Electronic apparatus, time period charging system, time period charging method, and charging management system for electronic apparatus
First Claim
1. An electronic apparatus, comprising:
- a determination module that;
determines whether contents data is proprietary or non-proprietary, such that;
when the contents data is proprietary, a user is charged based on information representative of a time period within which the contents data is used and not based on an amount of contents data;
when the contents data is non-proprietary, the user is charged based on an amount of time for which said electronic apparatus is used and not based on an amount of contents data;
a contents data use time period measurement module that measures a time period for which the contents data is used;
an apparatus use time period measurement module that measures a time period for which said electronic apparatus is used; and
a charging processing module that produces,when the determination module determines that the contents data is proprietary, information to be used by a charging process based on at least a result of the measurement of said contents data use time period measurement module;
when the determination module determines that the contents data is non-proprietary, information to be used by the charging process based on the result of the measurement of said apparatus use time period measurement module.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides an electronic apparatus, a time period charging system, a time period charging method, and a charging management system for an electronic apparatus which eliminate various problems arising from a conventional charging method wherein an equivalent is paid to the proprietary right of contents. It is first discriminated whether or not contents data are of the type wherein use thereof should be charged based on information representative of a time period within which the contents data are used. Then, at least one of a time period within which the contents data are used and a time period within which the electronic apparatus is used is measured based on a result of the discrimination. When the contents data are of the type described, information to be used for the charging process is produced based on at least one of the information of the time period of use of the contents data and the information of the time period of use of the electronic apparatus. However, when the contents data are not of the type described, information to be used for the charging process is produced based on the information of the time period of use of the electronic apparatus.
28 Citations
33 Claims
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1. An electronic apparatus, comprising:
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a determination module that; determines whether contents data is proprietary or non-proprietary, such that; when the contents data is proprietary, a user is charged based on information representative of a time period within which the contents data is used and not based on an amount of contents data; when the contents data is non-proprietary, the user is charged based on an amount of time for which said electronic apparatus is used and not based on an amount of contents data; a contents data use time period measurement module that measures a time period for which the contents data is used; an apparatus use time period measurement module that measures a time period for which said electronic apparatus is used; and a charging processing module that produces, when the determination module determines that the contents data is proprietary, information to be used by a charging process based on at least a result of the measurement of said contents data use time period measurement module; when the determination module determines that the contents data is non-proprietary, information to be used by the charging process based on the result of the measurement of said apparatus use time period measurement module. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A time period charging system, comprising;
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at least one electronic apparatus including a determination module that; determines whether contents data is proprietary or non-proprietary such that; when the contents data is proprietary, a user is charged based on information representative of a time period within which the contents data is used and not based on an amount of contents data; when the contents data is non-proprietary, the user is charged based on an amount of time for which said electronic apparatus is used and not based on an amount of contents data; a contents data use time period measurement module that measures a time period for which the contents data is used; an apparatus use time period measurement module that measures an operation time period of said electronic apparatus itself as a time period within which said electronic apparatus is used, a charging processing module that produces, when the determination module determines that the contents data is proprietary, information to be used by a charging process based on at least a result of the measurement of said contents data use time period measurement module; when the determination module determines that the contents data is non-proprietary, information to be used by the charging process based on the result of the measurement of said apparatus use time period measurement module; a signaling module that signals the information produced by said charging processing module; and a management apparatus, including; an information management module that manages identification information for identifying said electronic apparatus, user identification information that identifies a user who uses said electronic apparatus and information regarding a settlement method by the user of said electronic apparatus, and a charge settlement module that performs a settlement process based on at least one of the identification information of said electronic apparatus and the user identification information signaled from said electronic apparatus and the information to be used by the charging process. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method of producing information to be used by a charging process, comprising the steps of:
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determining, by an electronic apparatus, whether contents data is proprietary or non-proprietary, such that; when the contents data is proprietary, a user is charged based on information representative of a time period within which the contents data is used and not based on an amount of contents data; when the contents data is non-proprietary, the user is charged based on an amount of time for which the electronic apparatus is used and not based on an amount of contents data; measuring, by an electronic apparatus, at least one of a time period within which the contents data is used and a time period within which the electronic apparatus is used, based on a result of the determining; and
producing, by an electronic apparatus,when it is determined that the contents data is proprietary, information to be used by the charging process based on at least information representative of the time period within which the contents data is used, when it is determined that the contents data is non-proprietary, information to be used by the charging process based on the information representative of the time period within which said electronic apparatus is used.
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33. An electronic apparatus, comprising:
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a determination means that; determines whether contents data is proprietary or non-proprietary, such that; when the contents data is proprietary, a user is charged based on information representative of a time period within which the contents data is used and not based on an amount of contents data; when the contents data is non-proprietary, the user is charged for based on an amount of time for which said electronic apparatus is used and not based on an amount of contents data; a contents data use time period measurement means that measures a time period for which the contents data is used; an apparatus use time period measurement means that measures a time period for which said electronic apparatus is used; and a charging processing means that produces, when the determination means determines that the contents data is proprietary, information to be used by a charging process based on at least a result of the measurement of said contents data use time period measurement means; when the determination means determines that the contents data is non-proprietary, information to be used by the charging process based on the result of the measurement of said apparatus use time period measurement means.
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Specification