Signal reproducing system

• US 7,676,844 B2
• Filed: 12/17/2004
• Issued: 03/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Sako, Yoichiro, Koyata, Tomohiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Moazzami; Nasser G
• Assistant Examiner(s): ABEDIN, SHANTO
• Application Number:
  US11/016,328
• Publication Number:
  US 20050144344A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,908 Days
• Field of Search: 726/26, 726/27, 709/204, 709/231, 713/189, 710/72, 380/201, 380/277, 705/51, 705/67, 386/124
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2143 Clearing memory, e.g. to prevent the data from being stolen
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• 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 20/00137 involving measures which result in a restriction to contents recorded on or reproduced from a record carrier to authorised users
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00666 involving a step of erasing or nullifying data, e.g. data being overwritten with a random string

Abstract

Based on user identification data transmitted together with a compressed data from a portable reproducing apparatus, if an apparatus recognizes that a user who purchased and downloaded the compressed data is the same as a user who owns the apparatus, the audio apparatus stores and holds the compressed data after reproducing the signal from the compressed data by the decoder unit and the data processing unit. Alternatively, if it recognizes that the user who purchased and downloaded the compressed data is not the same as the user who owns the apparatus, it removes the compressed data after reproducing the signal from the compressed data by the decoder unit and the data processing unit.

Claims

1. A reproducing system comprising a first reproducing apparatus and a second reproducing apparatus for reproducing a signal from content data, wherein:

the first reproducing apparatus comprises;

a storage means for linking and storing the content data to be reproduced and propriety data indicating whether the second reproducing apparatus has propriety of storing and holding the content data, wherein the propriety data includes user information identifying an owner of the content data; and

a transmitter for transmitting the content data stored in the storage means and the propriety data corresponding to the content data to the second reproducing apparatus; and

the second reproducing apparatus comprises;

a recognition means for recognizing whether the content data is authorized to be stored and held based on the propriety data, upon receiving the content data and the propriety data from the first reproducing apparatus; and

a controller for;

temporarily storing the content data received from the first reproducing apparatus and reproducing the signal from the content data irrespective of the propriety data;

storing and holding the content data into a storage means after reproducing the signal from the content data if the recognition means recognizes propriety of storing and holding the content data; and

deleting the content data after reproducing the signal from the content data if the recognition means recognizes no propriety of storing or holding the content data, wherein the second reproducing apparatus reproduces a signal of higher quality than the first reproducing apparatus from the content data.

2. The reproducing system according to claim 1, wherein:

the recognition means of the second reproducing apparatus decides whether a user indicated by the user information in the propriety data and a user as owner of the second reproducing apparatus are identical and, if decided that the users are identical, recognizes the content data is authorized to be stored and held.

3. A reproducing method, comprising:

receiving information identifying first reproducing apparatus;

determining, based on the information identifying the first reproducing apparatus, whether the first reproducing apparatus is authorized to transmit data to a second reproducing apparatus;

receiving the content data from the first reproducing apparatus when it is determined that the first reproducing apparatus is authorized to transmit data to the second reproducing apparatus;

recognizing whether or not the second reproducing apparatus having received the content data and propriety data indicating whether the second reproducing apparatus has propriety of storing and holding content data from the first reproducing apparatus for reproducing a signal from the content data, is authorized to store and hold the content data, based on the propriety data, wherein the propriety data includes user information identifying an owner of the content data, and wherein it is determined that the second reproducing apparatus is authorized to store and hold the received content data if the owner of the content data is identical to an owner of the second reproducing apparatus;

temporarily storing the content data received by the second reproducing apparatus and reproducing the signal from the content data irrespective of the propriety data; and

storing and holding the content data into a storage means after reproducing the signal from the content data if it is determined that the second reproducing apparatus is authorized to store and hold the received content data, and deleting the content data after reproducing the signal from the content data if it is determined that the second reproducing apparatus is not authorized to store or hold the received content data.