User terminal program designated not to receive contents that cannot achieve users' object

• US 7,457,779 B2
• Filed: 09/06/2005
• Issued: 11/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsushima, Hideki, Kozuka, Masayuki, Okamoto, Ryuichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell; James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Badii; Behrang
• Application Number:
  US11/218,536
• Publication Number:
  US 20050289069A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,176 Days
• Field of Search: 705/51, 705/52, 700/94, 713/168, 713/193, 704/278
• US Class Current: 705/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

A user terminal program enables a user terminal apparatus to accept instruction information specifying a content that a user wants to reproduce on a predetermined reproducing apparatus other than the user terminal apparatus, and enables acquiring system identifying information to identify a system to receive the specified content from a distributing site. Moreover, the terminal program enables judging whether the acquired system identifying information is included in a compatibility file which includes one or more system identifying information for receiving the specified content according to the system identifying information if the acquired system identifying information is judged to be included, and prohibiting receiving if judged not to be included. Furthermore, the terminal program enables writing the received content to an internal memory or an insertable memory of the predetermined reproducing apparatus.

Claims

1. A user terminal program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium of a user terminal apparatus, wherein:

the user terminal apparatus has pre-stored therein a compatibility file used as a basis for judging compatibility between a specified content that a user wants to purchase and a predetermined reproducing apparatus other than the user terminal apparatus,

the compatibility file includes one or more pieces of system identifying information each identifying (i) a purchasing system for purchasing the specified content and (ii) a reproducing system for reproducing the purchased specified content, the purchasing and reproducing systems being adopted by the predetermined reproducing apparatus, and

the specified content, which is distributed according to the purchasing and reproducing systems identified by the corresponding system identifying information, is written to one of a memory of the predetermined reproducing apparatus and a memory that is insertable into the predetermined reproducing apparatus,

said user terminal program enables the user terminal apparatus to execute at least the following steps;

accepting, from a user, instruction information specifying the specified content that the user wants to reproduce on the predetermined reproducing apparatus;

acquiring system identifying information which identifies a system to be used for receiving the specified content from a distributing site;

judging whether the acquired system identifying information is included in the compatibility file, to judge whether the specified content can be reproduced on the predetermined reproducing apparatus if the specified content corresponding to the acquired system identifying information is purchased and written to one of the memory of the predetermined reproducing apparatus and the memory that is insertable into the predetermined reproducing apparatus;

receiving from the distributing site the specified content that is judged to be reproducible on the predetermined reproducing apparatus when a result of the judgment in said judging operation is affirmative, and prohibiting reception of the specified content from the distributing site when the result of the judgment in said judging operation is negative, the specified content being judged to be non-reproducible on the predetermined reproducing apparatus; and

writing the specified content, which has been judged in said judging operation to be reproducible on the predetermined reproducing apparatus, to one of the memory of the predetermined reproducing apparatus and the memory that is insertable into the predetermined reproducing apparatus.

2. The user terminal program of claim 1,

further enabling the user terminal apparatus to execute the following step:

giving the user a warning indicating that the special content cannot be used on the predetermined reproducing apparatus when the result of the judgment in said judging operation is negative.

3. The user terminal program of claim 2,

wherein said accepting operation further accepts, from the user, permission to receive the specified content despite the warning, and

wherein said receiving operation further receives the specified content if the permission is accepted in said accepting operation.

4. The user terminal program of claim 1,

further enabling the user terminal apparatus to execute the following steps:

searching a predetermined server for a more recent compatibility file than the compatibility file stored in the user terminal apparatus, and

updating the compatibility file by acquiring the more recent compatibility file, if the more recent compatibility file exists.

5. The user terminal program of claim 4, wherein said searching and updating operations are performed after said accepting operation and before said judging operation.

6. The user terminal program of claim 4,

wherein said searching and updating operations are performed when the acquired system identifying information is judged not to be included in the compatibility file, and

wherein in said judging operation, the acquired system identifying information is judged again, using the updated compatibility file if said searching and updating operations are performed.

7. The user terminal program of claim 4,

further enabling the user terminal apparatus to execute the following step:

notifying the user of system identifying information in the updated compatibility file if said searching and updating operations are performed.

8. The user terminal program of claim 7, wherein said searching and updating operations are performed either at a time of starting up the user terminal program or periodically.

9. The user terminal program of claim 8,

further comprising at least one receiving plug-in which is dedicated software for each system and which can add functions corresponding to each system to said user terminal program,

wherein said searching and updating operations further acquire a receiving plug-in corresponding to each piece of system identifying information added to the compatibility file due to said searching and updating operations, before said accepting operation.

10. The user terminal program of claim 1,

further comprising at least one receiving plug-in which is dedicated software for each system and which can add functions corresponding to each system to said user terminal program, and

wherein said receiving operation includes the following:

determining whether a receiving plug-in corresponding to the acquired system identifying information exists in the user terminal apparatus, if the acquired system identifying information is judged to be included in said judging operation;

obtaining the receiving plug-in from a predetermined distributing site if the receiving plug-in corresponding to the acquired system identifying information is determined not to exist in said determining operation; and

receiving the specified content using the receiving plug-in obtained in the said obtaining operation.

11. A receiving method executed by a user terminal apparatus, wherein:

a user terminal apparatus has pre-stored therein a compatibility file used as a basis for judging compatibility between a specified content that a user wants to purchase and a predetermined reproducing apparatus other than the user terminal apparatus,

the compatibility file includes one or more pieces of system identifying information each identifying (i) a purchasing system for purchasing the specified content and (ii) a reproducing system for reproducing the purchased specified content, the purchasing and reproducing systems being adopted by the predetermined reproducing apparatus, and

the specified content, which is distributed according to the purchasing and reproducing systems identified by the corresponding system identifying information, is written to one of a memory of the predetermined reproducing apparatus and a memory that is insertable into the predetermined reproducing apparatus,

said receiving method comprising;

accepting, from a user, instruction information specifying the specified content that the user wants to reproduce on the redetermined reproducing apparatus;

acquiring system identifying information which identifies a system to be used for receiving the specified content from a distributing site;

judging whether the acquired system identifying information is included in the compatibility file, to judge whether the specified content can be reproduced on the predetermined reproducing apparatus if the specified content corresponding to the acquired system identifying information is purchased and written to one of the memory of the predetermined reproducing apparatus and the memory that is insertable into the predetermined reproducing apparatus;

receiving from the distributing site the specified content that is judged to be reproducible on the predetermined reproducing apparatus when a result of the judgment in said judging operation is affirmative, and prohibiting reception of the specified content from the distributing site when the result of the judgment in said judging operation is negative, the specified content being judged to be non-reproducible on the predetermined reproducing apparatus; and

writing the specified content, which has been judged in said judging operation to be reproducible on the predetermined reproducing apparatus, to one of the memory of the predetermined reproducing apparatus and the memory that is insertable into the predetermined reproducing apparatus.