of said content information from said recording medium;

wherein said control means records said content information at said recording position based on said recording position information of said recording medium, and controls said recording means so that new record position information is recorded in said recording medium.

8. A information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising communication means for communicating with an outer server;

wherein said recording means records content information received by said communication means from said outer server in said recording medium.

9. A method of providing a content, comprising the steps of:

detecting which of a personal use and an unspecified user'"'"'s use is indicated by use state identification information of a recording medium loaded in a loading section;

detecting a kind of content information to be recorded in a recording medium which will be ejected by ejecting means;

when it is detected in said step of detecting a use state that said use state identification information of said recording medium indicates said personal use, recording the content information of the kind detected in said step of detecting the kind of the content information in said recording medium loaded in said loading section, and then, controlling said ejecting means so that said recording medium loaded in said loading section is ejected,

and when it is detected in said step of detecting the use state that said use state identification information of said recording medium indicates said unspecified user'"'"'s use, controlling said ejecting means so that, among recording media housed in a housing section capable of housing recording media in which any one of various kinds of content information is recorded in advance, one of the recording media in which the content information of the same kind as the kind detected in said step of detecting the kind of the content information is recorded, is ejected.