U.S. patent application number 13/584933 was filed with the patent office on 2013-02-07 for method for providing and obtaining content.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sony Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is Hajime Fujii, Osamu Fukushima, Hiroshi Ozaki. Invention is credited to Hajime Fujii, Osamu Fukushima, Hiroshi Ozaki.
Application Number | 20130036368 13/584933 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 27744175 |
Filed Date | 2013-02-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130036368 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Fukushima; Osamu ; et
al. |
February 7, 2013 |
METHOD FOR PROVIDING AND OBTAINING CONTENT
Abstract
In a data providing server, whether or not specified compressed
content data generated by means of a specified compression coding
method corresponding to terminal identification information has
been stored in a content database is detected, according to content
specifying data transmitted from a portable dedicated terminal. If
the specified compressed content data has been stored, the data
providing server reads and transmits this to the portable dedicated
terminal. And if the specified compressed content data has not been
stored, the data providing server generates the specified
compressed content data by means of the specified compression
coding method, and transmits this to the portable dedicated
terminal.
Inventors: |
Fukushima; Osamu; (Kanagawa,
JP) ; Fujii; Hajime; (Saitama, JP) ; Ozaki;
Hiroshi; (Saitama, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Fukushima; Osamu
Fujii; Hajime
Ozaki; Hiroshi |
Kanagawa
Saitama
Saitama |
|
JP
JP
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
Sony Corporation
Tokyo
JP
|
Family ID: |
27744175 |
Appl. No.: |
13/584933 |
Filed: |
August 14, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13449640 |
Apr 18, 2012 |
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13584933 |
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10353819 |
Jan 29, 2003 |
8175976 |
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13449640 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/747 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/6181 20130101;
Y10S 705/911 20130101; H04N 21/6125 20130101; Y10S 705/903
20130101; H04N 21/4622 20130101; Y10S 705/904 20130101; Y10S
705/902 20130101; H04N 21/6175 20130101; H04N 21/47202 20130101;
H04N 21/42203 20130101; H04N 21/4223 20130101; H04N 21/437
20130101; H04N 21/6131 20130101; Y10S 705/901 20130101; H04N
21/4307 20130101; H04N 21/2665 20130101; H04N 21/4382 20130101;
G06Q 30/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/747 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/01 20060101
G06F003/01 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 29, 2002 |
JP |
2002-020767 |
Claims
1. A method, performed by at least one data providing server,
comprising acts of: (A) receiving a request from a terminal
operated by a user, the request specifying a manner of customizing
an appearance of a content selecting screen; (B) storing content
selecting screen data in electronic file storage, the content
selecting screen data reflecting the manner of customizing; (C)
receiving an obtaining request from a terminal operated by the
user; (D) retrieving the content selecting screen data from the
electronic file storage; and (E) sending the content selecting
screen data to the terminal.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the manner of customizing relates
to display of an image on the content selecting screen.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the manner of customizing relates
to placement of the image at a position on the content selecting
screen.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the manner of customizing relates
to display of commercial data on the content selecting screen.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the manner of customizing relates
to limiting the display of the commercial data on the content
selecting screen.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the manner of customizing relates
to an arrangement of items of data displayed on the content
selecting screen.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the manner of customizing relates
to arranging the items of data in order of creation date.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the manner of customizing relates
to display of a background color on the content selecting
screen.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the request received in the act
(A) specifies a time at which customization of the content
selecting screen is to take effect.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the act (B) comprises updating
registration information associated with the user based on
information specified in the request.
11. At least one program storing device having instructions stored
thereon which, when executed by at least one data providing server,
perform a method comprising acts of: (A) receiving a request from a
terminal operated by a user, the request specifying a manner of
customizing an appearance of a content selecting screen; (B)
storing content selecting screen data in electronic file storage,
the content selecting screen data reflecting the manner of
customizing; (C) receiving an obtaining request from a terminal
operated by the user; (D) retrieving the content selecting screen
data from the electronic file storage; and (E) sending the content
selecting screen data to the terminal.
12. The at least one program storing device of claim 11, wherein
the manner of customizing relates to display of an image on the
content selecting screen.
13. The at least one program storing device of claim 12, wherein
the manner of customizing relates to placement of the image at a
position on the content selecting screen.
14. The at least one program storing device of claim 11, wherein
the manner of customizing relates to display of commercial data on
the content selecting screen.
15. The at least one program storing device of claim 14, wherein
the manner of customizing relates to limiting the display of the
commercial data on the content selecting screen.
16. The at least one program storing device of claim 11, wherein
the manner of customizing relates to an arrangement of items of
data displayed on the content selecting screen.
17. The at least one program storing device of claim 16, wherein
the manner of customizing relates to arranging the items of data in
order of creation date.
18. The at least one program storing device of claim 11, wherein
the manner of customizing relates to display of a background color
on the content selecting screen.
19. The at least one program storing device of claim 11, wherein
the request received in the act (A) specifies a time at which
customization of the content selecting screen is to take
effect.
20. At least one server computer, comprising: at least one
processor, programmed to: receive a request from a terminal
operated by a user, the request specifying a manner of customizing
an appearance of a content selecting screen; store content
selecting screen data in electronic file storage, the content
selecting screen data reflecting the manner of customizing; receive
an obtaining request from a terminal operated by the user; retrieve
the content selecting screen data from the electronic file storage;
and send the content selecting screen data to the terminal.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/449,640, filed Apr. 18, 2012, entitled
"Method For Providing And Obtaining Content," which is a
continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/353,819, filed
Jan. 29, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,175,976, issued May 8, 2012,
which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119 to Japanese Patent
Application Serial No. 2002-020767, filed in the Japanese Patent
Office on Jan. 29, 2002. Each of the documents listed above is
incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] This invention relates to a content providing and obtaining
system, and is applicable, for example, to a data providing system
for providing data on various distribution information such as
various content data and the advertisement, of music, motion
pictures, etc. (hereinafter, this is referred to as distribution
data) to a customer by means of the Internet.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] In recent years, the Internet being a computer communication
network that it had been used in many institutes or the like for
research and study in the world scale, has been quickly popularized
also among companies and customers as a computer communication
tool, by a use in business such as sale for merchandise,
distribution of content data, and advertisement of a company and
merchandise.
[0006] By using the Internet in business, the customer can buy
desired merchandise and can obtain desired content data by a
personal computer for instance, while staying at home. At the same
time, the customer can obtain various distribution data such as the
advertisement of a company and merchandise by the personal
computer.
[0007] In the distribution of content data on the Internet, the
transmission efficiency of the content data can be improved by
transmitting compressively-coded content data to a customer's
personal computer.
[0008] In the customer's personal computer, thus obtained
compressively-coded content data is decoded, and the customer can
view a content based on the content data.
[0009] However, in recent years, plural kinds of methods have been
introduced into the market as methods of compressively coding
content data. A compression coding method to be used is different
depending on the manufacturing company of the content data or the
like.
[0010] On the other hand, in the customer's personal computer,
normally, a decoding software corresponding to a specified
compression coding method is installed, or a decoding circuit only
corresponding to the above specified compression coding method is
provided to restrain increasing the circuit scale or the like.
[0011] Therefore, in the customer's personal computer, if the
decoding software and the decoding circuit do not cope with the
compression coding method that was used in the compression coding
of the obtained content data, the content data cannot be decoded
until the customer newly obtain a decoding software and a decoding
circuit cope with that. There has been a problem that the customer
cannot easily view the content.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] In view of the foregoing, an object of this invention is to
provide a content providing and obtaining system that the customer
can easily view a content based on content data.
[0013] The foregoing object and other objects of this invention
have been achieved by the provision of a content providing
apparatus for providing compressed content data generated by
compressively coding content data by a specified compression coding
method, by receiving identification information peculiar to a
content obtaining apparatus and specifying information representing
specified content data that the customer wants to obtain from the
content obtaining apparatus applying a specified decoding method
corresponding to the specified compression coding method, by
detecting whether or not specified compressed content data
generated by compressively coding the specified content data by the
specified compression coding method corresponding to the
identification information has been stored in the data storing
means for storing plural kinds of compressed content data,
according to the above received identification information and the
specifying information, and according to the detection result, if
the specified compressed content data has been stored in the data
storing means, by reading the specified compressed content data
from the data storing means, or if the specified compressed content
data has not been stored in the above data storing means, by
compressively coding the specified content data being the original
data of that specified compressed content data by the specified
compression coding method, and generating the specified compressed
content data, and by transmitting the specified compressed content
data read from the data storing means or the generated specified
compressed content data to the content obtaining apparatus.
Accordingly, every time when the customer requests to obtain
specified content data from the above content obtaining apparatus,
the content providing apparatus can accurately provide specified
compressed content data generated by compressively coding that
specified content data by a specified compression coding method
corresponding to a specified decoding method, without newly
applying another decoding method different from a specified
decoding method previously applied to the content obtaining
apparatus. Thus, the customer can easily view a content based on
the content data.
[0014] The nature, principle and utility of this invention will
become more apparent from the following detailed description when
read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like
parts are designated by like reference numerals or characters.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] In the accompanying drawings:
[0016] FIG. 1 is a conceptual view showing the usage pattern of the
Internet by a data providing system;
[0017] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the usage pattern of a
portable dedicated terminal that was rented to the customer;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the usage pattern of a
portable dedicated terminal that was sold to the customer;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a
first embodiment of a data providing system according to the
present description;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a
data providing system according to a second embodiment;
[0021] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the data format of
header data to be added to content data;
[0022] FIGS. 7A and 7B are flowcharts showing a rental reservation
processing procedure in a data providing system;
[0023] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a
data providing system according to a third embodiment;
[0024] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the data format of
content obtaining request data for obtaining content data from a
content server;
[0025] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a rental reservation
processing procedure in a data providing system;
[0026] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a
data providing system according to a fourth embodiment;
[0027] FIGS. 12A and 12B are schematic diagrams showing the
configuration of advertiser/company registration information;
[0028] FIGS. 13A and 13B are schematic diagrams showing the
configuration of customer registration information;
[0029] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the contract terms
between the customer and an advertiser/company;
[0030] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
customer registration information updated on the Internet by the
customer;
[0031] FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a
matching part;
[0032] FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
advertiser/company introducing information;
[0033] FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
customer introducing information;
[0034] FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
advertiser/company information updated by the conclusion of a
contract;
[0035] FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
customer registration information updated by the conclusion of a
contract;
[0036] FIGS. 21A and 21B are flowcharts showing an
advertiser/company registration processing procedure in a data
providing system;
[0037] FIGS. 22A and 22B are flowcharts showing an
advertiser/company introducing processing procedure in a data
providing system;
[0038] FIGS. 23A and 23B are flowcharts showing the
advertiser/company introducing processing procedure in the data
providing system;
[0039] FIGS. 24A to 24C are flowcharts showing a contract
processing procedure in the data providing system;
[0040] FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a
data providing system according to a fifth embodiment;
[0041] FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a
matching part;
[0042] FIGS. 27A and 27B are flowcharts showing an
advertiser/company introducing processing procedure in the data
providing system;
[0043] FIG. 28 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a
data providing system according to a sixth embodiment;
[0044] FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
content selecting screens using three-dimensional virtual reality
space pictures representing the inside of an agency;
[0045] FIGS. 30A and 30B are schematic diagrams for explaining the
reproducing of commercial data in a content selecting screen;
[0046] FIG. 31 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
content selecting screens customized according to a customer's
request;
[0047] FIGS. 32A and 32B are flowcharts showing a content providing
processing procedure using content selecting screen data in the
data providing system;
[0048] FIGS. 33A and 33B are flowcharts showing the subroutine of
the content providing processing procedure in the data providing
system;
[0049] FIGS. 34A and 34B are flowcharts showing a customizing
processing procedure in the data providing system;
[0050] FIGS. 35A and 35B are flowcharts showing a content providing
processing procedure using customized screen data in the data
providing system;
[0051] FIG. 36 is a conceptual view for explaining the customizing
of a content selecting screen according to another embodiment than
the sixth embodiment;
[0052] FIG. 37 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method of
providing content data from a content server to a data providing
server;
[0053] FIG. 38 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a
data providing system according to a seventh embodiment;
[0054] FIG. 39 is a schematic diagram for explaining the rental of
content data;
[0055] FIG. 40 is a schematic diagram for explaining the request of
an equivalent exchange;
[0056] FIGS. 41A and 41B are conceptual views for explaining
equivalent exchanges of the content data of a single tune for
packaged media of a single CD;
[0057] FIG. 42 is a conceptual view for explaining the delivery of
packaged media by an equivalent exchange;
[0058] FIGS. 43A to 43C are flowcharts showing an equivalent
exchange processing procedure in the data providing system;
[0059] FIGS. 44A to 44C are flowcharts showing the equivalent
exchange processing procedure in the data providing system;
[0060] FIG. 45 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a
data providing system according to an eighth embodiment;
[0061] FIG. 46 is a schematic diagram for explaining the request of
an equivalent exchange;
[0062] FIGS. 47A to 47C are schematic diagrams showing the
configuration of data tables in a packaged media database;
[0063] FIGS. 48A to 48C are conceptual views for explaining
equivalent exchanges of plural content data for the packaged media
of an album CD;
[0064] FIGS. 49A to 49C are flowcharts showing an equivalent
exchange processing procedure in the data providing system;
[0065] FIGS. 50A to 50C are flowcharts showing the equivalent
exchange processing procedure in the data providing system;
[0066] FIG. 51 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
a data providing system according to a ninth embodiment;
[0067] FIG. 52 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration
of a system management server;
[0068] FIG. 53 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration
of a request terminal;
[0069] FIG. 54 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration
of a data providing server;
[0070] FIG. 55 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration
of a package providing server;
[0071] FIG. 56 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration
of an advertiser/company server;
[0072] FIG. 57 is a schematic external view showing the
configuration of a portable dedicated terminal;
[0073] FIG. 58 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration
of the portable dedicated terminal;
[0074] FIG. 59 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
a data providing system according to a tenth embodiment;
[0075] FIG. 60 is a schematic external view showing the
configuration of a portable dedicated terminal;
[0076] FIG. 61 is a schematic external view showing the
configuration of the back of the main body of the terminal;
[0077] FIG. 62 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration
of the portable dedicated terminal;
[0078] FIG. 63 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
a data providing system according to an eleventh embodiment;
[0079] FIG. 64 is a schematic diagram for explaining the obtaining
of specified compressed content data in the data providing
server;
[0080] FIG. 65 is a schematic diagram for explaining the providing
of specified compressed content data in the data providing
server;
[0081] FIGS. 66A to 66C are flowcharts showing a content providing
and obtaining processing procedure in the data providing system;
and
[0082] FIGS. 67A to 67C are flowcharts showing the content
providing and obtaining processing procedure in the data providing
system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT
[0083] Preferred embodiments of this invention will be described
with reference to the accompanying drawings:
(1) Usage Pattern of Internet by Data Providing System
[0084] As shown in FIG. 1, in a data providing system 1,
communication can be performed on the Internet (not shown) between
a system management site 2 that integrally manages the above data
providing system and the customer 3, between the system management
site 2, plural kinds of shops 4A to 4N such as retail stores and
rental shops, to that the customer 3 comes (hereinafter, these are
referred to as agencies), and a sales company 5 that sells
merchandise described later to these agencies 4A to 4N, and between
the system management site 2 and a site for providing distribution
data 6 established by an advertiser/company (hereinafter, this is
referred to as advertiser/company site), respectively.
[0085] In this case, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the agencies 4A to
4N are rental shops that sell and rent the content (composed of
audio data, video data, text data, etc.) of music, a motion
picture, game software, a novel, a photograph, a comic, etc., as
commercial packaged media such as a compact disc (CD), a digital
video disc (DVD), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), and a
book (hardcovered novel, photo book, picture book, comic book). The
agencies 4A to 4N are shops that deal in contents such as
preparatory schools for selling and renting the contents (composed
of text data, etc.) of reference books, question books, literatures
for entrance examination, etc., as commercial packaged media of
books.
[0086] If the agencies 4A to 4N desire to use the Internet in the
state where they will start new business or already started
business and are in business, they notify the system management
site 2 of that by the use of a personal computer or the like.
[0087] If the use of the Internet is requested from the agency
4A-4N, the system management site 2 obtains agency information such
as a name, a kind of contents that the agency will deal in, and an
account number at a dealing bank from the above agency 4A-4N, and
executes agency registrations.
[0088] Then, the system management site 2 provides plenty of
content data to each agency 4A to 4N respectively from among
various content data of music, motion pictures, game software,
novels, photographs, comics, reference books, question books,
literatures, etc. that have been previously stored in a content
database (not shown), according to the kind of contents specified
by the agencies 4A to 4N. The above agencies 4A to 4N form a
content database for these content data peculiar to each
agency.
[0089] At this time, the sales company 5 sells portable dedicated
terminals 7A to 7N only for recording and reproducing content data,
and commercial packaged media such as CDs, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and
books, that the above agencies 4A to 4N will deal in, to the
agencies 4A to 4N according to instructions from the system
management site 2.
[0090] On the other hand, the customer 3 who wants to use the
Internet accesses the above system management site 2 and notifies
it of that he/she wants to use the Internet, for instance, by
operating a request terminal dedicated to the system management
site installed in a stand such as KIOSK, a convenience store or the
like.
[0091] If to use the Internet is wanted by the customer 3, the
system management site 2 obtains personal information (hereinafter,
this is referred to as customer information) such as a name, sex,
age, and an account number at a dealing bank from the above
customer 3, and executes a customer registration. The system
management site 2 stores the above customer information as customer
registration data, and generates a customer database 8.
[0092] The agencies 4A to 4N will provide plural kinds of content
data to the registered customer 3 by two types of systems: a
purchase system and a rental system. If the customer 3 notifies an
agency 4A-4N of content specifying information for specifying
desired content data and system specifying data representing the
way of obtaining for the above content data, purchase or rental, by
using the request terminal via the system management site 2, the
agency 4A-4N accepts the reservation of the purchase or the rental
of the content data responding to that.
[0093] If the agency 4A-4N accepts the reservation from the
customer 3 in that manner, the agency 4A-4N executes electronic
accounting for the purchase (selling price) and the rental (rental
term) of the content data, by using the customer registration
information on the customer 3 (the account number of the customer
3) read from the customer database 8 in the system management site
2. Then, the agency 4A-4N reads the desired content data according
to the request from the content database, and records this in a
predetermined recording medium provided in a portable dedicated
terminal 7A-7N.
[0094] Here, the agency 4A-4N can make the customer 3 also use the
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N by either system of purchase and
rental. If content data is requested, the agencies 4A to 4N
simultaneously executes electronical accounting for the purchase
(selling price) and the rental (rental term) of the above portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N by using the customer registration
information.
[0095] Therefore, for instance, if the customer 3 requested to use
the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N by rental, the agency 4A-4N
rents the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N storing the content
data according to the request of the customer 3, according to the
way of delivery requested by the customer 3: by directly handing it
to the customer 3 at the shop or by delivering it by a delivery
company 9.
[0096] Thereby, the customer 3 who previously reserved to
purchase/rent the content data and the portable dedicated terminal
7A-7N by the request terminal can enjoy the content data by
reproducing it with the above portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N as
soon as he/she gets the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N.
[0097] Such portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N can access only the
agency 4A-4N that recorded the content data via the system
management site 2 by a communication function provided inside, and
can execute processing for purchasing/renting content data
(including accounting).
[0098] Therefore, when the customer 3 newly requests to
purchase/rent content data by the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N
in rental, the agency 4A-4N can transmit the requested content data
to the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N in rental via the system
management site 2, and the content data can be recorded therein.
Thus, content data can be easily distributed on the Internet also
to a customer 3 who does not own a device connectable to the
Internet (hereinafter, this is referred to as device for connecting
to the Internet) such as a personal computer, similarly to a
customer 3 who owns a device for connecting to the Internet.
[0099] By the way, the system management site 2 relays the request
for purchasing/renting the content data sent from the portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N and the request terminal, to the agency
4A-4N. Thus, the contents of that request are added to the customer
registration information in the customer database 8 as additional
customer information, and the above customer registration
information is updated. Thereby, customer's taste (for example, the
genre of content data that the customer obtained), the state of the
using of the Internet or the like can be grasped from the customer
registration information.
[0100] Furthermore, the system management site 2 obtains
advertiser/company information composed of advertiser name
information and company name information, business contents
information that represents the genre of the above providing
distribution data or the like, from advertisers and companies that
will provide various distribution data at an advertiser/company
site 6, stores this as advertiser/company registration information
and generates an advertiser/company database 10.
[0101] If the customer 3 sends release permission information
representing that he/she permits to release his/her customer
information to the advertisers and companies from the portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N in rental as customer permission data, the
system management site 2 retrieves data in the advertiser/company
database 10 based on his/her customer registration information,
selects advertisers and companies that can provide distribution
data matching his/her taste, and introduces the above selected
advertisers and companies to the customer 3 via the portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N.
[0102] As a result, if the customer 3 selects an advertiser/company
wanting to contract from among the advertisers and the companies
that were introduced to him/her, the system management site 2
provides a part of his/her customer registration information to the
selected advertiser/company as investment information, and
introduces the customer 3 to the advertiser/company.
[0103] Thereby, the system management site 2 can make the customer
3 using the Internet and the advertiser/company selected by the
above customer 3 mutually negotiate and close contract. If the
contract is concluded, various distribution data such as the
advertisement of merchandise desired by the above customer 3 is
provided from the advertiser/company site 6 to the portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N rented to the customer 3 via the system
management site 2.
[0104] In this manner, in the data providing system 1, only the
advertiser/company that can provides desired distribution data can
be introduced to the customer 3, and the customer 3 can easily
select desired one. At the same time, even if the customer 3 does
not own device for connecting to the Internet, only desired
distribution data can be efficiently provided to him/her via the
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N being rented to the customer
3.
[0105] In this connection, since if the customer permission data is
sent from the customer 3, the system management site 2 introduces
the customer 3 who is beneficial for the advertiser/company to the
advertiser/company, if the system management site 2 transmits the
investment information to the advertiser/company, the system
management site 2 receives a consideration for that from the above
advertiser/company.
[0106] Furthermore, if the system management site 2 introduces the
customer 3 to the advertiser/company, it forms a customer
introduction database 11 based on the investment information on the
above customer 3 without regard to the presence/absence of an
advertiser and/or a company to which the customer 3 wants to
contract. The above customer introduction database 11 will be used
when advertisers and/or companies to be introduced to the customer
3 will be newly selected after that.
[0107] Here, if the customer 3 accessed the agency 4A-4N to request
content data from the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N via the
system management site 2, the agency 4A-4N returns a content
selecting screen to be used to select content data to the portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N so that the customer 3 selects desired
content data on that content selecting screen.
[0108] The agency 4A-4N customizes the content selecting screen to
be displayed at the display part of the portable dedicated terminal
7A-7N according to a request by the customer 3. Thus, when the
customer 3 requests content data, a content selecting screen
matching the request by the customer 3 can be displayed at the
display part of the portable dedicated terminals 7A to 7N.
[0109] In this connection, if the customer 3 specifies his/her
favorite color on a case body at the time of renting the portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N, the agency 4A-4N switches the above
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N to be rented to another portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N painted in his/her favorite color. In
addition to the customizing software, also the hardware of a case
body can be customized.
[0110] If the customer 3 requests the agency 4A-4N to customize the
case body of the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N in rental (that
is, to change the color of the case body), the agency 4A-4N moves
all data in the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N rented by the
customer 3 (that is, the content data, the desired distribution
data provided from the advertiser, etc.) into the other portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N in the color specified by the customer 3,
and changes them.
[0111] By the way, when the agency 4A-4N starts to rent content
data with the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N to the customer 3,
the customer 3 can arbitrary choice the rental terms of the above
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N and the content data
respectively. Moreover, the customer 3 can freely extend the rental
term once chosen by a request.
[0112] The agency 4A-4N monitors the end of the rental term of the
content data being rented to the customer 3. If the rental term of
the content data expires before the expiration of the rental term
of the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N, that is informed to the
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N being rented to the customer.
[0113] If terminating the rental of the content data according to
the period is replied from the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N
being rented to the customer 3 via the system management site 2,
the agency 4A-4N prompts the customer 3 to bring the portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N to the above agency 4A-4N. If the customer
3 brings that portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N, the agency 4A-4N
erases the content data from the internal recording medium and is
returns the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N to the customer
3.
[0114] On the other hand, if extending the rental term of the
content data is replied from the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N
being rented to the customer 3 via the system management site 2,
the agency 4A-4N monitors the end of that extended rental term of
the above content data.
[0115] Although the rental term of the content data has expired, if
the customer 3 does not bring that portable dedicated terminal
7A-7N, for instance, the agency 4A-4N sends an erasing command to
erase the content data that the rental term has expired to the
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N for return. Thereby, in the
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N, the specified content data is
erased from the internal recording medium to prevent its illegal
use.
[0116] If the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N in rental is
returned from the customer 3, the agency 4A-4N erases the content
data from the recording medium in the above portable dedicated
terminal 7A-7N, and that the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N can
be rented again.
[0117] If the customer requests to change the content (for example,
the content data of a single tune) occupying by purchasing or
renting the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N to packaged media
storing the same content data (for example, a single CD), the
agency 4A-4N transmits equivalent exchange information composed of
a price when the customer obtained the occupying content data (that
is, the purchase price or the rental price), the selling price of
the packaged media, and a difference between both these prices to
the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N via the system management
site 2.
[0118] As a result, if the customer 3 notifies the agency 4A-4N of
the approval of exchanging them by the portable dedicated terminal
7A-7N via the system management site 2, the agency 4A-4N performs
electronical accounting only for the difference between the price
to obtain the content data being occupied by the customer 3 and the
selling price of the packaged media read from the customer database
8 at the system management site 2. It is because the
purchase/rental price for the content data being occupied by the
customer 3 being the same as the content data stored in the
packaged media has been already paid. Then, the agency 4A-4N hands
the packaged media to the customer 3 at the shop or delivers it by
the delivery company 9 from the sales company 5.
[0119] In this manner, the agency 4A-4N makes the exchange value of
the content data being occupied by the customer for the packaged
media to be almost equal, and exchanges the content data for the
above packaged media (hereinafter, this exchange is referred to as
equivalent exchange). Thereby, wasting the content data
purchased/rented by the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N when that
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N is returned can be prevented, and
the packaged media can be provided by a minimum investment without
making the customer 3 wastefully invest in both of the content data
and the packaged media.
[0120] In this connection, the system management site 2 collects
charges for the use of the Internet from the customer 3 every time
when the customer 3 uses the Internet (that is, every time when the
customer 3 purchases/rents content data and the portable dedicated
terminal 7A-7N). The system management site 2, however, issues a
point to give a privilege such as a discount to the customer 3
according to the using state of the above Internet, and stores it
in the customer database 8.
[0121] At the agency 4A-4N, the customer 3 can use the obtaining
point for electronical accounting instead of a part or all of the
payment, when in purchasing/renting content data and a portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N, and when in exchanging content data for
packaged media, etc.
[0122] Furthermore, the agency 4A-4N can accept also payment by
cash and a prepaid card at the shop, instead of electronical
accounting, when the customer 3 purchases/rents a portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N, or exchanges content data for packaged
media, or the like.
[0123] Here, if electronical accounting for the purchase of the
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N is executed responding to the
purchase request of the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N by that
the customer 3 notified from the request terminal or the portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N in rental via the system management site
2, the agency 4A-4N directly hands that portable dedicated terminal
7A-7N to the customer 3 or delivers it to the customer 3 from the
sales company 5 by the delivery company 9.
[0124] In this connection, if the customer 3 requests to purchase
the portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N, the agency 4A-4N sells the
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N having a case body in a color
specified by the above customer 3.
[0125] As shown in FIG. 3, the customer 3 who purchased the
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N can purchase/rent desired content
data only from the agency 4A-4N that sold the portable dedicated
terminal 7A-7N, by the above portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N via
the Internet, and can obtain desired distribution data by
contracting to an advertiser and/or a company similarly to the case
described above with reference to FIG. 2.
[0126] Furthermore, the customer 3 who purchased the portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N can customize a content selecting screen
that will be sent from the agency 4A-4N when the customer 3
requests to purchase/rent content data by the above portable
dedicated terminal 7A-7N. In the case where the exchange values of
the content data being occupied by the customer 3 by the
purchase/rental and the packaged media storing the same content
data are equal, they can be exchanged.
[0127] In the above data providing system 1, instead of the
portable dedicated terminal 7A-7N, the customer 3 can use the
Internet by using a device for connecting to the Internet such as a
personal computer, similarly to the case described above with
reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.
[0128] In the data providing system 1, both of a business system
using the Internet, and an existent business system so that
merchandise is practically sold and/or rented in retailing stores
or the, like can be compatibly used. Thereby, a new business model
in which the customer 3 who does not own a device for connecting to
the Internet and agencies 4A to 4N having the feeling of crisis in
the popularization of the Internet can freely and easily use the
Internet for business can be formed.
(2) First Embodiment
[0129] Referring to FIG. 4, a reference numeral 50 generally shows
a data providing system according to a first embodiment. The
agencies 4A to 4N and the sales company 5 described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a request terminal 52 corresponding to
the customer 3 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 (that
is, the request terminal used by the customer 3) and a portable
dedicated terminal 53 only for the agencies 4A to 4N corresponding
to the portable dedicated terminals 7A to 7N described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 are connected to a data providing server
51 corresponding to the system management site 2.
[0130] The data providing server 51 has a customer database 55 for
storing customer registration information and customer registering
screen data, a content database 56 for storing a lot of content
data and content selecting screen data or the like, a packaged
media database 57 for storing a data table by listing the selling
prices and the rental prices of content data, and the selling
prices and the titles or the like of packaged media that can be
exchanged for the above content data, and an advertiser/company
database 58 for storing advertiser/company registration information
obtained from advertisers and companies establishing an
advertiser/company site.
[0131] If registration request data for requesting the registration
of the customer is sent from the request terminal 52, the data
providing server 51 receives this by a receiving part 59, reads
customer registering screen data from the customer database 55
based on that registration request data by an updating part 60, and
sends the above read customer registering screen data from a
sending part 61 to the request terminal 52.
[0132] If customer information that was entered on a customer
registering screen based on the customer registering screen data is
sent from the request terminal 52 as customer information data, the
data providing server 51 receives this by the receiving part 59,
and stores customer information based on that customer information
data as customer registration information by the updating part 60,
and registers the customer. Thereby, the above customer becomes
possible to use the Internet.
[0133] If obtaining request data for requesting to obtain content
data is sent from the request terminal 52 by operation by the
registered customer, the data providing server 51 receives this by
the receiving part 59, reads content selecting screen data from the
content database 56 based on that obtaining request data by a
content retrieving part 62, and transmits the above read content
selecting screen data from the sending part 61 to the request
terminal 52.
[0134] As a result, if desired content data is selectively
specified on the content selecting screen based on the content
selecting screen data, either of the systems to obtain the content
data and the portable dedicated terminal 53, purchase or rental is
selectively specified respectively, and reservation data for
representing these specified information (hereinafter, this is
referred to as customer reservation information) is transmitted
from the request terminal 52. The data providing server 51 receives
this by the receiving part 59.
[0135] At this time, the data providing server 51 reads the
specified content data from the content database 56 based on the
reservation data by the content retrieving part 62, and transmits
the above read content data from the sending part 61 to the
portable dedicated terminal 53 for recording before it is delivered
to the customer.
[0136] In this manner, the data providing server 51 can prepare the
customer the portable dedicated terminal 53 storing the content
data according to the customer's request for purchase and rental.
Thus, the portable dedicated terminal 53 can be sold and rented to
the customer by directly handing or delivery.
[0137] Then, if obtaining request data for requesting the obtaining
of content data is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 53
sold or rented to the customer, the data providing server 51
receives this by the receiving part 59, reads content selecting
screen data from the content database 56 based on that obtaining
request data by the content retrieving part 62, and transmits the
above read content selecting screen data from the sending part 61
to the customer.
[0138] As a result, if desired content data is specified on the
content selecting screen based on that content selecting screen
data and the way to obtain the content data, purchase or rental, is
specified, and content specifying data representing these specified
information (hereinafter, this is referred to as specifying
information) is transmitted from the portable dedicated terminal 53
sold or rented to the customer, the data providing server 51
receives this by the receiving part 59.
[0139] At this time, the data providing server 51 reads the
specified content data from the content database 56 based on that
content specifying data by the content retrieving part 62, and
transmits the above read content data from the sending part 61 to
the customer's portable dedicated terminal 53 for recording.
[0140] In this manner, the data providing server 51 enables the
customer to easily use content distribution on the Internet, and
freely obtain desired content data by the portable dedicated
terminal 53.
[0141] By the way, the data providing server 51 issues customer
identification information peculiar to each customer (hereinafter,
this is referred to as customer ID) in a customer registration,
adds this to customer information, and stores them in the customer
database 55 as customer registration information to manage the
above stored customer registration information by the customer
ID.
[0142] The data providing server 51 transmits the customer ID
issued to the customer in the customer registration from the
sending part 61 to the request terminal 52 and notifies the
customer of this. Thereafter, when the customer makes various
requests of various agencies by means of the request terminal 52
and the portable dedicated terminal 53, the data providing server
51 makes the customer use that customer ID to identify the customer
who made a request of these various agencies by the customer
ID.
[0143] If the data providing server 51 receives various data (e.g.
content specifying data) from the request terminal 52 and the
portable dedicated terminal 53 sold/rented to the customer by the
receiving part 59, the data providing server 51 sends the contents
of that data (information such as the title and the rental term of
the content data that will be purchased/rented by the customer) to
the customer database 55 as additional customer information to add
that additional customer information to customer registration
information on the customer who requested the obtaining of the
content data, and updates the above customer registration
information, by the updating part 60.
[0144] The data providing server 51 can grasp customer's taste or
the like based on the customer registration information in the
customer database 55.
[0145] Then, if customer permission data meaning that the customer
permitted the data providing server 51 to release the customer
information to the advertiser/company is transmitted from the
portable dedicated terminal 53 sold/rented to the customer, the
data providing server 51 receives this by the receiving part 59,
reads the customer registration information on the customer who
permitted from the customer database 55 based on that customer
permission data by a matching part 63, and retrieves
advertiser/company registration information in the
advertiser/company database 58 based on the above read customer
registration information.
[0146] As a result of the retrieval of advertiser/company
registration information by the matching part 63, if an advertiser
and/or a company that can provide distribution data matching to the
customer's tastes, the data providing server 51 generates
advertiser/company introducing data based on advertiser/company
registration information on the above selected advertiser/company,
and sends this from the sending part 61 to the customer's portable
dedicated terminal 53. Thus, the data providing server 51 can
introduce the advertiser and/or company that can provide
distribution data matching to the customer's tastes to the
customer.
[0147] In this manner, the data providing server 51 enables the
customer to easily select an advertiser and/or a company that can
provide desired distribution data to the customer from among many
advertisers and/or companies. Moreover, advertisers and companies
can efficiently provide distribution data to the customer as
requested.
[0148] If customizing request data for customizing the portable
dedicated terminal 53 purchased/rented to the customer is
transmitted, the data providing server 51 receives this by the
receiving part 59, reads customizing registering screen data
previously stored in the content database 56 based on the above
received customizing request data by the content retrieving part
62, and sends this from the sending part 61 to the portable
dedicated terminal 53.
[0149] As a result, if screen customizing information for the
content selecting screen that was entered on a customizing
registering screen based on the customizing registering screen data
is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 53 sold/rented to the
customer, the data providing server 51 receives this by the
receiving part 59, and supplies that screen customizing information
to the customer database 55 to add this to the customer
registration information on the above customer, and updates that
customer registration information by the updating part 60.
[0150] Thereafter, if obtaining request data is sent from the
portable dedicated terminal 53 by the customer who requested the
customizing of the content selecting screen, the data providing
server 51 receives this by the receiving part 59, reads the screen
customizing information added to the customer registration
information from the customer database 55 by the updating part 60,
and supplies this to the content retrieving part 62.
[0151] The data providing server 51 reads content selecting screen
data from the content database 56 by the content retrieving part
62, converts this based on the screen customizing information, and
sends thus obtained customized screen data from the sending part 61
to the customer's portable dedicated terminal 53.
[0152] In this manner, the data providing server 51 customizes the
content selecting screen based on the screen customizing data every
time when obtaining request data is sent from the customer
requesting the customizing of the content selecting screen by the
portable dedicated terminal 53. The customer can select content
data on thus customized screen.
[0153] In this connection, in the portable dedicated terminal 53
rented to the customer, also sending information for customizing
the color of the case body of the above portable dedicated terminal
53 can be selected on the customizing registering screen. If the
case body customizing information for specifying the color of the
case body is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 53, the data
providing server 51 receives this by the receiving part 59,
supplies this to the customer database 55, and adds this to the
customer registration information on the above customer and updates
the customer registration information by the updating part 60.
[0154] Thus, thereafter, when the customer rents/purchases a
portable dedicated terminal 53, the portable dedicated terminal 53
in a color specified by the case body customizing information can
be delivered.
[0155] Furthermore, if equivalent exchange request data for
requesting the equivalent exchange of the content data (e.g. a
single tune) purchased/rented for packaged media (e.g. a single CD)
is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 53 sold/rented to the
customer, the data providing server 51 receives this by the
receiving part 59.
[0156] The data providing server 51 reads the customer registration
information on the customer who requested the equivalent exchange
from the customer database 55 based on that equivalent exchange
request data, and detects the way of the obtaining of the content
data that the customer requested to equivalently exchange (that is,
purchase or rental) by the updating part 60. Then, the data
providing server 51 retrieves a data table in the packaged media
database 57 based on that equivalent exchange request data and the
detected result by the updating part 60 by a package retrieving
part 64. Thereby, the obtaining price of the content data occupied
by the customer, and the selling price and the title of packaged
media storing the above content data are detected as the target of
the equivalent exchange.
[0157] The data providing server 51 computes a balance between thus
detected obtaining price of the content data occupied by the
customer and the selling price of the packaged media by the package
retrieving part 64, and transmits the above computed balance from
the sending part 61 to the customer's portable dedicated terminal
53 as retrieval result information, with these obtaining price of
the content data and the selling price and the title of the
packaged media.
[0158] The customer has already paid the purchase or the rental
price of the content data stored in the packaged media by the
purchase or the rental via the portable dedicated terminal 53.
Thus, if exchange acceptance data to accept the equivalent exchange
is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 53 sold/rented to the
customer, the data providing server 51 electronically performs
accounting only for the balance between the obtaining price of the
content data occupied by the customer and the selling price of the
packaged media. Then, the packaged media is delivered to the above
customer directly or by delivery.
[0159] In this manner, in the data providing server 51, the
exchange value of the content data occupied by the customer for the
packaged media to be exchanged is equal, and they can be
equivalently exchanged. Therefore, the data providing server 51 can
provide the packaged media to the customer by exchanging the
content data purchased/rented by the portable dedicated terminal 53
for the packaged media by a minimum investment.
[0160] In this connection, the data providing server 51 issues a
point to give a privilege such as discount to the customer
according to the using state by a point issuing part not shown,
every time when the customer uses the Internet by the request
terminal 52 and/or the portable dedicated terminal 53. The above
issued point is transmitted to the customer database 55,
sequentially added to the customer registration information, and
the above customer registration information is updated by the
updating part 60.
[0161] If the customer requests to use the point for equivalent
exchange or the like instead of money, the data providing server 51
balances the difference between the obtaining price of the content
data occupied by the customer and the selling price of the packaged
media by using the point issued for the above customer.
[0162] Furthermore, if the customer rents content data, the data
providing server 51 constantly retrieves customer registration
information in the customer database 55 by the updating part 60 to
detect whether or not the rental term of the content data in rental
expires. If the expiration of the rental term of the above content
data is near, the data providing server 51 sends confirmation
screen data to confirm whether or not the rental finishes from the
sending part 61 to the customer's portable dedicated terminal
53.
[0163] If a rental finish notification to finish the rental of the
content data as the term is sent from the portable dedicated
terminal 53 sold/rented to the customer, the data providing server
51 receives this by the receiving part 59, adds this to
corresponding customer registration information in the customer
database 55 and updates the customer registration information by
the updating part 60. And the data providing server 51 sends
coming-to-shop request screen data to prompt the customer to return
the content data (that is, to erase the content data from the
portable dedicated terminal 53) at the agency, from the sending
part 61 to the above portable dedicated terminal 53.
[0164] On the contrary, as a result of that the confirmation screen
data was sent to the portable dedicated terminal 53, if a rental
extending notification to extend the rental term of the content
data is transmitted, the data providing server 51 receives this by
the receiving part 59, adds this to the corresponding customer
registration information in the customer database 55 and updates
the customer registration information by the updating part 60.
[0165] If although its rental term has expired, the content data
has not been returned, the data providing server 51 adds erasing
information to forcibly erase the content data to the corresponding
customer registration information in the customer database 55 and
updates the customer registration information by the updating part
60. At the same time, the data providing server 51 transmits the
erasing command of the content data of which the rental term
expires from the sending part 61 to the portable dedicated terminal
53, and erases that content data in the above portable dedicated
terminal 53.
[0166] On the other hand, if the customer enters a customer
registration request via an operating part 70, the request terminal
52 generates registration request data representing that
registration request by a request data generating part 71, and
sends this from a sending part 72 to the data providing server
51.
[0167] As a result, if the request terminal 52 receives customer
registering screen data from the data providing server 51 by a
receiving part 73, the request terminal 52 transmits this from a
display control part 74 to a display part 75, and displays a
customer registering screen based on the customer registering
screen data.
[0168] In the request terminal 52, if customer information is
entered on the customer registering screen according to the
operation of the operating part 70 by the customer, the request
terminal 52 sends the customer information from the sending part 72
to the data providing server 51 as customer information data via
the request data generating part 71.
[0169] If a content data obtaining request is entered by the
customer via the operating part 70, the request terminal 52
generates obtaining request data representing the obtaining request
by the request data generating part 71, and sends this from the
sending part 72 to the data providing server 51.
[0170] As a result, if the request terminal 52 receives content
selecting screen data from the data providing server 51 by the
receiving part 73, the request terminal 52 transmits this from the
display control part 74 to the display part 75, and displays a
content selecting screen based on the content selecting screen
data.
[0171] If the customer entered reservation information by customer
on the content selecting screen according to the operation of the
operating part 70, the request terminal 52 generates reservation
data by the request data generating part 71, and sends this from
the sending part 72 to the data providing server 51.
[0172] Thereby, the portable dedicated terminal 53 before it is
sold/rented to the customer receives the content data sent from the
data providing server 51 by a receiving part 80, and records this
in a recording medium 82 by a recording control part 81. Then, the
portable dedicated terminal 53 will be sold/rented to the customer
in this state.
[0173] In the portable dedicated terminal 53 that was actually
sold/rented to the customer, if a reproducing command is entered by
the customer via an operating part 83, the portable dedicated
terminal 53 reproduces the content data from the recording medium
82 based on that reproducing command by a reproducing control part
84, and transmits the above reproduced content data to a
reproducing part 85 composed of a display control part, a display
part, a speaker or the like. Thus, the customer can enjoy the
content.
[0174] If a content data obtaining request is entered by the
customer via the operating part 83, the portable dedicated terminal
53 generates obtaining request data representing that obtaining
request by a request data generating part 86, and sends the above
generated obtaining request data from a sending part 87 to the data
providing server 51.
[0175] As a result, if the portable dedicated terminal 53 receives
content selecting screen data from the data providing server 51 by
the receiving part 80, the portable dedicated terminal 53 transmits
this to the reproducing part 85 to display a content selecting
screen based on the content selecting screen data.
[0176] Then, if content data is selectively specified (including
the specifying of purchase and/or rental) on the content selecting
screen according to the operation of the operating part 83 by the
customer, the portable dedicated terminal 53 generates content
specifying data by the request data generating part 86, and
transmits this from the sending part 87 to the data providing
server 51.
[0177] If the portable dedicated terminal 53 receives the content
data from the data providing server 51 by the receiving part 80,
the portable dedicated terminal 53 records this in the recording
medium 82 by the recording control part 81. Thus, thereafter, that
content data can be reproduced from the recording medium 82 by a
reproducing control part 84 according to the operation of the
operating part 83 by the customer.
[0178] Furthermore, if the customer permits the release of the
customer information via the operating part 83, the portable
dedicated terminal 53 generates customer permission data
representing that permission by the request data generating part
86, and sends this from the sending part 87 to the data providing
server 51.
[0179] As a result, if the portable dedicated terminal 53 receives
advertiser/company introducing data from the data providing server
51 by the receiving part 80, the portable dedicated terminal 53
transmits this to the reproducing part 85 to displaying it. In this
state, the customer selects desired advertiser and/or company by
operating the operating part 83.
[0180] Then, the portable dedicated terminal 53 sends information
on the advertiser and/or company selected by the customer to the
data providing server 51 sequentially via the request data
generating part 86 and the sending part 87. As a result, if the
customer concludes a contract to the advertiser and/or company that
he/she selected, the portable dedicated terminal 53 receives
desired distribution data such as advertisement sent from the
advertiser and company site by the receiving part 80, and records
this in the recording medium 82 by the recording control part
81.
[0181] The portable dedicated terminal 53 reproduces that
distribution data from the recording medium 82 by the reproducing
control part 84 according to the operation of the operating part 83
by the customer, and transmits the above reproduced distribution
data to the reproducing part 85. Thus, the customer can enjoy the
distribution data provided from the advertiser and company
site.
[0182] In addition to this, if the customer enters a customizing
request via the operating part 83, the portable dedicated terminal
53 generates customizing request data representing that customizing
request by the request data generating part 86, and sends this from
the sending part 87 to the data providing server 51.
[0183] As a result, if the portable dedicated terminal 53 receives
customizing registering screen data from the data providing server
51 by the receiving part 80, the portable dedicated terminal 53
transmits this to the reproducing part 85 to display a customizing
registering screen based on that customizing registering screen
data.
[0184] If screen customizing information for customizing the
content selecting screen is entered on the customizing registering
screen according to the operation of the operating part 83 by the
customer, the portable dedicated terminal 53 sends this to the data
providing server 51 sequentially via the request data generating
part 86 and the sending part 87.
[0185] The customer can enter also case-body customizing
information for customizing the color of the case body of the
portable dedicated terminal 53 on the customizing registering
screen by operating the operating part 83. If the case-body
customizing information is entered, the portable dedicated terminal
53 sends this from the sending part 87 to the data providing server
51 via the request data generating part 86.
[0186] In this manner, the customer can request the data providing
server 51 to customize the content selecting screen and the case
body of the portable dedicated terminal 53. Therefore, after the
customer requested such customizing, the customer can selectively
specify content data while viewing the display of the customized
selecting screen that was obtained by processing the content
selecting screen based on the screen customizing information, and
also the customer can switch the portable dedicated terminal 53 to
a portable dedicated terminal 53 in a color that the customer
specified.
[0187] Furthermore, in the portable dedicated terminal 53, if the
customer enters an equivalent exchange request via the operating
part 83, the portable dedicated terminal 53 generates equivalent
exchange request data representing that equivalent exchange request
by the request data generating part 86, and sends this from the
sending part 87 to the data providing server 51.
[0188] As a result, if retrieval result information on the
equivalent exchange is sent from the data providing server 51, the
portable dedicated terminal 53 receives this by the receiving part
80, and transmits this to the reproducing part 85 to display the
obtaining price of the content data that the customer occupies by
purchase or rental, the selling price and the title of packaged
media, and the difference between these prices based on that
retrieval result information.
[0189] If the customer approves the equivalent exchange via the
operating part 83, the portable dedicated terminal 53 generates
exchange approval data representing the approval by the request
data generating part 86, and sends this from the sending part 87 to
the data providing server 51. Then, electronical accounting for the
difference between the obtaining price of the content data that the
customer occupies and the selling price of the packaged media is
performed by a method that the customer specified (that is, payment
by money or points). Therefore, the customer can obtain the
packaged media by a minimum investment.
[0190] In this connection, if confirmation screen data for content
data that the rental term is near expiration is sent from the data
providing server 51, the portable dedicated terminal 53 receives
this by the receiving part 80, and transmits this to the
reproducing part 85 to display a confirmation screen based on that
confirmation screen data, and notifying the customer of that the
rental term of the content data will expire by the above
confirmation screen.
[0191] Then, at this time, if terminating or extending the rental
term is specified by the customer via the operating part 83, the
portable dedicated terminal 53 notifies the data providing server
51 of that from the sending part 87 via the request data generating
part 86.
[0192] Furthermore, if the rental term of the content data has
expired before the content data is returned, an erasing command to
erase the content data is sent from the data providing server 51 to
the portable dedicated terminal 53. The portable dedicated terminal
53 receives this by the receiving part 80, and erases the content
data of which the rental term has expired from the recording medium
82 based on that erasing command by the recording control part.
Thus, illegal use (reproducing) of the content data can be
prevented.
[0193] According to the above configuration, in this data providing
system 50, the data providing server 51 records content data
specified by the customer in a portable dedicated terminal 53 only
for an agency that the customer specified according to reservation
data sent from a request terminal 52 by customer's operation, and
they are sold/rented to the customer.
[0194] Then, if the customer sends content specifying data from the
portable dedicated terminal 53, the data providing server 51 reads
content data from the content database 56 according to the content
specifying data, and sends the above read content data to that
portable dedicated terminal 53 for recording.
[0195] Furthermore, in the data providing server 51, customer
registration information on the customer who purchased or is
renting the portable dedicated terminal 53 is registered in the
customer database 55. The customer registration information is
updated according to the using state of the portable dedicated
terminal 53 every time when the customer uses the portable
dedicated terminal 53 for purchasing or renting content data. If
the release of the customer information is permitted from the
customer by the portable dedicated terminal 53, the data providing
server 51 retrieves advertiser/company registration information in
the advertiser/company database 58 based on the customer
registration information, selects an advertiser and/or a company
that can provide distribution data matching to the customer's
tastes, and introduces it to the customer.
[0196] If customizing a content selecting screen is requested from
the customer by the portable dedicated terminal 53, the data
providing server 51 customizes the content selecting screen
according to that request, and provides a customized screen
obtained by customizing the above content selecting screen to the
customer's portable dedicated terminal 53 so that the customer can
select content data on the customized screen.
[0197] In addition to this, if the equivalent exchange of the
purchased/rented content data for packaged media is requested from
the customer by the portable dedicated terminal 53, the data
providing server 51 provides the packaged media to the customer by
the payment of the difference between the obtaining price of the
content data occupied by the customer and the selling price of the
packaged media.
[0198] Accordingly, in this data providing system 50, even if the
customer does not have a device for accessing the Internet, by
previously reserving the purchase or the rental of a portable
dedicated terminal 53 that can record and reproduce content data by
a request terminal 52 installed in a KIOSK or the like, the
customer can obtain content data distributed to the portable
dedicated terminal 53 after the customer received the reserved
portable dedicated terminal 53.
[0199] In this data providing system 50, by using the portable
dedicated terminal 53, the customer can easily select content data
on a customized screen that was customized by a customer's request,
and also the customer can exchange the content data obtained by
distribution for packaged media storing the same content data by a
minimum investment. Furthermore, the customer can easily select an
advertiser and/or a company that can provide distribution data
matching to customer's tastes from many advertiser and company
sites, and can use distribution data.
[0200] As a result, in the data providing system 50, also a
customer who does not have a device for accessing the Internet can
easily use this system while sufficiently enjoying the convenience
of the Internet.
[0201] In this data providing system 50, the customer uses the
portable dedicated terminal 53 only for an agency by purchase
and/or rental. Therefore, agencies can easily get customers who use
not only the Internet but also the agencies, and also can easily
use and can participate in the Internet.
[0202] According to the above configuration, in the data providing
server 51, the portable dedicated terminal 53 only for an agency
that can record and reproduce content data is sold or rented to the
customer according to reservation data sent from the request
terminal 52. Content data is distributed according to content
specifying data sent from the sold/rented portable dedicated
terminal 53, and is recorded in the portable dedicated terminal 53.
An advertiser and/or a company is selected based on customer
registration information according to customer's permission sent
from that portable dedicated terminal 53, and is introduced to the
customer. A content selecting screen is customized according to a
customizing request sent from the above portable dedicated terminal
53, and is provided to the portable dedicated terminal 53. And the
exchange values of the content data occupied by the customer by
distribution and packaged media storing the same content data are
equal, and they are equivalently exchanged according to an
equivalent exchange request sent from the portable dedicated
terminal 53. Thereby, a customer who does not have a device for
accessing the Internet can easily use this system while
sufficiently enjoying the convenience of the Internet. By the
portable dedicated terminal 53 only for an agency that uses the
Internet, this system can easily get customers. Thus, a data
providing system that can further popularize the Internet can be
accomplished.
[0203] Note that, in the aforementioned first embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the customer requests a customer
registration and the purchase or the rental of the portable
dedicated terminal 53 by the request terminal 52. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also the customer may
request the customer registration and the purchase or the rental of
the portable dedicated terminal 53 by a device for accessing the
Internet such as a personal computer. Thereby, in addition to a
customer who does not have a device for accessing the Internet, a
customer who owns the above device can enjoy the convenience of the
Internet more than the present by using the portable dedicated
terminal 53.
(3) Second Embodiment
[0204] FIG. 5 shows a data providing system 100 according to a
second embodiment. A portable dedicated terminal 102 similar to the
portable dedicated terminals 7A to 7N described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 is directly connected to a data providing
server 101 that corresponds to the system management site 2 and the
agencies 4A to 4N described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. A
request terminal 103 that corresponds to the customer 3 described
above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 (that is, the request terminal
that the customer 3 had been used) and a settlement processing
server 104 are connected to the above data providing server 101 on
the Internet 105, respectively.
[0205] The data providing server 101 has a customer database 110
and a content database 111. In the customer database 110, customer
registration information generated by executing a customer
registration similar to the customer registration described above
with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 (composed of a customer's name, a
customer ID, an account number in a bank that the customer deals
with, etc.) will be stored.
[0206] Furthermore, the data providing server 101 stores a lot of
content data in the content database 111, and also a data table
generated by listing content additional information composed of
content identification information peculiar to each of the content
data (hereinafter, this is referred to as content ID), a title (for
example, the title of tune), prices (selling price and rental
price), etc.
[0207] If customer reservation information to reserve content data
by rental (hereinafter, specially this is referred to as rental
reservation request data) is sent as reservation request data, from
the request terminal 103 via the Internet 105 by operation by the
customer who wants to rent the content data, the data providing
server 101 receives this by a receiving part 115, converts the
above received rental reservation request data into recording
control data by an accounting part 116, and transmits this to a
recording control part 117.
[0208] Here, the data providing server 101 generates rental
reservation acceptance data including dedicated terminal
identification information (hereinafter, this is referred to as
dedicated terminal ID) peculiar to the portable dedicated terminal
102 for recording the content data that the customer requested to
rent by the recording control part 117, and transmits this to the
request terminal 103 from a sending part 118 via the Internet 105
to notify the customer of that the rental reservation of the
desired content data has been accepted.
[0209] The data providing server 101 reads the content data that
the customer requested to rent from the content database 111
according to the recording control data by the recording control
part 117, and sends this to the portable dedicated terminal 102
having the dedicated terminal ID that notified to the customer, so
that the content data is recorded in a recording medium in the
portable dedicated terminal 102.
[0210] In this manner, the data providing server 101 makes the
portable dedicated terminal 102 having a content data recording and
reproducing function record the content data requested from the
customer. Then, when the customer came to, for example, an agency
installing the above data providing server 101, the content data
that the customer requested to rent is handed to the customer with
the portable dedicated terminal 102.
[0211] By the data providing server 101, content data can be rented
to the customer with the portable dedicated terminal 102 according
to a rental term. The customer can enjoy the content data by
reproducing this by the portable dedicated terminal 102.
[0212] By the way, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, rental reservation
request data D2 sent from the request terminal 103 has information
such as a customer's name, a customer ID, a password, the title of
content data D1 of which the rental is requested, a rental term, a
paying method of rental charges (payment by cash or prepaid card at
shop, payment by prepaid card by request terminal, payment by
credit).
[0213] If the data providing server 101 receives the rental
reservation request data D2 from the request terminal 103 by the
receiving part 115, the data providing server 101 extracts
information on the paying method of the rental charge (hereinafter,
this is referred to as payment data) from the rental reservation
request data D2 by the accounting part 116.
[0214] If payment specified by the payment information is credit,
the data providing server 101 reads the customer registration
information on the customer who requested to rent the content data
D1 from the content database 111 based on the customer ID included
in the rental reservation request data D2 by the accounting part
116, retrieves a data table in the content database 111 based on
the title of the content data D1 included in the above rental
reservation request data D2, and reads the additional information
on the content data D1 that the customer is requesting to rent.
[0215] The data providing server 101 executes accounting by the
accounting part 116, based on the rental charge for the portable
dedicated terminal 102 and an account number in the dealing bank of
the agency previously stored in the contents database 111, the
rental reservation request data D2, the customer registration
information, and the additional information on the content data D1.
Thereby, the data providing server 101 generates accounting
information representing the amount of charge according to the
rental term of the content data D1 to the customer, the account
numbers of the agency and the customer, etc., and sends this from
the sending part 118 to the settlement processing server 104 via
the Internet 105.
[0216] If the electronical settlement processing based on the
accounting information is completed and a settlement completion
notification is sent from the settlement processing server 104, the
data providing server 101 receives this by the receiving part 115,
recognizes this and adds the agency ID to the rental reservation
request data D2 and generates recording control data D3 by the
accounting part 116, and sends this to the recording control part
117.
[0217] In this connection, when in generating the recording control
data D3 by the accounting part 116, the data providing server 101
changes the customer's name included in the rental reservation
request data D2 to a coded customer's name registered as the
customer registration information, changes the title of the content
data D1 to the content ID, encodes the number of days of the rental
term, and adds the customer's account number to the recording
control data D3.
[0218] If the data providing server 101 transmits the recording
control data D3 from the accounting part 116 to the recording
control part 117, the data providing server 101 generates rental
reservation acceptance data by the above recording control part
117, and sends this from the sending part 118 to the request
terminal 103.
[0219] Then, the data providing server 101 generates header data D4
based on the recording control data D3 by adding the dedicated
terminal ID of the portable dedicated terminal 102 storing the
content data D1 that the customer requested to rent, and copy
history information showing a copy history when the above content
data D1 had illegally copied, to the above recording control data
D3 as the content by the recording control part 117. The data
providing server 101 adds this to the content data D1 that the
customer requested to rent, and they are recorded in the portable
dedicated terminal 102.
[0220] Thereby, in the data providing server 101, that the portable
dedicated terminal 102 rented to the customer and the content data
D1 were rented at the shop installing the data providing server 101
can be easily recognized by the header data D4.
[0221] Furthermore, the portable dedicated terminal 102 rented to
the customer monitors whether or not the rental term of the content
data D1 has expired according to information on the rental term
stored in the header data D4. In the case where although the rental
term has passed, the above content data D1 has not been returned
(that is, in the case where the content data D1 was not returned
with the portable dedicated terminal 102), the portable dedicated
terminal 102 forbids reproducing the content data D1. Thus, the
illegal use of the rented content data D1 can be prevented after
the expiration of the rental term.
[0222] Furthermore, if the content data D1 in rental is illegally
copied while it has been rented to the customer, the portable
dedicated terminal 102 records the number of the times of copy as
copy history information in the header data D4. Thereby, when the
portable dedicated terminal 102 is returned to the agency, the
agency can know that the customer illegally copied the content data
D1 from the copy history information in the header data D4.
[0223] On the other hand, if payment by a prepaid card by the
request terminal 103 is specified by the rental reservation request
data D2 from the request terminal 103, the data providing server
101 executes accounting according to the rental charges for the
portable dedicated terminal 102, the rental reservation request
data D2, and the additional information on the content data D1, by
the accounting part 116. The data providing server 101 computes the
amount of charges to the customer according to the rental term of
the content data D1, and sends information on the above computed
amount of charges as accounting data from the sending part 118 to
the request terminal 103 via the Internet 105.
[0224] If the data providing server 101 receives payment-by-prepaid
completion data from the request terminal 103 by the receiving part
115 by that the payment by a prepaid card has completed based on
the accounting data, the data providing server 101 generates
recording control data D3 by adding the agency ID to the rental
reservation request data D2 storing information representing that
the payment by the prepaid card has completed by the request
terminal 103, instead of the customer's account number by an
accounting part 116, and transmits this to the recording control
part 117.
[0225] Then, if the data providing server 101 transmits the
recording control data D3 from the accounting part 116 to the
recording control part 117, the data providing server 101 sends
rental reservation acceptance data from the sending part 118 to the
request terminal 103 by the recording control part 117 similarly to
the above. At the same time, the data providing server 101
generates header data D4 based on that recording control data D3,
and records this in the portable dedicated terminal 102 with the
content data D1.
[0226] Furthermore, if payment by cash or a prepaid card at the
shop is specified by the rental reservation request data D2 sent
from the request terminal 103, the data providing server 101
generates recording control data D3 by adding the agency ID to the
rental reservation request data D2 storing information representing
that the payment by cash or a prepaid card at the shop has
completed instead of the customer's account number by the
accounting part 116, and sends this to the recording control part
117.
[0227] Also in this case, the data providing server 101 transmits
the recording control data D3 from the accounting part 116 to the
recording control part 117 similarly to the above, and sends rental
reservation acceptance data from the sending part 118 to the
request terminal 103 by the above recording control part 117. At
the same time, the data providing server 101 generates header data
D4 based on the recording control data D3, and records this in the
portable dedicated terminal 102 with the content data D1.
[0228] In this connection, in the data providing server 101, a slot
for a prepaid card is provided on the accounting part 116. When the
payment by a prepaid card at the shop is specified, an amount of
charge to the customer according to the rental term of the content
data D1 is computed by the accounting part 116. And if the customer
inserts his/her prepaid card into the slot when the customer came
to receive the portable dedicated terminal 102, the rental charges
is settled by the prepaid card.
[0229] Note that, the above data providing server 101 also can be
used in the case where the customer came to the shop and requested
to rent content data D1. In this case, a clerk in the shop inputs
rental information having the same contents as the rental
reservation request data D2 described above with reference to FIG.
6 via an operational information input part. The above entered
rental information is transmitted to the accounting part 116.
Thereby, the content data D1 is recorded in the portable dedicated
terminal 102 similarly to the aforementioned rental reservation by
the request terminal 103.
[0230] On the other hand, if the customer inputs rental reservation
information having the same contents as the aforementioned rental
reservation request data D2 via an operational information input
part 120, the request terminal 103 (FIG. 5) generates the
aforementioned rental reservation request data D2 based on that
rental reservation data by a request data generating part 122 via
an operational information discriminating part 121, and sends this
from a sending part 123 to the data providing server 101 on the
Internet 105.
[0231] If rental reservation acceptance data is sent from the data
providing server 101 via the Internet 105, the request terminal 103
receives this by a receiving part 124, and transmits this from a
discriminating part 125 to a display part 126. Thus, completion of
the acceptance of the rental reservation of the desired content
data requested by the customer is notified to the customer, with
the dedicated terminal ID of the portable dedicated terminal 102
that will be rented with the above content data D1.
[0232] In this connection, in the request terminal 103, an
accounting part 127 having a slot for a prepaid card is provided.
If payment by a prepaid card by the request terminal 103 is
specified by the customer via the operational information input
part 120, the operational information discriminating part 121
discriminates this and notifies the accounting part 127 of
this.
[0233] The request terminal 103 receives account data transmitted
by sending the rental reservation request data D2 to the data
providing server 101 by the receiving part 124, discriminates this
by the discriminating part 125, and transmits this to the
accounting part 127.
[0234] If a customer's prepaid card is inserted into the slot of
the accounting part 127, the request terminal 103 settles the
rental charges to the customer by the prepaid card based on the
account data by the accounting part 127. And then, the request
terminal 103 generates payment-by-prepaid completion data, and
sends this from the sending part 123 to the data providing server
101 via the Internet 105.
[0235] Here, a rental reservation processing procedure by the data
providing server 101 and the request terminal 103 in the data
providing system 100 will be described except for payment for
rental charges (that is, accounting). As shown in FIG. 7A, the
request terminal 103 enters routine RT1 from the start step and
proceeds to step SP1.
[0236] In step SP1, the request terminal 103 awaits that the
customer inputs rental reservation information via the operational
information input part 120. If rental reservation information is
inputted, the request terminal 103 proceeds to the next step SP2 to
generate rental reservation request data D2 by the request data
generating part 122, sends this from the sending part 123 to the
data providing server 101 via the Internet 105, and proceeds to
step SP3.
[0237] At this time, as shown in FIG. 7B, the data providing server
101 enters routine RT2 from the start step and proceeds to the next
step SP11. In step SP11, the data providing server 101 awaits that
the rental reservation request data D2 is transmitted from the
request terminal 103. If the data providing server 101 receives the
rental reservation request data D2 from the request terminal 103 by
a receiving part 119, it proceeds to step SP12.
[0238] In step SP12, the data providing server 101 generates
recording control data D3 by the accounting part 116 by means of
the rental reservation request data D2, and proceeds to the next
step SP13.
[0239] In step SP13, the data providing server 101 generates rental
reservation acceptance data and sends this from the sending part
118 to the request terminal 103, on the Internet 105, and it
proceeds to step SP14.
[0240] At this time, in step SP3, the request terminal 103 awaits
that the rental reservation acceptance data is transmitted from the
data providing server 101. If the request terminal 103 receives the
rental reservation acceptance data from the data providing server
101 in step SP3, the request terminal 103 proceeds to the next step
SP4.
[0241] In step SP4, the request terminal 103 transmits that rental
reservation acceptance data to the display part 126 to display it
thereon, and notifies the customer of completion of the acceptance
of the rental reservation of the content data D1 with the dedicated
terminal ID of the portable dedicated terminal 102 that will be
rented with the above content data D1, and it proceeds to the next
step SP5 to finish the processing in the above request terminal
103.
[0242] On the other hand, in step SP14, the data providing server
101 generates header data D4 based on the recording control data
D3, and proceeds to step SP15. In step SP15, the data providing
server 101 adds the header data D4 to the content data D1 requested
by the customer, and records this in a recording medium in the
portable dedicated terminal 102 by the recording control part 117.
Then, the data providing server 101 proceeds to step SP16 to finish
the processing in the above data providing server 101. In this
manner, the data providing system 100 finishes the rental
reservation processing for the content data D1.
[0243] According to the above configuration, in this data providing
system 100, a lot of content data D1 have been stored in the
content database 111 in the data providing server 101 installed at
an agency. If the customer requests the rental reservation of
desired content data D1 with the request terminal 103, the above
data providing server 101 records that content data D1 in the
portable dedicated terminal 102. And then, when the customer came
to the agency, the reserved content data D1 is rented to the
customer with the portable dedicated terminal 102.
[0244] Accordingly, even if the customer does not own a device that
has functions to record and reproduce content data D1 and can
obtain the content data D1 by connecting to the Internet, such as a
personal computer (hereinafter, this is referred to as content
obtaining apparatus), this data providing system 100 can easily
provide a content to the customer as data by the portable dedicated
terminal 102 rented at the agency.
[0245] Furthermore, in the data providing system 100, when the
customer rents content data D1, the customer can previously reserve
the rental of the desired content data D1 for the data providing
server 101 by the request terminal 103. Therefore, when the
customer came to the agency without making the customer wait during
the recording of the content data D1 in the portable dedicated
terminal 102, the agency can smoothly hand the portable dedicated
terminal 102 storing the content data D1 to the customer.
[0246] Moreover, in this data providing system 100, also when the
customer reserves the rental of the content data D1 by operating
the request terminal 103, the above customer is notified of the
acceptance of the rental reservation at a time point that the
recording control data D3 to record the content data D1 in the
portable dedicated terminal 102 has been generated. Therefore, the
customer can make a reservation for the rental of the content data
D1 without waiting in front of the portable dedicated terminal 102
while the content data D1 is being recorded in the portable
dedicated terminal 102.
[0247] In this connection, that when in using the distribution of
content data D1 on the Internet 105, it has been already described.
However, also knowledge of the Internet 105 is necessary.
Therefore, sometimes, a person who does not have knowledge of the
Internet 105 is hard to easily receive the distribution of the
content data D1.
[0248] To obviate this, if the customer uses the data providing
system 100 according to the second embodiment, although the
customer uses the Internet 105 when in reserving the rental of the
content data D1, the customer can reserve the rental of the content
data D1 only by directly accessing to a data providing server 101
by the request terminal 103 by a simple operation. Therefore, in
addition to the customer who does not own a content obtaining
device, the customer who does not have knowledge of the Internet
105 can easily obtain content data.
[0249] According to the above configuration, the customer reserves
the rental of desired content data D1 for the data providing server
101 having the content database 111 storing a lot of content data
D1 by means of the request terminal 103. That requested content
data D1 is recorded in the portable dedicated terminal 102 by the
above data providing server 101, and the portable dedicated
terminal 102 is rented to the customer with the above content data
D1. Thereby, the content data can be further easily provided to the
customer who does not own a content obtaining device. Thus, a data
providing system in that the usability can be remarkably improved
can be realized.
[0250] Note that, in the aforementioned second embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the portable dedicated terminal 102
dedicated to the agency is rented with content data D1. However,
this invention is not only limited to this but also the portable
dedicated terminal 102 may be sold to the customer and the content
data D1 may be recorded in the above portable dedicated terminal
102 for purchase or rental. Thereby, even if the customer requests
further purchase of content data D1, the content data D1 similarly
purchased can be recorded and stored in the portable dedicated
terminal 102 that the customer purchased. Thus, the usability of
the data providing system 100 can be further improved.
[0251] In the aforementioned second embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where content data D1 that the customer requested to rent
is recorded in the portable dedicated terminal 102 dedicated to the
agency. However, this invention is not only limited to this but
also content data D1 that the customer requested to rent or
purchase may be recorded in a portable recording and reproducing
device such as a portable telephone, and a portable Mini Disc ((MD)
trademark by Sony Corp.) player, that the customer brought into an
agency. Thereby, also a customer who owns a content obtaining
apparatus can easily use the data providing system, and the
versatility of the above data providing system can be improved.
[0252] Furthermore, in the aforementioned second embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where content data is recorded in the portable
dedicated terminal 102 at an agency according to reservation data
by customer from the request terminal 103.
[0253] However, this invention is not only limited to this but also
for instance content data may be recorded using the Internet or the
like, in the state where the portable dedicated terminal 102 is in
a manufacture company or a sales company or the like. Thereby, even
if the portable dedicated terminal 102 is directly handed to the
customer from a factory or the like, the content data can be
accurately rented.
(4) Third Embodiment
[0254] FIG. 8 in which the same reference numerals are added to
corresponding parts in FIG. 5 shows a data providing system 150
according to a third embodiment. The data providing system 150 is
formed similarly to the data providing system 100 according to the
second embodiment except for the configuration of a data providing
server 151 corresponding to the system management site 2 and the
agencies 4A to 4N described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3
and the configuration that a content server 152 corresponding to
the system management site 2 described above with reference to
FIGS. 1 to 3 is connected to the above data providing server 151
via the Internet 105.
[0255] In this case, in the content server 152, a content database
154 storing many content data D1 more than the content data D1
stored in a content database 153 in the data providing server 151,
and a data table generated by listing the additional information on
the above content data D1 (composed of content ID, title, selling
price, rental price, etc.) is provided.
[0256] In the content database 153 stored in the data providing
server 151, a part of many content data D1 stored in the content
database 154 in the content server 152, and a new data table
generated by making a correspondence, information representing the
content data D1 stored in the data providing server 151 with the
data table stored in the above content database 154 in the content
server 152, are stored.
[0257] Furthermore, in the data providing server 151, a receiving
data judging part 155 for judging the type of data received by the
receiving part 115 is provided. If the receiving part 115 receives
rental reservation request data D2 from the request terminal 103 on
the Internet 105, the data providing server 151 transmits this from
the receiving data judging part 155 to an accounting part 156.
[0258] The data providing server 151 retrieves a data table in the
content database 153 based on that rental reservation request data
D2 by the accounting part 156, and judges whether or not content
data D1 requested to rent by the customer has been stored in the
content database 153.
[0259] If that the content data D1 has been stored in the content
database 153 is confirmed by the accounting part 156, the data
providing server 151 successively transmits recording control data
D3 to a recording control part 157 from the accounting part
156.
[0260] Thereby, the data providing server 151 sends rental
reservation acceptance data from the sending part 118 to the
request terminal 103 by the recording control part 157. At the same
time, the data providing server 151 generates header data D4 based
on that recording control data D3 and records this in the portable
dedicated terminal 102 with the content data D1.
[0261] On the contrary, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, if that the
content data D1 requested by the customer has not been stored in
the content database 153 is confirmed by the accounting part 156,
the data providing server 151 generates recording control data D3
by using the rental reservation request data D2 similarly to the
accounting part 116 of the data providing server 101 (FIG. 5)
according to the second embodiment described above with reference
to FIGS. 5 and 6 (it also executes accounting) by the accounting
part 156. Although, the data providing server 151 transmits the
recording control data D3 from the sending part 118 to the content
server 152 via the Internet 105 as content obtaining request
data.
[0262] As a result, if the requested content data D1 is sent from
the content server 152 via the Internet 105 with the content
obtaining request data, the data providing server 151 receives them
by the receiving part 115, takes them in the receiving data judging
part 155, and transmits them to the recording control part 157.
[0263] The data providing server 151 generates header data D4 by
adding the information on the dedicated terminal ID and copy
history to the content obtaining request data (i.e., recording
control data D3) by the recording control part 157, and records the
above generated header data D4 in the portable dedicated terminal
102 with the content data D1 obtained from the content server
152.
[0264] In this manner, even if the rental of the content data D1
that has not been stored in the content database 153 is requested,
the data providing server 151 can rent the content data D1 to the
customer by obtaining this from the content server 152.
[0265] In this connection, when the data providing server 151
obtains the content data D1 from the content server 152, it takes a
time for processing for accepting the rental reservation comparing
to the case where the content data D1 requested by the customer has
been stored in the content database 153 of the data providing
server 151.
[0266] To obviate this, the data providing server 151 generates
rental reservation acceptance data by the receiving data judging
part 155 and sends this to the portable dedicated terminal 102, and
informs the customer of the acceptance of the rental reservation to
at the time point that the content data D1 had obtained from the
content server 152.
[0267] Furthermore, when the customer came to an agency and
requested to rent content data D1, a clerk of the agency inputs
rental information having the same contents as the entered rental
reservation request data D2 via an operational information input
part 119. The data providing server 151 transmits this from the
operational information judging part 158 to the accounting part
156. Thus, the content data D1 is recorded in the portable
dedicated terminal 102 similarly to the aforementioned rental
reservation by means of the request terminal 103.
[0268] If content information including a content ID to newly store
the content data D1 is entered to the content database 153 via the
operational information input part 119, the data providing server
151 transmits this from the operational information judging part
158 to a request data generating part 159 to generate content
request data according to the content information, and sends this
from the sending part 118 to the content server 152 via the
Internet 105.
[0269] If the desired content data D1 and its additional
information are sent from the content server 152, the data
providing server 151 receives this by the receiving part 115, and
transmits them from the receiving data judging part 155 to the
recording control part 157 to store them in the content database
153 by the above recording control part 157.
[0270] Thereby, though it comparatively takes a time to obtain the
content data D1 from the content server 152, if content data for
example of which the rental request is comparatively many among the
content data D1 not stored in the content database 153, it is
previously obtained from the content server 152 and has been stored
in the content database 153. Thus, the data providing server 151
can rapidly respond to the rental request by the customer.
[0271] On the other hand, if the content obtaining request data is
sent from the data providing server 151 via the Internet 105, the
content server 152 (FIG. 8) receives this by a receiving part 160,
extracts the content ID from that content obtaining request data by
a content ID extracting part 161, and transmits this to a content
retrieving part 162 as well as transmitting the above content
obtaining request data to a sending data generating part 164.
[0272] The content server 152 retrieves data in the content
database 154 based on that content ID by the content retrieval part
162, reads the corresponding content data D1, and transmits this to
the sending data generating part 164. At the same time, the content
server 152 adds the content obtaining request data to that content
data D1 by the above sending data generating part 164, and sends
them from a sending part 165 to the data providing server 151 via
the Internet 105.
[0273] Furthermore, if the content request data is sent from the
data providing server via the Internet 105, the content server 152
receives this by the receiving part 160, extracts the content ID
from that content request data by the content ID extracting part
161, and transmits this to the content retrieval part 162.
[0274] The content server 152 retrieves data in the content
database 154 based on that content ID by the content retrieval part
162, reads corresponding content data D1 and additional
information, and sends them from the sending part 165 via the
sending data generating part 164 to the data providing server 151
on the Internet 105.
[0275] In this manner, the content server 152 can provide the
content data D1 to the data providing server 151.
[0276] Here, rental reservation processing procedures by the data
providing server 151, the request terminal 103 and the content
server 152 in the data providing system 150 will be described
except for the payment of rental charges (i.e. accounting). As
shown in FIG. 10A, first, the request terminal 103 enters routine
RT1 from the start step, and executes similar processing to the
case described above with reference to FIG. 7A.
[0277] On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10B in that the same
reference numerals are added to corresponding parts in FIG. 7B, the
data providing server 151 enters routine RT3 from the start step
and sequentially executes the processing at steps SP11 and SP12.
And then, the data providing server 151 proceeds to step SP21 to
retrieve a data table in the content database 153 by the accounting
part 156 and judging whether or not it is necessary to obtain the
content data D1 that the customer requested to rent from the
content server 152.
[0278] Obtaining an affirmative result in this step SP21 means that
the content data D1 has not been stored in the content database 153
in the data providing server 151. At this time, the data providing
server 151 proceeds to step SP22 to send the recording control data
D3 generated by the accounting part 156 as content obtaining
request data from the sending part 118 to the content server 152
via the Internet 105, and it proceeds to step SP23.
[0279] Here, as shown in FIG. 10C, the content server 152 enters
routing RT4 from the start step, and proceeds to the next step
SP31. In step SP31, the content server 152 awaits that the content
obtaining request data is sent from the data providing server 151.
If the content server 152 receives the content obtaining request
data from the data providing server 151 by the receiving part 160,
the content server 152 proceeds to step SP32.
[0280] In step SP32, the content server 152 retrieves the content
data D1 in the content database 154 by the content retrieval part
162 based on the content ID extracted from the content obtaining
request data by the content ID extracting part 161, and reads the
content data D1 having that content ID from the above content
database 154. Then, the content server 152 proceeds to step
SP33.
[0281] In step SP33, the content server 152 adds the content
obtaining request data to the content data D1 read from the content
database 154 by the sending data generating part 164, sends them
from the sending part 165 to the data providing server 151 via the
Internet 105, and proceeds to the next step SP34 to finish the
above processing by the content server 152.
[0282] On the other hand, in step SP23, the data providing server
151 which sent the content obtaining request data to the content
server 152 awaits that the content data D1 is sent from the above
content server 152. If the data providing server 151 receives the
content data D1 (with the content obtaining request data) from the
above content server 152 by the receiving part 115, the data
providing server 151 proceeds to step SP24.
[0283] In step SP24, the data providing server 151 transmits the
received content data D1 and content obtaining request data from
the receiving data judging part 155 to the recording control part
157, and generates rental reservation acceptance data by the
receiving data judging part 155, and sends this from the sending
part 118 to the request terminal 103 via the Internet 105.
Successively, the data providing server 151 sequentially executes
the processing at steps SP14 and SP15. And then, the data providing
server 151 proceeds to step SP16 to finish the processing by the
above data providing server 151. In this manner, the data providing
server 151 finishes the rental reservation processing for the
content data D1.
[0284] In this connection, obtaining a negative result in the
aforementioned step SP21 means that the content data D1 that the
customer requested to rent has been stored in the content database
153 in the data providing server 151. At this time, the data
providing server 151 proceeds to step SP24 to generate rental
reservation acceptance data by the recording control part 157 that
received the recording control data D3 from the accounting part
156, and sends this from the sending part 118 to the request
terminal 103 via the Internet 105, and then, the data providing
server 151 proceeds to step SP14.
[0285] According to the above configuration, in this data providing
system 150, the data providing server 151 having the content
database 153 storing many content data D1 is connected to the
content server 152 having the content database 154 storing further
more content data D1 than the above content database 153 on the
Internet 105.
[0286] In this data providing system 150, if the data providing
server 151 receives the rental reservation request data D2 from the
request terminal 103 by the customer's operation, the data
providing server 151 judges whether or not the content data D1 that
the customer requested to rent has been stored in the content
database 153 in the data providing server 151. If the content data
D1 has not been stored, the data providing server 151 obtains the
content data D1 from the content server 152, and records this in
the portable dedicated terminal 102 that will be rented to the
customer.
[0287] Accordingly, in this data providing system 150, the scale of
the content database 153 in the data providing server 151 can be
comparatively small. And even if the scale of the content database
153 is reduced, various content data D1 requested by the customer
can be accurately rented.
[0288] In this connection, in this data providing system 150, since
the scale of the content database 153 in the data providing server
151 can be reduced, the agency that installs it can largely reduce
investment in equipment.
[0289] According to the above configuration, the data providing
server 151 having the content database 153 storing many content
data D1 is connected to the content server 152 having the content
database 154 storing further more content data D1 than the above
content database 153. In the data providing server 151 for
receiving a rental request from the customer, in the case where
content data D1 that the customer requested to rent has not been
stored in the content database 153, the data providing server 151
obtains the content data D1 from the content server 152 and rents
this to the customer. Thereby, in addition to the effects obtained
by the aforementioned second embodiment, the scale of the content
database 153 in the data providing server 151 can be largely
reduced. And even if the scale of the content database 153 is
reduced, a data providing system that can accurately rent various
content data D1 requested to the customer can be realized.
[0290] Note that, in the aforementioned third embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where a part of many content data D1 stored in
the content database 154 of the content server 152 is stored in the
content database 153 of the data providing server 151. However,
this invention is not only limited this but also different content
data D1 may be stored in the content database 154 of the content
server 152 and the content database 153 of the data providing
server 151, respectively. Furthermore, different content data D1
may be separatively stored in the content databases of many data
providing servers 151 and content servers 152, respectively.
Thereby, the scale of the content databases in the data providing
servers 151 and the content servers 152 as a whole can be further
reduced.
[0291] In the aforementioned third embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the data providing server 151 obtains content data
D1 from the content server 152. However, this invention is not only
limited this but also a changer for automatically selecting and
reproducing content data D1 from packaged media that was purchased
by the agency for sale or rental may be installed in the agency,
and the data providing server 151 may obtain the content data D1
from the changer, or the content server 152 may be used together
with the changer.
[0292] In the aforementioned third embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the portable dedicated terminal 102 dedicated to the
agency is rented to the customer together with content data D1.
However, this invention is not only limited this but also the
portable dedicated terminal 102 may be sold to the customer, and
the content data D1 may be recorded in the above portable dedicated
terminal 102 for sale and/or rental.
[0293] Furthermore, in the aforementioned third embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where content data D1 that the customer
requested to rent is recorded in the portable dedicated terminal
102 dedicated to the agency. However, this invention is not only
limited this but also the content data D1 that the customer
requested to purchase/rent may be recorded in a portable recording
and/or reproducing device or the like such as a portable telephone,
a portable MD player carried into the agency by the customer.
(5) Fourth Embodiment
[0294] FIG. 11 shows a data providing system 200 according to a
fourth embodiment. The data providing system 200 is formed by that
a portable dedicated terminal 202 corresponding to the portable
dedicated terminals 7A to 7N described above with reference to
FIGS. 1 to 3 and an advertiser/company server 203 corresponding to
the advertiser and company site 6 described above with reference to
FIGS. 1 and 3 are connected to an intermediate server 201
corresponding to the system management site 2 described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, respectively, on the Internet 204.
[0295] The intermediate server 201 has a customer database 210 for
registering a customer using the Internet 204 via the intermediate
server 201, and an advertiser and company database 211 for
registering advertisers and companies that want to provide
distribution data such as advertisement to the customer via the
Internet 204.
[0296] In the advertiser and company database 211,
advertiser/company registering screen data has been previously
stored. If registration request data for requesting registration is
sent from the advertiser/company server 203 of an
advertiser/company that wants an advertiser/company registration,
the intermediate server 201 receives this by a receiving part 212,
reads the advertiser/company registering screen data from the
advertiser/company database 211 according to the registration
request data by an advertiser/company information updating part
213, and sends this from a sending part 214 to the
advertiser/company server 203 on the Internet 204.
[0297] As a result, if advertiser/company information shown in FIG.
12A, that was entered by an operator on an advertiser/company
registering screen based on the advertiser/company registering
screen data, is sent from the advertiser/company server 203 as
advertiser/company registration information data, the intermediate
server 201 receives this by the receiving part 212.
[0298] Here, as shown in FIG. 12A, the advertiser/company
information sent from the advertiser/company server 203 to the
intermediate server 201 is composed of various information peculiar
to each advertiser or company, such as a company's name (that is,
advertiser's name information or company's name information), a
telephone number and an e-mail address, business contents
information including distribution genre information representing
the genre of distribution data that the advertiser/company provides
(e.g., Japanese cars and/or imported cars, rock music and/or
classic music, Hollywood motion pictures or Japanese motion
pictures), a comment such as the catchphrase of the
advertiser/company, and a term number representing a term when the
advertise/company concludes a contract to the customer. They are
generated by that the operator in the advertiser/company directly
inputs or selects from among various items shown by the
intermediate server 201.
[0299] If the intermediate server 201 obtains such
advertiser/company information, the intermediate server 201 issues
peculiar advertiser/company identification information to each
advertiser/company requesting the registration (hereinafter, this
is referred to as advertiser/company ID) by the advertiser/company
information updating part 213, and sends this from the sending part
214 to the advertiser/company server 203 of the advertiser/company
requesting the registration, via the Internet 204.
[0300] In addition to this, as shown in FIG. 12B, the intermediate
server 201 adds the advertiser/company ID to the advertiser/company
information obtained from the above advertiser/company by the
advertiser/company information updating part 213, and stores them
as advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser
and company database 211 to register the advertiser/company. In
this manner, the intermediate server 201 accepts a registration
request from an advertiser or a company at any time, and executes
advertiser/company registering processing.
[0301] On the other hand, in the customer database 210, customer
registering screen data has been previously stored. If registration
request data for requesting registration is sent from the portable
dedicated terminal 202 by that the customer who requests a
registration operates an operating part 240, the intermediate
server 201 receives this by the receiving part 212, reads the
customer registering screen data from the customer database 210
according to the registration request data by a customer
information updating part 215, and sends this from the sending part
214 to the portable dedicated terminal 202 on the Internet 204.
[0302] As a result, if customer information that the customer
entered on a customer registering screen based on the customer
registering screen data, as shown in FIG. 13A, is sent from the
portable dedicated terminal 202 as customer registration
information data, the intermediate server 201 receives this by the
receiving part 212.
[0303] Here, as shown in FIG. 13A, the customer information sent
from the customer to the intermediate server 201 is composed of
various personal information such as a customer's name, sex and
age, information about a genre that the customer has interest
(e.g., Japanese cars and/or imported cars, rock music and/or
classic music, Hollywood motion pictures and/or Japanese motion
pictures, etc.) (hereinafter, this is referred to as customer's
favorite genre information), and taste information for representing
a customer's taste or the like by a comment, a term number
representing a term when the customer contracts to an
advertiser/company, and an e-mail address that has been previously
allotted to the portable dedicated terminal 202 used by the
customer. They are generated by that the customer directly inputs
or selects from among various items shown by the intermediate
server 201.
[0304] In this connection, the terms in the case where the customer
contracts with an advertiser/company are as FIG. 14: "The
advertiser/company pays a part of customer's communication
charges.", "The advertiser/company discounts the purchase of
merchandise etc. by the customer.", "The customer can use the point
of Internet mileage that the customer got in payment for the
purchase of merchandise etc.", "The advertiser/company gives a
present to the customer according to the point of the Internet
mileage that the customer got.", "The customer accesses the site of
the advertiser/company for a predetermined time or over every
month.", "The customer purchases merchandise etc. from the
advertiser/customer for a predetermined amount or over every
month.", etc.
[0305] If the aforementioned customer information is obtained, the
intermediate server 201 issues a customer ID to the customer by the
customer information updating part 215, and sends this from the
sending part 214 to the customer's portable dedicated terminal 202
via the Internet 204 for storing.
[0306] At this time, as shown in FIG. 13B, the intermediate server
201 adds the customer ID to the customer information by the
customer information updating part 215, and stores them in the
customer database 210 as customer registration information to
register the customer. In this manner, the intermediate server 201
accepts a registration request from a customer at any time, and
executes the customer registration processing.
[0307] Thereafter, if content specifying data including the
customer ID is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 202 to
request the distribution of content data to various agencies by an
operation by that the registered customer operates the operating
part 240, the intermediate server 201 temporarily receives this by
the receiving part 212.
[0308] The intermediate server 201 retrieves the customer
registration information in the customer database 210 based on the
customer ID included in the content specifying data. And if it
detects the customer's registration information, it adds this to
the contents of the content specifying data as additional customer
information, and updates them. Then, the intermediate server 201
sends the content specifying data from the sending part 214 to the
agency via the Internet 204.
[0309] In this manner, the intermediate server 201 relays content
data from the portable dedicated terminal 202 to the agency every
time when the customer uses the agency on the Internet 204, so that
as shown in FIG. 15, the intermediate server 201 adds accessed
genre information representing the genre of the content data that
the customer obtained from the agency, access counter information
representing the number of times that the customer obtained content
data of that genre, and information about the amount of money that
the customer paid to obtain the above content data, to the customer
registration information, and sequentially updates the contents of
that customer registration by the customer information updating
part 215.
[0310] In this connection, the intermediate server 201 issues a
point to give the customer a privilege such as a discount (Internet
mileage) every time when the customer uses the agency by the
portable dedicated terminal 202 by the customer information
updating part 215, according to the using state (purchase of
content data, rental price, using time of the Internet, etc.). Also
that point will be added to the customer registration information
every issue.
[0311] Therefore, the intermediate server 201 can grasp the
customer's taste or the like based on the customer registration
information in the customer database 210.
[0312] By the way, if approval-by-customer data (including the
customer ID) to approve the release of the customer information to
an advertiser/company, in order to contract to the
advertiser/customer to obtain distribution data, is sent from the
portable dedicated terminal 202 by a customer's operation, the
intermediate server 201 (FIG. 11) receives this by the receiving
part 212, and takes this in a matching part 216.
[0313] In this case, as shown in FIG. 16, the matching part 216
takes the approval-by-customer data in a monitoring part 220. In
the monitor part 220, the customer registration information on the
customer who approved the release is read from the customer
database 210 based on the customer ID included in the
approval-by-customer data, and is transmitted to a judging part
221, and to an advertiser/company information extracting part 223
via a delay part 222.
[0314] The matching part 216 judges whether or not there is a genre
showing the number of times that the customer obtained the content
data more than a threshold value previously set (for example, 100
times) as the genre of the content data that the customer obtained,
from the accessed genre information and the access counter
information in the customer registration information, by the
judging part 221.
[0315] If there is a genre showing the number of the times of
obtaining more than the threshold value in the customer
registration information, the matching part 216 detects the genre
as a genre matching to the current customer's taste, and judges
that the intermediate server 201 can introduce the customer to an
advertiser and/or a company, by the judging part 221. The matching
part 216 notifies the advertiser/company information extracting
part 223 of that genre as customer's taste information.
[0316] The matching part 216 compares distribution genre
information included in the advertiser/company registration
information in the advertiser and company database 211 with the
customer's taste information to retrieve advertiser/company
registration information that they are matching, and reads the
advertiser/company registration information (FIG. 12B) of the
advertiser/company that can provide distribution data in the genre
shown by the above customer's taste information, by the
advertiser/company information extracting part 223. The matching
part 216 excepts the advertiser/company ID from thus read
advertiser/company registration information, and generates
advertiser/company introducing information to introduce the
advertiser/company to the customer, as shown in FIG. 17.
[0317] The matching part 216 sends the advertiser/company
introducing information from the sending part 214 to the portable
dedicated terminal 202 via the Internet 204 as advertiser/company
introducing data, according to the e-mail address shown in the
customer registration information supplied from the delay part 222,
by the advertiser/company information extracting part 223. Thereby,
the advertiser/company that can provide the distribution data
matching with the customer's taste can be introduced to the
customer.
[0318] On the contrary, if there is no genre showing the number of
the times of obtaining more than the threshold value in the
customer registration information, the matching part 216 judges
that because the customer's taste is not clear, the intermediate
server 201 cannot introduce the customer to advertisers and/or
companies, by the judging part 221, and notifies the above judged
result to the advertiser/company information extracting part
223.
[0319] The matching part 216 generates introduction-of
advertiser-and/or-company impossibility information representing
that an advertiser and/or a company that can provide distribution
data matching with the customer's taste could not be found by the
advertiser/company information extracting part 223, and sends this
from the sending part 214 to the portable dedicated terminal 202
via the Internet 204 introduction-of-advertiser-and/or-company
impossibility data, according to the e-mail address shown in the
customer registration information supplied from the delay part 222.
Thereby, that an advertiser and/or a company that can provide
distribution data matching with the customer's taste could not be
found at the present time is notified to the customer.
[0320] As a result of that the advertiser and/or company was
introduced to the customer, if advertiser and/or company selecting
data (including the customer ID) showing the advertiser and/or
company that the customer selected from among the introduced
advertisers and/or companies is sent from the portable dedicated
terminal 202 by the customer's operation, the intermediate server
201 receives this by the receiving part 212, and takes this in the
advertiser/company information extracting part 223 from the
monitoring part 220 of the matching part 216 via the judging part
221.
[0321] If the advertiser and/or company introducing information is
generated, the matching part 216 temporarily stores the customer
registration information and the customer's taste information that
were used to generate that, in the advertiser/company information
extracting part 223.
[0322] Therefore, if the matching part 216 takes the advertiser
and/or company selecting data in the advertiser/company information
extracting part 223, the matching part 216 generates customer
introducing information in that the matching taste information in
the customer registration information (FIG. 13B) is selectively
used based on the customer's taste information as shown in FIG. 18,
to introduce the customer to the advertiser and/or company, and
sends this as customer introducing data, from the sending part 214
to the advertiser/company server 203 of the advertiser/company that
the customer selected on the Internet 204, according to the
advertiser and/or company selecting data.
[0323] Thereby, the intermediate server 201 shown in FIG. 11 can
introduce the advertiser and/or company that can provide
distribution data useful for the customer, to the customer who
requested the introduction of advertisers and/or companies. At the
same time, the intermediate server 201 can introduce the customer
who needs their providing of distribution data to the
advertisers/companies.
[0324] In this connection, as a result of that the advertiser
and/or company was introduced to the customer, if
selection-of-advertiser/company impossible data representing that
the customer could not find an advertiser and/or a company wanting
to contract is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 202, the
intermediate server 201 receives this by the receiving part 212,
forbids the matching part 216 to generate customer introducing
information, and awaits sending of approval-by-customer data from
the portable dedicated terminal 202 of the above customer
again.
[0325] Note that, when the intermediate server 201 introduces the
customer to an advertiser and/or a company, it collects charges for
the introduction of the customer from the advertiser and/or
company.
[0326] As a result of that the intermediate server 201 sent the
customer introducing data to the advertiser/company server 203, if
the advertiser and/or company contracts with the customer and
contract conclusion data is sent from the advertiser/company server
203, the intermediate server 201 receives this by the receiving
part 212, and then sends this from the sending part 214 to the
portable dedicated terminal 202 on the Internet 204. Thereby, the
conclusion of the contract between the advertiser/company is
notified to the customer.
[0327] At this time, as shown in FIG. 19, the intermediate server
201 adds contracting customer ID information representing the
customer's ID who contracted with the above advertiser and/or
company to the advertiser/company registration information in the
advertiser and company database 211 based on the contract
conclusion data, and updates the advertiser/company registration
information, by the advertiser/company information updating part
213. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 20, the intermediate server
201 adds contracting advertiser/company ID information representing
the advertiser's/customer's ID of the advertiser/company that
contracted with the above customer to the customer registration
information in the customer database 210 based on that contract
conclusion data, and updates the customer registration information,
by the customer information updating part 215.
[0328] Thereby, the intermediate server 201 can grasp the
contracting state between the customer and advertiser/company from
thus updated customer registration information and
advertiser/company registration information. Thus, when the release
of the customer information is approved from the customer who is
under contraction with the advertiser/company to newly contract
with an advertiser and/or a company, it can be prevented that the
intermediate server 201 introduces that advertiser/company being
under contraction with the customer again.
[0329] Furthermore, as a result of that the intermediate server 201
sent the customer introducing data to the advertiser/company server
203, if the advertiser/company abandons the contract with the
customer and contract inconclusion data is sent from the
advertiser/company server 203, the intermediate server 201 receives
this by the receiving part 212, and sends this from the sending
part 214 to the portable dedicated terminal 202 via the Internet
204. Thereby, that the contract with the advertiser/company was not
concluded is notified to the customer.
[0330] In this connection, when in generating the
advertiser/company introducing information and customer introducing
information described above with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18, the
intermediate server 201 excepts the contracting customer ID
information and the contracting advertiser/company ID information
from the original advertiser/company registration information and
customer registration information. Thereby, leakage of personal
information unnecessary for the contract can be prevented.
[0331] On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11, if an operator
enters a registration request by an operating part 230, the
advertiser/company server 203 sends the registration request as
registration request data, from a sending part 232 to the
intermediate server 201 via the Internet 204, by a sending control
part 231.
[0332] The advertiser/company server 203 receives
advertiser/company registering screen data from the intermediate
server 201 by a receiving part 233, and transmits this from a
display control part 234 to a display part 235. Thereby, an
advertiser/company registering screen based on the
advertiser/company registering screen data is displayed on the
display part 235.
[0333] Then, if the operating part 230 is operated by the operator
while the advertiser/company registering screen is displayed on the
display part 235, the advertiser/company server 203 sends the
advertiser/company information that was entered on the
advertiser/company registering screen according to the above
operation of the operating part 230, as advertiser/company
registration information data described above with reference to
FIG. 12A, from the sending part 232 to the intermediate server 201
by the sending control part 231 via the Internet 204.
[0334] The advertiser/company server 203 receives the
advertiser/company ID sent from the intermediate server 201 that
finished the registration of the advertiser/company by the
receiving part 233 via the Internet 204, and stores this in a
distribution information database 236. Thereafter, when in
accessing the intermediate server 201, the advertiser/company
server 203 uses that advertiser/company ID for identification.
[0335] After the advertise/company server 203 was registered in the
intermediate server 201, if the customer introducing information
described above with reference to FIG. 17 is sent from the above
intermediate server 201 via the Internet 204 as customer
introducing data, the advertiser/company server 203 receives this
by the receiving part 233, and takes this in a customer selecting
part 237.
[0336] In this case, the advertiser/company server 203 judges
whether or not a contract should be concluded with the customer
introduced from the intermediate server 201, by referring to the
contract terms and the using state of the Internet or the like, by
the customer selecting part 237 based on the customer introducing
data.
[0337] If the advertiser/company server 203 decides to contract
with the customer introduced from the intermediate server 201 by
the customer selecting part 237, the advertiser/company server 203
generates contract conclusion data by a sending data generating
part 238, and sends this to the intermediate server 201
sequentially via the sending control part 231, the sending part 232
and the Internet 204.
[0338] At this time, the advertiser/company server 203 notifies the
sending control part 231 of that to contract with the customer was
decided, by the customer selecting part 237. Thereby, the
advertiser/company server 203 properly selects and reads
distribution data matching with the customer's taste from among
various distribution data previously stored in the distribution
information database 236, and sends thus read distribution data
from the sending part 232 to the customer's portable dedicated
terminal 202 via the Internet 204, by the sending control part
231.
[0339] In this manner, the advertiser/company server 203 can
properly provide distribution data matching with the customer's
taste to the contracting customer.
[0340] In this connection, if the advertiser/company server 203
decides not to contract with the customer introduced from the
intermediate server 201 by the customer selecting part 237, the
advertiser/company server 203 generates contract inconclusion data
by the sending data generating part 238, and sends this to the
intermediate server 201 sequentially via the sending control part
231, the sending part 232 and the Internet 204.
[0341] In the portable dedicated terminal 202, if the customer who
wants a registration in the intermediate server 201 enters a
registration request by the operating part 240, the portable
dedicated terminal 202 generates registration request data by a
request data generating part 241, and sends this from a sending
part 242 to the intermediate server 201 via the Internet 204.
[0342] The portable dedicated terminal 202 receives customer
registering screen data sent from the intermediate server 201 by a
receiving part 243 via the Internet 204, and transmits this to a
reproducing part 244 composed of a display control part, a display
part, a speaker, etc. Thereby, a customer registering screen based
on the customer registering screen data is displayed by the
reproducing part 244.
[0343] Then, if customer information is entered by that customer
operates the operating part 240 in the state where the customer
registering screen is displayed by the reproducing part 244, the
portable dedicated terminal 202 sends the customer information from
the sending part 242 to the intermediate server 201 by the request
data generating part 241 via the Internet 204, described above with
reference to FIG. 13(A) as customer registration information
data.
[0344] The portable dedicated terminal 202 receives the customer ID
from the intermediate server 201 that finished the customer
registration by the receiving part 243 via the Internet 204, and
takes that customer ID in a recording control part 245.
[0345] The portable dedicated terminal 202 can identify various
data that were taken in the recording control part 245 via the
receiving part 243, by the above recording control part 245 based
on an identifier that has been previously added to the data.
[0346] If the portable dedicated terminal 202 obtains the customer
ID, the portable dedicated terminal 202 records the customer ID in
a recording medium for customer 246 by the recording control part
245. Thereafter, when in accessing the intermediate server 201 or
the agency via the above intermediate server 201, the portable
dedicated terminal 202 uses that customer ID. Thereby, the
intermediate server 201 and the agency can identify the
customer.
[0347] If the customer is registered in the intermediate server
201, the portable dedicated terminal 202 sends information for
specifying desired content data that the customer entered by
operating the operating part 240 from the sending part 242 to the
agency by the request data generating part 241 via the intermediate
server 201, as content specifying data accompanied with the
customer ID.
[0348] Then, if the portable dedicated terminal 202 receives the
content data from the agency by the receiving part 243, the
portable dedicated terminal 202 identifies that by the recording
control part 245, and records this in an recording medium for
agency 247. Thereafter, the portable dedicated terminal 202
reproduces the content data from the recording medium for agency
247 by the reproducing control part 248, according to the
customer's operation of the operating part 240, and transmits thus
reproduced content data to the reproducing part 244. Thereby, the
customer can enjoy the content.
[0349] If the customer enters approval information for approving
the release of the customer information by the operating part 240,
the portable dedicated terminal 202 generates approval-by-customer
data representing that approval information by the request data
generating part 241, and sends this from the sending part 242 to
the intermediate server 201 via the Internet 204.
[0350] As a result, if advertiser/company introducing data is sent
from the intermediate server 201 via the Internet 204, the portable
dedicated terminal 202 receives this by the receiving part 243, and
transmits this to the reproducing part 244. An advertiser and/or
company to be introduced from the intermediate server 201 is shown
to the customer by an advertiser/company introducing screen based
on that advertiser/company introducing data.
[0351] If the customer selects desired advertiser and/or company by
the operating part 240, the portable dedicated terminal 202
generates advertiser/company selecting data representing that
selected advertiser/company by the request data generating part
241, and sends this from the sending part 242 to the intermediate
server 201 via the Internet 204.
[0352] As a result, if contract conclusion data is sent from the
intermediate server 201 via the Internet 204 by that the advertiser
or the company contracted with the customer, the portable dedicated
terminal 202 receives this by the receiving part 243, and transmits
this to the reproducing part 244. Thereby, the conclusion of the
contract with the advertiser/company is notified to the
customer.
[0353] If the distribution data is sent from the advertiser/company
server 203 being under contraction with the customer, the portable
dedicated terminal 202 receives this by the receiving part 243,
identifies the above received distribution data and records this in
the recording medium for customer 246 by the recording control part
245. Thereafter, the portable dedicated terminal 202 reproduces the
distribution data from the recording medium for customer 246 by the
reproducing control part 248 according to the customer's operation
of the operating part 240, and transmits the above reproduced
distribution data to the reproducing part 244. Thereby, various
information based on that distribution data can be shown to the
customer.
[0354] On the contrary, if contract inconclusion data is sent from
the intermediate server 201 by that the advertiser or the company
abandon the contract with the customer, the portable dedicated
terminal 202 receives this by the receiving part 243, and transmits
this to the reproducing part 244. Thereby, the inconclusion of the
contract with the advertiser/company is notified to the
customer.
[0355] In this connection, as a result of that the portable
dedicated terminal 202 sent the approval-by-customer data to the
intermediate server 201, if
introduction-of-advertiser-and/or-company disapproval data is sent,
the portable dedicated terminal 202 receives this by the receiving
part 243, and transmits this to the reproducing part 244. Thereby,
that the intermediate server 201 could not find an advertiser
and/or a company introducible to the customer at the present time
is notified to the customer.
[0356] As a result of that the advertisers and/or company
introduced from the intermediate server 201 were shown to the
customer, if selection disapproval information representing that
the customer could not find an advertiser and/or a company that
he/she wants to contract from among the introduced advertiser
and/or company is entered by the above customer by the operating
part 240, the portable dedicated terminal 202 generates
selection-of-advertiser-and/or-company disapproval data
representing that selection disapproval information by the request
data generating part 241, and sends this from the sending part 242
to the intermediate server 201 via the Internet 204.
[0357] By the way, the recording medium for customer 246 and the
recording medium for agency 247 have been provided in this portable
dedicated terminal 202 as described above. So that, the data
obtained from the intermediate server 201 and the
advertiser/company server 203 (customer ID and distribution data)
will be recorded in the recording medium for customer 246 by
separating that from the data obtained from the agency (content
data).
[0358] Thereby, in the advertiser/company server 202, when the
content data rented from the agency is erased from the recording
medium for agency 247 on the expiration of the rental term, that
the data such as the customer ID and the distribution data obtained
for the customer from the servers are erroneously erased with the
above content data, can be surely prevented.
[0359] Here, an advertiser/company registration processing
procedure by the intermediate server 201 and the advertiser/company
server 203 in the data providing system 200 will be collectively
described. First, as shown in FIG. 21A, the advertiser/company
server 203 enters routine RT10 from the start step, and proceeds to
step SP101.
[0360] In step SP101, the advertiser/company server 203 awaits that
a registration request is entered by the operating part 230. If it
is entered, the advertiser/company server 203 proceeds to step
SP102.
[0361] In step SP102, the advertiser/company server 203 sends the
registration request from the sending part 232 to the intermediate
server 201 as registration request data by the sending control part
231, and proceeds to step SP103.
[0362] At this time, as shown in FIG. 21B, the intermediate server
201 enters routine RT11 from the start step, and proceeds to step
SP111 to await the registration request data from the
advertiser/company server 203. If the intermediate server 201
receives the registration request data from the above
advertiser/company server 203 by the receiving part 212, it
proceeds to step SP112.
[0363] In step SP112, the intermediate server 201 reads
advertiser/company registering screen data from the advertiser and
company database 211 based on the received registration request
data by the advertiser/company information updating part 213, and
sends this from the sending part 214 to the advertiser/company
server 203, and it proceeds to step SP103.
[0364] At this time, in step SP103, the advertiser/company server
203 awaits the advertiser/company registering screen data from the
intermediate server 201. If the advertiser/company server 203
receives the advertiser/company registering screen data by the
receiving part 233, it proceeds to step SP104.
[0365] In step SP104, the advertiser/company server 203 sends
advertiser/company information that was entered on an
advertiser/company registering screen based on the
advertiser/company registering screen data by the operator with the
operating part 230, from the sending part 232 to the intermediate
server 201 by the sending control part 231 as advertiser/company
registration information data, and it proceeds to step SP105.
[0366] At this time, in step SP113, the intermediate server 201
awaits the advertiser/company registration information data from
the advertiser/company server 203. If the intermediate server 201
receives the advertiser/company registration information data by
the receiving part 212, it proceeds to step SP114.
[0367] In step SP114, the intermediate server 201 issues an
advertiser/company ID to the advertiser/company that requested a
registration by the advertiser/company information updating part
213, and sends this from the sending part 214 to the
advertiser/company server 203. At the same time, the intermediate
server 201 and adds the advertiser/company ID to the
advertiser/company information based on the advertiser/company
registration information data obtained from the above
advertiser/company server 203 and sets this as advertiser/company
registration information, and stores this in the advertiser and
company database 211 to register the advertiser/company that
requested the registration. Then, the intermediate server 201
proceeds to step SP115 to finish the processing in the intermediate
server 201.
[0368] Furthermore, in step SP105, the advertiser/company server
203 awaits the advertiser/company ID from the intermediate server
201. If the advertiser/company server 203 receives the
advertiser/company ID by the receiving part 233, it proceeds to
step SP106 to store the advertiser/company ID in the distribution
information database 236. Then, the advertiser/company server 203
proceeds to the next step SP107 to finish the processing in the
advertiser/company server 203. In this manner, the data providing
system 200 finishes all the advertiser/company registering
processing procedures in the intermediate server 201 and the
advertiser/company server 203.
[0369] An advertiser/company introducing processing procedures by
the intermediate server 201 and the portable dedicated terminal 202
in the data providing system 200 will be collectively described.
First, as shown in FIGS. 22A and 23A, the portable dedicated
terminal 202 enters routing RT12 from the start step, and proceeds
to step SP121.
[0370] In step SP121, the portable dedicated terminal 202 awaits
that the customer enters a registration request by the operating
part 240. If the registration request is entered, the portable
dedicated terminal 202 proceeds to step SP122.
[0371] In step SP122, the portable dedicated terminal 202 sends the
registration request from the sending part 242 to the intermediate
server 201 as registration request data by the request data
generating part 241, and it proceeds to step SP123.
[0372] At this time, as shown in FIGS. 22B and 23B, the
intermediate server 201 enters routine RT13 from the start step,
and proceeds to step SP141 to await the registration request data
from the portable dedicated terminal 202. If the intermediate
server 201 receives the registration request data from the portable
dedicated terminal 202 by the receiving part 212, it proceeds to
step SP142.
[0373] In step SP142, the intermediate server 201 reads customer
registering screen data from the customer database 210 by the
customer information updating part 215 based on the registration
request data, and sends this from the sending part 214 to the
portable dedicated terminal 202, and proceeds to step SP143.
[0374] At this time, in step SP123, the portable dedicated terminal
202 awaits the customer registering screen data from the
intermediate server 201. If the portable dedicated terminal 202
receives the customer registering screen data by the receiving part
243, it proceeds to step SP124.
[0375] In step SP124, the portable dedicated terminal 202 sends
customer information that was entered on a customer registering
screen based on the customer registering screen data by the
customer with the operating part 240, from the sending part 242 to
the intermediate server 201 by the request data generating part 241
as customer registration information data, and it proceeds to step
SP125.
[0376] At this time, in step SP143, the intermediate server 201
awaits the customer registration information data from the portable
dedicated terminal 202. If the intermediate server 201 receives the
customer registration information data by the receiving part 212,
it proceeds to step SP144.
[0377] In step SP144, the intermediate server 201 issues a customer
ID to the customer who requested a registration by the customer
information updating part 215, and sends this from the sending part
214 to the portable dedicated terminal 202. At the same time, the
intermediate server 201 adds the customer ID to the customer
information based on the above customer registration information
data obtained from the portable dedicated terminal 202 and sets
this as customer registration information, and stores this in the
customer database 210 to register the above customer who requested
the registration. Then, the intermediate server 201 proceeds to
step SP145.
[0378] At this time, in step SP125, the portable dedicated terminal
202 awaits the customer ID from the intermediate server 201. If the
portable dedicated terminal 202 receives the customer ID by the
receiving part 243, it proceeds to step SP126 to record that
customer ID in the recording medium for customer 246, and proceeds
to step SP127.
[0379] In step SP127, the portable dedicated terminal 202 awaits
that the customer enters a request with the operating part 240. If
a request is entered, the portable dedicated terminal 202 proceeds
to step SP128 to determine whether or not that is a request to
permit the release of the customer information.
[0380] Obtaining a negative result in this step SP128 means that
the customer's request is specifying information for example to
obtain content data from various agencies. At this time, the
portable dedicated terminal 202 proceeds to step SP129 to generate
content specifying data representing the specifying information
including the customer ID by the request data generating part 241,
and sends this from the sending part 242 to the agencies via the
intermediate server 201, and it returns to step SP127.
[0381] Thereafter, until the customer requests the permission of
the release of the customer information, the portable dedicated
terminal 202 repeats the processing loop of steps SP127-SP128-SP129
every time when content data specifying information is entered by
the customer.
[0382] Obtaining an affirmative result in step SP128 means that the
permission of the release of the customer information was requested
by that the customer wanted to contract with an advertiser and/or a
company. At this time, the portable dedicated terminal 202 proceeds
to step SP130 to generate customer approval data representing the
permission of the release of the customer information and including
the customer ID by the request data generating part 241, and sends
this from the sending part 242 to the intermediate server 201.
Then, the portable dedicated terminal 202 proceeds to step
SP131.
[0383] On the other hand, in step SP145, the intermediate server
201 awaits that data is sent from the portable dedicated terminal
202. If the intermediate server 201 receives data from the above
portable dedicated terminal 202 by the receiving part 212, it
proceeds to step SP146 to determine whether or not the received
data is the customer approval data.
[0384] Obtaining a negative result in step SP146 means that the
intermediate server 201 received content specifying data from the
portable dedicated terminal 202 for relay to the agency. At this
time, the intermediate server 201 proceeds to step SP147 to update
the customer registration information based on the content
specifying data by the customer information updating part 215.
Then, the intermediate server 201 proceeds to step SP145.
[0385] In this manner, until the customer approval data is sent
from the portable dedicated terminal 202, the intermediate server
201 repeats the processing loop of steps SP145-SP146-SP147 every
time when content specifying data is received from the above
portable dedicated terminal 202, and sequentially updates the
customer registration information.
[0386] Obtaining an affirmative result in step SP146 means that the
intermediate server 201 received the customer approval data by that
the customer permitted the release of the customer information to
contract with an advertiser and/or company. At this time, the
intermediate server 201 proceeds to step SP148 to determine whether
or not there is a genre showing the number of the times of
obtaining more than the threshold value, for the content data
obtained by the customer by the matching part 216 based on the
customer registration information.
[0387] Obtaining a negative result in this step SP148 means that
because there is no genre, it is hard to specify the customer's
taste at the present time. At this time, the intermediate server
201 generates advertiser and company introduction disapproval data
by the matching part 216, and sends this from the sending part 214
to the portable dedicated terminal 202 to notify the customer of
that an advertiser and/or a company introducible to the customer
cannot be found at the present time. Then, the intermediate server
201 returns step SP145.
[0388] On the contrary, obtaining an affirmative result in step
SP148 means that there is a genre representing the number of the
times of obtaining more than the threshold value, for the content
data that the customer obtained. That genre is specified as the
customer's taste at the present time. At this time, the
intermediate server 201 proceeds to step SP149.
[0389] In step SP149, the intermediate server 201 retrieves
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 based on the customer's taste that was
specified in step SP148, by the matching part 216, and reads the
advertiser/company registration information on an advertiser and a
company that can provide distribution data matching with the
customer's taste.
[0390] The intermediate server 201 generates advertiser and/or
company introducing information based on the advertiser/company
registration information read from the advertiser and company
database 211 by the matching part 216, and sends this from the
sending part 214 to the portable dedicated terminal 202 as
advertiser and/or company introducing data, to introduce the
advertiser and/or company to the customer. Then, the intermediate
server 201 returns to step SP145 and repeats the processing of
steps SP145-SP146-SP147-SP148-SP149 again.
[0391] After sending the customer approval data to the intermediate
server 201, in step SP131, the portable dedicated terminal 202
awaits the advertiser and/or company introducing data or the
advertiser/company introduction disapproval data from the
intermediate server 201. If the portable dedicated terminal 202
receives the advertiser and/or company introducing data or the
advertiser and company introduction disapproval data from the
intermediate server 201 by the receiving part 243, it proceeds to
the next step SP132.
[0392] If the portable dedicated terminal 202 receives the
advertiser and company introduction disapproval data by the
receiving part 243, in step SP132, the portable dedicated terminal
202 transmits this to the reproducing part 244 to notify the
customer of that the intermediate server 201 could not find an
advertiser and a company for the customer. Then, the portable
dedicated terminal 202 returns to step SP127 and repeats the
processing of steps SP127-SP128-SP129-SP130-SP131-SP132 again.
[0393] If the portable dedicated terminal 202 receives the
advertiser and/or company introducing data by the receiving part
243, in step SP132, the portable dedicated terminal 202 transmits
this to the reproducing part 244 to show the customer the
advertiser and/or the company that was introduced from the
intermediate server 201. Then, the portable dedicated terminal 202
returns to step SP127 and repeats the processing of steps
SP127-SP128-SP129-SP130-SP131-SP132 again. The advertiser and/or
company introducing processing procedures in the data providing
system 200 are executed as the above.
[0394] Contracting processing procedures by the intermediate server
201, the portable dedicated terminal 202 and the advertiser/company
server 203 in the data providing system 200 will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 24A, the portable dedicated terminal 202
which received the advertiser and/or company introducing data from
the intermediate server 201 enters routine RT14 from the start
step, and proceeds to step SP161.
[0395] In step SP161, the portable dedicated terminal 202 shows the
customer the advertiser and/or company introduced from the
intermediate server 201 by the reproducing part 244. If the
customer selects the advertiser and/or company wanting to contract
with the operating part 240, the portable dedicated terminal 202
proceeds to step SP162.
[0396] In step SP162, the portable dedicated terminal 202 generates
advertiser and/or company selecting data representing the
advertiser and/or the company selected by the customer by the
request data generating part 241, and sends this from the sending
part 242 to the intermediate server 201 via the Internet 204. Then,
the portable dedicated terminal 202 proceeds to the next step
SP163.
[0397] At this time, as shown in FIG. 24B, the intermediate server
201 enters routine RT15 from the start step, and proceeds to step
SP171 to await the advertiser/company selecting data from the
portable dedicated terminal 202. If the intermediate server 201
receives the advertiser/company selecting data from the portable
dedicated terminal 202 by the receiving part 212, it proceeds to
step SP172.
[0398] In step SP172, the intermediate server 201 generates
customer introducing information from the customer registration
information based on the advertiser and/or company selecting data
by the matching part 216, and sends this from the sending part 214
to the advertiser/company server 203 as customer introducing data
via the Internet 204. Then, the intermediate server 201 proceeds to
step SP173.
[0399] Here, at this time, as shown in FIG. 24C, the
advertiser/company server 203 enters routine RT16 from the start
step, and proceeds to step SP181 to await the customer introducing
data from the intermediate server 201. If the advertiser/company
server 203 receives the customer introducing data from the
intermediate server 201 by the receiving part 233, it proceeds to
step SP182.
[0400] In step SP182, the advertiser/company server 203 judges
whether or not to contract with the customer by the customer
selecting part 237, by referring to the contract terms and the
using state of the Internet 204 based on the customer introducing
data.
[0401] Obtaining a negative result in step SP182 means that the
contract terms shown by the customer and the using state of the
Internet 204 did not match with the request of the
advertiser/company and the contract was abandoned. At this time,
the advertiser/company server 203 proceeds to step SP183 to
generate contract inconclusion data by the sending data generating
part 238, and sends this from the sending part 232 to the
intermediate server 201 via the Internet 204. Then, the
advertiser/company server 203 proceeds to step SP184 to finish the
processing in the advertiser/company server 203.
[0402] On the contrary, obtaining an affirmative result in step
SP182 means that the contract terms shown by the customer and the
using state of the Internet 204 matched with the request of the
advertiser/company and the advertiser/company decided to contract
with the customer. At this time, the advertiser/company server 203
proceeds to step SP185 to generate contract conclusion data by the
sending data generating part 238, and sends this from the sending
part 232 to the intermediate server 201 via the Internet 204. Then,
the advertiser/company server 203 proceeds to step SP186.
[0403] In step SP186, the advertiser/company server 203 properly
reads distribution data matching with the taste of the contracting
customer from the distribution information database 236 by the
sending control part 231, and sends this from the sending part 232
to the customer's portable dedicated terminal 202 via the Internet
204. Then, the advertiser/company server 203 proceeds to step SP184
to finish the processing in the advertiser/company server 203.
[0404] In step SP173, the intermediate server 201 awaits that data
representing the conclusion/inconclusion of a contract with the
customer is sent from the advertiser/company server 203. If the
intermediate server 201 receives the above data from the
advertiser/company server 203 by the receiving part 212, it
proceeds to step SP174.
[0405] In step SP174, the intermediate server 201 determines
whether or not the data received from the advertiser/company server
203 is the contract conclusion data.
[0406] Obtaining a negative result in step SP174 means that the
advertiser/company abandoned to contract with the customer and the
intermediate server 201 received contract inconclusion data from
the advertiser/company server 203. At this time, the intermediate
server 201 proceeds to step SP175 to send the contract inconclusion
data from the sending part 214 to the portable dedicated terminal
202 via the Internet 204 to notify the customer of that a contract
with the advertiser/company did not conclude. Then, the
intermediate server 201 proceeds to step SP176 to finish the
processing in the intermediate server 201.
[0407] On the contrary, obtaining an affirmative result in step
SP174 means that the advertiser/company contracted with the
customer and the intermediate server 201 received contract
conclusion data from the advertiser/company server 203. At this
time, the intermediate server 201 proceeds to step SP177 to send
the contract conclusion data from the sending part 214 to the
portable dedicated terminal 202 via the Internet 204 to notify the
customer of that the contract with the advertiser/company has
concluded. Then, the intermediate server 201 proceeds to step
SP178.
[0408] In step SP178, the intermediate server 201 updates the
customer registration information in the customer database 210 by
the customer information updating part 215 based on the contract
conclusion data, and also updates the advertiser/company
registration information in the advertiser and company database 211
by the advertiser/company information updating part 213 based on
that contract conclusion data. Then, the intermediate server 201
proceeds to step SP176 to finish the processing in the intermediate
server 201.
[0409] Furthermore, in step SP163, the portable dedicated terminal
202 awaits that data representing the conclusion/inconclusion of a
contract with the advertiser/company is sent from the intermediate
server 201. If the portable dedicated terminal 202 receives the
above data from the intermediate server 201, it proceeds to step
SP164.
[0410] In step SP164, the portable dedicated terminal 202
determines whether or not the data received from the intermediate
server 201 is the contract conclusion data.
[0411] Obtaining a negative result in step SP164 means that the
advertiser/company abandoned the contract and the portable
dedicated terminal 202 received the contract inconclusion data from
the intermediate server 201. At this time, the portable dedicated
terminal 202 transmits the contract inconclusion data to the
reproducing part 244 to notify the customer of that the contract
with the advertiser/company did not conclude. Then, the portable
dedicated terminal 202 proceeds to step SP165 to finish the
processing in the portable dedicated terminal 202.
[0412] On the contrary, obtaining an affirmative result in step
SP164 means that the advertiser/company contracted with the
customer and the portable dedicated terminal 202 received the
contract conclusion data from the intermediate server 201. At this
time, the portable dedicated terminal 202 transmits the contract
conclusion data to the reproducing part 244 to notify the customer
of that the contract with the advertiser/company was concluded.
Then, the portable dedicated terminal 202 proceeds to step
SP166.
[0413] In step SP166, the portable dedicated terminal 202 awaits
distribution data from the advertiser/company server 203 of the
advertiser/company that contracted with the customer. If the
portable dedicated terminal 202 receives distribution data from the
advertiser/company server 203 by the receiving part 243, it
proceeds to step SP167.
[0414] In step SP167, the portable dedicated terminal 202
recognizes thus received distribution data and records this in the
recording medium for customer 246 by the recording control part
245. Thereby, the customer can freely reproduce and view the
distribution data. Then, the portable dedicated terminal 202
proceeds to step SP165 to finish the processing in the portable
dedicated terminal 202. In this manner, all the contracting
processing procedure in the data providing system 200 is
finished.
[0415] According to the above configuration, in this data providing
system 200, an advertiser or a company that provides distribution
data to the customer on the Internet 204 is registered by that the
intermediate server 201 obtains advertiser/company information from
the advertiser/company server 203 of the advertiser/company and
stores this in the advertiser and company database 211 as
advertiser/company registration information.
[0416] Furthermore, in the data providing system 200, the customer
is registered by that the intermediate server 201 obtains customer
information from the intermediate server 201 of the customer who
wants to use the Internet 204 by the portable dedicated terminal
202, issues a customer ID, adds the customer ID to the above
obtained customer information, and stores this in the customer
database 210 as customer registration information.
[0417] In this data providing system 200, every time when the
customer sends content specifying data including the customer ID
from the above portable dedicated terminal 202 to the agency to
obtain content data, the content specifying data is relayed by the
intermediate server 201, and the contents of the above content
specifying data is added to the customer registration information
in the customer database 210, and the customer registration
information is updated.
[0418] In this manner, in the data providing system 200, if the
customer approval data representing that the customer permits the
release of the customer information is sent from the portable
dedicated terminal 202, the customer's taste is judged based on the
customer registration information in the customer database 210 in
the intermediate server 201. The advertiser/company registration
information in the advertiser and company database 211 is retrieved
based on the above judged customer's taste, and the
advertiser/company registration information on the
advertiser/company that can provide distribution data matching with
the customer's taste is read, the advertiser and/or company
introducing data is generated, and this is sent to the portable
dedicated terminal 202.
[0419] Accordingly, in this data providing system 200, the customer
can easily select an advertiser and/or a company that can provide
distribution data matching with the customer's taste while time and
cost is remarkably reduced.
[0420] In this data providing system 200, as a result that the
advertiser and/or company was introduced to the customer, if the
customer selects desired advertiser and/or company, the
intermediate server 201 generates the customer introducing data
based on the customer registration information being the customer's
personal information, provides this only to the advertiser/company
server 203 of the advertiser/company selected by the customer, to
make the advertiser/company decide whether or not to contract with
the customer. Therefore, it can be surely prevented that the
customer's personal information is illegally released on the
Internet.
[0421] In this data providing system 200, the customer is
introduced to the advertiser and/or company as the above, and also
the advertiser/company can easily and properly select the customer
who requested to obtain distribution data from the
advertiser/company, so that distribution data can be efficiently
and properly provided to the customer.
[0422] In this data providing system 200, the customer uses the
portable dedicated terminal 202 dedicated to the agency, and the
customer obtains distribution data from the advertiser and/or
company by the above portable dedicated terminal 202. Thereby, the
versatility of the portable dedicated terminal 202 can be expanded,
and the usability can be remarkably improved.
[0423] In this data providing system 200, if the portable dedicated
terminal 202 obtains distribution data from the server, it records
the distribution data in the recording medium for customer 246
different from the recording medium for agency 247 by
discriminating this from the content data recorded in the recording
medium for agency 247. Thereby, when the content data rented from
the agency is erased, it can be surely prevented that the
distribution data is erroneously erased.
[0424] According to the above configuration, the intermediate
server 201 has the customer database 210 for storing the customer
information obtained from the portable dedicated terminal 202 by
the customer to register the customer, and the advertiser and
company database 211 for storing the advertiser/company information
obtained from the advertiser/company server 203 by the
advertiser/company as the advertiser/company registration
information to register the advertiser/company. Every time when the
content specifying data including the customer ID that was issued
in the customer registration is sent from the portable dedicated
terminal 202 to the agency, the intermediate server 201 adds the
contents of the above content specifying data to the customer
registration information in the customer database 210, and updates
the customer registration information. If the intermediate server
201 receives the customer approval data from the above portable
dedicated terminal 202, the intermediate server 201 retrieves the
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 based on the customer's taste that was judged
by the customer registration information in the customer database
210, generates the advertiser and/or company introducing data based
on the advertiser/company registration information on the selected
advertiser and/or company, and sends this to the portable dedicated
terminal 202. Thereby, the customer can easily select an advertiser
and/or a company that can provide distribution data matching with
the customer's taste. Thus, a data providing system in that the
customer can easily and accurately obtain desired distribution data
can be realized.
[0425] Note that, in the aforementioned fourth embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where if the intermediate server 201 receives
the customer approval data from the portable dedicated terminal
202, the intermediate server 201 judges the customer's taste by the
customer registration information in the customer database 210, and
retrieves the advertiser and/or the company in the advertiser and
company database 211. However, this invention is not only limited
to this but also the intermediate server 201 may constantly judge
the customer's taste by the customer registration information in
the customer database 210, when the intermediate server 201 judges
the customer's taste (that is, when the number of the times of
obtaining of the content data by the customer is the threshold
value or over), it may inquire the customer of whether or not
having an intension of releasing the customer information by the
portable dedicated terminal 202, and if as a result, the customer
approval data that permits the release of the customer information
is sent from the customer via the portable dedicated terminal 202,
the intermediate server 201 may retrieve the advertiser/company
registration information in the advertiser and company database
211. Thereby, it can be surely prevented that although the customer
permitted the release of the customer information on term that the
customer will contract with an advertiser and/or a customer, the
intermediate server 201 cannot judge the customer's taste and
cannot introduce an advertiser and/or a company to the
customer.
[0426] In the aforementioned fourth embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where if the intermediate server 201 receives the customer
approval data, the intermediate server 201 retrieves the
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 based on the customer's taste judged by the
customer registration information in the customer database 210.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also in
addition to the customer's taste judged by the customer
registration information in the customer database 210, the
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 may be retrieved also by using the contract
terms described in the above customer registration information.
Thereby, when the customer introducing data is sent to the
advertiser/company server 203, it can be remarkably reduced that
the advertiser and/or company abandons the contract with the
customer owing to the contract term. Thus, a probability that the
contract is concluded between the customer and the advertiser
and/or company can be improved, and the request of the customer
that wants to contract with the advertiser and/or company can be
further accurately taken up.
[0427] In the aforementioned fourth embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where if the intermediate server 201 receives the customer
approval data, the intermediate server 201 retrieves the
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 based on the customer's taste that was judged
by the customer registration information in the customer database
210. However, this invention is not only limited to this but also
the advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser
and company database 211 may be retrieved based on the taste
information in the customer information being a basis for the
customer registration information stored in the customer database
210. Thereby, in the matching part 216, the processing for
extracting the customer's taste from the customer registration
information can be excepted, and load on the processing can be
reduced.
[0428] Furthermore, in the aforementioned fourth embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the customer uses the intermediate server
201 by means of the portable dedicated terminal 202. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also provided that it is
an apparatus connectable to the Internet 204 such as a personal
computer, a portable telephone and a personal digital assistance
(PDA), the customer can use the intermediate server 201 by means of
such various data obtaining apparatuses. Thereby, further more
customers can use introduction by the intermediate server 201 to an
advertiser and/or company, and the system can be widely
popularized.
(6) Fifth Embodiment
[0429] FIG. 25 in which the same reference numerals are added to
corresponding parts in FIG. 11 shows a data providing system 260
according to a fifth embodiment. The data providing system 260 is
formed similarly to the aforementioned data providing system 200
according to the fourth embodiment except for the configuration of
an intermediate server 261 corresponding to the system management
site 2 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, and the
configuration of a portable dedicated terminal 262 corresponding to
the portable dedicated terminals 7A to 7N described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
[0430] In this case, the intermediate server 261 registers the
customer who uses the Internet 204 by means of the portable
dedicated terminal 262 by storing the customer registration
information in a customer database 265 similarly to the
intermediate server 201 described above with reference to FIG. 11,
and also registers an advertiser/company that can provide
distribution data to the customer on the Internet 204 by means of
the advertiser/company server 203 by storing the advertiser/company
registration information in the advertiser and company database
211.
[0431] Furthermore, the intermediate server 261 updates the
customer registration information in the customer database 265
every time when the customer uses the Internet 204 to obtain
content data by the portable dedicated terminal 262, similarly to
the intermediate server 201 described above with reference to FIG.
11.
[0432] In addition to the customer registration information and the
customer registering screen data, the intermediate server 261
previously stores customer information input screen data to input
customer information in the customer database 265. If the
intermediate server 261 receives the customer approval data that
was sent from the portable dedicated terminal 262 by customer's
operation by a receiving part 266, the intermediate server 261
reads the customer information input screen data from the customer
database 265 by a customer information updating part 267, and sends
this from the sending part 214 to the portable dedicated terminal
262 via the Internet 204.
[0433] If the customer information like the customer information
described above with reference to FIG. 13A, that is entered on the
customer information input screen based on the customer information
input screen data according to customer's operation is sent from
the portable dedicated terminal 262 as customer information data,
the intermediate server 261 receives this by a receiving part 266
and takes this in a matching part 268.
[0434] Here, as shown in FIG. 26, the matching part 268 is formed
by an advertiser/company information extracting part. The matching
part 268 extracts customer's taste genre information in the
customer information data that was taken in from the receiving part
266 as information representing the customer's taste, retrieves the
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 based on thus extracted customer's taste genre
information, and reads the advertiser/company registration
information having distribution genre information in the same genre
as the genre shown in the customer's taste genre information.
[0435] Then, the matching part 268 generates the advertiser and
company introducing information described above with reference to
FIG. 17 from the advertiser/company registration information read
from the advertiser and company database 211, and sends this from
the sending part 214 to the portable dedicated terminal 262 via the
Internet 204 as advertiser/company introducing data.
[0436] In this manner, the intermediate server 261 introduces an
advertiser and/or company that can provide distribution data
matching with customer's taste to the customer who permitted the
release of the customer information to the advertiser and/or the
company.
[0437] On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 25, the portable
dedicated terminal 262 executes a customer registration for the
intermediate server 261 similarly to the portable dedicated
terminal 202 described above with reference to FIG. 11, and also
sends various requests to the agency to obtain content data.
[0438] If an approval request for the release of the customer
information to the advertiser/company is entered via the operating
part 240 by customer's operation, the portable dedicated terminal
262 generates customer approval data by a request data generating
part 270, and sends this from the sending part 242 to the
intermediate server 261 via the Internet 204.
[0439] As a result, if the customer information input screen data
is sent from the intermediate server 261 via the Internet 204, the
portable dedicated terminal 262 receives this by a receiving part
271, and transmits this to the reproducing part 244. Thus, a
customer information input screen based on the customer information
input screen data is displayed.
[0440] If customer information is entered on the customer
information input screen according to the operation of the
operating part 240 by the customer, the portable dedicated terminal
262 generates customer information data representing the customer
information by the request data generating part 270, and sends this
from the sending part 242 to the intermediate server 261 via the
Internet 204.
[0441] In this manner, the portable dedicated terminal 262 can
receive the introduction of an advertiser/company that can provide
distribution data matching with the customer's taste based on the
advertiser/company introducing data provided from the intermediate
server 261.
[0442] In this data providing system 260, after the intermediate
server 261 introduces the advertiser/company, the above
intermediate server 261 executes a contract processing procedure
similar to the contract processing procedure in the data providing
system 200 (FIG. 11) described above with reference to FIGS. 24A to
24C, between the portable dedicated terminal 262 and the
advertiser/company server 203. Thereby, the customer and the
advertiser/company can make a contract.
[0443] Here, advertiser/company introducing processing procedures
by the intermediate server 261 and the portable dedicated terminal
202 in the data providing system 260 will be collectively
described. First, as shown in FIG. 27A, the portable dedicated
terminal 262 enters a routine RT17 from the starting step, and
proceeds to the next step SP191 to await that the approval request
for the release of the customer information is entered. If the
approval request is entered via the operating part 240 by
customer's operation, the portable dedicated terminal 262 proceeds
to step SP192.
[0444] In step SP192, the portable dedicated terminal 262 generates
customer approval data by the request data generating part 270, and
sends this from the sending part 242 to the intermediate server
261, and then proceeds to step SP193.
[0445] At this time, as shown in FIG. 27B, the intermediate server
261 enters routine RT18 from the start step, and proceeds to the
next step SP201 to await that the customer approval data is sent
from the portable dedicated terminal 262. If the intermediate
server 261 receives the above customer approval data by the
receiving part 266, it proceeds to step SP202.
[0446] In step SP202, the intermediate server 261 reads customer
information input screen data from the customer database 265 based
on the received customer approval data by the customer information
updating part 267, and sends this from the sending part 214 to the
portable dedicated terminal 262, and then proceeds to step
SP203.
[0447] At this time, in step SP193, the portable dedicated terminal
262 awaits that the customer information input screen data is sent
from the intermediate server 261. If the portable dedicated
terminal 262 receives the above customer information input screen
data by the receiving part 271, it proceeds to step SP194.
[0448] In step SP194, in the state where the customer information
input screen is displayed by that the customer information input
screen data is transmitted to the reproducing part 244, if the
customer enters customer information via the operating part 240,
the portable dedicated terminal 262 generates customer information
data by the request data generating part 270, and sends this from
the sending part 242 to the intermediate server 261, and then it
proceeds to step SP195.
[0449] At this time, in step SP203, the intermediate server 261
awaits that the customer information data is sent from the portable
dedicated terminal 262. If the intermediate server 261 receives the
above customer information data by the receiving part 266, it
proceeds to step SP204.
[0450] In step SP204, the intermediate server 261 retrieves
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 based on customer's taste genre information in
the customer information data, and reads advertiser/company
registration information including distribution genre information
having the same contents as the above customer's taste genre
information, and then it proceeds to step SP205.
[0451] In step SP205, the intermediate server 261 generates
advertiser and/or company introducing data based on the
advertiser/company registration information read from the
advertiser and company database 211, and sends this from the
sending part 214 to the portable dedicated terminal 262 to
introduce the advertiser and/or the company to the customer. Then,
the intermediate server 261 proceeds to step SP206 to finish the
processing in the intermediate server 261.
[0452] At this time, in step SP195, the portable dedicated terminal
262 awaits that the advertiser and/or company introducing data is
sent from the intermediate server 261. If the portable dedicated
terminal 262 receives the above advertiser and/or company
introducing data by the receiving part 271, it transmits this to
the reproducing part 244 to show the advertiser and/or company
introduced from the intermediate server 261 to the customer. Then,
the portable dedicated terminal 262 proceeds to step SP196 to
finish the processing in the portable dedicated terminal 262.
Thereby, all the advertiser and/or company introducing processing
procedure in the data providing system 260 is finished.
[0453] According to the above configuration, in this data providing
system 260, if the release of the customer information to the
advertiser and/or company is permitted by the customer, the
intermediate server 261 sends the customer information input screen
data to the portable dedicated terminal 262 responding to the
customer approval data sent from the portable dedicated terminal
262.
[0454] As a result, in the data providing system 260, the
intermediate server 261 retrieves the advertiser/company
registration information in the advertiser and company database 211
based on the customer's taste genre information in the customer
information data returned from the portable dedicated terminal 262,
reads the advertiser/company registration information including the
distribution genre information having the same contents as the
customer's taste genre information, generates the advertiser and/or
company introducing data based on the above read advertiser/company
registration information, and sends this to the portable dedicated
terminal 262. Thereby, the intermediate server 261 can introduce
the advertiser and/or company that can provide distribution data
matching with the customer's taste to the customer.
[0455] Accordingly, in this data providing system 260, if the
release of the customer information to the advertiser and/or
company is permitted by the customer, the intermediate server 261
obtains the customer information, and retrieves the
advertiser/company registration information based on the above
obtained customer information. Therefore, if the customer requests
the providing of distribution data from an advertiser and/or a
company, the intermediate server 261 can introduce the advertiser
and/or company can while accurately reflecting the customer's
interest.
[0456] That is, in this data providing system 260, even if the
customer's interest has changed in the time from the customer
registration in the intermediate server 261 till the approval of
the release of the customer information to the advertiser and/or
company, or even at the time when the customer does not use the
Internet 204 frequently because the customer just began to use the
portable dedicated terminal 262, the intermediate server 261 can
accurately grasp the customer's interest, and can introduce the
advertiser and/or the company that can provide distribution data
desired by the customer to the customer.
[0457] According to the above configuration, the intermediate
server 261 sends the customer information input screen data to the
portable dedicated terminal 262 responding to the customer approval
data sent from the portable dedicated terminal 262, retrieves the
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 based on the customer's taste genre
information in the customer information data returned from the
portable dedicated terminal 262 as the result of the sending, reads
the advertiser/company registration information including the
distribution genre information having the same contents as the
above customer's taste genre information, generates the advertiser
and/or company introducing data based on that advertiser/company
registration information, and sends this to the portable dedicated
terminal 262. Thereby, in addition to the effects obtained by the
aforementioned fourth embodiment, the intermediate server 261 can
introduce the advertisers and/or the company to the customer while
accurately reflecting the customer's interest at the time point
that the customer requested the providing of distribution data from
an advertiser and/or a company. Thus, a data providing system in
which the customer can further accurately obtain desired
distribution data can be accomplished.
[0458] Note that, in the aforementioned fifth embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the intermediate server 261 retrieves the
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 based on the customer's taste genre
information in the customer information data. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also, instead of the
customer's taste genre information in the customer information
data, it may retrieve the advertiser/company registration
information in the advertiser and company database 211 by matching
a comment or a word in the comment that represents the customer's
taste in the above customer information data with a comment or a
word in the comment such as the catchphrase of an
advertiser/company in the advertiser/company registration
information, or may retrieve the advertiser/company registration
information in the advertiser and company database 211 by using all
of the customer's taste genre information and the comment, and the
mutual contract terms, or by using them by coupling. Thereby, the
intermediate server 261 can introduce an advertiser and/or a
company by further accurately reflecting the customer's taste.
[0459] In the aforementioned fifth embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the intermediate server 261 retrieves the
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 based on the customer approval data obtained
when the customer permitted the release of registration
information. However, this invention is not only limited to this
but also the customer may arbitrary select the method that the
intermediate server 261 retrieves the advertiser/company
registration information in the advertiser and company database 211
based on the customer approval data obtained when the customer
permitted the release of the registration information, or the
method that the intermediate server 261 retrieves the
advertiser/company registration information in the advertiser and
company database 211 based on the customer registration information
according to the aforementioned fourth embodiment, and the
intermediate server 261 may execute it. Thereby, a data providing
system can be used by both of a customer whose interest does not
almost always change and a customer whose interest comparatively
frequently change, and the usability of the data providing system
can be improved.
[0460] Furthermore, in the aforementioned fifth embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the customer uses the intermediate server
261 by means of the portable dedicated terminal 262. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also, provided that it is
a device by which the customer can connect to the Internet 204 such
as a personal computer, a portable telephone, a PDA, the
intermediate server 261 can be used by means of various data
obtaining devices other than that. Thereby, further more customers
can use the introduction of an advertiser and/or a company by the
intermediate server 261, and the system can be widely
popularized.
(7) Sixth Embodiment
[0461] FIG. 28 shows a data providing system 300 according to a
sixth embodiment. A request terminal 302 corresponding to the
customer 3 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 (that is,
the request terminal used by the customer 3), and a portable
dedicated terminal 303 corresponding to the portable dedicated
terminals 7A to 7N described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3
dedicated to the agencies 4A to 4N, and only accessible the data
providing server 301 are connected to a data providing server 301
corresponding to the agencies 4A to 4N described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 on the Internet (not shown),
respectively.
[0462] The data providing server 301 has a customer database 310
for storing customer registration information and customer
registering screen data, and a content database 311 for storing
many content data, content selecting screen data, and customizing
registering screen data to customize the content selecting screen
data according to the customer's request.
[0463] If registration request data to request the registration of
the customer is sent from the request terminal 302, the data
providing server 301 receives this by a receiving part 312 and
takes this in an updating part 313. The data providing server 301
reads the customer registering screen data from the customer
database 310 based on the registration request data by the updating
part 313, and sends this from a sending part 314 to the request
terminal 302.
[0464] As a result, if customer information that was entered on a
customer registering screen based on the customer registering
screen data is sent from the request terminal 302, the data
providing server 301 receives this by the receiving part 312 and
taking this in the updating part 313. The data providing server 301
issues a customer ID to the customer who requested the
registration, and adds this to the customer information, by the
above updating part 313. The data providing server 301 stores the
customer information with the added customer ID in the customer
database 310 as customer registration information to register the
customer.
[0465] In this connection, if the data providing server 301
registers the customer by the updating part 313, the data providing
server 301 generates registration completion data including the
customer ID, and sends this from the sending part 314 to the
request terminal 302, and notifies the customer of the completion
of the registration and the customer ID.
[0466] If the data providing server 301 obtains request data for
requesting the obtaining of content data is sent from the request
terminal 302, receives this by the receiving part 312, takes this
in a retrieving part 315, reads content selecting screen data from
the content database 311 based on the obtaining request data by the
above retrieving part 315, and sends this from the sending part 314
to the request terminal 302.
[0467] As a result, if reservation information is entered on the
content selecting screen based on the content selecting screen data
and reservation data representing the above reservation information
is sent from the request terminal 302, the data providing server
301 receives this by the receiving part 312.
[0468] The data providing server 301 reads the specified content
data from the content database 311 based on the reservation data by
the retrieving part 315, and sends this from a dedicated terminal
not shown to a portable dedicated terminal 303 that is not still
delivered to the customer (not shown) and is directly connected to
the data providing server 301 by a cable or the like for
recording.
[0469] In this manner, the data providing server 301 previously
prepares the portable dedicated terminal 303 by accepting an
advance reservation for the purchase/rental of content data and the
portable dedicated terminal 303 from the customer with the request
terminal 302, and recording the above content data that will be
purchased/rented within the portable dedicated terminal 303 that
will be similarly purchased/rented. Then, if the customer comes to
an agency installing the above data providing server 301, the
agency sells/rents and hands the portable dedicated terminal 303 to
the customer.
[0470] The data providing server 301 can be connected to the
portable dedicated terminal 303 that was purchased/rented to the
customer on the Internet. If the data providing server 301 obtains
request data for requesting the obtaining of content data (by
purchase or rental) is sent from the portable dedicated terminal
303, receives this by the receiving part 312, and takes this in the
retrieving part 315.
[0471] At this time, the data providing server 301 reads content
selecting screen data from the content database 311 based on thus
obtained request data by the retrieving part 315, and sends this
from the sending part 314 to the customer's portable dedicated
terminal 303.
[0472] As a result, if content data specifying information for
specifying the content data is entered on a content selecting
screen based on the content selecting screen data and content
specifying data representing the content specifying information is
sent from the portable dedicated terminal 303, the data providing
server 301 receives this by the receiving part 312 and takes this
in the retrieving part 315.
[0473] The data providing server 301 reads the specified content
data from the content database 311 based on that content specifying
data by the retrieving part 315, and sends this from the sending
part 314 to the portable dedicated terminal 303 for recording.
[0474] In this manner, the data providing server 301 sends the
content data to the portable dedicated terminal 303 that was
sold/rented to the customer via the Internet. Thereby, the customer
can buy/rent the content data by means of that portable dedicated
terminal 303.
[0475] Furthermore, if customizing request data for customizing the
portable dedicated terminal 303 is sent, the data providing server
301 receives this by the receiving part 312, takes this in the
retrieving part 315, reads customizing registering screen data that
has been previously stored in the content database 311 based on
that customizing request data by the above retrieving part 315, and
sends this from the sending part 314 to the portable dedicated
terminal 303.
[0476] As a result, if screen customizing information for the
content selecting screen that was entered on the customizing
registering screen based on the customizing registering screen data
is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 303 by the customer's
operation as screen customizing data, the data providing server 301
receives this by the receiving part 312, and takes this in the
updating part 313 and the retrieving part 315.
[0477] The data providing server 301 reads the content selecting
screen data from the content database 311 by the retrieving part
315, performs processing on the contents selecting screen based on
the screen customizing data, and sends thus obtained customized
screen data from the sending part 314 to the portable dedicated
terminal 303.
[0478] In this manner, the data providing server 301 shows the
customer the customized screen based on the customized screen data
on the portable dedicated terminal 303 to make the customer confirm
whether or not the content selecting screen has been customized as
wanted. If confirmation data representing the confirmation of that
the above content selecting screen is customized as the customer
wanted is sent, the data providing server 301 adds the screen
customizing data to the customer registration information in the
customer database 310 and updates the customer registration
information by the updating part 313.
[0479] Thereafter, if obtaining request data is sent from the
customer who requested the customizing of the content selecting
screen by the portable dedicated terminal 303, the data providing
server 301 receives this by the receiving part 312, takes this in
the updating part 313, reads the screen customizing information
added to the customer registration information from the customer
database 310 by the above updating part 313, and transmits this to
a matching part 316.
[0480] The data providing server 301 reads the content selecting
screen data from the content database 311 by the matching part 316,
performs processing on the content selecting screen based on the
screen customizing information, and sends thus obtained customized
screen data from the sending part 314 to the portable dedicated
terminal 303.
[0481] Thereby, every time when obtaining request data is sent from
the customer who requested the customizing of the content selecting
screen by the portable dedicated terminal 303, the data providing
server 301 makes the customer specify the purchase/rental of
content data on the customized screen based on the customized
screen data according to the customizing request by the
customer.
[0482] In this connection, in the portable dedicated terminal 303
rented by the customer, also information for customizing the color
of the case body of the portable dedicated terminal 303 can be
selected on the customizing registering screen. If case body
customizing information for specifying the color of the case body
is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 303 as case body
customizing data, the data providing server 301 receives this by
the receiving part 312, takes this in the updating part 313, adds
the case body customizing information to the customer registration
information in the customer database 310, and updates the customer
registration information by the above updating part 313.
[0483] Thereby, when the customer rents a portable dedicated
terminal 303 again, or when the above customer purchases a portable
dedicated terminal 303 after that, the portable dedicated terminal
303 in a color specified by the case body customizing information
is delivered to the customer.
[0484] On the other hand, if the customer enters customer
registration information by an operating part 320, the request
terminal 302 generates registration request data representing a
registration request by a request data generating part 321, and
sends this from a sending part 322 to the data providing server
301.
[0485] As a result, if the request terminal 302 receives customer
registering screen data from the data providing server 301 by a
receiving part 323, the request terminal 302 transmits this from a
display control part 324 to a display part 325 to display a
customer registering screen based on the customer registering
screen data thereon.
[0486] If customer information is entered on the customer
registering screen by the customer's operation of the operating
part 320, the request terminal 302 generates customer information
data by the request data generating part 321, and sends this from
the sending part 322 to the data providing server 301 for the
customer registration.
[0487] If the customer enters a content data obtaining request by
the operating part 320, the request terminal 302 generates
obtaining request data representing that obtaining request by the
request data generating part 321, and sends this from the sending
part 322 to the data providing server 301.
[0488] As a result, if the request terminal 302 receives content
selecting screen data from the data providing server 301 by the
receiving part 323, it transmits this from the display control part
324 to the display part 325 to display a content selecting screen
based on the content selecting screen data thereon.
[0489] If reservation information is entered on the content
selecting screen by the customer's operation of the operating part
320, the request terminal 302 generates reservation data by the
request data generating part 321, and sends this from the sending
part 322 to the data providing server 301. And the reservation of
the purchase/rental of the content data and the portable dedicated
terminal 303 by the customer is finished.
[0490] With respect to the portable dedicated terminal 303
sold/rented to the customer in the state where the content data has
been recorded in the internal recording medium 340, if a
reproducing command is entered by an operating part 341, the
portable dedicated terminal 303 reproduces the content data that
the customer previously purchased/rented from the recording medium
340 by a reproducing control part 342, and transmits this to a
reproducing part 343 composed of a display control part, a display
part, a speaker, etc. Thus, the customer can enjoy the content.
[0491] If the customer enters a content data obtaining request by
the operating part 341, the portable dedicated terminal 303
generates obtaining request data representing that obtaining
request by a request data generating part 344, and sends this from
a sending part 345 to the data providing server 301.
[0492] As a result, if the portable dedicated terminal 303 receives
content selecting screen data from the data providing server 301 by
a receiving part 346, the portable dedicated terminal 303 transmits
this to the reproducing part 343 to display a content selecting
screen based on the content selecting screen data.
[0493] If information for specifying content data is entered on the
content selecting screen by the customer's operation of the
operating part 341, the portable dedicated terminal 303 generates
content specifying data representing that specifying information by
the request data generating part 344, and sends this from the
sending part 345 to the data providing server 301.
[0494] If the portable dedicated terminal 303 receives the content
data from the data providing server 301 by the receiving part 346,
the portable dedicated terminal 303 records this in the recording
medium 340 by a recording control part 347. Thereby, after that,
the content data will be reproduced from the recording medium 340
by the reproducing control part 342 according to the customer's
operation of the operating part 341.
[0495] Furthermore, if the customer enters a customizing request by
the operating part 341, the portable dedicated terminal 303
generates customizing request data representing the customizing
request by the request data generating part 344, and sends this
from the sending part 345 to the data providing server 301.
[0496] As a result, if the portable dedicated terminal 303 receives
customizing registering screen data from the data providing server
301 by the receiving part 346, the portable dedicated terminal 303
transmits this to the reproducing part 343 to display a customizing
registering screen based on that customizing registering screen
data.
[0497] If screen customizing information is entered on the
customizing registering screen by the customer's operation of the
operating part 341, the portable dedicated terminal 303 generates
screen customizing data representing the screen customizing
information by the request data generating part 344, and sends this
from the sending part 345 to the data providing server 301.
[0498] As a result of that the screen customizing data was sent to
the data providing server 301, if the portable dedicated terminal
303 receives customized screen data from the data providing server
301 by the receiving part 346, the portable dedicated terminal 303
sends this to the reproducing part 343. Thereby, a customized
screen based on the customized screen data is shown to the
customer.
[0499] As a result, if the customer enters confirmation information
for confirming that the content selecting screen is customized as
he/she requested by the operating part 341, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 generates confirmation data by the request data
generating part 344, and sends this from the sending part 345 to
the data providing server 301 to store the screen customizing
information representing the contents of customizing that the
customer requested in the data providing server 301.
[0500] After the screen customizing data was stored in the data
providing server 301, the portable dedicated terminal 303 sends
content obtaining request data to the data providing server 301.
The portable dedicated terminal 303 receives the customized screen
data from the data providing server 301 by the receiving part 346,
and transmits this to the reproducing part 343. Thereby, the
customer can select content data for purchase and rental on the
customized content selecting screen.
[0501] In this connection, if case body customizing information to
customize the color of the case body of the portable dedicated
terminal 303 is entered on the customizing registering screen by
the customer's operation of the operating part 341, the portable
dedicated terminal 303 generates case body customizing data
representing the case body customizing information by the request
data generating part 344, and sends this from the sending part 345
to the data providing server 301. Thus, the case body customizing
information on the portable dedicated terminal 303 is stored in the
data providing server 301.
[0502] In addition to the above configuration, in this sixth
embodiment, when in forming the content database 311 by obtaining
many content data from a content server (not shown) being the
provider of the content data and corresponding to the system
management site described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the
data providing server 301 obtains a predetermined developmental
tool for forming a content selecting screen from the above content
server.
[0503] The data providing server 301 generates content selecting
screen data in that the inside of the shop of the agency is
represented as three-dimensional virtual reality space pictures by
means of that developmental tool and the customer can select
content data as if he/she selects packaged media from shelves while
practically walking in the shop of the agency by the above
three-dimensional virtual reality space pictures. The above
generated content selecting screen data is stored in the content
database 311.
[0504] In this connection, the data providing server 301 stores the
same content data as content data in many packaged media
practically sold or rented at the agency in the content database
311, and generates the content selecting screen data so that the
layout of the shelves, checkout counters, steps, etc. in the shop
of the agency, and the layout of the packaged media in the above
shelves or the like is almost faithfully reproduced.
[0505] The data providing server 301 updates the content selecting
screen data at a constant timing or an arbitrary timing by
synchronizing with the time when new packaged media are put on the
shelves in the shop of the agency (that is, it is also the time
when new content data is obtained from a content server) and the
time when the inside of the shop of the agency is remodeled.
Thereby, this system can provide the feeling when in practically
selecting packaged media in the shop of the agency to the customer
selecting content data on the content selecting screen.
[0506] Practically, as shown in FIG. 29, the content selecting
screen data is composed of plural picture data by adding a
selection confirming screen 355 being a two-dimensional picture to
confirm content data selected by the customer, to the
three-dimensional virtual reality space pictures such as a "picture
of exterior of shop" 350 that represents the exterior of the agency
(entrance), a "picture of first floor in shop" 351 and a "picture
of second floor in shop" 352, that represent each floor of the
shop, a "picture of shelf in shop" 353 that represents each of
plural shelves containing packaged media by genre in the shop with
an enlargement, a content selecting screen 354 to select content
data by enlarging the backbone of the packaged media aligned on the
shelves.
[0507] In this case, in the picture of exterior of shop 350, an
entering button 360 to enter the shop and switch the display to the
picture of first floor 351 is provided.
[0508] In the picture of first floor 351 and the picture of second
floor 352, move buttons 361 and 362 to switch the display to the
picture of second floor in shop 352 or the picture of first floor
in shop 351, that is, to another floor, a shelf selecting button
363 to select a shelf by genre and switch the display to the
picture of shelf in shop 353, and a checkout counter button 364 to
switch the display to a selection confirming screen 355 after the
customer selected content data for purchase or rental, are
provided.
[0509] Furthermore, in the picture of shelf in shop 353, the
packaged media have been classified in alphabetical order, and a
detail button 365 to switch the display to the content selecting
screen 354 by the above classified packaged media is provided.
[0510] In the picture of exterior of shop 350, the picture of first
floor in shop 351, the picture of second floor in shop 352 and the
content selecting screen 354, the picture of a human being
representing the customer (hereinafter, this is referred to as
picture of customer) 366 and the picture of a human being
representing a clerk (hereinafter, this is referred to as picture
of clerk) 367 are displayed. By moving the picture of customer 366
as if it is practically walking in the shop and by overlapping it
on the entering button 360, the move buttons 361 and 362, the shelf
selecting button 363, the checkout counter button 364, the backbone
of packaged media in the content selecting screen 354, etc. or
approximating it to them and selectively specifying (clicking)
these buttons, picture specifying commands previously allocated to
the above buttons can be entered.
[0511] In addition to this, in the picture of shelf in shop 353 and
the selection confirming screen 355, a cursor is inversely
displayed on detail buttons 365, a confirmation button 368, a
cancel button 369, etc. (not shown) by overlapping, respectively.
By that the customer moves the cursor and selectively specifies
(clicks) one of these buttons, a command previously allocated to
the button can be entered.
[0512] Specifically, the portable dedicated terminal 303 which
received the content selecting screen data first displays the
picture of exterior of shop 350 being a content selecting screen by
the reproducing part 343, and moves the picture of customer 366 on
the picture of exterior of shop 350 according to the customer's
operation of the operating part 341. If the entering button 360 is
selectively specified, the portable dedicated terminal 303 displays
the picture of first floor in shop 351, instead of the picture of
exterior of shop 350.
[0513] The portable dedicated terminal 303 moves the picture of
customer 366 on the picture of first floor in shop 351 according to
the customer's operation of the operating part 341. If the move
button 361 is selectively specified, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 displays the picture of second floor in shop 352
instead of the above picture of first floor in shop 351.
[0514] In this manner, the portable dedicated terminal 303 moves
the picture of customer 366 on the picture of first floor in shop
351 and the picture of second floor in shop 352 according to the
customer's operation of the operating part 341. If one of the shelf
selecting buttons 363 is selectively specified, the portable
dedicated terminal 303 displays the picture of shelf in shop 353
corresponding to the above shelf selecting button 363 selectively
specified instead of the picture of first floor in shop 351 or the
picture of second floor in shop 352.
[0515] The portable dedicated terminal 303 moves the cursor on the
picture of shelf in shop 353 according to the customer's operation
of the operating part 341. If one of the detail buttons 365 is
selectively specified, the portable dedicated terminal 303 displays
a corresponding content selecting screen 354 instead of the above
picture of shelf in shop 353.
[0516] After the picture of customer 366 was moved on the content
selecting screen 354 and content data was selectively specified as
one of packaged media according to the customer's operation of the
operating part 341, if the move button 361 or 362 is selectively
specified, the portable dedicated terminal 303 displays the picture
of first floor in shop 351 or the picture of second floor in shop
352 again instead of the above content selecting screen 354. In
this manner, for instance, if the picture of customer 366 is moved
on the picture of second floor in shop 352 and the checkout counter
button 364 is selectively specified, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 displays the selection confirming screen 355 instead
of the above picture of second floor in shop 352.
[0517] Here, in the selection confirming screen 355, the title of
the content data selected by the customer, customer's name,
customer ID, password, etc. are displayed. The portable dedicated
terminal 303 moves the cursor according to the customer's operation
of the operating part 341, so that the rental term or purchase of
content data can be entered. If the rental term or purchase is
entered, charges for the rental/purchase of the content data are
displayed responding to that.
[0518] If the portable dedicated terminal 303 moves the cursor on
the selection confirming screen 355 and selectively specifies the
confirmation button 368 according to the customer's operation of
the operating part 341, the portable dedicated terminal 303
generates content specifying data by the request data generating
part 344 by using information in the selection confirming screen
355 as specifying information by the request data generating part
344, and sends the above generated content specifying data from the
sending part 345 to the data providing server 301. Thereby, the
customer can obtain the content data that he/she specified.
[0519] On the contrary, if the portable dedicated terminal 303
moves the cursor on the selection confirming screen 355 and
selectively specifies the cancel button 369 according to the
customer's operation of the operating part 341, the portable
dedicated terminal 303 displays for example the picture of first
floor in shop 351, instead of the above selection confirming screen
355. Thereby, the customer can select content data again.
[0520] In addition to this, as shown in FIGS. 30A and 30B, if the
portable dedicated terminal 303 moves the picture of customer 366
and passes this in front of each shelf on the picture of first
floor in shop 351 or the picture of second floor in shop 352
according to the customer's operation of the operating part 341,
the portable dedicated terminal 303 reproduces content data set by
the agency of which the advertisement for few seconds by matching
with the genre of each shelf. Thereby, the customer views the
content data intended by the agency, and it can be advertised to
the customer.
[0521] In this connection, the data quantity of such content
selecting screen data is comparatively large. Therefore, if the
data providing server 301 receives the obtaining request data from
the portable dedicated terminal 303, the data providing server 301
first sends the data of the picture of exterior of shop 350 to the
portable dedicated terminal 303 as content selecting screen data.
Then, if the entering button 360 is selectively specified on the
above picture of exterior of shop 350, the data providing server
301 receives a notification of that, and sends the data of the
picture of first floor in shop 351. In this manner, the data
providing server 301 receives the notification of the specified
button and sends corresponding picture data, every time when the
switching of the display to another picture is specified from the
portable dedicated terminal 303 by the entering button 360, the
move button 361 or 362, etc. on each picture forming the content
selecting screen data.
[0522] Furthermore, if the picture of customer 366 is moved to a
specified coordinate position that has been previously specified to
reproduce content data for advertisement on the picture of first
floor in shop 351 and the picture of second floor in shop 352 and
that specified coordinate position is notified from the portable
dedicated terminal 303 to the data providing server 301, the data
providing server 301 reads the predetermined part of the content
data corresponding to the above notified specified coordinate
position that has been previously stored in the content database
311 as commercial data by the retrieving part 315, and sends this
from the sending part 314 to the portable dedicated terminal
303.
[0523] The data providing server 301 divides the content selecting
screen data into the data of each picture and content data for
advertisement, and sequentially sends this to the portable
dedicated terminal 303. Thereby, it can be prevented that the
capacity of the recording medium 340 in the above portable
dedicated terminal 303 becomes large.
[0524] By the way, in the data providing server 301, on the
customizing registering screen to be provided to the portable
dedicated terminal 303 according to a customizing request by the
customer, various screen customizing information such as change of
a picture specifying command previously and addition of a new input
part to an arbitrary picture that have been previously allocated to
the buttons (the entering button 360 etc.) in each picture forming
the content selecting screen described above with reference to FIG.
29, and also the rearrangement of packaged media in the content
selecting screen 354 into for example the order of created date of
content data, arbitrary change of the background color of the above
content selecting screen 354 and selection confirming screen 355
can be entered.
[0525] Thereby, for instance, as shown in FIG. 31, the data
providing server 301 switches the display of the content selecting
screen from the picture of exterior of shop 370 to a content
selecting screen 372 based on the screen customizing data obtained
from the portable dedicated terminal 303 by that the customer
selectively specified an entry-to-shop button 371. Then, the data
providing server 301 switches the display from the above content
selecting screen 372 to the selection confirming screen 355, or
provides a new input part 373 on the picture of exterior of shop
370 to make the customer arbitrary enter the genre of desired
content data and switches the display to the content selecting
screen 372 corresponding to that input, or newly provides an input
part 374 also on the content selecting screen 372 to make the
customer enter the rental term or the purchase of content data by
specifying. In this manner, the display of the content selecting
screen can be customized according to the customer's request.
[0526] Accordingly, in the data providing server 301, the usability
of the content selecting screen can be remarkably improved for the
customer who frequently obtains content data by the portable
dedicated terminal 303 and also the customer who obtains content
data in the comparatively same genre.
[0527] In this connection, also if the data providing server 301
receives the obtaining request data from the request terminal 302,
the data providing server 301 sends the content selecting screen
data composed of the data of the pictures described above with
reference to FIG. 29, to the above request terminal 302.
[0528] Here, content providing processing procedures using the
content selecting screen data by the data providing server 301 and
the portable dedicated terminal 303 in the data providing system
300 will be collectively described. First, as shown in FIG. 32A,
the portable dedicated terminal 303 enters routine RT20 from the
start step, and proceeds to step SP211.
[0529] In step SP211, the portable dedicated terminal 303 awaits
that an obtaining request is entered by customer's operation via
the operating part 341. If the obtaining request is entered, the
portable dedicated terminal 303 proceeds to step SP212.
[0530] In step SP212, the portable dedicated terminal 303 generates
obtaining request data by the request data generating part 344 and
sends this from the sending part 345 to the data providing server
301, and proceeds to step SP213.
[0531] Here, as shown in FIG. 32B, the data providing server 301
enters routine RT21 from the starting step, and proceeds to step
SP221. In step SP221, the data providing server 301 awaits the time
to update the content selecting screen data. If the time arrived,
the data providing server 301 proceeds to step SP222 to update the
content selecting screen data, and proceeds to step SP223.
[0532] In step SP223, the data providing server 301 awaits that
obtaining request data is sent from the portable dedicated terminal
303. If the data providing server 301 receives the obtaining
request data by the receiving part 312, the data providing server
301 proceeds to step SP224 to read the content selecting screen
data from the content database 311 by the retrieving part 315, and
sends this from the sending part 314 to the portable dedicated
terminal 303, and then proceeds to step SP225.
[0533] At this time, in step SP213, the portable dedicated terminal
303 awaits that content selecting screen data is sent from the data
providing server 301. If the portable dedicated terminal 303
receives the content selecting screen data by the receiving part
346, it transmits the content selecting screen data to the
reproducing part 343 to display the picture of exterior of shop 350
being the content selecting screen, and then proceeds to step
SP214.
[0534] In step SP214, the portable dedicated terminal 303 starts a
subroutine described later. If specifying information is entered on
each picture forming the content selecting screen by the customer's
operation of the operating part 341, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 proceeds to step SP215.
[0535] In step SP215, the portable dedicated terminal 303 generates
content specifying data by the request data generating part 344,
and sends this from the sending part 345 to the data providing
server 301, and then proceeds to step SP216.
[0536] At this time, in step SP225, the data providing server 301
starts a subroutine described later. The data providing server 301
properly reads each picture data forming the content selecting
screen data and commercial data from the content database 311 by
the retrieving part 315, and sends this from the sending part 314
to the portable dedicated terminal 303. Then, if the data providing
server 301 receives content specifying data from the portable
dedicated terminal 303, it proceeds to step SP226.
[0537] In step SP226, the data providing server 301 retrieves
content data in the content database 311 based on the content
specifying data by the retrieving part 315, and reads the specified
content data, and then proceeds to step SP227.
[0538] In step SP227, the data providing server 301 sends the
content data read from the content database 311 from the sending
part 314 to the portable dedicated terminal 303, and then proceeds
to step SP228 to finish the above processing by the data providing
server 301.
[0539] On the other hand, in step SP216, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 awaits that the content data is sent from the data
providing server 301. If the portable dedicated terminal 303
receives the content data, it proceeds to step SP217 to record the
content data in the recording medium 340 by the recording control
part 347. Then, the portable dedicated terminal 303 proceeds to
step SP218 to finish the above processing by the portable dedicated
terminal 303. Thus, the data providing server 301 finishes all the
content providing processing procedures by means of the content
selecting screen data.
[0540] In this connection, as shown in FIG. 33A, the portable
dedicated terminal 303 starts a subroutine in step SP214 and enters
step SP231. In the above step SP231 and the next step SP232, the
portable dedicated terminal 303 awaits that a picture specifying
command is entered on each picture: the picture of exterior of shop
350 etc., forming the content selecting screen displayed by the
reproducing part 343 described above with reference to FIG. 29 by
the customer's operation of the operating part 341 (that is, awaits
that the entry-to-shop button 360 or the like is selectively
specified), and awaits that the picture of customer 366 is moved to
the specified coordinate position on the above picture (the picture
of first floor in shop 351 or the like).
[0541] In step SP231, if the picture specifying command is entered
by moving the picture of customer 366 and selectively specifying
the entry-to-shop button 360 or the like on the picture of exterior
of shop 350 or the like by the customer's operation of the
operating part 341, the portable dedicated terminal 303 proceeds to
step SP233 to generate picture request data representing the
picture specifying command that has been previously allocated to
the above selectively specified button by the request data
generating part 344, and sends this from the sending part 345 to
the data providing server 301, and proceeds to step SP234.
[0542] At this time, as shown in FIG. 33B, the data providing
server 301 starts a subroutine in step SP225 and enters step SP251.
In the above step SP251 and the next step SP252, the data providing
server 301 awaits that the picture request data and specified
coordinate position data are sent from the portable dedicated
terminal 303. In step SP251, if the data providing server 301
receives the picture request data from the portable dedicated
terminal 303 by the receiving part 312, it proceeds to step
SP253.
[0543] In step SP253, the data providing server 301 retrieves
content data in the content database 311 based on the picture
request data by the retrieving part 315 and reads the specified
picture data, and sends this from the sending part 314 to the
portable dedicated terminal 303, and then proceeds to step
SP254.
[0544] At this time, in step SP234, the portable dedicated terminal
303 awaits the picture data from the data providing server 301. If
the portable dedicated terminal 303 receives the picture data by
the receiving part 346, it proceeds to step SP235.
[0545] In step SP235, the portable dedicated terminal 303 transmits
the received picture data to the reproducing part 343 to newly
display a picture based on the picture data instead of the picture
of the content selecting screen being displayed at present. Then,
the portable dedicated terminal 303 proceeds to step SP236 to
determine whether or not the confirmation button 368 was
selectively specified on the selection confirming screen 355.
[0546] Obtaining a negative result in this step SP236 means that
the selection confirming screen 355 has not been displayed yet by
the reproducing part 343 or that although it has been displayed,
the confirmation button 368 is not selectively specified because of
in the middle of entering to specify purchase or rental for the
content data. At this time, the portable dedicated terminal 303
returns to step SP231.
[0547] In step SP232, the portable dedicated terminal 303 moves the
picture of customer 366 to the specified coordinate position on the
picture of first floor in shop 351 or the like according to the
customer's operation of the operating part 341, and proceeds to
step SP237 to generate specified coordinate position data
representing the specified coordinate position by the request data
generating part 344 and send this from the sending part 345 to the
data providing server 301, and then proceeds to step SP238.
[0548] At this time, in step SP252, the data providing server 301
awaits the specified coordinate position data from the portable
dedicated terminal 303. If the data providing server 301 receives
the specified coordinate position data by the receiving part 312,
it proceeds to step SP255 to retrieve commercial data in the
content database 311 based on the specified coordinate position
data by the retrieving part 315, read specified commercial data,
and send this from the sending part 314 to the portable dedicated
terminal 303, and then it proceeds to step SP254.
[0549] In step SP254, the data providing server 301 determines
whether or not it received the content specifying data from the
portable dedicated terminal 303, and sequentially repeats the
processing loop of steps SP251-SP252-SP253-SP254-SP255 until it
receives the content specifying data, and sends the picture data
and the commercial data corresponding to the picture request data
and the specified coordinate position data sent from the portable
dedicated terminal 303.
[0550] If the data providing server 301 receives the content
specifying data in step SP254, it pulls out of this subroutine, and
proceeds to step SP226 in the content providing processing
procedure in the data providing server 301 described above with
reference to FIG. 32B.
[0551] On the other hand, in step SP238, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 awaits the commercial data from the data providing
server 301. If the portable dedicated terminal 303 receives the
commercial data by the receiving part 346, it proceeds to step
SP239 to transmit the commercial data to the reproducing part 343.
Thereby, the customer views a part of a content based on the
commercial data and the content can be advertised to the customer.
Then, the portable dedicated terminal 303 proceeds to step
SP236.
[0552] Until an affirmative result is obtained in step SP236, the
portable dedicated terminal 303 returns to step SP231 and
sequentially repeats the processing loop of the above steps
SP231-SP232-SP233-SP234-SP235-SP236-SP237-SP238-SP239. Thereby, the
portable dedicated terminal 303 can make the customer select
desired content data by displaying each picture of the content
selecting screen while properly switching the display while mixing
the advertisement of a content by the reproducing part 343.
[0553] Then, in step SP236, if the portable dedicated terminal 303
confirms that the confirmation button 368 was selectively specified
on the selection confirming screen 355 of the content selecting
screen, it pulls out of this subroutine and proceeds to step SP215
of the content providing processing procedure in the portable
dedicated terminal 303 described above with reference to FIG.
32A.
[0554] A content selecting screen customizing processing procedure
by the data providing server 301 and the portable dedicated
terminal 303 in this data providing system 300 will be collectively
described. First, as shown in FIG. 34A, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 enters routine RT22 from the start step and proceeds
to step SP261.
[0555] In step SP261, the portable dedicated terminal 303 awaits
that the customer enters a customizing request via the operating
part 341. If the customizing request is entered, the portable
dedicated terminal 303 proceeds to step SP262 to generate
customizing request data by the request data generating part 344,
and sends this from the sending part 345 to the data providing
server 301, and then it proceeds to step SP263.
[0556] At this time, as shown in FIG. 34B, the data providing
server 301 enters routine RT23 from the starting step and proceeds
to step SP271 to await the customizing request data from the
portable dedicated terminal 303. If the data providing server 301
receives the customizing request data by the receiving part 312, it
proceeds to step SP272 to read customizing registering screen data
from the content database 311 by the retrieving part 315, and sends
this from the sending part 314 to the portable dedicated terminal
303, and then it proceeds to step SP273.
[0557] In step SP263, the portable dedicated terminal 303 awaits
the customizing registering screen data from the data providing
server 301. If the portable dedicated terminal 303 receives the
customizing registering screen data by the receiving part 346, it
transmits this to the reproducing part 343 to display a customizing
registering screen based on the customizing registering screen
data, and proceeds to step SP264.
[0558] In step SP264, the portable dedicated terminal 303 awaits
that screen customizing information is entered on the customizing
registering screen by the customer's operation of the operating
part 341. If the screen customizing information is entered, the
portable dedicated terminal 303 proceeds to step SP265 to generate
screen customizing data by the request data generating part 344 and
sends this from the sending part 345 to the data providing server
301, and then it proceeds to step SP266.
[0559] At this time, in step SP273, the data providing server 301
awaits the screen customizing data from the portable dedicated
terminal 303. If the data providing server 301 receives the screen
customizing data by the receiving part 312, it proceeds to step
SP274.
[0560] In step SP274, the data providing server 301 reads the
content selecting screen data from the content database 311 by the
retrieving part 315, performs processing on this based on the
screen customizing data, and sends thus obtained customized screen
data from the sending part 314 to the portable dedicated terminal
303, and then it proceeds to step SP275.
[0561] On the other hand, in step SP266, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 awaits the customized screen data from the data
providing server 301. If the portable dedicated terminal 303
receives the customized screen data by the receiving part 346, it
sends this to the reproducing part 343 to display a customized
screen based on the customized screen data, and then it proceeds to
step SP267.
[0562] In step SP267, as a result of that the customized screen was
shown to the customer by the reproducing part 343, if that the
present setting is not desired customizing is entered by the
customer via the operating part 341, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 generates recustomizing data to generate screen
customizing information again by the request data generating part
344, and sends thus generated recustomizing data from the sending
part 345 to the data providing server 301. Then, the portable
dedicated terminal 303 returns to step SP264, and repeats the
processing loop of steps SP264-SP265-SP266-SP267 again.
[0563] On the contrary, in step SP267, if that the present
customizing is desired customizing is entered by the customer via
the operating part 341, the portable dedicated terminal 303
proceeds to step SP268 to generate confirmation data by the request
data generating part 344 and send this from the sending part 345 to
the data providing server 301, and it proceeds to step SP269 to
finish the above processing in the portable dedicated terminal
303.
[0564] On the other hand, in step SP275, the data providing server
301 receives the recustomizing data or the confirmation data from
the portable dedicated terminal 303 by the receiving part 312. If
the data providing server 301 receives the recustomizing data by
the receiving part 312, it returns to step SP273, and repeats the
processing loop of steps SP273-SP274-SP275 again.
[0565] In step SP275, if the data providing server 301 receives the
confirmation data by the receiving part 312, it proceeds to step
SP276 to add the screen customizing data to the customer
registration information in the customer database 310 and update
the customer registration information by the updating part 313, and
it proceeds to step SP277 to finish the above processing in the
data providing server 301. Thus, all the customizing processing
procedures in the data providing system 300 are finished.
[0566] A content providing processing procedure by means of the
customized screen data by the data providing server 301 and the
portable dedicated terminal 303 in the data providing system 300
will be collectively described. Referring to FIG. 35A shown by
adding the same reference numerals to corresponding parts in FIG.
32A, the portable dedicated terminal 303 enters routine RT24 from
the start step, proceeds to step SP211, sequentially executes the
processing of the above step SP211 and the next step SP212 to send
obtaining request data to the data providing server 301, and then
proceeds to step SP281.
[0567] At this time, referring to FIG. 35B shown by adding the same
reference numerals to corresponding parts in FIG. 32B, the data
providing server 301 enters routine RT25 from the start step,
proceeds to step SP221, sequentially executes the processing of the
above step SP221 and the following step SP222 and step SP223 to
receive the obtaining request data from the portable dedicated
terminal 303, and then it proceeds to step SP291.
[0568] In step SP291, the data providing server 301 reads the
screen customizing data added to the customer registration
information on the customer who requested to obtain the content
data from the customer database 310 by the updating part 313,
performs processing on the content selecting screen data read from
the content database 311 based on the screen customizing data by
the retrieving part 315, and sends thus obtained customized screen
data from the sending part 314 to the portable dedicated terminal
303, and then proceeds to step SP225.
[0569] The data providing server 301 sequentially executes the
processing of the above steps SP225 to SP227, and then proceeds to
step SP292 to finish the above processing in the data providing
server 301.
[0570] On the other hand, in step SP281, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 awaits the customized screen data from the data
providing server 301. If the portable dedicated terminal 303
receives the customized screen data by the receiving part 346, it
transmits the customized screen data to the reproducing part 343 to
display for example the customized picture of the exterior of the
shop 370, and then proceeds to step SP214.
[0571] In step SP214, the portable dedicated terminal 303
sequentially executes the processing of steps SP214 to SP217, and
proceeds to step SP282 to finish the above processing in the
portable dedicated terminal 303. Thereby, all the content providing
processing procedures by means of the customized screen data in the
data providing system 300 are finished.
[0572] According to the above configuration, in this data providing
system 300, if the data providing server 301 receives the
customizing request data from the portable dedicated terminal 303
that is dedicated to the agency and only can access the above data
providing server 301, the data providing server 301 sends the
customizing registering screen data to the portable dedicated
terminal 303 according to that. If the screen customizing
information for the content selecting screen that was entered on
the customizing registering screen based on the customizing
registering screen data is sent from the above portable dedicated
terminal 303 to the data providing server 301 as screen customizing
data, the data providing server 301 receives and adds this to the
corresponding customer registration information in the customer
database 310, and registers the screen customizing data.
[0573] Then, in this data providing system 300, if the data
providing server 301 receives the obtaining request data from the
portable dedicated terminal 303 of the customer who registered the
screen customizing data by the data providing server 301, the data
providing server 301 reads the above screen customizing data from
the customer database 310, and the content selecting screen data
from the content database 311, and performs processing on the
content selecting screen data based on the screen customizing data,
and sends thus obtained customized screen data to the portable
dedicated terminal 303. Thereby, the customer can select desired
content data on the customized screen obtained by customizing the
content selecting screen according to the customer's request.
[0574] In this data providing system 300, since the portable
dedicated terminal 303 only can access the data providing server
301 for providing content data, the content selecting screen can be
easily customized matching with the customer's taste of content
data (that is, genre). Thus, the usability of the content selecting
screen can be remarkably improved.
[0575] Moreover, in this data providing system 300, the content
selecting screen previously generated by mixing the
three-dimensional virtual reality space pictures that represent the
outside/inside of the shop of the agency is provided from the data
providing server 301 to the portable dedicated terminal 303 so that
the customer can easily select content data. The content selecting
screen can be customized according to the customer's request.
Thereby, the usability of the above content selecting screen can be
further improved.
[0576] Furthermore, in this data providing system 300, if the data
providing server 301 obtains the screen customizing data from the
portable dedicated terminal 303, it customizes the content
selecting screen data based on the screen customizing data, and the
customer can confirm this on the portable dedicated terminal 303.
Thereby, the content selecting screen can be properly customized as
the customer desired.
[0577] In this data providing system 300, the portable dedicated
terminal 303 only can access the data providing server 301 for
providing content data, and the content selecting screen which will
be provided to the portable dedicated terminal 303 when the
customer requested to obtain content data can be customized
according to the customer's request. Thereby, the customer who uses
the portable dedicated terminal 303 for the purpose of obtaining
content data can remarkably easily use the data providing system
300.
[0578] As a result, in this data providing system 300, the
percentage of the customers who use the data providing server 301
also being the agency to obtain content data can be remarkably
improved.
[0579] Furthermore, in this data providing system 300, the customer
can use such portable dedicated terminal 303 only accessible the
data providing server 301 by either of purchase and rental.
Thereby, the customer who does not own a device for using the
Internet, the customer who although owns such device, is
inexperienced in operations for connecting to the Internet, and the
customer who almost does not have a knowledge of the Internet, can
easily obtain content data from the data providing server 301 by
the portable dedicated terminal 303.
[0580] According to the above configuration, the data providing
server 301 sends the customizing registering screen data according
to the customizing request data that was sent from the portable
dedicated terminal 303 dedicated to the agency and only accessible
the above data providing server 301 to the portable dedicated
terminal 303, and the data providing server 301 registers the
screen customizing data sent from the above portable dedicated
terminal 303 in the customer database 310. Then, the data providing
server 301 performs processing on the content selecting screen data
based on the screen customizing data read from the customer
database 310 according to the obtaining request data sent from the
portable dedicated terminal 303, and sends thus obtained customized
screen data to the portable dedicated terminal 303. Thereby, the
content selecting screen can be easily customized matching with the
customer's taste, and the usability of the above content selecting
screen can be remarkably improved. Thus, a data providing system in
which the customer can easily select content data can be
accomplished.
[0581] Note that, in the aforementioned sixth embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the data providing server 301 is
installed in the agency. However, this invention is not only
limited to this but also provided that the data providing server
301 can be connected to the Internet, the place to install the data
providing server 301 may not be particularly prescribed. And by
providing a database for managing plural agencies in the data
providing server 301 and by previously storing their agency IDs
peculiar to each of them, content selecting screen data and
customizing registering screen data in the above database by making
a correspondence, when the portable dedicated terminal 303
accessed, the data providing server 301 may send content selecting
screen data and customizing registering screen data for an agency
corresponding to the portable dedicated terminal 303 or for an
agency arbitrary selected to the above portable dedicated terminal
303.
[0582] In the aforementioned sixth embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where in the data providing server 301, the content
selecting screen data is generated by the developmental tool that
was provided from the content server. However, this invention is
not only limited to this but also content selecting screen data may
be generated by entrusting it to a company for generating content
selecting screen data or the like from the data providing server
301.
[0583] In the aforementioned sixth embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the content selecting screen data representing the
inside of the shop of the agency by three-dimensional virtual
reality space pictures is provided from the data providing server
301. However, this invention is not only limited to this but also
content selecting screen data generated in a home page by listing
the titles of many content data or the like may be provided.
[0584] As shown in FIG. 36, in a data providing system 390 for
providing content selecting screen data generated in a home page,
as screen customizing data D10 to be sent from a portable dedicated
terminal 391 to a data providing server 392, customizing such as
the rearrangement of tunes (i.e., content data) by an arbitrary
artist (or genre) in date order, and the specifying of background
color of the content selecting screen data can be performed. If the
data providing server 392 receives obtaining request data from the
portable dedicated terminal 391 after it registered the received
screen customizing data D10 in a customer database 393, the data
providing server 392 performs processing on the content selecting
screen data in the customer database 393 based on the screen
customizing data D10 by a retrieving part 397, and sends thus
obtained customized screen data D11 to the portable dedicated
terminal 391.
[0585] In this connection, in the data providing system 390, if the
data providing server 392 receives the screen customizing data D10,
the data providing server 392 determines whether or not
satisfactory amount of content data for the request by the screen
customizing data D10 has been stored in a content database 394. If
it has not, the data providing server 392 generates content
obtaining request data D12 and send this to a content server 395,
so that the content server 395 reads specified content data from
the content database 396 and supplies this to the data providing
server 392. Thereby, the content selecting screen data can be
customized while further surely satisfying the customer's request.
Note that, such supply of content data from the content server 395
to the data providing server 392 also can be applied to the
aforementioned sixth embodiment.
[0586] Furthermore, in the aforementioned sixth embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the data providing server 301 simply
obtains many content data provided from a content server and stores
this in the content database 311. However, this invention is not
only limited to this but also the data providing server 301 may
obtain compressed content data from the content server, stores this
in the content database 311 as it has been compressed, and provides
this to the portable dedicated terminal 303. Thereby, the content
database 311 in the data providing server 301 and the recording
medium 340 in the portable dedicated terminal 303 that have a
limited capacity can be effectively used to record content
data.
[0587] In this connection, as shown in FIG. 37, in the content
server, not only many content data but also many data tables 400 in
which the above content data are represented by classified by genre
have been stored in the content database. If the genre of content
data to be treated for providing is specified from data providing
servers and/or agencies by preceding the start of the distribution
of content data, content data in the specified genre are selected
from the above data table at random, and thus selected content data
group "a". are provided to the different data providing servers
and/or agencies, respectively. Thereby, content data in which a
part of or all of them are different in the same genre can be
provided to the data providing servers and/or the agencies. As a
result, the customer can use many data providing servers dealing in
different content data in the same genre.
(8) Seventh Embodiment
[0588] FIG. 38 shows a data providing system 500 according to a
seventh embodiment. A portable dedicated terminal 502 that
corresponds to the portable dedicated terminals 7A to 7N described
above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and only can accessible a data
providing server 501, and a package providing server 503 that
corresponds to the sales company 5 described above with reference
to FIGS. 1 to 3 are connected to a data providing server 501
corresponding to the agencies 4A to 4N described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, respectively, on the Internet 504.
[0589] The data providing server 501 has a customer database 510, a
content database 511 and a packaged media database 512. The
customer can use the data providing server 501 by that customer
registration information composed of customer information such as
the name, address, and account number, and a customer ID issued to
the customer are stored in the customer database 510 and the
customer is registered.
[0590] In the content database 511, content data composed of many
single tunes has been stored as content data that will be provided
to the customer, and a data table formed by listing content
additional information composed of a content ID peculiar to each of
the above content data, title (the title of tune), selling price,
rental price, etc., has been stored.
[0591] In the data providing server 501, content data being a
single tune is equivalent to packaged media storing the same
content data, and they are equivalently exchangeable. According to
this, in the packaged media database 512, a data table formed by
listing the title of the content data being a single tune, the
title of the packaged media storing the above content data being a
single CD, the selling price of the above packaged media, package
identification information peculiar to packaged media (hereinafter,
this is referred to as package ID), etc. by making a
correspondence.
[0592] For instance, the registered customer sends specifying
information on content data wanting to rent from the portable
dedicated terminal 502 (purchased/rented by the customer) as
content specifying data, the data providing server 501 receives
this by a receiving part 515 and takes this in a receiving data
judging part 516.
[0593] Here, as shown in FIGS. 38 and 39, in the content specifying
data D20 sent from the portable dedicated terminal 502, information
such as the customer's name, customer ID, password, title of the
content data D21 that the customer wants to rent, equivalent
exchange information representing whether or not equivalent
exchange had performed, rental term, and method of payment for
rental charge is included.
[0594] In this connection, the customer ID was issued in the
customer registration in the data providing server 501 and has been
stored in the portable dedicated terminal 502. The customer ID will
be stored in various data to be sent from the above portable
dedicated terminal 502 to identify the customer.
[0595] The equivalent exchange information shows for example, "0"
in the case where the customer's purpose is to obtain the content
data D21 and the customer does not hope equivalent exchange. On the
contrary, in the case where the customer hopes equivalent exchange,
the equivalent exchange information shows "1", for example.
[0596] The data providing server 501 identifies the above content
specifying data D20 as data to obtain the content data D21 based on
the equivalent exchange information stored in the content
specifying data D20 by the receiving data judging part 516.
[0597] Then, the data providing server 501 retrieves a data table
in the content database 511 based on the title of the content data
D21, changes the title to a content ID, generates read-of-content
control data D22, and sends this to a content ID extracting part
517, by the receiving data judging part 516.
[0598] In this connection, when in generating the read-of-content
control data D22 from the content specifying data D20 by the
receiving data judging part 516, the data providing server 501
retrieves the customer registration information in the customer
database 510 based on the customer ID, and detects the coded name
of the customer stored therein by a customer updating/retrieving
part 518.
[0599] As the method of payment for rental charges, if credit has
been specified, the data providing server 501 detects the account
number of the customer, stores thus detected customer's coded name
and account number in the read-of-content control data D22 by the
receiving data judging part 516.
[0600] The data providing server 501 extracts the content ID from
the read-of-content control data D22 by the content ID extracting
part 517, and transmits this to a content retrieving part 519 with
the read-of-content control data D22. The data providing server 501
retrieves the content data D21 in the content database 511 and
reads this by the above content retrieving part 519, and transmits
the read content data D21 to a sending data generating part 520
with the read-of-content control data D22.
[0601] The data providing server 501 adds copy history information
to the read-of-content control data D22, generates header data D23,
and adds the header data D23 to the content data D21 by the sending
data generating part 520, and then sends this from a sending part
521 to the portable dedicated terminal 502 via the Internet 504.
Thereby, the customer can rent the content data D21 that he/she
specified.
[0602] In this connection, the data providing server 501 has an
accounting part not shown. In the case where the customer specified
payment for rental charges by credit, the data providing server 501
executes accounting by that accounting part before the specified
content data D21 is sent to the portable dedicated terminal 502.
The data providing server 501 generates accounting data based on
the rental charges according to the term to rent the content data
D21 (that is, charge amount to the customer), the account number of
the customer in the customer registration information, and the
account number of, for example, an agency following the data
providing server 501.
[0603] As a result of that the data providing server 501 sent the
account data from the sending part 521 to a specified settlement
processing server (not shown) via the Internet 504, if the
completion of electronical settlement processing based on the
account data is notified from the above settlement processing
server, the data providing server 501 adds information such as the
title and the content ID of the content data D21, the amount that
the customer paid for the rental, to the customer registration
information in the customer database 510, and updates the customer
registration information. The data providing server 501 can grasp
the information on the content data D21 rented by the customer, the
state of payment for the above rental, or the like, by the customer
registration information.
[0604] At this time, the data providing server 501 also notifies
the sending data generating part 520 of the notification received
from the settlement processing server, and stores the information
on the amount that the customer paid for the rental of the content
data D21 in the header data D23 instead of the account number by
the above sending data generating part 520. In this manner, if the
customer completes the payment for the rental charges, the data
providing server 501 sends the content data D21 with the header
data D23 to the portable dedicated terminal 502 for rental
[0605] In this manner, in the data providing system 500, the
content data D21 is rented to the customer from the data providing
server 501 by means of the portable dedicated terminal 502. If the
rental term of the above content data D21 is finished, and the
customer brings that portable dedicated terminal 502 into the
agency, the agency erases the content data D21 for return.
[0606] In this data providing system 500, although the rental term
has passed, if the customer does not bring the portable dedicated
terminal 502 into the agency, that content data D21 is erased or
made into the irreproducible state for return by the internal
mechanism of the above portable dedicated terminal 502.
[0607] By the way, if equivalent exchange request data D30 for
requesting the equivalent exchange of the content data owned by the
customer by rental (single tune) for packaged media (single CD) is
sent from the portable dedicated terminal 502, the data providing
server 501 receives this by the receiving part 515, and takes this
in the receiving data judging part 516.
[0608] Here, as shown in FIGS. 38 and 40, in the equivalent
exchange request data D30, the equivalent exchange information is
composed of the customer's name, customer ID, password, title of
the content data D21 that the customer specified for the equivalent
exchange, and whether or not being an equivalent exchange (in this
case, "1" is shown).
[0609] The data providing server 501 judges the equivalent exchange
request data D30 to be data for requesting an equivalent exchange
of the content data D21 for packaged media based on the equivalent
exchange information included in the equivalent exchange request
data D30 by the receiving data judging part 516, and sends the
equivalent exchange request data D30 to a customer ID extracting
part 525.
[0610] The data providing server 501 extracts the customer ID from
the equivalent exchange request data D30 by the customer ID
extracting part 525, and transmits this to a customer
updating/retrieving part 518 with the above equivalent exchange
request data D30.
[0611] The data providing server 501 retrieves the customer
registration information in the customer database 510 based on the
customer ID by the customer updating/retrieving part 518, and based
on thus obtained customer registration information, detects the
customer's coded name, content ID of the content data D21, payment
method of the rental charges for the content data D21, whether or
not the above rental charges was already paid, and whether or not
the customer did not commit illegality on the obtaining of the
content data D21 in the past, and transmits the detected result to
a judging part 526 with the equivalent exchange request data
D30.
[0612] The data providing server 501 judges whether or not the
equivalent exchange should be permitted based on the detected
result by the judging part 526.
[0613] Here, if the customer already paid the rental charges for
the content data D21 and especially did not commit illegality, the
data providing server 501 permits the equivalent exchange and
stores the detected data, the customer's coded name, the content ID
of the content data D21, the paying method of the rental charges,
and the amount that the customer practically paid, in the
equivalent exchange request data D30, and generates equivalent
exchange processing data D31 by the judging part 526, and transmits
this to a value judging part 527.
[0614] The data providing server 501 retrieves a data table in the
packaged media database 512 according to the retrieval conditions
previously set in a package retrieving part 528, detects packaged
media (single CD) storing the same tune as the content data D21
owned by the customer, as exchangeable packaged media, and reads
the title, the selling price and the package ID of thus detected
packaged media by the value judging part 527.
[0615] Then, the data providing server 501 compares the rental
charges that the customer paid for the content data D21 (that is,
the obtaining price of the content data D21) to the selling price
of the detected packaged media and computing their balance by the
value judging part 527. At this time, for instance, if the selling
price of the packaged media is more expensive than the obtaining
price of the content data D21, the term of the equivalent exchange
that the customer pays their balance is set to make the exchange
values equivalent.
[0616] The data providing server 501 stores the title and the
package ID of the packaged media, and the term of the equivalent
exchange in the equivalent exchange request data D30, and generates
equivalent exchange term showing data D32, by the value judging
part 527.
[0617] The data providing server 501 sends the equivalent exchange
term showing data D32 from the sending part 521 to the portable
dedicated terminal 502 via the Internet 504 to notify the customer
of that the content data D21 can be equivalently exchanged for the
packaged media, and that if the customer equivalently exchanges the
content data D21 for the packaged media, he/she must pay the shown
balance as the term.
[0618] As a result, if exchange acceptance data representing that
the customer accepts the equivalent exchange is sent from the
portable dedicated terminal 502, the data providing server 501
receives this by the receiving part 515, takes this in the
receiving data judging part 516, and transmits this to the judging
part 526. The data providing server 501 confirms that the customer
accepted the equivalent exchange based on the exchange acceptance
data by the judging part 526.
[0619] Then, the data providing server 501 generates package
delivery ordering information from the package ID of the packaged
media to be equivalently exchanged and delivered to the customer,
the customer's name, the customer's address, etc., based on the
customer registration information by the judging part 526, and
transmits this to the sending data generating part 520.
[0620] The data providing server 501 generates package delivery
ordering data representing the package delivery ordering
information by the sending data generating part 520, and sends this
from the sending part 521 to the package providing server 503 via
the Internet 504, to order the delivery of the packaged media to
the customer.
[0621] As a result, if delivery arrangement completion data
representing that the arrangement of the delivery has completed is
sent from the package providing server 503 via the Internet 504,
the data providing server 501 receives this by the receiving part
515, and transmits this from the receiving data judging part 516 to
the judging part 526.
[0622] At this time, as the paying method of the balance shown in
the exchange acceptance data, if the customer specified the payment
by credit, the data providing server 501 performs accounting by the
accounting part similarly to the aforementioned case, and then
receives the notification of the completion of the electronical
settlement from the settlement processing server.
[0623] The data providing server 501 transmits the equivalent
exchange approval information representing the approval for the
equivalent exchange and the delivery method of the packaged media
from the judging part 526 to the sending data generating part 520
to generate equivalent exchange approval data, and sends this from
the sending part 521 to the portable dedicated terminal 502 via the
Internet 504 to notify the customer of that the equivalent exchange
was approved.
[0624] Then, the data providing server 501 adds information such as
the content ID of the content data D21 to be equivalently
exchanged, the package ID of the packaged media, whether or not the
customer paid the balance, and the balance, to the customer
registration information in the customer database 510, updates the
customer registration information, and stores the history of the
equivalent exchange, by the judging part 526 via the customer
updating/retrieving part 518.
[0625] Thereby, the content data owned by the customer is erased
from the portable dedicated terminal 502 (or is made into
irreproducible state) for return, and the packaged media is
delivered to the customer. In this manner, in the data providing
server 501, as shown in FIGS. 41A and 41B, the content data D21
owned by the customer can be equivalently exchanged for the
packaged media storing the content data D21 that should be normally
purchased at the selling price.
[0626] In this connection, in the case where the customer specified
payment by cash for the balance between the selling price of the
packaged media and the obtaining price of the content data, the
customer transfers the balance to the bank account. And in the case
where the customer specified payment by prepaid card, the customer
uses a request terminal or the like.
[0627] When the data providing server 501 received the equivalent
exchange request data D30 from the portable dedicated terminal 502,
if the customer had not paid the rental charges for the content
data D21 specified for equivalent exchange, or if the customer had
committed any illegality in the past, the data providing server 501
forbids the customer the equivalent exchange, and sends equivalent
exchange forbidding information representing the forbidding of the
above equivalent exchange to the sending data generating part 520
by the judging part 526.
[0628] The data providing server 501 generates equivalent exchange
forbidding data representing that equivalent exchange forbidding
information by the sending data generating part 520, and sends this
from the sending part 521 to the portable dedicated terminal 502
via the Internet 504 to notify the customer of that the data
providing server 501 cannot permit the equivalent exchange.
[0629] On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 38, if the customer
enters specifying information on the content data wanting to rent
by an operating part 540, the portable dedicated terminal 502
judges the specifying information as information for obtaining
content data for example, according to the format of the specifying
information, and adds equivalent exchange information showing "0"
to that specifying information by an operational information
judging part 541, and transmits this to a request data generating
part 542.
[0630] The portable dedicated terminal 502 generates content
specifying data D20 representing that specifying information
including the customer ID by the request data generating part 542,
and sends this from a sending part 543 to the data providing server
501 via the Internet 504.
[0631] As a result, if the content data D21 to which the header
data D23 has been added is sent from the data providing server 501,
the portable dedicated terminal 502 receives this by a receiving
part 544, and transmits this to a recording control part 546 via a
judging part 545. The portable dedicated terminal 502 records that
content data D21 and header data D23 in a recording medium 547 by
the above recording control part 546. In this manner, the customer
can rent the desired content data D21.
[0632] Thereafter, if the customer enters a reproducing command
with the operating part 540, the portable dedicated terminal 502
reproduces the content data D21 from the recording medium 547 by a
reproducing control part 548, and supplies thus reproduced content
data D21 to a reproducing part 549 composed of a display control
part, a display part, a speaker, etc. Thereby, the customer can
enjoy the content such as a single tune.
[0633] In this connection, the portable dedicated terminal 502
manages the rental term of the content data D21 by detecting it
from the header data D23 by the recording control part 546 and the
reproducing control part 548. If the customer does not bring the
portable dedicated terminal 502 into the agency although the rental
term of the above content data D21 has finished, the portable
dedicated terminal 502 erases the content data D21 from the
recording medium 547, or makes into a state where the content data
D21 cannot be reproduced for return, by the reproducing control
part 548.
[0634] Furthermore, if the customer enters an equivalent exchange
request in which the content data D21 is specified for equivalent
exchange by the operating part 540, the portable dedicated terminal
502 judges that the equivalent exchange request is a request for
equivalently exchanging the content data D21 owned by the customer
for packaged media by the format of that equivalent exchange
request, and adds equivalent exchange information showing "1" to
the above equivalent exchange request by the operational
information judging part 541, and supplies this to the request data
generating part 542.
[0635] In this case, the portable dedicated terminal 502 generates
equivalent exchange request data D30 representing that equivalent
exchange request including the customer ID by the request data
generating part 542, and sends this from the sending part 543 to
the data providing server 501 via the Internet 504.
[0636] As a result, if the equivalent exchange term showing data
D32 is sent from the data providing server 501 via the Internet
504, the portable dedicated terminal 502 receives this by the
receiving part 544, and transmits this to the reproducing part 549
via the judging part 545, and notifies the customer of the title of
exchangeable packaged media and that the customer must pay the
balance occurred by the equivalent exchange as the term of the
equivalent exchange.
[0637] If the customer approves the equivalent exchange via the
operating part 540, the portable dedicated terminal 502 adds the
equivalent exchange information representing "1" to the approval
information, and transmits this to the request data generating part
542, by the operational information judging part 541. The portable
dedicated terminal 502 generates exchange approval data
representing the above approval information by the above request
data generating part 542, and sends this from the sending part 543
to the data providing server 501 via the Internet 504.
[0638] If equivalent exchange permitting data is sent from the data
providing server 501 via the Internet 504, the portable dedicated
terminal 502 receives this by the receiving part 544, and transmits
this from the judging part 545 to the reproducing part 549, and
notifies the customer of that the equivalent exchange was
permitted, and the delivery method of the packaged media or the
like.
[0639] In this connection, if the equivalent exchange forbidding
data is sent from the data providing server 501 via the Internet
504, the portable dedicated terminal 502 receives this by the
receiving part 544, and transmits this to the reproducing part 549
via the judging part 545, and notifies the customer of that the
equivalent exchange was not permitted.
[0640] If the package delivery ordering data is sent from the data
providing server 501 via the Internet 504, the package providing
server 503 receives this by a receiving part 560, transmits this to
a package ID extracting part 561 to extract the package ID from the
package delivery ordering data, and supplies this to a package
retrieving part 562 with the package delivery ordering data.
[0641] Then, the package providing server 503 retrieves packaged
data in a stock management database 563 according to the package
ID, and detects the stock of the packaged media specified by the
data providing server 501 and the keeping position on a package
shelf not shown by the package retrieving part 562, and transmits
information on the above detected keeping position to a package
taking-out control part 564 with the package delivery ordering
data.
[0642] After the specified packaged media is taken out of the
packaged media keeping shelf based on the information on the
keeping position by the package taking-out control part 564, the
package providing server 503 packs that extracted packaged media
and instructs a delivery center not shown to deliver this to the
address of the customer shown in the package delivery ordering data
by a packing and shipment instructing part 565, and then, sends
delivery arrangement completion data from a sending part 566 to the
data providing server 501.
[0643] In this manner, in the data providing system 500, as shown
in FIG. 42, if the equivalent exchange between the customer and the
data providing server 501 is permitted, the package providing
server 503 delivers the packaged media specified in the
equivalently exchanged to the customer.
[0644] Here, equivalent exchange processing procedures by the data
providing server 501, the portable dedicated terminal 502 and the
package providing server 503 in the data providing system 500 will
be collectively described. As shown in FIGS. 43A and 44A, first,
the portable dedicated terminal 502 enters routine RT30 from the
starting step, and proceeds to step SP351.
[0645] In step SP351, the portable dedicated terminal 502 awaits
that the customer enters specifying information for renting the
content data D21 by the operating part 540. If the specifying
information is entered, the portable dedicated terminal 502
proceeds to step SP352 to generate content specifying data D20 by
the request data generating part 542, and sends this from the
sending part 543 to the data providing server 501, and then
proceeds to step SP353.
[0646] At this time, as shown in FIGS. 43B and 44B, the data
providing server 501 enters routine RT31 from the start step, and
proceeds to step SP371. In step SP371, the data providing server
501 awaits the content specifying data D20 from the portable
dedicated terminal 502. If the data providing server 501 receives
the content specifying data D20 by the receiving part 515, it
proceeds to step SP372.
[0647] In step SP372, the data providing server 501 reads the
specified content data D21 from the content database 511 by the
content retrieving part 519, and sends this from the sending part
521 to the portable dedicated terminal 502, and then proceeds to
step SP373.
[0648] Here, in step SP353, the portable dedicated terminal 502
awaits the content data D21 from the data providing server 501. If
the portable dedicated terminal 502 receives the content data D21
by the receiving part 544, it proceeds to step SP354 to store that
content data D21 in the recording medium 547 by the recording
control part 546, and proceeds to step SP355. Thereby, the data
providing server 501 rents the specified content data D21 to the
customer. The content data D21 will be reproduced according to the
customer's request. Thus, the customer can enjoy a content based on
the content data D21.
[0649] In step SP355, the portable dedicated terminal 502 awaits
that the customer enters an equivalent exchange request by the
operating part 540. Until the equivalent exchange request is
entered, the portable dedicated terminal 502 returns to step SP351
and repeats the processing loop of the following steps
SP352-SP353-SP354-SP355.
[0650] In step SP355, if the equivalent exchange request is entered
by the customer via the operating part 540, the portable dedicated
terminal 502 proceeds to step SP356 to generate the equivalent
exchange request data D30 by the request data generating part 542,
and sends this from the sending part 543 to the data providing
server 501, and then proceeds to step SP357.
[0651] In step SP373, the data providing server 501 determines
whether or not the equivalent exchange request data D30 was sent
from the portable dedicated terminal 502. Until the data providing
server 501 receives the above equivalent exchange request data D30,
the data providing server 501 returns to step SP371 and repeats the
processing loop of the following steps SP372 and SP373. In step
SP373, if the data providing server 501 receives the equivalent
exchange request data D30 from the portable dedicated terminal 502
by the receiving part 515, it proceeds to step SP374.
[0652] In step SP374, the data providing server 501 checks the
using history of the above customer who requested the equivalent
exchange based on the customer registration information, and judges
whether to permit or forbid the equivalent exchange by the judging
part 526.
[0653] Obtaining a negative result in this step SP374 means that
the rental charges of the content data D21 that the customer for
the equivalent exchange has not been paid yet or that the above
customer might illegally use the equivalent exchange because he/she
committed any illegality in the past. At this time, the data
providing server 501 proceeds to step SP375 to send the equivalent
exchange forbidding data generated by the judging part 526, from
the sending part 521 to the portable dedicated terminal 502 by the
sending data generating part 520. Then, the data providing server
501 proceeds to step SP376 to finish the above processing by the
data providing server 501.
[0654] On the contrary, obtaining an affirmative result in step
SP374 means that the customer will not illegally use the equivalent
exchange because he/she already paid the rental charges for the
content data D21 that the customer specified for the equivalent
exchange and he/she has not been done any illegality in the past.
At this time, the data providing server 501 proceeds to step
SP377.
[0655] In step SP377, the data providing server 501 generates the
equivalent exchange term showing data D32 representing the term to
make the exchange value between the content data D21 owned by the
customer and the packaged media equal in a equivalent exchange by
the value judging part 527, and sends this from the sending part
521 to the portable dedicated terminal 502, and then proceeds to
step SP378.
[0656] At this time, in step SP375, the portable dedicated terminal
502 awaits the equivalent exchange term showing data D32 or the
equivalent exchange forbidding data from the data providing server
501. If the portable dedicated terminal 502 receives either data by
the receiving part 544, it proceeds to step SP358.
[0657] In step SP358, the portable dedicated terminal 502
determines whether the data received by the receiving part 544 is
the equivalent exchange term showing data D32 or the equivalent
exchange forbidding data by the judging part 545. If the above
received data is the equivalent exchange forbidding data, the
portable dedicated terminal 502 proceeds to step SP359 to finish
the processing by the above portable dedicated terminal 502.
[0658] In step SP358, if the received data is the equivalent
exchange term showing data D32, the portable dedicated terminal 502
proceeds to step SP360 to send the exchange permitting data from
the sending part 543 to the data providing server 501 according to
the customer's operation of the operating part 540, and proceeds to
step SP361.
[0659] In step SP378, the data providing server 501 awaits the
exchange approval data from the portable dedicated terminal 502. If
the data providing server 501 receives the exchange permitting data
by the receiving part 515, it proceeds to step SP379 to generate
package delivery ordering data to deliver the packaged media to the
customer by the judging part 526, and sends this from the sending
part 521 to the package providing server 503, and then proceeds to
step SP380.
[0660] At this time, as shown in FIGS. 43C and 44C, the package
providing server 503 enters routine RT32 from the start step, and
proceeds to step SP391. In step SP391, the package providing server
503 awaits the package delivery ordering data from the data
providing server 501. If the package providing server 503 receives
the package delivery ordering data by the receiving part 560, it
proceeds to step SP392.
[0661] In step SP392, the package providing server 503 confirms the
keeping position of the specified packaged media on the package
keeping shelf based on the package delivery ordering data by the
package retrieving part 562, and proceeds to step SP393 to take the
specified packaged media out of the package keeping shelf by the
package taking-out control part 564, and then it proceeds to step
SP394.
[0662] In step SP394, the package providing server 503 instructs
the delivery center to pack and deliver the packaged media to the
customer by the packing and shipment instructing part 565, and
proceeds to step SP395 to send delivery arrangement completion data
from the sending part 566 to the data providing server 501. Then,
the package providing server 503 proceeds to step SP396 to finish
the above processing by the package providing server 503.
[0663] At this time, in step SP380, the data providing server 501
awaits the delivery arrangement completion data from the package
providing server 503. If the data providing server 501 receives the
delivery arrangement completion data by the receiving part 515, it
proceeds to step SP381 to generate the equivalent exchange
permitting data by the judging part 526 and send this from the
sending part 521 to the portable dedicated terminal 502. Then, the
data providing server 501 proceeds to step SP376 to finish the
above processing by the data providing server 501.
[0664] On the other hand, in step SP361, the portable dedicated
terminal 502 awaits the equivalent exchange permitting data from
the data providing server 501. If the portable dedicated terminal
502 receives the equivalent exchange permitting data by the
receiving part 544, it notifies the customer of that the equivalent
exchange was permitted by the reproducing part 549. Then, the
portable dedicated terminal 502 proceeds to step SP359 to finish
the above processing by the portable dedicated terminal 502. Thus,
all the equivalent exchange processing procedures in the data
providing system 500 are finished.
[0665] According to the above configuration, in this data providing
system 500, if the content specifying data for requesting the
rental of the content data D21 is sent from the portable dedicated
terminal 502, the data providing server 501 sends the specified
content data D21 to the portable dedicated terminal 502 responding
to the request for storing. In this manner, the content data D21 is
rented to the customer by means of the portable dedicated terminal
502.
[0666] In this data providing system 500, if the equivalent
exchange request data D30 of the content data D21 (single tune)
owned by the customer by rental is sent from the portable dedicated
terminal 502, the data providing server 501 detects packaged media
(single CD) storing the same content data D21 that can be
equivalently exchanged for the content data D21, and computes the
balance of the selling price of the packaged media and the
obtaining price of the content data owned by the customer to make
the exchange value between them equal.
[0667] In this manner, in the data providing system 500, the data
providing server 501 sends the equivalent exchange term showing
data D32 showing the title of the exchangeable packaged media, and
the balance that the customer must pay for the equivalent exchange
as the term of the equivalent exchange, to the portable dedicated
terminal 502.
[0668] As a result, in the data providing system 500, if the
equivalent exchange approval data representing that the customer
approves the equivalent exchange is sent from the portable
dedicated terminal 502, the data providing server 501 makes the
customer pay the balance occurred by the equivalent exchange, and
erases the content data owned by the customer from the portable
dedicated terminal 502 for return, and delivers the packaged media
to the customer. In this manner, the exchange value between the
content data D21 owned by the customer and the packaged media
storing the content data D21 is made to be equal, and the content
data D21 is exchanged for the packaged media.
[0669] Accordingly, in this data providing system 500, in the case
where the customer renting the content data D21 by means of the
portable dedicated terminal 502 wants to enjoy that content data
D21 by reproducing by another device, or the customer is anxious
about the safekeeping of the content data D21 by the portable
dedicated terminal 502 and wants the safekeeping by packaged media,
the exchange value between the above content data D21 and the
packaged media is made to be equal, and the content data D21 can be
provided to the customer by a minimum investment by exchanging the
content data D21 for the packaged media.
[0670] As a result, in this data providing system 500, the customer
can remarkably easily obtain the content data D21 distributed on
the Internet.
[0671] In this data providing system 500, such equivalent exchange
between the content data D21 and the packaged media is executed.
Thus, the customer can remarkably easily use that system.
[0672] Furthermore, in this data providing system 500, only the
customer who uses the portable dedicated terminal 502 only
accessible the data providing server 501 can use the equivalent
exchange. Thereby, it can be surely prevented that the above
customer illegally uses the equivalent exchange by means of content
data that was obtained from a server other than the data providing
server 501 at a price different from the providing price by the
data providing server 501, or that the customer illegally uses the
equivalent exchange by means of content data that was downloaded
from packaged media.
[0673] According to the above configuration, the data providing
server 501 sends the specified content data D21 according to the
rental request from the customer's portable dedicated terminal 502
to the portable dedicated terminal 502 for storing and rental.
Then, an exchange of the rented content data D21 for packaged media
is requested from the portable dedicated terminal 502, the data
providing server 501 detects exchangeable packaged media, and shows
a term to make the exchange value between the packaged media and
the content data D21 owned by the customer equal. Thereby, even if
the customer obtained the content data by distribution, the
customer can exchange his/her content data D21 for the packaged
media by a minimum investment. Thereby, the customer can remarkably
easily obtain the content data D21 distributed on the Internet 504.
Thus, a data providing system that can popularize the distribution
of content data can be accomplished.
[0674] Note that, in the aforementioned seventh embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the content data D21 rented by the
customer is equivalently exchanged for the packaged media by the
data providing server 501. However, this invention is not only
limited to this but also content data sold to the customer may be
equivalently exchanged for packaged media by the data providing
server 501.
[0675] In this connection, in the aforementioned seventh
embodiment, since the content data D21 being rented is equivalently
exchanged for the packaged media, the above content data D21 is
erased for return when the rental term passed. However, in the case
where content data sold to the customer is equivalently exchanged
for packaged media storing the same content data, it can be said
that the above customer does not illegally own different content
data. Therefore, the content data equivalently exchanged for the
packaged media may be erased, or the customer may hold that as it
is.
[0676] In the aforementioned seventh embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the packaged media specified for the equivalent
exchange is delivered to the customer by the package providing
server 503. However, this invention is not only limited to this but
also the packaged media may be directly handed to the customer at
the agency when the customer came to return the content data
D21.
[0677] Furthermore, in the aforementioned seventh embodiment, it
has dealt with the case where the content data D21 being a single
tune owned by the customer is equivalently exchanged for the
packaged media being a single CD. However, this invention is not
only limited to this but also the content data D21 being a single
tune may be equivalently exchanged for packaged media being an
album CD.
[0678] In the aforementioned seventh embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the musical content data and the musical packaged
media were equivalently exchanged (a single tune and a single CD).
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also
various content data other than that, such as a motion picture and
a book can be adapted. Thereby, the convenience and the versatility
of a data providing system can be remarkably improved, and the
distribution of content data can be further popularized.
[0679] In the aforementioned seventh embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the customer pays the balance in the equivalent
exchange by money. However, this invention is not only limited to
this but also the data providing server 501 may issue a point to
give a privilege such as a discount to the customer according to
the rental and the purchase of content data, and the customer may
accumulate and use the points for the payment of the balance
instead of a part of or all of the money.
[0680] In the aforementioned seventh embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the customer rents the content data D21 from the
data providing server 501 by the portable dedicated terminal 502
only accessible the above data providing server 501, and
equivalently exchanges the content data D21 for the packaged media.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also,
provided that it is a device connectable to the Internet 504 such
as a personal computer, a portable telephone, the customer may
purchase or rent content data from the data providing server 501 by
such device, and may equivalently exchange content data that the
customer purchased or rented for packaged media.
[0681] In this connection, in the case where the customer uses the
data providing server 501 by means of another device different from
the portable dedicated terminal 502, such as a personal computer
and a portable telephone, server identifying information for
identifying the data providing server 501 being the provider of
content data is added to content data purchased or rented from the
data providing server 501, in the above device. If an equivalent
exchange is requested by the customer, when the data providing
server 501 judges whether to permit or forbid the equivalent
exchange, the data providing server 501 judges whether or not the
content data specified for the equivalent exchange was provided
from the data providing server 501 by the server identifying
information. If the specified content data was obtained from
another data providing server, the data providing server 501
forbids the equivalent exchange. Thereby, it can be prevented that
the data providing server 501 suffers losses by executing the
equivalent exchange of the content data provided by the other data
providing server.
[0682] Furthermore, in the case where content data rented by a
device different from the portable dedicated terminal 502 is
equivalently exchanged for packaged media, the data providing
server 501 erases the content data in that device when it received
exchange approval data from the device, and on the confirmation of
that, it permits the equivalent exchange. Thereby, it can be
prevented that the customer illegally commits an equivalent
exchange by using the content data that was equivalently exchanged
once in the device different from the portable dedicated terminal
502, again.
(9) Eighth Embodiment
[0683] FIG. 45 in which the same reference numerals are added to
corresponding parts in FIG. 38 shows a data providing system 600
according to an eighth embodiment. The data providing system 600 is
configured similarly to the aforementioned data providing system
500 according to the seventh embodiment except for the
configuration of a data providing server 601 and a portable
dedicated terminal 602 only accessible the data providing server
601.
[0684] In this case, if the data providing server 601 receives
content specifying data from the portable dedicated terminal 602 by
the receiving part 515, it performs processing similarly to the
data providing server 501 according to the seventh embodiment
described above with reference to FIGS. 38 and 39, and sends
content data D21 in which header data D23 has been added from the
sending part 521 to the portable dedicated terminal 602 via the
Internet 504. In this manner, the specified content data D21 is
rented to the customer.
[0685] In this connection, when the rental term of the content data
D21 expired, if the customer brings the portable dedicated terminal
602 into the agency, the agency erases the content data D21 for
return. Although the rental term expired, if the customer does not
bring the portable dedicated terminal 602 into the agency, the
content data D21 is erased or made to be irreproducible for return
by the internal mechanism of the portable dedicated terminal
602.
[0686] By the way, in the data providing server 601, the customer
can equivalently exchange his/her one or plural content data D21
being a single tune for packaged media being a single CD or an
album CD.
[0687] Specifically, if the customer sends equivalent exchange
request data D40 for requesting an equivalent exchange, for
example, of plural content data D21 (single tunes) that the
customer owns by rental for packaged media (album CD) from the
portable dedicated terminal 602, the data providing server 601
receives this by the receiving part 515, and takes this in the
receiving data judging part 516.
[0688] Here, as shown in FIGS. 45 and 46, in the equivalent
exchange request data D40, equivalent exchange information
representing the customer's name, customer ID, password, titles of
the plural content data D21 that the customer specified for the
equivalent exchange, and the presence/absence of equivalent
exchange (in this case, "1" is represented) has been stored.
[0689] The data providing server 601 transmits the equivalent
exchange request data D40 from the receiving data judging part 516
to a judging part 610 sequentially via the customer ID extracting
part 525 and the customer data updating/retrieving part 518.
[0690] The data providing server 601 judges whether to permit or
forbid the equivalent exchange by the judging part 610, similarly
to the case described above with reference to FIGS. 38 and 40. In
the case where the data providing server 601 permits the equivalent
exchange, the data providing server 601 adds information about the
customer's coded name, content ID of the content data D21 specified
for the equivalent exchange, paying method of the rental charges,
and amount that the customer practically paid, to the equivalent
exchange request data D40, and generates equivalent exchange
processing data D41, and transmits this to a value judging part
611.
[0691] Here, as shown in FIGS. 47A to 47C, in a packaged media
database 612 provided in the data providing server 601, a content
data table 620 for content data D21, a single data table 621 for
single being a single CD, and an album data table 622 for packaged
media being an album CD have been previously stored.
[0692] In this case, the content data table 620 is formed by making
correspondence between the title of content data D21 that the data
providing server 501 sells/rents and a content ID, and for example,
among a point to be allocated according to the ranking of the year
(hereinafter, this is referred to as ranking point) (for instance,
if the content data D21 is the tune that got the first rank in the
ranking of the year, obtaining requests may be comparatively many,
so that 10 points are allocated, and if the content data D21 is the
tune at the lowest rank, obtaining requests may be comparatively
few, so that 1 point is allocated, a point to be allocated
according to the date of release (hereinafter, this is referred to
as date point) (for instance, if the date of release that the
content data D21 was released at first is recent, obtaining
requests may be comparatively many, so that 10 points are
allocated, and if the content data D21 is a tune quite old,
obtaining requests may be comparatively few, 1 point is allocated),
and a total point obtained by totaling up these ranking points and
date points, are corresponded to the content data D21 as market
value.
[0693] The single data table 621 is formed by making correspondence
among the title of packaged media being a single CD, a package ID,
market value composed of the ranking point and the date point, and
a selling price. And the album data table 622 is formed by making
correspondence among the title of packaged media being an album CD,
a package ID, market value composed of the ranking point and the
date point, and a selling price.
[0694] The data providing server 601 retrieves a data table in the
content data table 620 in the packaged media database 612 according
to retrieval conditions previously set in the package retrieving
part 528, and reads out and adds all of the total points
respectively allocated to the plural content data D21 respectively
(single tunes) that the customer specified for the equivalent
exchange, and computes the total points of these plural content
data D21 (hereinafter, this is referred to as total points) by the
value judging part 611.
[0695] The data providing server 601 retrieves a data table in the
album data table 622 in the packaged media database 612 based on
the total points computed by the value judging part 611 by the
package retrieving part 528, and detects one or plural exchangeable
packaged media being an album CD and reads the title, the package
ID and the selling price of the above detected packaged media.
[0696] In this manner, if the data providing server 601 detects one
or plural exchangeable packaged media that, the data providing
server 601 compares the selling price of the above packaged media
with the rental charges that the customer paid for the plural
content data D21, and computes the balance, in order to make the
exchange value between them equal by the value judging part
611.
[0697] The data providing server 601 stores the title and the
package ID of the one or plural packaged media, the equivalent
exchange request data D31 for, and the terms of the equivalent
exchange, for example, "the customer pays the balance", "the data
providing server pays the balance to the customer", or "the
equivalent exchange can be executed without paying the balance
because the selling price and the rental charges are the same
amount", and generates equivalent exchange term showing data D42 by
the value judging part 611.
[0698] Then, the data providing server 601 sends the equivalent
exchange term showing data D42 from the sending part 521 to the
portable dedicated terminal 602 via the Internet 504. Thereby, as
shown in FIGS. 48A to 48C, the one or plural exchangeable packaged
media and the term are notified to the customer.
[0699] As a result, if exchange approval data that represents the
approval of the equivalent exchange, and in the case where there
are plural exchangeable packaged media that represents packaged
media selected by the customer from among these packaged media is
sent from the portable dedicated terminal 602, the data providing
server 601 receives this by the receiving part 515, and transmits
this from the receiving data judging part 516 to the judging part
610. The data providing server 601 confirms that the customer
approved the equivalent exchange and the selected packaged media by
the exchange approval data by the above judging part 610.
[0700] Then, the data providing server 601 generates package
delivery ordering information by means of the package ID of the
packaged media that the customer selected for the equivalent
exchange by the judging part 610, and transmits this to the sending
data generating part 520 to generate package delivery ordering
data, and transmits this from the sending part 521 to the package
providing server 503 via the Internet 504.
[0701] Thereafter, the data providing server 601 performs
processing similarly to the data providing server 501 according to
the seventh embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 38.
In this manner, the plural content data D21 that the customer owns
and one packaged media being an album CD are made equivalent, and
they are equivalently exchanged.
[0702] On the other hand, in the portable dedicated terminal 602
shown in FIG. 45, if the customer enters specifying information on
content data that the customer wants to rent by the operating part
540, the portable dedicated terminal 602 executes the similar
processing to the portable dedicated terminal 502 according to the
seventh embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 38, and
the content data D21 is rented to the customer from the data
providing server 601.
[0703] Furthermore, if the customer enters an equivalent exchange
request specifying the plural content data D21 for the equivalent
exchange by the operating part 540, the portable dedicated terminal
602 generates the equivalent exchange request data D40 described
above with reference to FIG. 46 by a request data generating part
630, and sends this from the sending part 543 to the data providing
server 601 via the Internet 504.
[0704] As a result, if the equivalent exchange term showing data
D42 is sent from the data providing server 601 via the Internet
504, the portable dedicated terminal 602 receives this by the
receiving part 544, and transmits this to the reproducing part 549
via the judging part 545. Thus, the title of the one or plural
packaged media to be equivalently exchanged, and the term for the
equivalent exchange for each packaged media (to pay/receive the
balance, or there is no balance) are notified to the customer.
[0705] As a result, if the customer sends the approval of the
equivalent exchange and information representing the packaged media
that the customer selected for the equivalent exchange from among
the plural packaged media by the operating part 540, the portable
dedicated terminal 602 generates exchange approval data
representing the above approval and selected packaged media by the
request data generating part 630, and sends this from the sending
part 543 to the data providing server 601 via the Internet 504.
[0706] Thereafter, if the equivalent exchange permitting data is
sent from the data providing server 601 via the Internet 504, the
portable dedicated terminal 602 receives this by the receiving part
544, and transmits this to the reproducing part 549 via the judging
part 545. Thereby, the permission of the equivalent exchange, the
delivery method of the packaged media, etc. are notified to the
customer.
[0707] In this connection, if equivalent exchange forbidding data
is sent from the data providing server 601 via the Internet 504,
the portable dedicated terminal 602 receives this by the receiving
part 544 and transmits this from the judging part 545 to the
reproducing part 549. Thus, that the forbidding of the equivalent
exchange is notified to the customer.
[0708] Here, equivalent exchange processing procedures by the data
providing server 601, the portable dedicated terminal 602 and the
package providing server 503 in the data providing system 600 will
be collectively described. As shown in FIGS. 49A and 50A in that
the same reference numerals are added to corresponding part in
FIGS. 43A and 44A, first, the portable dedicated terminal 602
enters routine RT35 from the starting step, proceeds to step SP351
and sequentially executes the processing of the aforementioned
steps SP351 to SP354, and proceeds to step SP401.
[0709] In step SP401, the portable dedicated terminal 602 awaits
that the customer enters the equivalent exchange request specifying
plural content data D21 for the equivalent exchange by the
operating part 540. Until the equivalent exchange request is
entered, the portable dedicated terminal 602 returns to step SP351
and repeats the processing loop of steps
SP352-SP353-SP354-SP401.
[0710] In step SP401, if the equivalent exchange request is entered
via the operating part 540, the portable dedicated terminal 602
proceeds to step SP402 to generate the equivalent exchange request
data D40 by the request data generating part 630 and transmit this
from the sending part 543 to the data providing server 601, and
then it proceeds to step SP357.
[0711] On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 49B and 50B in that the
same reference numerals are added to corresponding parts in FIGS.
43B and 44B, the data providing server 601 enters routine RT36 from
the start step, proceeds to step SP371, and sequentially executes
the processing of the aforementioned steps SP371 to SP375. In step
SP374, if the data providing server 601 permits the equivalent
exchange, it proceeds to step SP411.
[0712] In step SP411, the data providing server 601 detects one or
plural packaged media having the same total points as the plural
content data D21 owned by the customer, as exchangeable packaged
media, generates the equivalent exchange term showing data D42
representing a term to make the exchange value between them equal
by the value judging part 611, and transmits this from the sending
part 521 to the portable dedicated terminal 602, and then proceeds
to step SP412.
[0713] At this time, in step SP357, the portable dedicated terminal
602 awaits the equivalent exchange term showing data D42 or the
equivalent exchange forbidding data from the data providing server
601. If the portable dedicated terminal 602 receives either data by
the receiving part 544, it proceeds to step SP358. If the received
data is the equivalent exchange term showing data D42, the portable
dedicated terminal 602 proceeds to step SP403.
[0714] In step SP403, the portable dedicated terminal 602 generates
the exchange approval data representing the approval of the
equivalent exchange and packaged media that the customer selected
for the equivalent exchange from among the plural packaged media by
the request data generating part 630 according to the customer's
operation of the operating part 540, transmits the above generated
exchange approval data from the sending part 543 to the data
providing server 601, and proceeds to step SP361. Thereafter, if
the portable dedicated terminal 602 receives the equivalent
exchange permitting data by the receiving part 544, it proceeds to
step SP404 to finish the above processing.
[0715] Furthermore, in step SP412, the data providing server 601
awaits that the exchange approval data is sent from the portable
dedicated terminal 602. If the data providing server 601 receives
the above exchange approval data by the receiving part 515, it
sequentially executes the processing of the aforementioned steps
SP379 to SP381, and then proceeds to step SP413 to finish the above
processing. Thus, all of the equivalent exchange processing
procedure in the data providing system 600 is finished.
[0716] According to the above configuration, in this data providing
system 600, if content specifying data for requesting the rental of
content data D21 is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 602
to the data providing server 601, the data providing server 601
sends the specified content data D21 to the portable dedicated
terminal 602 for storing. Thus, the customer can rent the content
data D21 within the portable dedicated terminal 602.
[0717] Then, in this data providing system 600, if equivalent
exchange request data D30 for requesting the equivalent exchange of
the lumped plural content data D21 (single tunes) owned by the
customer by rental for one packaged media (album CD) is sent from
the portable dedicated terminal 602 to the data providing server
601, the data providing server 601 detects the total points of
these plural content data D21, detects the packaged media (album
CD) having the same total points as the above detected total point
as exchangeable packaged media, and sends equivalent exchange term
showing data D42 showing a term to make the exchange value between
each of the above detected packaged media and the plural content
data owned by the customer equal, to the portable dedicated
terminal 602.
[0718] As a result, in the data providing system 600, if equivalent
exchange approval data representing the approval of the equivalent
exchange and packaged media that the customer selected for
equivalent exchange is sent from the portable dedicated terminal
602 to the data providing server 601, the balance in the equivalent
exchange is settled, the plural content data owned by the customer
are erased for return from the portable dedicated terminal 602, and
the packaged media is delivered to the customer. In this manner,
the exchange value between the plural content data D21 owned by the
customer and the packaged media being an album CD is made to be
equal, and the plural content data D21 is exchanged for the
packaged media.
[0719] Accordingly, in this data providing system 600, when in
retrieving exchangeable packaged media, the total points of the
plural content data D21 and the total points of the packaged media
are matched. Therefore, the plural content data D21 owned by the
customer can be equivalently exchanged for the packaged media being
an album CD storing content data same as or different from
them.
[0720] Then, in this data providing system 600, by performing such
matching by points in the data providing server 601, for instance,
plural content data D21 can be equivalently exchanged for packaged
media being one single CD, or even one content data D21 can be
equivalently exchanged for packaged media being an album CD. Thus,
the convenience of equivalent exchange can be remarkably
improved.
[0721] As a result, in this data providing system 600, the customer
can further remarkably easily use the system. If the number of
users of the present system increases by this, the distribution of
content data on the Internet can be further popularized.
[0722] According to the above configuration, the data providing
server 601 sends the content data D21 that was specified by the
rental request from the customer's portable dedicated terminal 602
to the portable dedicated terminal 602 for storing and rental.
Thereafter, if the customer requests to equivalently exchange the
content data D21 that he/she rents for packaged media by the
portable dedicated terminal 602, the data providing server 601
detects exchangeable packaged media by matching points of the above
specified content data D21 with points of the packaged media that
was selected according to the market value, and shows a term to
make the exchange value between them equal. Thereby, in addition to
the effect obtained by the aforementioned seventh embodiment,
convenience in equivalent exchange in a data providing system can
be remarkably improved. Thus, the data providing system that can
further popularize the distribution of content data on the Internet
can be accomplished.
[0723] Note that, in the aforementioned eighth embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the points are allocated to the content
data, the packaged media being a single CD and the packaged media
being an album CD respectively, according to the ranking of the
year and the date of release. However, this invention is not only
limited to this but also, in addition to the ranking of the year
and the date of release, 1 point may be allocated to media that
were comparatively sold a lot, because its scarcity value may be
relatively low, and 10 points may be allocated to media that were
not almost sold, because its scarcity value may be relatively high.
Furthermore, points may be allocated according to one of them, the
ranking of the year, the date of release, and the sales, or by
combining them.
[0724] In the aforementioned eighth embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the content data D21 being rented by the customer is
equivalently exchanged for the packaged media by the data providing
server 601. However, this invention is not only limited to this but
also content data sold to the customer may be equivalently
exchanged for packaged media by the data providing server 601.
[0725] In this connection, in the aforementioned eighth embodiment,
since the content data D21 being rented was equivalently exchanged
for the packaged media, the above content data D21 was erased for
return when the rental term had expired. However, in the case where
the customer requested an equivalent exchange of content data that
he/she purchased for packaged media storing the same content data,
it can be said that the customer may not illegally own different
content data, so that the content data already equivalently
exchanged for the packaged media may be kept by the customer as it
is.
[0726] In the aforementioned embodiment, it has dealt with the case
where the packaged media to be equivalently exchanged for the
content data D21 owned by the customer is delivered to the customer
by the package providing server 503. However, this invention is not
only limited to this but also the packaged media may be directly
handed to the customer at the agency.
[0727] In the aforementioned eighth embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the equivalently-exchanged content data and package
data are musical data (single tune and single CD). However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also, as content data and
packaged media to be equivalently exchanged, various contents other
than that, such as a motion picture, and a book can be applied.
Thereby, the convenience and the versatility of a data providing
system can be remarkably improved, and the distribution of content
data on the Internet can be further popularized.
[0728] In the aforementioned eighth embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the balance to make the exchange value in the
equivalent exchange between the content data D21 owned by the
customer and the packaged media equal is settled by money. However,
this invention is not only limited to this but also points to give
the customer a privilege such as a discount may be issued according
to the amount of the rental and the purchase of content data by the
data providing server 601 and stored in the data providing server
601, and the balance may be settled by that points that the
customer obtained, instead of a part of or all of money.
[0729] Furthermore, in the aforementioned eighth embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the rental of the content data D21 is
performed from the data providing server 601 by means of the
portable dedicated terminal 602 that is only accessible the above
data providing server 601, and equivalently exchanged the above
content data D21 for the packaged media. However, this invention is
not only limited to this but also, provided that it is a device
connectable to the Internet 504 such as a personal computer and a
portable telephone, the customer may purchase/rent content data
from the data providing server 601 by means of such device, and may
equivalently exchange the content data for packaged media.
[0730] In this connection, when in using the data providing server
601 by means of another device other than the portable dedicated
terminal 602, such as a personal computer and a portable telephone,
the data providing server 601 previously adds server identification
information for identifying the data providing server 601 being the
provider of content data to be purchased/rented from the data
providing server 601. If the customer requests to equivalently
exchange content data owned by the customer for packaged media, the
data providing server 601 judges whether to permit the equivalent
exchange by the server identification information: whether or not
the content data specified by the customer is data which was
provided from the data providing server 601. If the content data
specified by the customer is data that was provided from another
data providing server, the data providing server 601 does not
permit the equivalent exchange. Thereby, it can be prevented that
the data providing server suffers losses by executing the
equivalent exchange of content data provided from another data
providing server.
[0731] Furthermore, in the case where the customer equivalently
exchanges content data renting from a device other than the
portable dedicated terminal 602 for packaged media, the portable
dedicated terminal 602 erases the content data that has been
recorded in that device when the portable dedicated terminal 602
received the exchange approval data from the above device, and the
data providing server 601 permits the equivalent exchange of the
above content data for the packaged media upon that confirmation
has got. Thereby, it can be prevented that the customer commits
illegal equivalent exchange by using the content data for rental
that was equivalently exchanged once by the device other than the
portable dedicated terminal 602, again.
(10) Ninth Embodiment
[0732] FIG. 51 shows a data providing system 700 according to a
ninth embodiment. In the data providing system 700, a request
terminal 702 being a personal computer corresponding to the request
terminal used by the customer 3 described above with reference to
FIGS. 1 to 3, a data providing server 703 being a personal computer
corresponding to the agencies 4A to 4N described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a package providing server 704 being a
personal computer corresponding to the sales company 5 described
above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, and an advertiser/company
server 705 being a personal computer corresponding to the
advertiser/company site 6 described above with reference to FIGS. 1
to 3, and a portable dedicated terminal 706 corresponding to the
portable dedicated terminals 7A to 7N described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 are respectively connected to a system
management server 701 being a personal computer corresponding to
the system management site 2 described above with reference to
FIGS. 1 to 3 on the Internet 707.
[0733] As shown in FIG. 52, in the system management server 701, a
random access memory (RAM) 712, a read only memory (ROM) 713, a
display part 714, an input part 715, a hard disk drive (HDD) 716
and a network interface 717 are connected to a control part 710
such as a central processing unit (CPU) via a bus 711.
[0734] In this case, the control part 710 reads various programs
previously stored from the ROM 713 and expands them on the RAM 712.
By these various programs, the system management server 701 can
execute the processing similar to the updating part 60 and the
matching part 63 described above with reference to FIG. 4, the
accounting part 116 described above with reference to FIG. 5, the
accounting part 156, the content ID extracting part 161, the
content retrieving part 162 and the sending data generating part
164 described above with reference to FIG. 8, the
advertiser/company information updating part 213, the customer
information updating part 215 and the matching part 216 described
above with reference to FIG. 11, and the matching part 268
described above with reference to FIG. 25.
[0735] In this connection, the system management server 701
executes the processing similar to them according to the various
programs previously stored in the ROM 713. However, these various
processing may be executed by providing a program storing medium
that stores these various programs in the system management server
701.
[0736] Note that, such program storing medium is not only limited
to packaged media such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD but
also it may be a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disc, etc., that
can temporarily or permanently store the various programs.
Furthermore, as means for storing these various programs in the
program storing medium, a cable or radio communication medium such
as a local area network, the Internet, and digital satellite
broadcasting can be used, and they may be stored via various
communication interfaces such as a rooter and a modem.
[0737] The control part 710 stores and manages various information
such as the customer registration information, and the
advertiser/company registration information, that will be used in
the whole system, in the hard disk drive 716.
[0738] Furthermore, the control part 710 can send/receive
information such as the customer information, the
advertiser/company information, the customer introducing
information, and the advertiser/customer introducing information,
to/from the request terminal 702, the data providing server 703,
the package providing server 704, the advertiser/company server 705
and the portable dedicated terminal 706 via the network interface
717.
[0739] In this manner, the system management server 701 being a
personal computer can function in similar to the system management
site 2 described above with reference to FIG. 1 according to the
various programs.
[0740] In this connection, the system management server 701 uses
the input part 715 and the display part 714 to confirm the various
information stored in the hard disk drive 716.
[0741] As shown in FIG. 53, in the request terminal 702, a RAM 722,
a ROM 723, a display part 724, an input part 725, a hard disk drive
726 and a network interface 727 are connected to a control part 720
such as a CPU, via a bus 721.
[0742] In this case, the control part 720 reads various programs
previously stored in the ROM 723, and expands them on the RAM 722.
By these various programs, the request terminal 702 can execute
processing similar to the request data generating part 71 and the
display control part 74 described above with reference to FIG. 4,
the operational information judging part 121, the request data
generating part 122, the judging part 125 and the accounting part
127 described above with reference to FIG. 5, and the request data
generating part 321 and the display control part 324 described
above with reference to FIG. 28.
[0743] In this connection, the request terminal 702 executes the
processing similar to them according to the various programs
previously stored in the ROM 723. However, these various processing
may be executed by providing a program storing medium in that these
various programs have been stored in the request terminal 702.
[0744] Note that, such program storing medium is not only limited
to packaged media such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD, but
also it may be a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disc, etc., that
can temporarily or permanently store the various programs. As means
for storing the various programs in the program storing medium, a
cable or radio communication medium such as a local area network,
the Internet, and digital satellite broadcasting may be used, and
they may be stored via various communication interfaces such as a
rooter and a modem.
[0745] The control part 720 stores and manages various information
such as address information on the accessible system management
server 701 and the data providing server 703 in the hard disk drive
726.
[0746] Furthermore, the control part 720 can send/receive various
information such as the customer information and a content data
obtaining request to/from the system management server 701 and the
data providing server 703 via the network interface 727.
[0747] In this connection, in the request terminal 702, when the
customer performs the rental reservation of content data and the
portable dedicated terminal 706 to the data providing server 703,
the input part 725 and the display part 724 are used.
[0748] As shown in FIG. 54, in the data providing server 703, a RAM
732, a ROM 733, a display part 734, an input part 735, a hard disk
drive 736 and a network interface 737 are connected to a control
part 730 such as a CPU, via a bus 731.
[0749] In this case, the control part 730 reads various programs
previously stored from the ROM 733, and expands them on the RAM
732. By these various programs, the data providing server 703 can
execute processing similar to the content retrieving part 62 and
the package retrieving part 64 described above with reference to
FIG. 4, the recording control part 117 described above with
reference to FIG. 5, the receiving data judging part 155, the
recording control part 157, the operational information judging
part 158 and the request data generating part 159 described above
with reference to FIG. 8, the retrieving part 315 and the matching
part 316 described above with reference to FIG. 28, the receiving
data judging part 516, the content ID extracting part 517, the
customer updating/retrieving part 518, the content retrieving part
519, the sending data generating part 520, the customer ID
extracting part 525, the judging part 526, the value judging part
527 and the package retrieving part 528 described above with
reference to FIG. 38, and the judging part 610 and the value
judging part 611 described above with reference to FIG. 45.
[0750] In this connection, the data providing server 703 performs
the processing similar to them according to the various programs
previously stored in the ROM 733. However, these various processing
may be performed by providing a program storing medium storing
these various programs in the data providing server 703.
[0751] Note that, such program storing medium is not only limited
to packaged media such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD but
also it may be a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, etc., that
can temporarily or permanently store the various programs.
Furthermore, as means for storing the various programs in the
program storing medium, a cable or radio communication medium such
as a local area network, the Internet, and digital satellite
broadcasting may be used, and they may be stored via various
communication interfaces such as a rooter and a modem.
[0752] The control part 730 stores and manages various information
such as customer registration information on the customer using the
agency, content data to be provided to the portable dedicated
terminal 706 in the hard disk drive 736.
[0753] Furthermore, the control part 730 can send/receive various
information such as the customer information, content data, and
package delivery ordering data to/from the system management server
701, the package providing server 704, and the request terminal 702
and the portable dedicated terminal 706 connected via the above
system management server 701, via the network interface 737.
[0754] In this connection, in the data providing server 703, when
in requesting the system management server 701 to send content
data, and when in confirming various information stored in the hard
disk drive 736, the input part 735 and the display part 734 are
used.
[0755] As shown in FIG. 55, in the package providing server 704, a
RAM 742, a ROM 743, a display part 744, an input part 745, a hard
disk drive 746 and a network interface 747 are connected to a
control part 740 such as a CPU, via a bus 741.
[0756] In this case, the control part 740 reads various programs
previously stored in the ROM 743, and expands them on the RAM 742.
By these various programs, the package providing server 704 can
execute processing similar to the package ID extracting part 561,
the package retrieving part 562, the package taking-out control
part 564 and the packing and shipment instructing part 565
described above with reference to FIG. 38.
[0757] In this connection, the package providing server 704
executes the processing similar to them according to the various
programs previously stored in the ROM 743. However, these various
processing may be executed by providing a program storing medium
storing these various programs in the package providing server
704.
[0758] Note that, such program storing medium is not only limited
to packaged media such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD, but
also it may be a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, etc., that
can temporarily or permanently store various programs. Furthermore,
as means for storing the various programs in the program storing
medium, a cable or radio communication medium such as a local area
network, the Internet, and digital satellite broadcasting may be
used, and they may be stored via various communication interfaces
such as a rooter and a modem.
[0759] The control part 740 stores and manages various information
such as the stock of packaged media and storing information in the
hard disk drive 746.
[0760] Furthermore, the control part 740 can send/receive various
information such as the package delivery ordering data and delivery
arrangement completion data to/from the data providing server 703
via the network interface 747.
[0761] In this connection, in the package providing server 704, for
instance, when in confirming the various information stored in the
hard disk drive 746, the input part 745 and the display part 744
are used.
[0762] As shown in FIG. 56, in the advertiser/company server 705, a
RAM 752, a ROM 753, a display part 754, an input part 755, a hard
disk drive 756 and a network interface 757 are connected to a
control part 750 such as a CPU, via a bus 751.
[0763] In this case, the control part 750 reads various programs
previously stored in the ROM 753, and expands them on the RAM 752.
By these various programs, the advertiser/company server 705 can
execute processing similar to the sending control part 231, the
display control part 234, the customer selecting part 237 and the
sending data generating part 238 described above with reference to
FIG. 11.
[0764] In this connection, the advertiser/company server 705
executes the similar processing to them according to the various
programs previously stored in the ROM 753. However, these various
processing may be executed by providing a program storing medium
storing these various programs in the advertiser/company server
705.
[0765] Note that, such program storing medium is not only limited
to packaged media such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD but
also it may be a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, etc., that
can temporarily or permanently store various programs. Furthermore,
as means for storing the various programs in the program storing
medium, a cable or radio communication medium such as a local area
network, the Internet, and digital satellite broadcasting may be
used, and they may be stored via various communication interfaces
such as a rooter and a modem.
[0766] The control part 750 stores and manages various information
such as distribution data to be provided on the Internet 707 in the
hard disk drive 756.
[0767] Furthermore, the control part 750 can send/receive various
information such as the advertiser/company information and the
customer introducing information to/from the system management
server 701, via the network interface 757.
[0768] In this connection, in the package providing server 705,
when the advertiser/company information or the like is entered, the
input part 755 and the display part 754 are used.
[0769] As shown in FIG. 57, in the portable dedicated terminal 706,
the main body of a terminal 770 which has a function to record and
reproduce content data and is freely carriable can be attached to a
cradle 771 that has a charging function to the above main body of
the terminal 770 and a communication function using the Internet
707 in freely detachable.
[0770] In this case, in the main body of the terminal 770, a
display part 772 being a liquid crystal display is provided at the
front of the case. On the display part 772, pictures based on
content data, various operational screens used to obtain content
data or the like can be displayed.
[0771] At a lower part of the display part 772 on the front surface
of the case, a reproducing start button 773, a play/stop button 774
and a send button 775 are provided. By means of these buttons, a
reproducing starting command and a reproducing stop command of
content data, and a send command to send various requests to the
data providing server 703 or the like can be entered.
[0772] In this connection, on the front surface of the case, a
charge lamp 776 that, when the main body of the terminal 770 is on
charging, notifies the customer of that is provided, and the
logotype 777 of the agency that sold and rented the portable
dedicated terminal 706 is represented.
[0773] On the top of the case, a headphone jack 778 is provided. On
the right side of the case, a power button 779 and a volume control
dial 780 are provided. And on the left side of the case, a cancel
button 781 and a rotational operating button that is freely
rotatable and pushable (hereinafter, this is referred to as jog
dial) 782 are provided as slightly projecting from the surface of
the case.
[0774] The main body of the terminal 770 outputs sound obtained by
reproducing content data from the headphone jack 778 to the
headphones. The customer can listen the sound. At this time, the
customer can control the volume by the volume control dial 780.
[0775] Furthermore, in the main body of the terminal 770, when an
operating screen or the like is displayed on the display part 772,
if the customer rotates the jog dial 782, the operating screen is
scrolled according to the operation. If the customer erroneously
entered information or a command on the above operating screen, the
customer can cancel it by the cancel button 781.
[0776] On the other hand, in the cradle 771, an alternating current
(AC) adapter 790 is provided. If the AC adapter 790 is connected to
a main battery or the like in the state where the main body of the
terminal 770 has been mounted, the battery of the main body of the
terminal 770 can be charged.
[0777] In the cradle 771, a modular jack 791, an audio output
terminal 792 and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) terminal 793 are
provided. If content data received by communicating with the system
management server 701 and the data providing server 703 via the
above modular jack 791 or the like is sent to the main body of the
terminal 770, audio data obtained from the main body of the
terminal 770 is outputted to an external speaker or the like from
the audio output terminal 792, and content data obtained from the
outside can be taken in from the USB terminal 793 and it can be
sent to the main body of the terminal 770.
[0778] Here, the circuit configuration of the portable dedicated
terminal 706 will be described with reference to FIG. 58. First, in
the cradle 771, a storing part 802, a USB controller 803, the audio
output terminal 792 and a modem 804 are connected to a CPU 800 via
a bus 801. Power supply voltage taken in from the AC adapter 790 is
converted into the internal voltage of a predetermined voltage by a
power supply part 805, and the voltage is supplied to the CPU 800
and each circuit block, so that the whole of the cradle 771 is
driven.
[0779] In the main body of the terminal 770, a flash memory 822, a
liquid crystal display (LCD) controller 823, an amplifier 824, and
an operating key controller 825 are connected to a CPU 820 via a
bus 821. By supplying the internal voltage from a battery circuit
part 826 to the CPU 820 and each circuit block, the whole of the
main body of the terminal 770 is driven.
[0780] When the main body of the terminal 770 is mounted on the
cradle 771, a power input terminal 831 is connected to a power
supply terminal 830 in the cradle 771. Thereby, power supply
voltage supplied from the power supply part 805 in the cradle 771
sequentially via the power supply terminal 830 and the power input
terminal 831 is taken in the battery circuit part 826, and the
battery is charged. Thus, even if the main body of the terminal 770
is detached from the cradle 771, the portable dedicated terminal
706 can be freely used.
[0781] If the main body of the terminal 770 is mounted on the
cradle 771, a main-body-side information input/output terminal 833
is connected to a cradle-side information input/output terminal 832
provided in the cradle 771, so that data and various information
can be sent/received to/from the cradle 771.
[0782] Practically, in the portable dedicated terminal 706, the USB
terminal 793 of the cradle 771 can be connected to the data
providing server 703 via a USB cable (not shown). Content data sent
from the data providing server 703 via the USB cable by a
customer's rental reservation or the like is taken in the USB
controller 803 in the cradle 771 from the USB terminal 793, and the
above taken-in content data is sent from the cradle-side
information input/output terminal 832 to the main body of the
terminal 770.
[0783] In this case, the main body of the terminal 770 takes the
content data sent from the cradle-side information input/output
terminal 832 of the cradle 771 in the CPU 820 from the
main-body-side information input/output terminal 833 via an
interface part 834, and stores the content data in the flash memory
822.
[0784] In this manner, if the main body of the terminal 770 stores
the content data in the flash memory 822, it takes a reproducing
start command given from the operating key controller 825 in the
CPU 820 according to the customer's operation of the reproducing
start button 773, reproduces the content data from the flash memory
822, and sends the above reproduced content data from the amplifier
824 to the headphone jack 778 as well as sending the above content
data from the LCD controller 823 to the display part 772. Thereby,
the customer can enjoy the content.
[0785] Furthermore, if various information such as a request for
the obtaining of content data is entered via the operating key
controller 825, the main body of the terminal 770 takes this in the
CPU 820, and sends this from the CPU 820 to the cradle 771
sequentially via the interface part 834 and the main-body-side
information input/output terminal 833.
[0786] At this time, the cradle 771 takes in various information
given from the main body of the terminal 770 from the cradle-side
information input/output terminal 832, and sends the above taken-in
various information from the modem 804 to the data providing server
703 or the like via the modular jack 791 and the system management
server 701.
[0787] As a result, if the various information such as content data
is sent from the data providing server 703 or the like via the
system management server 701, the cradle 771 takes this in the CPU
800 from the modular jack 791 via the modem 804, and supplies the
above received various information from the cradle-side information
input/output terminal 832 to the main body of the terminal 770.
[0788] The main body of the terminal 770 takes various information
sent from the cradle 771 in the CPU 820 from the main-body-side
information input/output terminal 833 via the interface part 834,
and notifies the customer of the content of that information via
the display part 772 and the headphone jack 778, or stores the
various information in the flash memory 822.
[0789] In this manner, in the main body of the terminal 770, the
CPU 820 reads the various programs previously stored in the ROM 840
and expands them on the RAM 841. By these various programs, the
main body of the terminal 770 can execute the processing similar to
the recording control part 81, the reproducing control part 84 and
the request data generating part 86 described above with reference
to FIG. 4, the request data generating part 241, the recording
control part 245 and the reproducing control part 248 described
above with reference to FIG. 11, the request data generating part
270 described above with reference to FIG. 25, the reproducing
control part 342, the request data generating part 344 and the
recording control part 347 described above with reference to FIG.
28, the operational information judging part 541, the request data
generating part 542, the judging part 545, the recording control
part 546 and the reproducing control part 548 described above with
reference to FIG. 38, and the request data generating part 630
described above with reference to FIG. 45.
[0790] In this connection, the main body of the terminal 770 of the
portable dedicated terminal 706 executes the processing similar to
them according to the various programs previously stored in the ROM
840. However, these various programs may be executed by providing a
program storing medium storing these various programs in the main
body of the terminal 770.
[0791] Note that, such program storing medium is not only limited
to packaged media such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD but
also it may be a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, etc., that
can temporarily or permanently store the various programs.
Furthermore, as means for storing the various programs in the
program storing medium, a cable or radio communication medium such
as a local area network, the Internet, and digital satellite
broadcasting may be used, and the various programs may be stored
via various communication interfaces such as a rooter and a
modem.
[0792] The cradle 771 stores various information such as the
addresses of accessible servers in the storing part 802, so that
the CPU 800 can communicate with the system management server 701
or the like according to the above various information.
[0793] According to the above configuration, in this data providing
system 700, the system management server 701, the request terminal
702, the data providing server 703, the package providing server
704 and the advertiser/company server 705 have the configuration of
a personal computer respectively.
[0794] Therefore, in this data providing system 700, it is
unnecessary to newly create them as hardware. Thereby, the system
can be easily constructed by means of these personal computers only
by installing various programs in the existent personal
computers.
[0795] In this data providing system 700, with respect to the
portable dedicated terminal 706, hardware had newly prepared on
purpose without applying a personal computer. However, this is
because a person who does not own a personal computer or a person
who is inexperienced in the operation of a personal computer can
easily manage the portable dedicated terminal 706 without
circumstance by that it is portable and the operating buttons were
simplified.
[0796] According to the above configuration, the system is formed
by using the system management server 701, the request terminal
702, the data providing server 703, the package providing server
704 and the advertiser/company server 705 that have the
configuration of a personal computer.
[0797] Therefore, existent personal computers can be used as them.
Thus, the system construction is easy and can be simplified.
(11) Tenth Embodiment
[0798] FIG. 59 in which the same reference numerals are added to
corresponding parts in FIG. 51 shows a data providing system 900
according to a tenth embodiment. The data providing system 900 is
formed in similar to the data providing system 700 according to the
ninth embodiment, except for the configuration of a portable
dedicated terminal 910 that corresponds to the portable dedicated
terminals 7A to 7N described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to
3.
[0799] In this case, as shown in FIG. 60, the portable dedicated
terminal 910 has a function to record/reproduce content data. In
the portable dedicated terminal 910, a main body of a terminal 911
freely portable can be freely detachably mounted on a cradle 912
that has a charging function to the main body of the terminal 911
and a communication function by using the Internet 707.
[0800] In the main body of the terminal 911, a display part 913
being a liquid crystal display is provided on the front surface of
the case. On the display part 913, video based on content data,
various operating screens used to obtain content data, or the like,
can be displayed.
[0801] Under the display part 913 on the front surface of the case,
a character input key group 914 being ten keys "0" to "9", a
character type change key 915 and a cancel key 916 are provided. By
using the character input key group 914 as ten key in the state
where a content selecting screen is displayed on the display part
913, the customer can enter numerals for bar code as identification
information previously made to correspond to a content and can
selectively specify a desired content. At the same time, by using
the character input key group 914 together with the character type
change key 915 and the cancel key 916, the customer can enter the
title of the content or the like in English letters (alphabets),
numerals and symbols, Japanese characters (hiragana, katakana and
Chinese characters), etc., and can selectively specify a desired
content.
[0802] In this connection, on the front surface of the case, a
charge lamp 917 that, when the main body of the terminal 911 is on
charging, notifies the customer of that is provided, and the
logotype 918 of the agency that sold/rented the portable dedicated
terminal 910 is represented.
[0803] On the top of the case, a headphone jack 919 and a
microphone 920 are provided. On the right side of the case, a power
button 921 and a volume control dial 922 are provided.
[0804] In addition to this, a send button 923 to send various
requests to the data providing server 703 or the like is provided
on the left side of the case, and a jog dial 924 freely rotatable
and pushable is provided as slightly projecting from the surface of
the case.
[0805] In the main body of the terminal 911, by rotating and
pushing the jog dial 924 in the state where an operating screen for
reproducing of content data is displayed on the display part 913,
the customer can enter various commands such as a reproducing start
command and a reproducing stop command of content data.
[0806] The main body of the terminal 911 outputs voice obtained by
reproducing content data from the headphone jack 919 to headphones
(not shown), and displays pictures obtained by reproducing the
content data on the display part 913. Thereby, the customer views
the content. At this time, the customer can control the volume by
turning the volume control dial 922.
[0807] As shown in FIG. 61, in the main body of the terminal 911, a
camera 925 for pattern recognition is provided at the upper center
part of the back of the case. The main body of the terminal 911
picks up the picture of a bar code previously made to correspond to
the content by that camera 925, so that the customer can
selectively specify a desired content. And by that the customer
uses the camera 925 together with the microphone 920, moving
pictures and sound for a predetermined time (for several seconds)
can be taken in as a memo of desired information.
[0808] Furthermore, at the lower part of the back of the case, a
detachable battery pack 926 is mounted. Battery voltage is supplied
from the above battery pack 926 to the internal various circuits by
pushing the power button 921, and the portable dedicated terminal
910 is started up.
[0809] In this connection, on the bottom of the case, a connector
that will be described later is provided, and the main body of the
terminal 911 can be electrically connected to the cradle 912 via
the above connector. When the connector 928 of an AC adapter 927
connected to the main power is connected to that connector, the
battery pack 926 can directly charge without via the cradle
912.
[0810] On the other hand, in the cradle 912 (FIG. 60), a connector
929 is provided on the top surface of the case. By connecting the
connector of the main body of the terminal 911 to the above
connector 929 (that is, by mounting the main body of the terminal
911) on the cradle 912, the main body of the terminal 911 can be
electrically connected to the main body of the terminal 911.
[0811] In the cradle 912, the connector 928 of the AC adapter 927
is provided freely detachably. If the AC adapter 927 is connected
to the main power, power supply voltage is supplied to each of the
internal circuits from the above AC adapter 927, and the portable
dedicated terminal 910 is started up. If the main body of the
terminal 911 is electrically connected to the cradle 912, power
supply voltage is supplied from the AC adapter 927 to the battery
pack 926 of the main body of the terminal 911 and the battery pack
926 charges.
[0812] In the cradle 912, a modular jack 930 for public network of
which the communication speed is comparatively slow, and a jack for
Ethernet (trademark) 931 of which the communication speed is
remarkably faster than the public network (hereinafter, this is
referred to as Ethernet jack) are provided.
[0813] If the main body of the terminal 911 is mounted on the
cradle 912, the main body of the terminal 911 makes the customer
arbitrarily select either the public network or the Ethernet
(trademark) for a communication line to be used, and connects to
the system management server 701 and the data providing server 703
via the modular jack 930 or the Ethernet jack 931 corresponding to
thus selected public network or Ethernet (trademark).
[0814] In addition to this, in the cradle 912, a video output
terminal 932 and an audio output terminal 933 are provided.
[0815] If the content data is reproduced in the state where the
main body of the terminal 911 is mounted on the cradle 912, the
main body of the terminal 911 sends video data and audio data
forming the content data to an external device such as a television
receiving set via the video output terminal 932 and the audio
output terminal 933. Thus, the customer can view the content.
[0816] Here, the circuit configuration of the portable dedicated
terminal 910 will be described with reference to FIG. 62. First, in
the main body of the terminal 911, a main CPU 940 for integratedly
controlling the all circuits in the main body of the terminal 911
and the cradle 912 is provided.
[0817] Furthermore, in the main body of the terminal 911, a sub CPU
941 which controls starting-up/stop of each circuit in the main
body of the terminal 911 and also has a function as a human
interface is provided.
[0818] If the power button 921 is pushed and a starting-up command
is sent from an operating part 942 composed of the above power
button 921, the character input key group 914, the character type
change key 915, the cancel key 916, the volume control dial 922,
the send button 923 and the jog dial 924, the sub CPU 941 takes
battery voltage supplied from the battery pack 926 in an internal
power monitoring circuit 941A, converts the battery voltage into
internal voltage at plural kinds of predetermined levels in the
power monitoring circuit 941A, and supplies them to corresponding
circuits in the main body of the terminal 911 respectively, and
separatively starts up these circuits.
[0819] Then, the sub CPU 941 separatively controls starting-up/stop
of each circuit in the main body of the terminal 911 according to
the processing that the main CPU 940 executed. Thereby, wasteful
consumption of battery voltage from the battery pack 926 can be
reduced to the utmost.
[0820] If the main body of the terminal 911 starts, the main CPU
940 reads various programs previously stored in a system memory 943
being a flash ROM via a memory bus B1, and expands them on an SDRAM
944.
[0821] Thereby, the main CPU 940 can execute processing similar to
the recording control part 81, the reproducing control part 84 and
the request data generating part 86 described above with reference
to FIG. 4, the request data generating part 241, the recording
control part 245 and the reproducing control part 248 described
above with reference to FIG. 11, the request data generating part
270 described above with reference to FIG. 25, the reproducing
control part 342, the request data generating part 344 and the
recording control part 347 described above with reference to FIG.
28, the operational information judging part 541, the request data
generating part 542, the judging part 545, the recording control
part 546 and the reproducing control part 548 described above with
reference to FIG. 38, and the request data generating part 630
described above with reference to FIG. 45, by the various
programs.
[0822] Specifically, in the main CPU 940, in advance of the sale or
the rental of the portable dedicated terminal 910 at the agency,
content data that the customer specified for purchase or rental,
header data added to the above content data, the customer ID issued
in the customer registration, etc., are recorded in a data memory
945 being a flash ROM in compressively-coded data.
[0823] After the user purchased/rented the portable dedicated
terminal 910, if the customer enters a request to reproduce the
content data by the operating part 942 sequentially via the sub CPU
941 and an I.sup.2C bus B2 being a serial bus (it is generally
called system management (SM) bus), the main CPU 940 reads
reproducing operation screen data from the system memory 943 via
the memory bus B1, and sends this to a timing generator 946.
[0824] The timing generator 946 controls the display part 913 based
on screen data and video data supplied from the main CPU 940
(controls the emitting timing and the emitting intensity of liquid
crystals that correspond to the plural pixels of one screen on the
display part 913, respectively). Thereby, if the reproducing
operation screen data is sent from the main CPU 940, a reproducing
operation screen based on the reproducing operation screen data is
displayed on the display part 913.
[0825] If the customer specifies content data and its reproducing
on the reproducing operation screen by an operating part 942 and a
content data specifying command and a reproducing start command are
given from the operating part 942 to the main CPU 940 sequentially
via the sub CPU 941 and the I.sup.2C bus B2, the main CPU 940 reads
the specified compressively-coded content data (hereinafter, this
is referred to as compressed content data) from the data memory 945
via the memory bus B1.
[0826] Then, the main CPU 940 decodes the compressed content data
read from the data memory 945. The main CPU 940 transmits the video
data of thus obtained content data to the timing generator 946, and
converts the audio data of the content data into an analog audio
signal by a digital-to-analog converter 947 and sends the audio
signal to the headphone jack 919 via a headphone amplifier 948.
[0827] Thereby, the main CPU 940 displays the video of the content
based on the video data on the display part 913 via the timing
generator 946, and outputs the sound of the content based on the
audio signal from headphones (not shown) connected to the headphone
jack 919. Thus, the customer can view the content.
[0828] If a memo input command is given from the operating part 942
sequentially via the sub CPU 941 and the I.sup.2C bus B2, the main
CPU 940 picks up an object by the camera 925 for a predetermined
time and takes in thus obtained video data. At this time, the main
CPU 940 picks up surrounding sound via the microphone 920 for a
predetermined time, and takes this in by converting thus obtained
audio signal into digital audio data sequentially via a microphone
amplifier 949 and an analog-to-digital converter 950. The main CPU
940 compressively codes these video data and audio data as memo
data, and transmits this to the data memory 945 via the memory bus
B1 for storing.
[0829] In this connection, at this time, if a character string such
as a comment on the memo is entered by the customer's operation of
the character input key group 914, the character type change key
915 and the cancel key 916, and it is sent to the main CPU 940 from
the operating part 942 sequentially via the sub CPU 941 and the
I.sup.2C bus B2 as text data, the main CPU 940 adds the text data
to the memo data and compressively codes this, and stores thus
obtained data in the data memory 945.
[0830] If a reproducing start command for the memo data is sent
from the operating part 942 sequentially via the sub CPU 941 and
the I.sup.2C bus B2, the main CPU 940 performs processing similarly
to the reproducing of the content data described above. Thereby,
the customer can confirm the content of the memo by the display
part 913 and the headphones.
[0831] By the way, the main CPU 940 is electrically connected to a
connecter 953 provided on the bottom of the case sequentially via a
peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus B3, a bus switch 951, a
specified bus based on the PCI standard (hereinafter, this is
referred to as PCI-based bus) B4, and a protection circuit 952.
[0832] The protection circuit 952 has a function to protect each
circuit in the main body of the terminal 911 from the external
static electricity and a function to prevent leakage of unnecessary
radiation occurred by data (signal) processing in the main body of
the terminal 911 to the outside.
[0833] Furthermore, the protection circuit 952 detects whether or
not the connector 929 of the regular cradle 912 is connected to the
connecter 953, and notifies the main CPU 940 of the detected
result.
[0834] The main CPU 940 controls the bus switch 951 according to
the detected result notified from the protection circuit 952, so
that until the connector 929 of the regular cradle 912 is connected
to the connecter 953, the main CPU 940 interrupts electrical
connection to the protection circuit 952, and only when the
connector 929 of the regular cradle 912 is connected to the
connecter 953, the main CPU 940 electrically connects the main body
of the terminal 911 to the protection circuit 952 via the bus
switch 951.
[0835] Thereby, even if an electronic device other than the cradle
912 is erroneously connected to the connecter 953 and the above
connecter 953 short-circuited, the main CPU 940 can protect itself
from crash or the like.
[0836] Here, the cradle 912 takes power supply voltage supplied
from the AC adapter 927 connected to the main power in an internal
power monitoring circuit 955 to convert the power supply voltage
into internal voltage at plural kinds of predetermined levels, and
supplies them to each corresponding circuit in the above cradle 912
respectively to start up each of these circuits.
[0837] If the main body of the terminal 911 is mounted on the
cradle 912, power supply voltage is converted into charge voltage
at a predetermined level by the power monitoring circuit 955, and
the charge voltage is supplied to the battery pack 926 from the
connector 929 via the connecter 953 of the main body of the
terminal 911 for charge.
[0838] If an operating request for communication is given to the
main CPU 940, from the operating part 942 sequentially via the sub
CPU 941 and the I.sup.2C bus B2 in the state where the main body of
the terminal 911 is mounted on the cradle 912, the main CPU 940
reads communication operating screen data from the system memory
943 via the memory bus B1, transmits this to the timing generator
946, and displays a communication operating screen based on the
communication operating screen data on the display part 913.
[0839] In this state, if the customer arbitrary selects either the
public network or the Ethernet (trademark) on the communication
operating screen by operating the operating part 942 and specifies
a uniform resource locator (URL) of the other party of
communication, according to this, a command to selectively specify
either of the communication lines, that URL and a sending command
are given to the main CPU 940 from the operating part 942
sequentially via the sub CPU 941 and the I.sup.2C bus B2. Thereby,
the main CPU 940 generates access request data for the other party
of communication specified by the above URL.
[0840] If the Ethernet (trademark) is selected as the communication
line to be used in communication, the main CPU 940 compressively
codes access request data, and sends the compressed access request
data from the connecter 953 to the cradle 912 sequentially via the
PCI bus B3, the bus switch 951, the PCI-based bus B4 and the
protection circuit 952. In the above cradle 912, the compressed
access request data is sent from the Ethernet jack 931 to the other
party of communication via the Ethernet (trademark), sequentially
via the connector 929, an Ethernet controller 956 and an Ethernet
interface 957.
[0841] Responding to the access request, if compressively-coded
access confirmation data (hereinafter, this is referred to as
compressed access confirmation data) is sent, from the other party
of communication via the Ethernet (trademark), the main CPU 940
receives this by the connecter 953 from the Ethernet jack 931 of
the cradle 912 sequentially via the Ethernet interface 957, the
Ethernet controller 956 and the connector 929, and takes in from
the connecter 953 sequentially via the protection circuit 952, the
PCI-based bus B4, the bus switch 951 and the PCI bus B3 for
decoding.
[0842] Here, in the compressed access confirmation data sent from
the system management server 701 to which the portable dedicated
terminal 910 can communicate (that is, communication has been
permitted) or the data providing server 703 installed in the
agency, an identification code peculiar to the above system
management server 701 or data providing server 703 (or agency) has
been stored.
[0843] On the other hand, in the data memory 945 in the main body
of the terminal 911, when the portable dedicated terminal 910 was
sold or rented, the identification code peculiar to the
communicable system management server 701 (that is, communication
has been permitted) or the data providing server 703 (or the
agency) was stored.
[0844] Therefore, if the main CPU 940 decodes the access
confirmation data and generates access confirmation data, it
compares the identification code stored in the above access
confirmation data with the identification code previously stored in
the data memory 945.
[0845] As a result, if the compared identification codes coincide,
the main CPU 940 determines that the specified other party of
communication is a regular permitted party, and continues the
communication. Thereby, the customer can request obtaining of
content data, introducing of an advertiser and/or a company,
etc.
[0846] On the contrary, if the compared identification codes are
different from each other or the identification code has not been
stored in the access confirmation data, the main CPU 940 judges the
specified other party of communication not to be a permitted party,
and forcedly stops the communication. Thus, it can be prevented
that content data is illegally used by that the portable dedicated
terminal 910 communicates with a party not permitted.
[0847] The main CPU 940 can communicate only with a party
previously permitted via the Ethernet (trademark) as the above. As
a result, if screen data such as compressively-coded advertiser
and/or company introducing data and content selecting screen data
(hereinafter, these are referred to as compressed screen data), and
compressed content data for advertisement and for obtaining is sent
from the system management server 701 or the data providing server
703 being a permitted party via the Ethernet (trademark), the main
CPU 940 receives this via the same path as the case of the
aforementioned compressed access confirmation data, and decodes
this as occasion demands.
[0848] In this connection, if the main CPU 940 receives such
compressed screen data, the main CPU 940 decodes this, transmits
the decoded data to the timing generator 946, and displays a screen
based on the screen data on the display part 913.
[0849] When the main CPU 940 is connected to the other party of
communication previously permitted via the Ethernet (trademark), if
the customer enters a content obtaining request or the like by the
operating part 942 and the request is transmitted to the main CPU
940 sequentially via the sub CPU 941 and the I.sup.2C bus B2, the
main CPU 940 generates request data based on the request,
compressively codes the request data, and sends thus obtained
compressed request data to the other party via the Ethernet
(trademark) by the same path as the case of the aforementioned
compressed access confirmation data.
[0850] In this connection, to selectively specify a content that
the customer wants to obtain, the customer enters the title of the
content, or the numerals of a bar code corresponding to the content
by the operating part 942.
[0851] At this time, the main CPU 940 can pick up the picture of
the bar code by the camera 925. In this case, the main CPU 940 can
analyze the picked-up image obtained from the camera 925 by a
predetermined image recognition program, and the content can be
specified.
[0852] If the customer selects a public network as a communication
line to be used for communication, the main CPU 940 compressively
codes the access request data, and transmits the compressed access
request data to the sub CPU 941 via the I.sup.2C bus B2, as serial
data.
[0853] The sub CPU 941 has a function as a universal asynchronous
receiver transmitter (UART) device. The sub CPU 941 converts the
compressed access request data into parallel data, and transmits
this from the connecter 953 to the cradle 912 via the protection
circuit 952. In the cradle 912, the compressed access request data
is sent from the modular jack 930 to the other party of
communication via the public network sequentially via the connector
929 and a modem interface 958.
[0854] As a result, if the compressed access confirmation data is
sent from the other party of communication via the public network,
the main CPU 940 takes this by in the connecter 953, from the
modular jack 930 of the cradle 912 sequentially via the modem
interface 958 and the connector 929, transmits this to the sub CPU
941 via the protection circuit 952, converts this into serial data,
and receives this via the I.sup.2C bus B2 for decoding.
[0855] Thereby, also when in using the public network, the main CPU
940 compares the identification code stored in the access
confirmation data obtained by decoding the compressed access
confirmation data with the identification code stored in the data
memory 945.
[0856] Only in the case where thus compared identification codes
are coincide, the main CPU 940 judges the accessing other party of
communication is the regular party previously permitted, and
continues the communication via the public network.
[0857] Then, in the state where the main CPU 940 is connected to
the other party of communication previously permitted via the
public network, if the aforementioned compressed screen data is
sent from the system management server 701 or the data providing
server 703 being the other party of communication, the main CPU 940
takes this in the sub CPU 941 from the modular jack 930, and
performs processing similar to the aforementioned case of using the
Ethernet (trademark).
[0858] In the state where the main CPU 940 is connected to the
other party of communication previously permitted via the public
network, if the customer enters the content obtaining request or
the like by the operating part 942 and the request is transmitted
to the main CPU 940 sequentially via the sub CPU 941 and the
I.sup.2C bus B2, the main CPU 940 generates request data based on
the request, compressively codes the request data, and transmits
thus obtained compressed request data to the other party of
communication via the public network by passing over the sub CPU
941 and the modular jack 930.
[0859] By the way, in either of the Ethernet (trademark) and the
public network, for instance, if the main CPU 940 displays the
content selecting screen being a three-dimensional virtual reality
space picture described above with reference to FIGS. 29 to 31 on
the display part 913, it performs processing similar to the
aforementioned portable dedicated terminal 303 according to the
sixth embodiment (FIGS. 28 to 37).
[0860] If the main CPU 940 moves the picture of customer to the
specified coordinate position on the content selecting screen (the
picture of first floor in shop or the picture of second floor in
shop), it compressively codes specified coordinate position data
representing that the above picture of customer moved to the
specified coordinate position, and sends the compressively-coded
data to the data providing server 703 via the Ethernet (trademark)
or the public network that has been selected.
[0861] At this time, if the data providing server 703 receives the
specified coordinate position data from the portable dedicated
terminal 910, it compressively codes content data for advertisement
(that is, commercial data) specified by the above specified
coordinate position data, and sends thus obtained compressed
content data to the portable dedicated terminal 910 via the
Ethernet (trademark) or the public network that is the same path as
the sending path of the compressively-coded specified coordinate
position data in streaming, according to the user datagram
protocol/Internet protocol (UDP/IP).
[0862] As a result, if the main CPU 940 takes in the compressed
content data for advertisement sent from the data providing server
703, it temporarily stores this in the SDRAM 944.
[0863] The main CPU 940 reads the compressed content data for
advertisement from the SDRAM 944 and decodes this. In video data
and audio data forming the obtained content data, the main CPU 940
transmits the video data to the timing generator 946, and converts
the audio data into an analog audio signal by the digital-to-analog
converter 947, and transmits the audio signal to the headphone jack
919 via the headphone amplifier 948.
[0864] Thereby, the main CPU 940 displays the pictures of a content
for advertisement based on the video data on the display part 913
by the timing generator 946, and outputs the sound of the content
for advertisement based on the audio signal from the headphones
connected to the headphone jack 919. Thus, the customer can view a
part of the content, as advertisement.
[0865] In this manner, the main CPU 940 reproduces in streaming the
compressed content data for advertisement that was sent in
streaming from the system management server 701 and the data
providing server 703 being the regular other party of
communication, by using the SDRAM 944 as buffer.
[0866] If desired content data is selectively specified on the
content selecting screen being a three-dimensional virtual reality
space picture displayed on the display part 913, the main CPU 940
compressively codes content specifying data representing the above
specified content data, and sends the compressively-coded data to
the data providing server 703 via the Ethernet (trademark) or the
public network that has been selected at this time.
[0867] At this time, if the data providing server 703 receives the
content specifying data from the portable dedicated terminal 910,
it compressively codes the content data for obtaining specified by
the above content specifying data, and sends thus obtained
compressed content data to the portable dedicated terminal 910 via
the Ethernet (trademark) or the public network that is the same
path as the sending path of the compressively-coded content
specifying data, according to the transmission control
protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP).
[0868] If the main CPU 940 receives the compressed content data for
obtaining sent from the data providing server 703, the main CPU 940
temporarily stores this in the SDRAM 944 as it is compressed, and
transmits this in the data memory 945 for recording via the memory
bus B1 while using the above SDRAM 944 as buffer.
[0869] In this manner, when the main CPU 940 obtains compressed
content data or the like from the system management server 701 or
the data providing server 703, the main CPU 940 uses the SDRAM 944
as buffer. Thereby, the data can be downloaded while preventing
occurrence of an error in the data processing.
[0870] In addition to this, when the main body of the terminal 911
is mounted on the cradle 912, the customer can arbitrary select
either the display part 913 and the headphone jack 919 of the main
body of the terminal 911 or an external device such as a television
receiving set and a reproducing operation screen displayed on the
display part 913, as means for viewing reproduced content data.
[0871] If the customer selects the display part 913 and the
headphone jack 919 of the main body of the terminal 911 on the
reproducing operation screen and a command to selectively specify
the display part 913 and the headphone jack by the operating part
942, the main CPU 940 receives information of that (with a command
to specify content data and a reproducing start command)
sequentially via the sub CPU 941 and the I.sup.2C bus B2 reproduces
the compressed content data from the data memory 945, and decodes
the reproduced data similarly to the aforementioned case where the
main body of the terminal 911 is not mounted on the cradle 912.
Thus, the customer can view the content by the display part 913 and
the headphones.
[0872] On the contrary, if the customer selects the external device
as means for viewing reproduced content data on the reproducing
operation screen and a command to selectively specify the external
device by the operating part 942, the main CPU 940 receives
information of that (with the command to selectively specify the
content data and the reproducing start command) sequentially via
the sub CPU 941 and the I.sup.2C bus B2, and reads the specified
compressed content data from the data memory 945 via the memory bus
B1.
[0873] The main CPU 940 decodes the compressed content data. In the
video data and audio data forming thus obtained content data, the
main CPU 940 converts the video data into an analog video signal by
a digital-to-analog converter 959 for video, and transmits the
video signal from the connecter 953 to the cradle 912 via the
protection circuit 952, and sends that video signal from the video
output terminal 932 to the external device via the connector 929 in
the above cradle 912.
[0874] At that time, the main CPU 940 converts the audio data
forming the content data into an analog audio signal by the
digital-to-analog converter 947, and transmits the audio signal
from the connecter 953 to the cradle 912 via the protection circuit
952, converts that audio signal into an analog audio signal of the
left and the right two channels via a power amplifier 960 in the
above cradle 912, and then sends the audio signal from the audio
output terminal 933 to the external device.
[0875] Thereby, the customer can enjoy the content for example by a
large screen display and a speaker with high quality sound, by
using not only the main body of the terminal 911 but also the
external device.
[0876] Furthermore, when the main body of the terminal 911 is
mounted on the cradle 912, the main CPU 940 performs processing not
only the content data but also memo data similarly, so that the
customer can confirm the contents of the memo by either of the
display part 913 and the headphones of the main body of the
terminal 911 and the external device.
[0877] Note that, in this tenth embodiment, the main CPU 940
controls the system memory 943 and the data memory 945 via a
control bus B5, and controls the digital-to-analog converter 947
and the analog-to-digital converter 950 for video and audio, via
the I.sup.2C bus B2.
[0878] Furthermore, when in generating obtaining request data for
content data, the main CPU 940 stores content specifying
information that specifies a desired content by its title, bar code
or the like, whether the content data was purchased or rented,
payment information on the purchase price and the rental charges
for the content data (as paying method, for example, payment by
credit), the customer ID, etc., in the above obtaining request
data.
[0879] Whenever the data providing server 703 receives the
obtaining request data from the portable dedicated terminal 910,
the data providing server 703 performs accounting based on the
customer information on the customer who requested to obtain the
content (the account number of the customer), the selling price and
the rental charges for the content data, and the account number of
the agency at the dealing bank.
[0880] As a result, the data providing server 703 generates
accounting information on the sale or the rental of the content
data, and sends the above generated accounting information to a
settlement processing server via the Internet 707. In the
settlement-processing server, electronical settlement processing
based on that accounting information is executed.
[0881] Accordingly, the portable dedicated terminal 910 enables the
user to obtain content data and pay for the content data or the
rental charges for the content data while being at home without
going to the agency.
[0882] According to the above configuration, in this data providing
system 900, the character input key group 914 being ten keys is
provided in the portable dedicated terminal 910. Thereby, the
customer can selectively specify a content for obtaining by
entering the numerals of a bar code corresponding to the content by
the above character input key group 914.
[0883] Furthermore, in this data providing system 900, the camera
925 is provided in the portable dedicated terminal 910. Thereby,
the picture of the bar code corresponding to a content can be
picked up by the camera 925, and the customer can selectively
specify the content for obtaining by taking the picture of the bar
code.
[0884] Accordingly, in this data providing system 900, when the
customer selectively specifies a content for obtaining by the
portable dedicated terminal 910, the customer can easily
selectively specify a desired content only by simply entering the
numerals or taking the picture of the bar code with the camera 925,
without entering plural characters such as the title of the
content.
[0885] According to the above configuration, the portable dedicated
terminal 910 having the character input key group 914 being ten
keys and the camera 925 for pattern recognition is used. Thereby,
in the portable dedicated terminal 910, in addition to the effects
obtained in the aforementioned ninth embodiment, the customer can
easily selectively specify a desired content by simply entering the
numerals with the character input key group 914 or only by taking
the picture of the bar code with the camera 925. Thereby, a data
providing system in that the usability of a portable dedicated
terminal is improved and the customer can remarkably easily use can
be realized.
[0886] Note that, in the aforementioned tenth embodiment, in the
portable dedicated terminal 910, it has dealt with the case where
the main CPU 940 of the main body of the terminal 911 executes the
similar processing to the recording control part 81, the
reproducing control part 84 and the request data generating part 86
described above with reference to FIG. 4, the request data
generating part 241, the recording control part 245 and the
reproducing control part 248 described above with reference to FIG.
11, the request data generating part 270 described above with
reference to FIG. 25, the reproducing control part 342, the request
data generating part 344 and the recording control part 347
described above with reference to FIG. 28, the operational
information judging part 541, the request data generating part 542,
the judging part 545, the recording control part 546 and the
reproducing control part 548 described above with reference to FIG.
38, and the request data generating part 630 described above with
reference to FIG. 45, according to the various programs previously
stored in the system memory 943. However, this invention is not
only limited to this but also these various processing may be
executed by providing a program storing medium storing these
various programs in the main body of the terminal 911.
[0887] In this connection, such program storing medium is not only
limited to packaged media such as a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, and a
DVD but also it may be a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk,
etc., that can temporarily or permanently store the various
programs. Furthermore, as means for storing the various programs in
the program storing medium, also a cable or radio communication
medium such as a local area network, the Internet, and digital
satellite broadcasting may be used, and they may be stored via
various communication interfaces such as a rooter and a modem.
[0888] In the aforementioned tenth embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the portable dedicated terminal 910 only can
communicate with the specified other party of communication
previously permitted based on the identification code. However,
this invention is not only limited to this but also, after the user
started to use the portable dedicated terminal 910, the customer
may newly contract with an agency or the like and obtain an
identification code peculiar to the agency so that the user can
communicate with plural agencies or the like by one portable
dedicated terminal 910. Thereby, for instance, it becomes
unnecessary to prepare a portable dedicated terminal 910 in each
agency, and one portable dedicated terminal 910 can be used as a
common dedicated terminal for the plural agencies or the like.
Thus, the usability of the portable dedicated terminal 910 can be
further improved.
[0889] In the aforementioned tenth embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the main body of the terminal 911 of the portable
dedicated terminal 910 works by battery voltage supplied from the
detachable battery pack 926. However, this invention is not only
limited to this but also the main body of the terminal 911 of the
portable dedicated terminal 910 may work by mounting an
exchangeable primary battery therein, or the main body of the
terminal 911 may work either of the battery pack and the primary
battery. Thereby, the customer can easily exchange the primary
battery when the customer is going out, and can use the portable
dedicated terminal 910 for a long time.
[0890] Furthermore, in the aforementioned tenth embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the data providing server 703 generates
accounting information every time when the data providing server
703 received content obtaining request data, and electronical
settlement processing based on that accounting information is
executed in the settlement processing server. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also the data providing
server 703 or the system management server 701 may constantly and
collectively generate accounting information for example once a
month or once two weeks, or it may integrate generated accounting
information every time when the data providing server 703 received
obtaining request data, and settlement processing may be executed
in the settlement processing server at that constant timing.
(12) Eleventh Embodiment
[0891] FIG. 63 shows a data providing system 1100 according to an
eleventh embodiment. A content server 1102 corresponding to the
system management site 2 and the sales company 5 described above
with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a request terminal 1103
corresponding to the customer 3 described above with reference to
FIGS. 1 to 3 (that is, the request terminal used by the customer
3), and a portable dedicated terminal 1104 that corresponds to the
portable dedicated terminals 7A to 7N described above with
reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, is dedicated to the agencies 4A to 4N,
and is accessible only the data providing server 1101, are
connected to the data providing server 1101 corresponding to the
agencies 4A to 4N described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3
via the Internet (not shown), respectively.
[0892] In this case, the content server 1102 is installed in a
sales company that deals in many packaged media respectively
storing one or plural content data. In a content database 1110, a
package data table generated by listing package additional
information such as the title of each packaged media that the above
sales company deals in (title of motion picture, album CD, single
CD, etc.), the detailed contents of the packaged media (titles of
plural tunes (content data) stored in album CD or single CD, artist
name, manufacturing company of packaged media, content
identification information peculiar to each content data stored in
packaged media, etc.), and package identification information
peculiar to the packaged media, has been stored.
[0893] In the content database 1110, many content data previously
compressively coded by one or more kinds of compression coding
methods, and content identification information peculiar to the
above compressively-coded content data (hereinafter, this is
referred to as compressed content data) (same as the aforementioned
content identification information peculiar to the content data),
have been previously stored by making a correspondence.
[0894] In the content database 1110, a content data table generated
by listing content additional information such as the content
identification information corresponding to the compressed content
data in the content database 1110, the title of the content data
(title of tunes, title of work, etc.), artist name, the
manufacturing company of the content data, and a compression coding
method that was used for the compression coding of the compressed
content data, has been stored.
[0895] In this connection, for the compression coding of content
data, according to the manufacturing company of the content data or
the like, plural kinds of compression coding methods such as the
adaptive transform acoustic coding 3 (ATRAC3) (trademark), moving
picture experts group (MPEG)-1 audio layer 3 (MP3) (trademark),
moving picture experts group-2 advanced audio coding (MPEG-2 AAC)
(trademark), QDesign Music Codec (trademark), transform-domain
weighted interleave vector quantization (TwinVQ) (trademark),
Microsoft audio (MS Audio) (trademark) (another name is Windows
media audio (WMA) (trademark), and Ogg Vorbis (trademark), have
been used.
[0896] On the other hand, the data providing server 1101 is
installed in an agency. If the above agency buys a part of many
packaged media that the sales company deals in, sale/rental,
package additional data representing package additional information
corresponding to the above bought packaged media is supplied from
the content server 1102. The above supplied package additional data
is received by a receiving part 1111, and taken in a data
updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0897] In addition to this, at this time, in many compressed
content data stored in the content database 1110, a part of
compressed content data is supplied from the content server 1102 to
the data providing server 1101 with content additional data that
represents content additional information corresponding to the
compressed content data. They are received by the receiving part
1111, and taken in the data updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0898] By the data updating/retrieving part 1112, the data
providing server 1101 lists the package additional information
based on the package additional data, and generates a package data
table, and also lists the content additional information based on
the content additional data, and generates a content data table.
The above generated package data table and content data table are
stored in a content database 1113.
[0899] Furthermore, the data providing server 1101 stores the
compressed content data and the content identification information
in the content database 1113 by making a correspondence, by the
data updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0900] In this manner, the data providing server 1101 can sell/rent
compressed content data obtained from the content server 1102 to
the customer.
[0901] In order to answer every obtaining request of content data
from the customer, as described later, the data providing server
1101 also can sell/rent not only the compressed content data stored
in the content server 1102 but also content data stored in packaged
media that the agency and the sales company deal in to the customer
as compressed content data.
[0902] Practically, if registration request data for requesting a
customer registration is sent from the request terminal 1103
operated by the customer, the data providing server 1101 receives
this by the receiving part 1111, and takes this in a customer
updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0903] The data providing server 1101 reads customer registration
screen data previously stored in a customer database 1115 based on
the registration request data by the customer updating/retrieving
part 1114, and sends this from a sending part 1116 to the request
terminal 1103.
[0904] As a result, if customer information such as the name, the
address, and the telephone number of the customer, that was entered
on the customer registration screen based on the customer
registration screen data is sent from the request terminal 1103 to
the data providing server 1101 as customer data, the data providing
server 1101 receives this by the receiving part 1111, and takes
this in the customer updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0905] Thereby, the data providing server 1101 issues a customer ID
to the customer who requests a registration and adds this to
customer information based on the customer data, and stores the
above customer information with the customer ID in the customer
database 1115 as customer registration information, and registers
the customer, by the customer updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0906] In this connection, if the customer is registered by the
customer updating/retrieving part 1114, the data providing server
1101 generates registration completion data that includes the
customer ID, and sends this from the sending part 1116 to the
request terminal 1103 to notify the customer of the completion of
customer registration and the customer ID.
[0907] If obtaining request data for requesting the obtaining of
content data (including the customer ID) is sent from the request
terminal 1103, the data providing server 1101 receives this by the
receiving part 1111, and takes this in the customer
updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0908] At this time, the data providing server 1101 retrieves
customer registration information in the customer database 1115
based on the obtaining request data (i.e., the customer ID), and
detects whether or not the customer who requested the obtaining of
content data is a regular customer registered as a customer, by the
customer updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0909] If that the customer requesting the obtaining of content
data is not a regular customer is detected by the customer
updating/retrieving part 1114, the data providing server 1101 stops
the acceptance of the content data obtaining request from the
customer, and notifies the customer of the stop of the acceptance
of the obtaining request from the sending part 1116 via the request
terminal 1103, and urges the customer to a customer
registration.
[0910] On the contrary, if that the customer requesting the
obtaining of content data is a regular customer is detected by the
customer updating/retrieving part 1114, the data providing server
1101 transmits the obtaining request data to the data
updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0911] In this case, the data providing server 1101 reads content
selecting screen data previously stored in the content database
1113 based on the obtaining request data by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112, and sends thus read data from the
sending part 1116 to the request terminal 1103.
[0912] In this connection, the data providing server 1101 can make
the customer select every compressed content data stored in the
content server 1102 and every content data stored in packaged media
that the sales company deals in as content data to be obtained, by
a content selecting screen based on the content selecting screen
data.
[0913] As a result, if content specifying information representing
the purchase of desired content data (hereinafter, this is referred
to as specified content data), whether or not the data is rented,
and the title of the above specified content data or the like, and
terminal specifying information representing a purchase for the
portable dedicated terminal 1104 to record the specified content
data as compressed content data, whether or not the data is rented
or not, a specified compression coding method wanted by the
customer to be used in the compression coding of the above
specified content data (hereinafter, this is referred to as
specified compression coding method) or the like, are entered on
the content selecting screen based on the content selecting screen
data as reservation information with the customer ID, and
reservation data representing the above reservation information is
sent from the request terminal 1103, the data providing server 1101
receives this by the receiving part 1111, and takes this in the
customer updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0914] In this case, in the agency, plural kinds of portable
dedicated terminals (not shown) applying a decoding method
corresponding to the aforementioned plural kinds of compression
coding methods are prepared for sale and rental.
[0915] The data providing server 1101 selects a portable dedicated
terminal to be sold/rented to the customer, applying a specified
decoding method corresponding to the specified compression coding
method included in the reservation data (heretofore, this is
referred to as specified decoding method), and updates the above
customer registration information by adding terminal identification
information peculiar to the above portable dedicated terminal
previously recorded in the above selected portable dedicated
terminal and the specified compression coding method to the
customer registration information in the customer database 1115, by
the customer updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0916] In this manner, the data providing server 1101 can prepare a
portable dedicated terminal to sell/rent this to the customer, and
also can identify customer's portable dedicated terminal by the
customer registration information (terminal identification
information).
[0917] Then, the data providing server 1101 transmits the
reservation data and the customer ID of the customer requesting the
obtaining of the specified content data and the portable dedicated
terminal 1104, from the customer updating/retrieving part 1114 to
the data updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0918] The data providing server 1101 retrieves content additional
information in the content data table in the content database 1113
based on the reservation data, and detects whether or not
compressed content data generated by compressively coding the
specified content data by the specified compression coding method
(hereinafter, this is referred to as specified compressed content
data) has been stored in the content database 1113, by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0919] If that the specified compressed content data has been
stored in the content database 1113 is detected by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112, the data providing server 1101 reads
that specified compressed content data from the above content
database 1113.
[0920] In this case, the portable dedicated terminal prepared for
the sale/rental to the customer (that is, before it is delivered to
the customer) is directly connected to the dedicated terminal of
the data providing server 1101 (not shown) via a cable or the
like.
[0921] The data providing server 1101 transmits the specified
compressed content data read from the content database 1113 from
the dedicated terminal to the portable dedicated terminal with the
customer ID via the cable or the like. They are recorded in the
portable dedicated terminal.
[0922] On the contrary, in the case where the previous reservation
has been accepted, if that the specified compressed content data
has not been stored in the content database 1113 is detected by the
data updating/retrieving part 1112, the data providing server 1101
successively retrieves package additional information in the
package data table in the content database 1113 based on the
reservation data by the data updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0923] As a result, if that the agency deals in packaged media
storing the specified content data being the original data of the
specified compressed content data is detected by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112, the data providing server 1101
notifies a reproducing part 1117 being a changer of the packaged
media storing the above specified content data (that is, package
identification information) and that specified content data (that
is, content identification information), and also notifies a
compressing part 1118 that cope with various compression coding
methods of the content identification information and the specified
compression coding method of the specified content data.
[0924] In this case, the data providing server 1101 selects the
packaged media storing the specified content data from among many
packaged media that the agency deals in for sale and rental, and
reproduces that specified content data from the above selected
packaged media by the reproducing part 1117, and transmits the
above reproduced specified content data to the compressing part
1118.
[0925] The data providing server 1101 compressively codes the
specified content data supplied from the reproducing part 1117 by
the specified compression coding method by the compressing part
1118. Thus obtained specified compressed content data is stored in
the content database 1113 by making a correspondence to the content
identification information.
[0926] The data providing server 1101 generates new content
additional information based on the package additional information
corresponding to the specified compressed content data stored in
the content database 1113, and updates the content data table by
adding the above generated content additional information to the
content data table in the content database 1113, by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0927] The data providing server 1101 reads the specified
compressed content data newly stored from the content database 1113
by the data updating/retrieving part 1112, and records this in the
portable dedicated terminal before it is delivered to the customer
with the customer ID.
[0928] Furthermore, in the case where the previous registration has
been accepted, if the specified compressed content data has not
been stored in the content database 1113 and the package additional
information in the package data table in the content database 1113
is retrieved based on the reservation data by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112, and that the agency does not deal in
the packaged media storing the specified content data is detected,
the data providing server 1101 generates content request data D50
shown in FIG. 64, and sends this from the sending part 1116 to the
content server 1102.
[0929] Here, in the content request data D50, content specifying
information representing an artist name, a title (title of tune), a
manufacturing company (record company), and specified compression
coding method (e.g., ATRAC3 (trademark)) or the like, that
correspond to the specified compressed content data, is stored.
[0930] As a result that the data providing server 1101 sent the
content request data D50 to the content server 1102, if specified
compressed content data D51 and corresponding content additional
data D52 are sent from the above content server 1102 as shown in
FIG. 64, the data providing server 1101 receives them by the
receiving part 1111, and takes them in the data updating/retrieving
part 1112.
[0931] The data providing server 1101 adds content additional
information based on the content additional data D52 to the content
data table in the content database 1113 and updates the above
content data table by the data updating/retrieving part 1112, and
stores the specified compressed content data D51 in the content
database 1113 by making a correspondence to content identification
information.
[0932] Then, the data providing server 1101 records the specified
compressed content data D51 obtained from the content server 1102
and the customer ID in the portable dedicated terminal before it is
delivered to the customer, by the data updating/retrieving part
1112.
[0933] In this manner, the data providing server 1101 accepts the
previous reservation of the purchase/rental of the specified
content data and the portable dedicated terminal 1104 requested by
the customer by means of the request terminal 1103, and prepares
the portable dedicated terminal 1104 in which the above specified
content data has been recorded as specified compressed content
data. Thereby, for instance, when the customer comes to the shop,
that portable dedicated terminal 1104 can be delivered and
sold/rented to the customer.
[0934] Then, if obtaining request data for requesting the obtaining
(purchase/rental) of desired content data (including the customer
ID of the customer previously recorded and terminal identification
information) is sent from the portable dedicated terminal 1104
sold/rented to the customer, the data providing server 1101
receives this by the receiving part 1111, and takes this in the
customer updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0935] At this time, the data providing server 1101 retrieves the
customer registration information in the customer database 1115
based on the obtaining request data (i.e., customer ID), and
detects whether or not the customer who requested to obtain
(purchase/rental) the specified content data is a regular customer
registered as a customer, by the customer updating/retrieving part
1114.
[0936] If that the customer requesting to obtain the specified
content data is a regular customer is detected by the customer
updating/retrieving part 1114, the data providing server 1101
compares terminal identification information included in the
customer registration information on that customer in the content
database 1113 with the terminal identification information included
in the obtaining request data, to detect whether or not the above
customer is using the authorized portable dedicated terminal 1104
bought/rented from the agency, successively, by the customer
updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0937] If that the regular customer requesting to obtain the
specified content data is using the authorized portable dedicated
terminal 1104 is detected, the data providing server 1101 transmits
the obtaining request data to the data updating/retrieving part
1112.
[0938] At this time, the data providing server 1101 reads content
selecting screen data from the content database 1113 based on the
obtaining request data by the data updating/retrieving part 1112,
and sends the above read content selecting screen data from the
sending part 1116 to the portable dedicated terminal 1104 of the
customer.
[0939] As a result, if specifying information for the specified
content data is entered on a content selecting screen based on the
content selecting screen data and content specifying data D53 shown
in FIG. 65 representing the above specifying information is sent
from the portable dedicated terminal 1104, the data providing
server 1101 receives this by the receiving part 1111, and takes
this in the customer updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0940] In this connection, in the content specifying data D53, as
specifying information, information such as the customer's name,
customer ID, terminal identification information on the portable
dedicated terminal 1104 used by the customer, password, type of
specified content data, genre, artist, title (title of tune), and
manufacturing company (record company) will be stored.
[0941] The data providing server 1101 specifies the customer
registration information on the customer in the customer database
1115 based on the customer ID included in the content specifying
data D53 (that is, the customer who requested to purchase/rent the
specified content data), by the customer updating/retrieving part
1114.
[0942] Then, the data providing server 1101 reads information on a
specified compression coding method corresponding to the terminal
identification information stored in the content specifying data
D53 in the specified customer registration information (that is,
information on a compression coding method corresponding to a
specified decoding method applied to the portable dedicated
terminal 1104 used by the customer) from the customer database 1115
by the customer updating/retrieving part 1114, adds the above read
information on the specified compression coding method to the
content specifying data D53, and transmits them to the data
updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0943] The data providing server 1101 retrieves content additional
information in the content data table in the content database 1113
based on the information on the specified compression coding method
and the content specifying data D53, and detects whether or not the
specified compressed content data has been stored in the content
database 1113, by the data updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0944] As a result, if that the specified compressed content data
has been stored in the content database 1113 is detected by the
data updating/retrieving part 1112, the data providing server 1101
reads that specified compressed content data D51 from the above
content database 1113, and sends this from the sending part 1116 to
the portable dedicated terminal 1104. This data is recorded in the
portable dedicated terminal 1104.
[0945] On the contrary, if that the specified compressed content
data D51 has not been stored in the content database 1113 is
detected by the data updating/retrieving part 1112, the data
providing server 1101 retrieves the package additional information
in the package data table in the content database 1113 based on the
information on the specified compression coding method and the
content specifying data D53, successively, by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0946] As a result, if that the agency deals in packaged media
storing the specified content data being the original data of the
specified compressed content data D51 is detected by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112, the data providing server 1101
notifies the reproducing part 1117 of the packaged media storing
the above specified content data (that is, package identification
information) and the specified content data (that is, content
identification information), and notifies the compressing part 1118
of the content identification information and the specified
compression coding method of the above specified content data.
[0947] Then, the data providing server 1101 selects the packaged
media storing the specified content data from among many packaged
media that the agency deals in for sale and rental, and reproduces
that specified content data by the reproducing part 1117. In the
compressing part 1118, the data providing server 1101 compressively
codes the specified content data by the specified compression
coding method, and stores thus obtained specified compressed
content data in the content database 1113 by making a
correspondence to the content identification information.
[0948] The data providing server 1101 generates new content
additional information based on package additional information
corresponding to the specified compressed content data stored in
the content database 1113, adds the above generated content
additional information to the content data table in the content
database 1113, and updates the above content data table, by the
data updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0949] The data providing server 1101 reads the specified
compressed content data newly stored from the content database
1113, and sends the above read specified compressed content data
from the sending part 1116 to the portable dedicated terminal 1104
by the data updating/retrieving part 1112. This data is recorded in
the portable dedicated terminal 1104.
[0950] Furthermore, as a result that the specified compressed
content data has not been stored in the content database 1113 and
package additional information in the package data table in the
content database 1113 is retrieved based on the reservation data by
the data updating/retrieving part 1112, if that the agency does not
deal in packaged media storing the specified content data is
detected, as shown in FIG. 65, the data providing server 1101
generates content request data D50, and sends this from the sending
part 1116 to the content server 1102.
[0951] As a result, if the specified compressed content data D51
and corresponding content additional data D52 are sent from the
content server 1102, the data providing server 1101 receives them
by the receiving part 1111, and takes them in the data
updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0952] The data providing server 1101 adds content additional
information based on the content additional data D52 to the content
data table in the content database 1113, updates the above content
data table, and stores the specified compressed content data D51 in
the content database 1113 by making a correspondence to the content
identification information, by the data updating/retrieving part
1112.
[0953] Then, the data providing server 1101 sends the specified
compressed content data D51 obtained from that content server 1102,
from the sending part 1116 to the portable dedicated terminal 1104
by the data updating/retrieving part 1112. This data is recorded in
the portable dedicated terminal 1104.
[0954] In this manner, the data providing server 1101 sends the
specified compressed content data to the portable dedicated
terminal 1104 sold/rented to the customer via the Internet. Thus,
the customer can buy/rent specified compressed content data by
means of the portable dedicated terminal 1104.
[0955] In this connection, by the detection of whether or not the
customer requesting the obtaining of specified content data is a
regular customer, if that the above customer is not a regular
customer is detected by the customer updating/retrieving part 1114,
the data providing server 1101 stops the acceptance of the
obtaining request of the specified content data, and notifies a
communication device such as the portable dedicated terminal that
the customer used to send the obtaining request data (for instance,
a portable dedicated terminal that was illegally obtained), and a
personal computer, of the stop of the acceptance of the obtaining
request from the sending part 1116.
[0956] Furthermore, if that the customer requesting the obtaining
of the specified content data is a regular customer registered as a
customer but the customer uses a communication device such as
another personal computer different from the authorized portable
dedicated terminal 1104 is detected based on the terminal
identification information by the customer updating/retrieving part
1114, the data providing server 1101 stops accepting the obtaining
request of the specified content data from the customer, and
notifies that communication terminal of the stop of the acceptance
of the obtaining request from the sending part 1116.
[0957] By the way, the data providing server 1101 constantly
retrieves a content database in the content database 1113 by the
data updating/retrieving part 1112. Thereby, a compression coding
method that is most frequently used for the specified compressed
content data D51 newly stored in the above content database 1113
according to the obtaining request by the customer (hereinafter,
this is referred to as most-frequently-used compression coding
method) is detected.
[0958] The data providing server 1101 compares the number of times
of using the most-frequently-used compression coding method to a
predetermined threshold value previously set, by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0959] If the number of times of using the most-frequently-used
compression coding method is larger than the threshold value, the
data providing server 1101 judges that at that point in time, the
use of the most-frequently-used compression coding method is
mainstream among the customers who use the data providing server
1101 to obtain specified content data and a possibility that the
most-frequently-used compression coding method is specified when
the customer obtains specified content data is remarkably high, by
the data updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0960] Therefore, if the number of times of using the
most-frequently-used compression coding method is larger than the
threshold value, the data providing server 1101 detects compressed
content data that has not been compressively coded by the
most-frequently-used compression coding method from among every
compressed content data stored in the content database 1113 by the
data updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0961] Then, the data providing server 1101 compressively codes
content data being the original data of that detected compressed
content data by the most-frequently-used compression coding method
by means of packaged media and the content server 1102 that the
agency deals in, and additionally stores thus obtained compressed
content data in the content database 1113, by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112.
[0962] Since the data providing server 1101 prepares the specified
compressed content data D51 compressively coded by the above
most-frequently-used compression coding method in advance, when
obtaining specified content data is requested by the customer, even
if the most-frequently-used compression coding method is specified
as a specified compression coding method for the above specified
content data, the specified compressed content data D51 can be
rapidly provided to the customer.
[0963] On the other hand, the content server 1102 receives the
content request data D50 sent from the data providing server 1101
(FIGS. 64 and 65) by a receiving part 1120, and takes this in a
data updating/retrieving part 1121.
[0964] In this case, the content server 1102 retrieves content
additional information in the content data table in the content
database 1110 based on the content request data D50, and detects
whether or not the specified compressed content data D51 has been
stored in the content database 1110, by the data
updating/retrieving part 1121.
[0965] As a result, if the specified compressed content data D51
has been stored in the content database 1110 is detected by the
data updating/retrieving part 1121, the data providing server 1101
reads that specified compressed content data D51 and content
additional data D52 corresponding to this from the above content
database 1110, and sends them from a sending part 1122 to the data
providing server 1101.
[0966] On the contrary, if that the specified compressed content
data D51 has not been stored in the content database 1110 is
detected by the data updating/retrieving part 1121 (that is, in the
case where the specified compressed content data D51 has not been
stored completely or the specified content data has been stored by
compressively coding by a different compression coding method from
the specified compression coding method), the content server 1102
successively retrieves package additional information in the
package data table in the content database 1110 based on the
content request data D50 by the data updating/retrieving part
1121.
[0967] As a result, the content server 1102 detects packaged media
storing the specified content data being the original data of the
specified compressed content data by the data updating/retrieving
part 1121, notifies a reproducing part 1123 being a changer of the
above detected packaged media (that is, package identification
information) and the specified content data (that is, content
identification information), and notifies a compressing part 1124
cope with various compression coding methods of the content
identification information and the specified compression coding
method of the above specified content data.
[0968] The content server 1102 selects packaged media storing the
specified content data from among many packaged media that the
sales company deals in, reproduces that specified content data from
the above selected packaged media by the reproducing part 1123, and
transmits this to the compressing part 1124.
[0969] The content server 1102 compressively codes the specified
content data supplied from the reproducing part 1123 by the
specified compression coding method by the compressing part 1124,
and stores thus obtained specified compressed content data D51 in
the content database 1110 by making a correspondence to the content
identification information.
[0970] Thereby, the content server 1102 reads the newly-stored
specified compressed content data D51 from the content database
1110 by the data updating/retrieving part 1121, generates new
content additional information based on the package additional
information corresponding to the above read specified compressed
content data D51, and sends content additional data D52
representing the above generated content additional information and
the read specified compressed content data D51 from the sending
part 1122 to the data providing server 1101.
[0971] In this connection, at this time, the content server 1102
adds the content additional information newly generated to the
content data table in the content database 1110, and updates the
above content data table by the data updating/retrieving part
1121.
[0972] By the way, the content server 1102 constantly retrieves a
data table in the content database 1110 by the data
updating/retrieving part 1121 similarly to the data providing
server 1101, and detects the most-frequently-used compression
coding method for the specified compressed content data D51 newly
stored in the above content database 1110 according to the request
from the data providing server 1101.
[0973] The content server 1102 compares the number of times of
using the most-frequently-used compression coding method to a
predetermined threshold value previously set, by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112. If the number of times of using the
most-frequently-used compression coding method is larger than the
threshold value, the content server 1102 judges that at that point
in time, the use of the most-frequently-used compression coding
method is mainstream among the customers who use the data providing
server 1101 to obtain specified content data and a possibility that
the most-frequently-used compression coding method is specified
when the customer obtains specified content data is remarkably
high.
[0974] Therefore, if the number of times of using the
most-frequently-used compression coding method is larger than the
threshold value, the content server 1102 detects compressed content
data that is not compressively coded by the most-frequently-used
compression coding method from among every compressed content data
stored in the content database 1110 by the data updating/retrieving
part 1121.
[0975] Then, the data providing server 1102 reproduces content data
being the original data of that detected compressed content data
from packaged media that the sales company deals in, compressively
codes this by the most-frequently-used compression coding method,
and additionally stores thus obtained compressed content data in
the content database 1110.
[0976] Since the content server 1102 prepares the specified
compressed content data D51 compressively coded by the above
most-frequently-used compression coding method in advance, when
obtaining the specified content data is requested from the data
providing server 1101, even if the most-frequently-used compression
coding method is specified as a specified compression coding method
for the above specified content data, the specified compressed
content data D51 can be rapidly provided to the data providing
server 1101.
[0977] On the other hand, if a customer registration request is
entered by the customer via an operating part 1130, the request
terminal 1103 generates registration request data representing the
registration request by a request data generating part 1131, and
sends this from a sending part 1132 to the data providing server
1101.
[0978] As a result, if the request terminal 1103 receives customer
registration screen data from the data providing server 1101 by a
receiving part 1133, the request terminal 1103 transmits the above
received customer registration screen data from a display control
part 1134 to a display part 1135, so that a customer registration
screen based on the customer registration screen data is displayed
on the above display part 1135.
[0979] If customer information is entered on the customer
registration screen by that the customer operates the operating
part 1130, the request terminal 1103 generates customer information
data by the request data generating part 1131, and sends this from
the sending part 1132 to the data providing server 1101. Thus, the
customer is registered in the data providing server 1101.
[0980] In this connection, as a result of the customer
registration, if registration completion data is sent from the data
providing server 1101, the request terminal 1103 receives this by
the receiving part 1133, and transmits this to the display part
1135 via the display control part 1134, to notify the customer of
the completion of the customer registration and the customer ID via
the above display part 1135.
[0981] If content data obtaining request is entered by the customer
via the operating part 1130, the request terminal 1103 generates
obtaining request data representing that obtaining request
(including the customer ID) by the request data generating part
1131, and sends the above generated obtaining request data from the
sending part 1132 to the data providing server 1101.
[0982] As a result, if the request terminal 1103 receives content
selecting screen data from the data providing server 1101 by the
receiving part 1133, the request terminal 1103 transmits this from
the display control part 1134 to the display part 1135, so that a
content selecting screen based on the content selecting screen data
is displayed on the above display part 1135.
[0983] Then, if reservation information is entered on the content
selecting screen by that the customer operates the operating part
1130, the request terminal 1103 generates reservation data by the
request data generating part 1131, and sends this from the sending
part 1132 to the data providing server 1101. Thus, the reservation
of purchase/rental of the specified content data and the portable
dedicated terminal 1104 by the customer is finished.
[0984] In this connection, as a result of that the obtaining
request data is sent to the data providing server 1101, if that the
customer is not a regular customer is detected and stopping the
acceptance of the obtaining request is notified, the request
terminal 1103 receives that notification by the receiving part
1133, and transmits this to the display part 1135 via the display
control part 1134, to notify the customer of that accepting the
obtaining request is stopped via the above display part 1135, and
to urge the customer to a customer registration.
[0985] Furthermore, if a reproducing command is entered via an
operating part 1141, the portable dedicated terminal 1104 which has
been sold/rented to the customer in the state where the specified
compressed content data has been recorded in the internal recording
medium 1140, reproduces the specified compressed content data
previously bought/rented by the customer from the recording medium
1140 by a reproducing control part 1142, and transmits the above
reproduced specified compressed content data to a decoding part
1143.
[0986] The portable dedicated terminal 1104 decodes the specified
compressed content data by the decoding part 1143, and transmits
thus obtained specified content data to a reproducing part 1144
composed of a display control part, a display part, a speaker, etc.
Thus, the customer can enjoy a content based on the specified
content data.
[0987] Furthermore, if a content data obtaining request is entered
by the customer via the operating part 1141, the portable dedicated
terminal 1104 generates obtaining request data that represents the
obtaining request and includes the customer ID and the terminal
identification information, for instance, previously recorded in
the recording medium 1140, by the request data generating part
1145, and sends the above generated obtaining request data from the
sending part 1146 to the data providing server 1101.
[0988] As a result, if the portable dedicated terminal 1104
receives content selecting screen data from the data providing
server 1101 by a receiving part 1147, the portable dedicated
terminal 1104 transmits this to the reproducing part 1144, so that
a content selecting screen based on the content selecting screen
data is displayed.
[0989] Then, if specifying information on specified content data is
entered on the content selecting screen according to the operation
of the operating part 1141, the portable dedicated terminal 1104
generates content specifying data D53 that represents the
specifying information and includes the customer ID and the
terminal identification information, for instance, previously
recorded in the recording medium 1140 by the request data
generating part 1145, and sends the above generated content
specifying data D53 from the sending part 1146 to the data
providing server 1101.
[0990] As a result, if the portable dedicated terminal 1104
receives the specified compressed content data D51 from the data
providing server 1101 by a receiving part 346, the portable
dedicated terminal 1104 records the above received specified
compressed content data D51 in the recording medium 1140 by a
recording control part 1148.
[0991] Thereby, after that, the portable dedicated terminal 1104
can reproduce the specified compressed content data newly obtained
(that is, bought/rented), from the recording medium 1140 by the
reproducing control part 1142, according to the operation of the
operating part 1141, similarly to the aforementioned case.
[0992] Here, content providing and obtaining processing procedures
by the data providing server 1101, the content server 1102 and the
portable dedicated terminal 1104 in the data providing system 1100
will be collectively described. As shown in FIGS. 66A and 67A, the
portable dedicated terminal 1104 first enters routine RT50 from the
start step, and proceeds to step SP601.
[0993] In step SP601, the portable dedicated terminal 1104 awaits
that an obtaining request is entered via the operating part 1141.
If the above obtaining request is entered, the portable dedicated
terminal 1104 proceeds to step SP602.
[0994] In step SP602, the portable dedicated terminal 1104
generates obtaining request data by the request data generating
part 1145, and sends this from the sending part 1146 to the data
providing server 1101. Then, the portable dedicated terminal 1104
proceeds to step SP603.
[0995] At this time, as shown in FIGS. 66B and 67B, the data
providing server 1101 enters routine RT51 from the start step, and
proceeds to step SP621. In the above step SP621, the data providing
server 1101 awaits that obtaining request data is sent from the
portable dedicated terminal 1104.
[0996] Then, in step SP621, if the data providing server 1101
receives the obtaining request data from the portable dedicated
terminal 1104 by the receiving part 1111, the data providing server
1101 proceeds to step SP622.
[0997] In step SP622, the data providing server 1101 judges whether
or not terminal identification information included in the
obtaining request data is terminal identification information
peculiar to a authorized portable dedicated terminal 1104
sold/rented to the customer from the agency, by the customer
updating/retrieving part 1114.
[0998] Obtaining an affirmative result in this step SP622 means
that the customer requested to obtain specified content data by
means of a authorized portable dedicated terminal 1104 that the
customer bought/rented from the agency (that is, the customer sent
obtaining request data). At this time, the data providing server
1101 proceeds to step SP623.
[0999] In step SP623, the data providing server 1101 reads content
selecting screen data from the content database 1113 according to
the obtaining request data by the data updating/retrieving part
1112, and sends the above read content selecting screen data from
the sending part 1116 to the portable dedicated terminal 1104.
Then, the data providing server 1101 proceeds to step SP624.
[1000] At this time, in step SP603, the portable dedicated terminal
1104 awaits that the content selecting screen data is sent from the
data providing server 1101. If the portable dedicated terminal 1104
receives the above content selecting screen data by the receiving
part 1147, the portable dedicated terminal 1104 transmits this to
the reproducing part 1144 and displays a content selecting screen,
and proceeds to step SP604.
[1001] In step SP604, the portable dedicated terminal 1104 awaits
that specifying information for specifying the specifying content
data is entered on the content selecting screen according to the
operation of the operating part 1141. If the above specifying
information is entered, the portable dedicated terminal 1104
proceeds to step SP605.
[1002] In step SP605, the portable dedicated terminal 1104
generates content specifying data D53 by the request data
generating part 1145, sends the above generated content specifying
data D53 from the sending part 1146 to the data providing server
1101, and proceeds to step SP606.
[1003] At this time, in step SP624, the data providing server 1101
awaits that the content specifying data D53 is sent from the
portable dedicated terminal 1104. If the data providing server 1101
receives the content specifying data D53 from the above portable
dedicated terminal 1104, the data providing server 1101 proceeds to
step SP625.
[1004] In step SP625, the data providing server 1101 detects a
specified compression coding method corresponding to the terminal
identification information on the portable dedicated terminal 1104
used by the customer, based on the content specifying data D53 by
the customer updating/retrieving part 1114, retrieves data in the
content database 1113 based on the information on that specified
compression coding method and the content specifying data D53 by
the data updating/retrieving part 1112, and proceeds to step
SP626.
[1005] In step SP626, the data providing server 1101 judges whether
or not specified compressed content data D51 should be obtained
according to the obtaining request of the specified content data by
the customer.
[1006] Obtaining a negative result in this step SP626 means that
the specified compressed content data D51 has been stored in the
content database 1113 of the data providing server 1101, or it
means that the specified compressed content data D51 has not been
stored in the above content database 1113, however, there is
packaged media storing the specified content data being the
original data of the specified compressed content data D51 in many
packaged media that the agency deals in.
[1007] At this time, the data providing server 1101 reads the
specified compressed content data D51 from the content database
1113 by the data updating/retrieving part 1112, or reproduces the
specified content data from the packaged media, compressively codes
this by the specified compression coding method, and generates the
specified compressed content data D51 by the data
updating/retrieving part 1112, the reproducing part 1117 and the
compressing part 1118. Then, the data providing server 1101
proceeds to step SP627.
[1008] On the contrary, obtaining an affirmative result in step
SP626 means that the specified compressed content data D51 has not
been stored in the content database 1113 of the data providing
server 1101 and there is no packaged media storing the specified
content data being the original data of the specified compressed
content data D51 also in the packaged media that the agency deals
in. At this time, the data providing server 1101 proceeds to step
SP628.
[1009] In step SP628, the data providing server 1101 generates
content request data D50 based on the content specifying data D53
by the data updating/retrieving part 1112, sends the above
generated content request data D50 from the sending part 1116 to
the content server 1102, and proceeds to step SP629.
[1010] At this time, as shown in FIGS. 66C and 67C, the content
server 1102 enters routine RT52 from the start step, and proceeds
to step SP641. In the above step SP641, the content server 1102
awaits that the content request data D50 is sent from the data
providing server 1101.
[1011] Then, in step SP641, if the content server 1102 receives the
content request data D50 from the data providing server 1101 by the
receiving part 1120, the content server 1102 proceeds to step
SP642.
[1012] In step SP642, the content server 1102 retrieves data in the
content database 1110 based on the content request data D50 by the
data updating/retrieving part 1121, and proceeds to step SP643.
[1013] In step SP643, the content server 1102 judges whether or not
it is necessary to generate the above specified compressed content
data D51 according to the obtaining request of the specified
compressed content data D51 from the data providing server
1101.
[1014] Obtaining a negative result in this step SP643 means that
the specified compressed content data D51 has been stored in the
content database 1110 of the content server 1102. At this time, the
content server 1102 reads the specified compressed content data D51
and corresponding content additional data D52 from the content
database 1110 based on the content request data D50 by the data
updating/retrieving part 1121, and proceeds to step SP644.
[1015] On the contrary, obtaining an affirmative result in step
SP643 means that the specified compressed content data D51 has not
been stored in the content database 1110 of the content server 1102
and it is necessary to generate the specified compressed content
data D51 by means of packaged media that the sales company deals
in. At this time, the content server 1102 proceeds to step
SP645.
[1016] In step SP645, the content server 1102 reproduces the
specified content data from the packaged media, compressively codes
the above reproduced specified content data by the specified
compression coding method, and generates specified compressed
content data D51 by the data updating/retrieving part 1121, the
reproducing part 1123 and the compressing part 1124, and proceeds
to step SP646.
[1017] In step SP646, the content server 1102 generates content
additional information corresponding to the above specified
compressed content data D51 based on package additional information
on the packaged media that was used to generate the specified
compressed content data D51, adds the above generated content
additional information to a content data table in the content
database 1110, and updates the above content data table. Then, the
content server 1102 proceeds to step SP644.
[1018] In step SP644, the content server 1102 sends the specified
compressed content data D51 and the content additional data D52
read from the content database 1110 in step SP643, or the specified
compressed content data D51 generated in step SP645, from the
sending part 1122 to the data providing server 1101 with the
content additional data D52 representing the content additional
information generated in step SP646. Then, the content server 1102
proceeds to step SP647, and finishes the processing of the above
content server 1102.
[1019] At this time, in step SP629, the data providing server 1101
awaits that the specified compressed content data D51 and the
content additional data D52 are sent from the content server 1102.
If the data providing server 1101 receives the above specified
compressed content data D51 and content additional data D52 by the
receiving part 1111, the data providing server 1101 proceeds to
step SP630.
[1020] In step SP630, the data providing server 1101 stores the
specified compressed content data D51 obtained from the content
server 1102 in the content database 1113, adds the content
additional information based on the content additional data D52
obtained from the above content server 1102 to a content data table
in the content database 1113, and updates the above content data
table, by the data updating/retrieving part 1112. Then, the data
providing server 1101 proceeds to step SP627.
[1021] In step SP627, the data providing server 1101 sends the
specified compressed content data D51 corresponding to the content
specifying data D53 from the sending part 1116 to the portable
dedicated terminal 1104. Then, the data providing server 1101
proceeds to step SP228, and finishes the processing by the above
data providing server 1101.
[1022] In this connection, obtaining a negative result in the
aforementioned step SP622 means that the customer requested to
obtain specified content data (that is, the customer sent the
obtaining request data) by means of another communication device
different from a authorized portable dedicated terminal 1104 that
the customer bought/rented from the agency. At this time, the data
providing server 1101 proceeds to step SP631.
[1023] In step SP606, the portable dedicated terminal 1104 awaits
that the specified compressed content data D51 is sent from the
data providing server 1101. If the portable dedicated terminal 1104
receives the above specified compressed content data D51 by the
receiving part 1147, the portable dedicated terminal 1104 proceeds
to step SP607.
[1024] In step SP607, the portable dedicated terminal 1104 records
the specified compressed content data D51 obtained from the data
providing server 1101 in the recording medium 1140 by the recording
control part 1148, and proceeds to step SP608 to finish the
processing by the above portable dedicated terminal 1104. Thus, the
data providing system 1100 completely finishes the content
providing and obtaining processing.
[1025] In this manner, the above data providing system 1100 can
provide specified compressed content data D51 that has been always
compressively coded by a specified compression coding method
specified by the customer to the portable dedicated terminal
1104.
[1026] In the above configuration, in this data providing system
1100, the portable dedicated terminal 1104 applying a specified
decoding method corresponding to a desired specified compression
coding method is sold/rented to the customer registered as a
customer in the data providing server 1101.
[1027] Furthermore, in this data providing system 1100, many
compressed content data, content additional information composed of
information on a compression coding method that was used when these
compressed content data were generated respectively and content
identification, and package additional information representing
content data stored in each packaged media that the agency deals
in, have been stored in the content database 1113 of the data
providing server 1101.
[1028] Furthermore, in this data providing system 1100, as customer
registration information on the customer registered as a customer
in the customer database 1115 of the data providing server 1101,
terminal identification information peculiar to the portable
dedicated terminal 1104 sold/rented to the customer and information
on the specified compression coding method desired by the customer
corresponding to the above terminal identification information have
been stored.
[1029] Then, in this data providing system 1100, if content
specifying data D53 representing desired specified content data and
terminal identification peculiar to the portable dedicated terminal
1104 are sent from the portable dedicated terminal 1104 used by the
customer to the data providing server 1101, the data providing
server 1101 retrieves customer registration information in the
customer database 1115 based on the content specifying data D53 and
detects a specified compression coding method corresponding to the
terminal identification information, and retrieves content
additional information in the content database 1113 based on the
above detected information on the specified compression coding
method and content data specifying information stored in the
content specifying data D53.
[1030] As a result, in this data providing system 1100, if that the
specified content data specified by the customer has been stored in
the content database 1113 as specified compressed content data D51
is detected, the data providing server 1101 reads that specified
compressed content data D51 from the above content database 1113,
and sends the above read specified compressed content data D51 to
the portable dedicated terminal 1104.
[1031] Furthermore, in this data providing system 1100, if that the
specified content data specified by the customer has not been
stored in the content database 1113 as the specified compressed
content data D51 is detected, the data providing server 1101
retrieves package additional information in the content database
1113 based on the content data specifying information stored in the
content specifying data D53.
[1032] As a result, in the data providing system 1100, if that the
agency deals in packaged media storing the specified content data
being the original data of the specified compressed content data
D51 is detected, the data providing server 1101 reproduces that
specified content data from the packaged media storing the above
specified content data, compressively codes the reproduced data by
the specified compression coding method corresponding to the
terminal identification information, and sends thus obtained
specified compressed content data D51 to the portable dedicated
terminal 1104.
[1033] Accordingly, in this data providing system 1100, the above
specified content data can be provided to the customer as the
specified compressed content data D51 compressively coded by the
specified compression coding method corresponding to a specified
decoding method applied to the portable dedicated terminal 1104,
every time when the portable dedicated terminal 1104 requests the
data providing server 1101 to obtain the specified content
data.
[1034] Therefore, in the data providing system 1100, the above
specified compressed content data D51 can be accurately decoded by
the decoding part 1143 previously provided in the portable
dedicated terminal 1104, every time when the portable dedicated
terminal 1104 obtains the specified compressed content data D51,
without newly obtaining a decoding software or newly providing a
decoding circuit applying another decoding method different from a
specified decoding method previously applied.
[1035] In this data providing system 1100, in the data providing
server 1101, if specified compressed content data D51 is newly
generated according to the obtaining request of specified content
data by means of packaged media, the above generated specified
compressed content data D51 is additionally stored in the content
database 1113.
[1036] Accordingly, in this data providing system 1100, compressed
content data for providing can be properly increased according to
the obtaining request of specified content data. Thereby, when
compressed content data is provided, a possibility that the data
providing server 1101 generates new compressed content data can be
reduced. Therefore, also load on processing at the time of
providing compressed content data can be reduced.
[1037] In this data providing system 1100, in the case where the
specified compressed content data D51 has not been stored in the
content database 1113 of the data providing server 1101 and the
agency does not deal in the packaged media storing the specified
content data, the specified compressed content data D51 is sent
from the content server 1102 to the portable dedicated terminal
1104 via the data providing server 1101.
[1038] Therefore, in this data providing system 1100, even if the
circuit scale of the data providing server 1101 is comparatively
reduced and also the shop scale of the agency is comparatively
reduced, various specified compressed content data D51 can be
provided to the customer via the portable dedicated terminal
1104.
[1039] According to the above configuration, in the data providing
server 1101, whether or not specified compressed content data D51
generated by compressively coding specified content data by a
specified compression coding method corresponding to terminal
identification information has been stored in the content database
1113 is detected according to content specifying data D53 including
the terminal identification information sent from the portable
dedicated terminal 1104. As the detection result, if the specified
compressed content data D51 has been stored in the content database
1113, the specified compressed content data D51 is read from the
above content database 1113, and sent to the portable dedicated
terminal 1104. If the specified compressed content data D51 has not
been stored in the content database 1113, the specified content
being the original data of the above specified compressed content
data D51 is compressively coded by the specified compression coding
method by means of packaged media to generate the specified
compressed content data D51, and the above generated specified
compressed content data D51 is sent to the portable dedicated
terminal 1104. Thereby, specified compressed content data D51
generated by compressively coding specified content data by a
specified compression coding method corresponding to a specified
decoding method can be accurately provided, every time when the
obtaining of specified content data is requested from a portable
dedicated terminal 1104, without newly applying another decoding
method different from a specified decoding method previously
applied to the portable dedicated terminal 1104. Thus, a data
providing system that the customer can easily view a content based
on content data can be accomplished.
[1040] Note that, in the aforementioned eleventh embodiment, it has
dealt with the case where the data providing server 1101 is
installed in the agency and the content server 1102 is installed in
the sales company. However, this invention is not only limited to
this but also provided that specified compressed content data D51
can be provided/supplied, the data providing server 1101 and the
content server 1102 may be installed in various places.
[1041] In the aforementioned eleventh embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the portable dedicated terminal 1104 applying a
specified decoding method corresponding to a specified compression
coding method is delivered to the customer by specifying the
desired specified compression coding method to the data providing
server 1101 at the time of a customer registration. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also a specified
compression coding method may be arbitrary selected on the data
providing server 1101 side so that the portable dedicated terminal
1104 applying a decoding method corresponding to the compression
coding method of the specified compressed content data D51 stored
in the content database 1113 of the data providing server 1101 and
the content database 1110 of the content server 1102 as the
specified content data specified by the customer at the time of
previous reservation is delivered to the customer, without
specially specifying desired compression coding method in a
customer registration.
[1042] In the aforementioned eleventh embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where the data providing server 1101 and the content
server 1102 respectively constantly detect the most-frequently-used
compression coding method, and compressively code all of the
content data using a compression coding method different from the
above detected most-frequently-used compression coding method by
that most-frequently-used compression coding method. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also the
most-frequently-used compression coding method may be constantly
detected for each various categories such as the genre, type, and
artist of content, and all of content data using the compression
coding method different from the most-frequently-used compression
coding method may be compressively coded by that
most-frequently-used compression coding method by categories.
[1043] In the aforementioned eleventh embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where compressed content data compressively coded by
various compression coding methods will be provided by the data
providing server 1101 and the content server 1102. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also only compressed
content data compressively coded by an arbitrary one type of
compression coding method may be provided by the data providing
server 1101 and the content server 1102.
[1044] Thereby, the agency can prepare only the portable dedicated
terminal 1104 applying one type of decoding method and provide
this. Thus, the cost of arranging portable dedicated terminals 1104
for sale and rental can be reduced.
[1045] Furthermore, if obtaining specified content data is
requested from the customer using the portable dedicated terminal
1104, it is unnecessary to confirm a specified compression coding
method desired by the customer. Therefore, it is necessary to
confirm only whether or not the portable dedicated terminal 1104
that was used in the obtaining request of the specified content
data is an authorized portable dedicated terminal 1104 based on
terminal identification information. Thus, the processing of the
acceptance of the obtaining request can be simplified.
[1046] In the aforementioned eleventh embodiment, it has dealt with
the case where if the specified compressed content data D51 has not
been stored in the content database 1113 of the content database
1113 and the content database 1110 of the content server 1102, the
specified compressed content data D51 is generated by means of
packaged media. However, this invention is not only limited to this
but also a new database may be provided in the data providing
server 1101 and/or the content server 1102 to previously store
content data being the original data of compressed content data,
and if the specified compressed content data D51 has not been
stored in the content databases 1113 and 1110, the specified
compressed content data D51 may be generated by means of content
data in the database.
[1047] Furthermore, in the aforementioned eleventh embodiment, it
has dealt with the case where the data providing server 1101, the
content server 1102 and the portable dedicated terminal 1104
execute the content providing and obtaining processing procedure
described above with reference to FIGS. 66A to 66C, and 67A to 67C.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also a
program to execute the content providing and obtaining processing
procedure may be respectively previously stored in the data
providing server 1101, the content server 1102 and the portable
dedicated terminal 1104, and the content providing and obtaining
processing may be executed according to these programs, and a
program storing medium storing the program may be installed in the
data providing server 1101, the content server 1102 and the
portable dedicated terminal 1104 to execute the above content
providing and obtaining processing.
[1048] In this connection, as a program storing medium for
installing various programs to execute the above content providing
and obtaining processing in the data providing server 1101, the
content server 1102 and the portable dedicated terminal 1104 and
for making them executable, for instance, it may be realized by a
semiconductor memory and a magnetic disk, that temporary or
permanently store various programs, only by packaged media such as
a flexible disk, a CD-ROM and a DVD. Furthermore, as means for
storing various programs in the program storing medium, a
cable/wireless communication medium such as a local area network,
the Internet, and a digital satellite broadcasting may be used, and
the programs may be stored via various communication interface such
as a router and a modem.
(13) Other Embodiments
[1049] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where in order to obtain compressed content
data, identification information peculiar to a content obtaining
apparatus is transmitted from the content obtaining apparatus.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also
identification data representing a specified compression coding
method applied to the content obtaining apparatus may be
transmitted.
[1050] Note that, in the aforementioned first to eleventh
embodiments, it has dealt with the case where as a content
providing apparatus for providing compressed content data generated
by compressively coding content data by a specified compression
coding method according to this invention, the data providing
server 1101 described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is
applied. However, this invention is not only limited to this but
also, provided that compressed content data generated by
compressively coding content data by a specified compression coding
method is provided, content providing apparatuses having various
configurations other than that, such as a content providing
apparatus in which the data providing server 1101 and the content
server 1102 are unified and a content providing apparatus being a
personal computer can be widely applied.
[1051] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as a content obtaining apparatus applying
a specified decoding method corresponding to a specified
compression coding method, for obtaining compressed content data
provided from a content providing apparatus according to this
invention, the portable dedicated terminal 1104 described above
with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also, provided that it
applies a specified decoding method corresponding to a specified
compression coding method and it can obtain compressed content data
provided from a content providing apparatus, content obtaining
apparatuses having various configurations other than that such as a
personal computer, a portable telephone, and a personal digital
assistance (PDA) can be widely applied.
[1052] Furthermore, in the aforementioned first to eleventh
embodiments, it has dealt with the case where as a content
providing and obtaining system constructed by a content providing
apparatus for providing compressed content data generated by
compressively coding content data by a specified compression coding
method, and a content obtaining apparatus applying a specified
decoding method corresponding to the specified compression coding
method, for obtaining compressed content data provided from the
content providing apparatus, the data providing system 1100
described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also,
provided that it is a system capable of obtaining compressed
content data provided from a content providing apparatus by means
of a content obtaining apparatus applying a specified decoding
method corresponding to a specified compression coding method,
content providing and obtaining systems having other various
configurations other than that can be widely applied.
[1053] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as a content supplying apparatus for
supplying compressed content data to a content providing apparatus,
the content server 1102 described above with reference to FIGS. 63
to 67C is applied. However, this invention is not only limited to
this but also, provided that it can supply compressed content data
to a content providing apparatus, a content supplying apparatuses
having various configurations other than that such as a content
supplying apparatus being a personal computer can be widely
applied.
[1054] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as data storing means for storing plural
kinds of compressed content data, the content database 1113
described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also,
provided that it can store plural kinds of compressed content data,
various data storing means other than that corresponding to a
recording medium to be used can be widely applied.
[1055] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as information receiving means for
receiving identification information peculiar to a content
obtaining apparatus sent therefrom and specifying information
representing specified content data that the customer wanted to
obtain, the receiving part 1111 connected to the Internet described
above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also, provided that it
can receive identification information peculiar to a content
obtaining apparatus sent therefrom and specifying information
representing specified content data that the customer wanted to
obtain, various information receiving means other than that
corresponding to a radio/cable communication system to be used can
be widely applied.
[1056] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as data detecting means for detecting
whether or not specified compressed content data generated by
compressively coding specified content data by a specified
compression coding method corresponding to identification
information has been stored in data storing means according to the
identification information and specifying information, the data
updating/retrieving part 1112 described above with reference to
FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this invention is not only
limited to this but also, provided that it can detect whether or
not specified compressed content data generated by compressively
coding specified content data by a specified compression coding
method identification information has been stored in data storing
means according to the identification information and specifying
information, various data detecting means other than that such as a
CPU and a microprocessor can be widely applied.
[1057] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as reading means in the case where
specified compressed content data has been stored in the data
storing means for reading the specified compressed content data
from the data storing means according to the detection result by
the data detecting means according to the detection result by the
data detecting means, the data updating/retrieving part 1112
described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also,
provided that in the case where the specified compressed content
data has been stored in the data storing means, it can read the
specified compressed content data from the data storing means,
according to the detection result by the data detecting means,
various reading means other than that such as a CPU and a
microprocessor can be widely applied.
[1058] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as compressively-coding means, in the
case where specified compressed content data has not been stored in
the data storing means, for compressively coding specified content
data being the original data of the above specified compressed
content data by a specified compression coding method and
generating the specified compressed content data, according to the
detection result by the data detecting means, the compressing part
1118 described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also,
provided that in the case where the specified compressed content
data has not been stored in the data storing means, it can
compressively code the specified content data being the original
data of the above specified compressed content data by a specified
compression coding method and can generate the specified compressed
content data, according to the detection result by the data
detecting means, various compressively-coding means other than that
such as a CPU and a microprocessor that compressively codes data by
means of a software for compression coding can be widely
applied.
[1059] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as data transmitting means for
transmitting specified compressed content data read from the data
storing means by the reading means and specified compressed content
data generated by the compressively-coding means to a content
obtaining apparatus, the sending part 1116 connected to the
Internet described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is
applied. However, this invention is not only limited to this but
also, provided that it can transmit specified compressed content
data read from the data storing means by the reading means and
specified compressed content data generated by the
compressively-coding means to a content obtaining apparatus,
various data transmitting means other than that corresponding to a
radio/cable communication system to be used can be widely
applied.
[1060] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as information transmitting means for
transmitting identification information and specifying information
to a content providing apparatus, the sending part 1146 connected
to the Internet described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C
is applied. However, this invention is not only limited to this but
also, provided that it can transmit identification information and
specifying information to a content providing apparatus, various
information transmitting means other than that corresponding to a
radio/cable communication system to be used can be widely
applied.
[1061] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as data receiving means for receiving
specified compressed content data from a content providing
apparatus, the receiving part 1147 connected to the Internet
described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also,
provided that it can receive specified compressed content data from
a content providing apparatus, various data receiving means other
than that corresponding to a radio/cable communication system to be
used can be widely applied.
[1062] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as decoding means for decoding specified
compressed content data by a specified decoding method and
generating specified content data, the decoding part 1143 described
above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this
invention is not only limited to this but also, provided that it
can decode specified compressed content data by a specified
decoding method and generate specified content data, various
decoding means other than that such as a CPU and a microprocessor
that perform decoding by means of a decoding software can be widely
applied.
[1063] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as judging means for judging whether or
not a content obtaining apparatus which transmitted identification
information is an authorized apparatus usable the providing service
of specified content data based on the identification information,
the customer updating/retrieving part 1114 described above with
reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this invention is
not only limited to this but also, provided that it can judge
whether or not a content obtaining apparatus which transmitted
identification information is an authorized apparatus usable the
providing service of specified content data based on the
identification information, various judging means other than that
such as a CPU and a microprocessor can be widely applied.
[1064] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as information storing means for storing
identification information and information on a specified
compression coding method corresponding to a specified decoding
method applied to a content obtaining apparatus allocated to which
the above identification information has been allocated by making a
correspondence, the customer database 1115 described above with
reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this invention is
not only limited to this but also, provided that it can store
identification information and information on a specified
compression coding method corresponding to a specified decoding
method applied to a content obtaining apparatus to which the above
identification information has been allocated by making a
correspondence, various information storing medium other than that
can be widely applied corresponding to a recording medium to be
used.
[1065] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as information detecting means for
detecting a specified compression coding method corresponding to
identification information in information storing means based on
identification information sent from a content obtaining apparatus,
the customer updating/retrieving part 1114 described above with
FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this invention is not only
limited to this but also, provided that it can detect a specified
compression coding method corresponding to identification
information in data storing means based on the identification
information sent from a content obtaining apparatus, various
information detecting means other than that such as a CPU and a
microprocessor can be widely applied.
[1066] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as recording means, when specified
compressed content data is generated by the compressively-coding
means, for recording and storing the above generated specified
compressed content data in the data storing means, the data
updating/retrieving part 1112 described above with reference to
FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this invention is not only
limited to this but also, provided that when specified compressed
content data is generated by the compressively-coding means, it can
record and store the above generated specified compressed content
data in data storing means, various recording means other than that
such as a CPU and a microprocessor can be widely applied.
[1067] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as supply-side data storing means for
storing plural kinds of compressed content data for supply at least
different from plural kinds of compressed content data stored in
the data storing means of a content providing apparatus, the
content database 1110 described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to
67C is applied. However, this invention is not only limited to this
but also, provided that it can store plural kinds of compressed
content data for supply at least different from plural kinds of
compressed content data stored in the data storing means of a
content providing apparatus, various supply-side data storing means
other than that corresponding to a recording medium to be used can
be widely applied.
[1068] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as supply-side information receiving
means for receiving request information representing a specified
compression coding method and specified content data from a content
providing apparatus, the receiving part 1120 connected to the
Internet described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is
applied. However, this invention is not only limited to this but
also, provided that it can receive request information representing
a specified compression coding method and specified content data
from a content providing apparatus, various supply-side information
receiving means other than that corresponding to a radio/cable
communication system to be used can be widely applied.
[1069] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as supply-side data detecting means for
detecting whether or not specified compressed content data
generated by compressively coding specified content data by a
specified compression coding method has been stored in the
supply-side data storing means based on request information, the
data updating/retrieving part 1121 described above with reference
to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this invention is not only
limited to this but also, provided that it can detect whether or
not specified compressed content data generated by compressively
coding specified content data by a specified compression coding
method has been stored in supply-side data storing means based on
request information, various supply-side data detecting means other
than that such as a CPU and a microprocessor can be widely
applied.
[1070] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as supply-side reading means, in the case
where the specified compressed content data has been stored in the
supply-side data storing means, for reading the specified
compressed content data from the supply-side data storing means
according to the detection result by the supply-side data detecting
means, the data updating/retrieving part 1121 described above with
reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this invention is
not only limited to this but also, in the case where the specified
compressed content data has been stored in the supply-side data
storing means, if it can read the specified compressed content data
from the supply-side data storing means according to the detection
result by the supply-side data detecting means, various supply-side
reading means other than that such as a CPU and a microprocessor
can be widely applied.
[1071] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as supply-side compressively-coding
means, in the state where specified compressed content data has not
been stored in the supply-side data storing means, for
compressively coding specified content data being the original data
of the above specified compressed content data by a specified
compression coding method according to the detection result by the
supply-side data detecting means, the compressing part 1124
described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also, in
the state where specified compressed content data has not been
stored in the supply-side data storing means, if it can
compressively code specified content data being the original data
of the above specified compressed content data by a specified
compression coding method and generate specified compressed content
data according to the detection result by the supply-side data
detecting means, various supply-side compression coding means other
than that such as a CPU and a microprocessor that perform
compression coding by means of a software for compressing can be
widely applied.
[1072] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as supply-side data transmitting means
for transmitting specified compressed content data read from the
supply-side data storing means by the supply-side reading means and
specified compressed content data generated by the supply-side
compressively-coding means to a content providing apparatus, the
sending part 1122 connected to the Internet described above with
reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied. However, this invention is
not only limited to this but also, provided that it can transmit
specified compressed content data read from supply-side data
storing means by the supply-side reading means and specified
compressed content data generated by supply-side
compressively-coding means to a content providing apparatus,
various supply-side data transmitting means other than that
corresponding to a radio/cable communication system to be used can
be widely applied.
[1073] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as data presence detecting means, in the
state where specified compressed content data has not been stored
in the data storing means, for detecting the presence of specified
content data being the original data of the above specified
compressed content data according to the detection result by the
data detecting means, the data updating/retrieving part 1112
described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is applied.
However, this invention is not only limited to this but also,
provided that in the state where specified compressed content data
has not been stored in data storing means, it can detect the
presence of specified content data being the original data of the
above specified compressed content data according to the detection
result by the data detecting means, various data presence detecting
means other than that such as a CPU and a microprocessor, can be
widely applied.
[1074] In the aforementioned first to eleventh embodiments, it has
dealt with the case where as request sending means, in the state
where the absence of specified content data being the original data
of specified compressed content data is detected by the data
presence detecting means, for sending request information to a
content supplying apparatus, the sending part 1116 connected to the
Internet described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is
applied. However, this invention is not only limited to this but
also, provided that in the state where the absence of specified
content data being the original data of specified compressed
content data is detected by the data presence detecting means, it
can send request information to a content supplying apparatus,
various request sending means other than that corresponding to a
radio/cable communication system can be widely applied.
[1075] Furthermore, in the aforementioned first to eleventh
embodiments, it has dealt with the case where as receiving means
for receiving specified compressed content data from a content
supplying apparatus, the receiving part 1111 connected to the
Internet described above with reference to FIGS. 63 to 67C is
applied. However, this invention is not only limited to this but
also, provided that it can receive specified compressed content
data from a content supplying apparatus, various receiving means
other than that corresponding to a radio/cable communication system
to be used can be widely applied.
[1076] While there has been described in connection with the
preferred embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious to
those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may
be aimed, therefore, to cover in the appended claims all such
changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope
of this invention.
* * * * *