JP4701644B2 - Content reproduction apparatus, content reproduction control method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a content reproduction apparatus, a content reproduction control method, and a computer program.

  Conventionally, digital contents such as music contents and video contents are downloaded from a server storing the contents to an information terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer) or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) owned by the user, on the information terminal. There is a content providing service that uses the content. In such a content providing service, in order to use the content, the user needs to perform a billing process on the server or the like and purchase a license corresponding to the content.

  On the other hand, in recent years, as the storage capacity of the information terminal increases, the information terminal is provided to the user in a state where a plurality of contents are stored in advance in the storage device of the information terminal, that is, a plurality of contents are preinstalled. It became possible to do.

JP 2003-308440 A

  When managing the use of preinstalled content by license, there are a method of preinstalling a license corresponding to the content and a method of transmitting a license from a server as in the conventional case. However, in the former case, a license for content that is not desired by the user who purchased the information terminal is installed in advance, and there is a disadvantage that the license is charged in advance. On the other hand, in the latter case, the user is inconvenienced that the content cannot be used unless a license corresponding to the content is acquired from the server one by one even though the content is preinstalled in the information terminal. Become. On the other hand, it is not desirable from the viewpoint of copyright protection to allow users to freely use preinstalled content without performing license management.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and the object of the present invention is to obtain a license according to the content in order to freely use the preinstalled content. It is an object of the present invention to provide a content reproduction apparatus, a content reproduction control method, and a computer program that allow a user to use the content under predetermined conditions.

In order to solve the above-described problem, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a content playback apparatus that controls playback of content stored in the content playback apparatus before the content playback apparatus is sold: A content storage unit for storing a regular content group composed of a plurality of regular contents stored in the content reproduction device in advance before sale of the content and a trial content group composed of trial content corresponding to the regular content; A regular license for playing regular content, a temporary license for playing any one or more of the regular contents included in the regular content group, and any one or two or more included in the trial content group Can store a trial license for playing the trial content of A status storage unit that stores status information indicating a reproduction status of the one or more regular contents according to the temporary license; a status update unit that updates status information in the status storage unit; A reproduction control unit that controls reproduction of the regular content and the trial content based on any license stored in the license storage unit; a reproduction history of the trial content and / or the regular content according to the temporary license A reproduction history storage unit for storing a reproduction history; and the reproduction control unit controls reproduction of the trial content based on the trial license; and controls reproduction of the regular content based on the regular license; The temporary license and status information of the status storage unit The reproduction history storage unit controls the reproduction of the regular content based on the identifier, which uniquely identifies the reproduced trial content from the trial content group and / or the reproduced regular content as the regular content. An identifier that is uniquely identified from a group is stored, and the content reproduction device receives the regular content corresponding to the trial content identified by the identifier and / or any regular content other than the regular content identified by the identifier. There is provided a content reproduction apparatus further including a content update unit to be deleted from the storage unit.

  The reproduction control unit controls reproduction of trial content based on the trial license, controls reproduction of regular content based on the regular license, and reproduces regular content based on the temporary license and the status information in the status storage unit. It is characterized by controlling.

  The temporary license may include information indicating the upper limit number of regular contents that can be reproduced.

  The status information may include information indicating the number of reproduced regular contents.

  The reproduction control unit obtains the upper limit number of legitimate contents that can be reproduced from the temporary license, obtains the number of legitimate contents reproduced from the status storage unit, and the number of legitimate contents does not exceed the upper limit number May be configured to allow the reproduction of any regular content and to limit the reproduction if it exceeds.

  The temporary license may include information indicating a period during which one regular content can be used.

  The status information may include an identifier for uniquely identifying the reproduced regular content from the regular content group.

  The status information includes information indicating the usage elapsed period of the reproduced regular content, and the status storage unit includes an identifier and information indicating the usage elapsed period of the regular content identified by the identifier. It may be associated and stored.

  The reproduction control unit obtains a period in which one regular content can be used from the temporary license, obtains a usage period of regular content from the status storage unit, and the usage period does not exceed the usable period. In some cases, it may be configured to allow reproduction of regular content identified by an identifier associated with the usage elapsed period.

  The temporary license may be preinstalled in the content reproduction apparatus.

  The trial license may be preinstalled in the content reproduction apparatus.

  The trial content may be a predetermined part of regular content.

  The trial content may be lower quality than the regular content.

  The content reproduction apparatus may further include a license receiving unit that receives a regular license from a license issuing server that issues a regular license via a communication network, and the regular license may be acquired from the license issuing server by the license receiving unit.

  The status update unit may be configured to update information indicating the number of reproduced regular contents in the status storage unit according to the number of regular licenses acquired by the license receiving unit.

  The content playback apparatus may further include a playback history storage unit that stores a playback history of trial content and / or a playback history of regular content according to a temporary license.

  The playback history storage unit stores an identifier for uniquely identifying the played trial content from the trial content group and / or an identifier for uniquely identifying the played regular content from the regular content group. The content updating unit further deletes the regular content corresponding to the trial content identified by the identifier and / or any regular content other than the regular content identified by the identifier from the content storage unit.

  The content playback apparatus includes a playback history transmission unit that transmits a playback history stored in the playback history storage unit to an external server, and a recommendation related to one or more contents recommended based on the transmitted playback history. A recommendation information receiving unit that receives information from an external server may be further included.

  The content reproduction apparatus may further include a content acquisition unit that acquires one or more contents to be recommended based on the recommendation information from an external apparatus.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program for causing a computer to function as the content reproduction apparatus.

  In order to solve the above problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, a content reproduction control method realized in the content reproduction apparatus is provided.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in order to freely use preinstalled content, it is necessary to obtain a license corresponding to the content, but allow the user to use the content under predetermined conditions. It is possible to provide a content playback apparatus, a content playback control method, and a computer program that can perform the above.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present specification and drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

(First embodiment)
First, the overall configuration of the content reproduction system 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The content reproduction system 100 includes, for example, a license issuance server 102, content reproduction devices 104a, 104b, 104c,..., A communication network 106, and the like.

  The content playback devices 104a, 104b, 104c,... (Hereinafter simply referred to as the content playback device 104) are information processing devices capable of playing back preinstalled content. Pre-installation generally means that software or the like is pre-installed in the information processing apparatus before sale, but in the present embodiment, in particular, content is pre-incorporated in the content reproduction apparatus 104 before sale. Specifically, the incorporation means that the content is stored in a storage device such as a hard disk provided in the content reproduction device 104. Note that a storage device such as a hard disk is not necessarily built in, and even when content is stored in an external storage device, the storage device is substantially connected to the content playback device 104. In particular, a state in which content is incorporated in the content reproduction apparatus 104 is also included in the present embodiment.

  The content includes, for example, audio (Audio) content such as music, lectures, and radio programs, and video (Video) content composed of still images or moving images constituting movies, television programs, video programs, photographs, paintings, charts, etc. All digital contents such as electronic books (E-books), games, software, etc. are included. In the present embodiment, the content handled by the content reproduction system 100 will be described in particular by applying it to music content. However, the present invention is not limited, and the present invention can be applied to the other content exemplified above. It is.

  The content playback device 104 is a portable audio device such as a personal computer (PC) or other computer device (notebook type or desktop type), PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), portable video player, MP3 player, IC player, or the like. Players, home game machines, mobile phones, PHS, information appliances, etc. can be exemplified.

  The license issuance server 102 is an information processing apparatus capable of transmitting a license corresponding to content to the content reproduction apparatus 104 via the communication network 106. Further, the license issuing server 102 may have a function of charging according to the license when the license is transmitted to the content reproduction device 104.

  The communication network 106 is a communication line network that connects a plurality of content reproduction apparatuses 104 and the license issuance server 102 so that bidirectional communication is possible. The communication network 106 includes, for example, a public line network such as the Internet, a telephone line network, and a satellite communication network, and a dedicated line network such as WAN, LAN, and IP-VPN, and may be wired or wireless.

  The content reproduction system 100 has been described above. Next, the content playback apparatus 104 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  First, the hardware configuration of the content reproduction apparatus 104 will be schematically described. The content reproduction device 104 includes, for example, a CPU, ROM, RAM, hard disk, and the like. The CPU functions as an arithmetic processing device and a control device, and can control processing of each unit in the content reproduction device 100. The ROM and RAM have a function of temporarily storing various data related to CPU processing, CPU operation programs, and the like.

  The hard disk is a data storage device composed of a flash memory, for example, and can store various data such as an operation system (OS) and various application programs. For example, a license storage unit 204, a content storage unit 212, a status storage unit 218, and the like, which will be described later, can be stored in the hard disk. Note that each of the storage units may be stored not in the hard disk but in a ROM, a RAM, or the like.

  The content playback device 104 is used to specify a communication interface for receiving a license or the like from the license issuance server 102 which is an external information processing device via the communication network 106, a content to be played back by the user, and the like. An input device and a display device are provided as appropriate.

  The outline of the hardware configuration of the content reproduction apparatus 104 has been described above. Next, the functional configuration of the content reproduction apparatus 104 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The content playback apparatus 104 includes, for example, a license reception unit 202, a license storage unit 204, a content storage unit 212, a status storage unit 218, a content playback unit 220, a playback control unit 222, a status update unit 224, A content status display unit 226, a content selection unit, a current date acquisition unit 230, and the like are provided.

  The license receiving unit 202 has a function of receiving a regular license, which will be described later, from the license issuing server 102 via the communication network 106. Note that a function of transmitting a license transmission request to the license issuing server 102 may be provided in order to receive a desired regular license.

  The license storage unit 204 has a function of storing a license for reproducing content. There are three types of licenses stored in the license storage unit 204: a regular license 206, a temporary license 208, and a trial listening license 210. The regular license 206 is a license for reproducing regular content described later, and is acquired from the license issuing server 102 by the license receiving unit 202 and stored in the license storage unit 204.

  The temporary license 208 is also a license for reproducing regular content, which will be described later, and is preinstalled in the content reproduction device 104 and stored in the license storage unit 204 in advance. However, the reproduction of the regular content with the temporary license has different restrictions from the reproduction of the regular content with the regular content. Details will be described later. The temporary license 208 may be acquired by the license receiving unit 202 from the license issuing server 102 when, for example, a user who uses the content reproduction device 104 performs user registration in the license issuing server 102.

  The trial license 210 is a license for reproducing the trial content described later, and is preinstalled in the content reproduction device 104 and stored in the license storage unit 204 in advance.

  The content storage unit 212 has a function of storing a regular content group composed of a plurality of regular contents preinstalled in the content reproduction apparatus 104 and a trial content group composed of trial content corresponding to the regular content. In the present embodiment, the content is applied to music content in particular, so the trial content is applied to the trial listening content. As described above, in the present embodiment, the content is music content, and one content includes, for example, digital data of one or more music pieces.

  The authorized content is content that is reproduced by the authorized license after the license receiving unit 202 acquires the corresponding authorized license from the license issuing server. In addition, before acquiring the corresponding regular license, the temporary license pre-installed in the present embodiment is played back under a predetermined condition defined in the temporary license. In other words, it can be freely reproduced by the user purchasing the corresponding regular license, but the content can be reproduced if there is a limit before purchasing the regular license.

  The trial listening content is content that is played back with a pre-installed trial listening license. The trial listening content corresponds to the regular content, and in this embodiment, the same number of trial listening content as the pre-installed regular content is stored in the content storage unit 212. A single audition content contains digital data about the same music as the music included in the corresponding regular content, but the quality of the music played during playback of the trial content is higher than the quality of music played during playback of the normal content. The audition content is configured to have different lengths and the like. Specifically, it is configured such that the music that is played back when the sample content is played back is lower in quality and the sound quality is lower than the music that is played back when the regular content is played back. Alternatively, only a predetermined part (for example, 30 seconds from the beginning of the music) of the music that is played when the regular content is played is configured to be played.

  In the above description, the same number of trial contents as the regular contents have been provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, only the regular contents are stored in the content storage unit 212, and the regular contents of the regular contents are stored according to the trial license. It is also possible to reproduce a part of the regular content as the trial listening content by permitting the reproduction of only a predetermined part.

  Here, the relationship between each license and each content will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the regular license 206 and the regular content 214 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The regular license 206 is associated with specific regular content and is used for playback control of the regular content. As illustrated, the regular license includes, for example, a license ID 302, a content ID 304, a content attribute 306, decryption key information 308, and the like. The license ID 302 is a license identification number assigned when the license issuing server 102 issues a regular license to the content reproduction apparatus 104. The content ID 304 specifies the regular content that is reproduced and controlled by the regular license. The content ID is an ID uniquely assigned to each regular content stored in the content storage unit 212, and uniquely identifies one regular content from the regular content group. By including the content ID in the regular license, the regular content to which the content ID is assigned is associated with the regular license including the content ID.

  The content attribute 306 designates the type of content that is controlled to be played back by the regular license. The content attribute is information included in each of the regular content and the trial listening content stored in the content storage unit 212. Yes, it is information that makes it possible to determine whether the content is regular content or trial content based on the value of the content attribute. By including the content attribute in the regular license and setting the value to a value included in the regular content, the regular content can be designated as a control target. Therefore, even when the same content ID is assigned to the regular content and the corresponding trial listening content, one content is identified from the content storage unit 212 by referring to the value of the content attribute together with the content ID. can do.

  According to the illustrated example, the content ID included in the regular license 206a is “0022”, the value of the content attribute is “A100”, and the regular content group 214 is composed of a plurality of regular contents whose content attribute is “A100”. The content 214a is associated with the regular content 214a to which the content ID “0022” is assigned, and the reproduction of the content 214a is controlled by the regular license 206a. Similarly, the regular license 206b is used for playback control of the regular content 214d having the content ID “0035”.

  The decryption key information 308 is key information for decrypting encrypted actual data (music digital data) 314 included in each regular content. The actual data of each regular content may be encrypted with the same encryption key, or may be encrypted with a different encryption key. In the latter case, the actual data of the corresponding regular content is decrypted in the regular license. Key information to be included.

  As described above, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the regular license and the regular content, and one license is used for playback control of the corresponding one content, and a specific regular content can be reproduced by the regular license. it can.

  Next, the trial listening license and the trial listening content will be described with reference to FIG. The trial listening license is used for playback control of the trial listening content. The trial listening license includes, for example, a license ID 302, trial listening information 402, a content attribute 306, and the like. The license ID 302 is an ID assigned when a trial listening license is preinstalled in the content reproduction apparatus 104. The content attribute 306 is the same as the content attribute included in the regular license, but in the trial listening license, “A200” indicating the trial listening content is set as the value of the content attribute 306. The audition information 402 is information for specifying the audition conditions and the like, and reproduction of the audition content is permitted under the specified conditions. According to the illustrated example, “0 to 40 seconds” is set in the trial listening condition 402, and reproduction of the portion of the music included in the trial listening content from the beginning to 40 seconds is permitted. By changing the conditions set in the trial listening information 402, all parts of the trial listening content can be played back.

  A trial license is not associated with specific trial content, unlike a regular license associated with specific regular content. The reproduction control of all the trial listening contents having the content attribute “A200” is performed by one trial listening license, and any trial listening contents included in the trial listening content group can be reproduced by the trial listening license. Accordingly, the trial listening license 210 does not need to include the content ID. In addition, the actual data included in each trial listening content may not be encrypted, and in this case, the trial listening license 210 may not include the decryption key information.

  By performing playback control of the preview content according to the preview license, the user can play the preview content corresponding to the regular content preinstalled in the content playback device 104.

  Next, the relationship between the temporary license and the regular content will be described with reference to FIG. The temporary license is used for reproduction control of regular content. The temporary license includes, for example, a license ID 302, a reproduction upper limit number 502, a reproducible period 504, a content attribute 306, decryption key information 308, and the like. The license ID 302 is an ID assigned when a temporary license is preinstalled in the content reproduction apparatus 104. The content attribute 306 is the same as the content attribute included in the regular license, and “A100” indicating the regular content is set as the value of the content attribute 306. The decryption key information 308 is key information for decrypting the actual encrypted data included in each regular content.

  The reproduction upper limit number 502 and the reproducible period 504 are information for designating a reproduction condition for regular content, and reproduction of the regular content is permitted under the designated condition. According to the example shown in the figure, “100” is set as the upper limit number of reproductions 502, which means that the reproduction of arbitrary 100 contents among a plurality of authorized contents included in the authorized contents group is permitted. Show. In addition, “24h” is set in the reproducible period 504. For example, one content can be used for 24 hours, that is, one content can be replayed only within 24 hours from the first reproduction. Indicates that you are allowed to. Therefore, according to the temporary license 208 shown in the figure, any 100 regular contents are permitted to be reproduced within 24 hours for each content. It should be noted that the number and period of the regular contents reproduced by the temporary license are managed by status information stored in a status storage unit described later. Various conditions can be specified depending on how to set the upper limit number of reproductions 502 and the reproducible period 504, and reproduction of regular contents is permitted under these conditions.

  In addition, the temporary license is not associated with specific regular content, unlike a regular license associated with specific regular content. All regular content having the content attribute “A100” is controlled by one temporary license, and any content included in the regular content group can be reproduced by the temporary license. Therefore, the temporary license 208 does not need to include a content ID.

  By controlling the reproduction of the regular content under the conditions set for the temporary license, even before the regular license corresponding to the regular content is acquired from the license issuing server 102, that is, before the user purchases the regular license. , Regular content can be reproduced with restrictions by a pre-installed temporary license. The sample content that is played back by the trial license is lower quality than the regular content or only a part of the regular content, but the temporary content can be reproduced by the provisional license, so the user must purchase the regular license before purchasing the regular license. It is possible to confirm the regular content to be purchased.

  The relationship between each license and each content has been described above. Returning to FIG. 2, description of the functional configuration of the content reproduction apparatus 104 will be continued.

  The status storage unit 218 has a function of storing status information indicating the reproduction status of one or more regular contents according to the temporary license. FIG. 6 shows an example of status information stored in the status storage unit 218. In the status storage unit 218, for example, a content ID 602 and a reproduction start date / time 604 are stored as status information. The content ID 602 is the content ID of the regular content reproduced by the temporary license, and the date and time when the regular content was first reproduced is stored in the reproduction start date and time 604. The reproduction start date and time 604 is an example of information indicating the usage elapsed period of the reproduced regular content, and indicates the usage elapsed period of the regular content by being compared with the current date and time as will be described later.

  The reproduction control unit 222 has a function of performing reproduction control of each content stored in the content storage unit 212, controls reproduction of the trial content based on the trial license, and reproduces the regular content based on the regular license. And the reproduction of the regular content is controlled based on the temporary license and the status information in the status storage unit 218. The reproduction control process performed by the reproduction control unit 222 will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The content playback unit 220 has a function of playing back regular content or preview content that is allowed to be played back by the playback control unit 222. Specifically, each music piece is reproduced based on the digital data of the music piece contained in each content.

  The status update unit 224 has a function of updating the status information in the status storage unit 218 based on the reproduction status of the regular content corresponding to the temporary license. Specifically, when the regular content is newly reproduced by the temporary license, the content ID and the reproduction start date / time of the reproduced regular content are written in the status storage unit 218. The status update unit 224 also has a function of updating information indicating the number of reproduced regular contents in the status storage unit 218 in accordance with the number of regular licenses acquired by the license receiving unit 202. Details will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The content status display unit 226 acquires the status of each content from the playback control unit 222 and displays it on the display device included in the content playback device 104. The content state is, for example, whether the content is a regular content for which a regular license has been acquired, or whether the content is a regular content reproduced by a temporary license. FIG. 12 is an example of the state of content displayed on the display device by the content state display unit 226. On the display device 702, a preview button 704, a temporary button 706, and a purchased button 708 are displayed first.

  When the trial listening button 704 is pressed, a trial content list is displayed on the display device 702. In the trial listening content list, as shown in the figure, for example, the title name or artist name of the music included in the trial listening content is displayed as music information 710, 712,.

  When the temporary button 706 is pressed, a reproduction information list of regular contents based on the temporary license is displayed on the display device 702. In the reproduction information list, in addition to the song information 710 and 712 as shown in the figure, end dates 716 and 718, the usable number 714 and the like are displayed as auxiliary information of the song information. In the end date and time 716, a time limit for reproducing the regular content corresponding to the music information 710 using the temporary license is displayed. The time limit for reproducing the regular content is that the content status display unit 226 obtains the reproduction possible period 504 in the temporary license 208 and the reproduction start date / time in the status storage unit 218 from the reproduction control unit 222, and the reproduction possible period at the reproduction start date / time. Can be obtained by adding. In the usable number 714, the remaining number of regular contents that can be reproduced by the temporary license 208 is displayed. The usable number is obtained by the content status display unit 226 acquiring the reproduction upper limit number 502 in the temporary license 208 and the total number of content IDs stored in the status storage unit 218 from the reproduction control unit 222 and calculating the content ID from the reproduction upper limit number. By subtracting the total number of.

  When the purchased button 708 is pressed, a list of authorized contents for which authorized licenses have been acquired is displayed on the display device 702. In addition to the song information 710 and 712, the number of purchased licenses 720 is displayed in the regular content list.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the description of the content reproduction apparatus 104 will be continued. The content selection unit 228 provides the reproduction control unit with information on the desired reproduction music input by the user from the input device included in the content reproduction device 104. Specifically, for example, the content ID of the content selected by the user via the input device such as a keyboard, a touch screen, or a mouse is provided to the reproduction control unit 222. The playback control unit performs playback control of the content based on the content ID acquired from the content selection unit 228.

  The current date and time acquisition unit 230 acquires the system date and time based on a request from the playback control unit 222 and provides the system control date and time to the playback control unit 222.

  The functional configuration of the content reproduction device 104 has been described above. Next, content reproduction processing performed by the content reproduction device 104 will be described with a focus on reproduction control processing of the reproduction control unit 222 based on FIG.

  First, the user selects a desired song for playback via the input device (S102). When the reproduction desired song is selected, the content selection unit 228 acquires the content ID of the content corresponding to the selected song and provides it to the reproduction control unit 222 (S104). The reproduction control unit 222 searches the license storage unit 204 for a regular license including the content ID based on the acquired content ID (S106). As a result of the search, if a regular license including the content ID is stored in the license storage unit 204 in step S108, the reproduction of the regular content is permitted, and the content reproduction unit 220 reproduces the regular content (S110). On the other hand, as a result of the search, if the regular license including the content ID is not stored in the license storage unit 204 in step S108, the reproduction control unit 222 refers to the status storage unit 218 (S112). As a result of referring to the status storage unit 218, if the content ID is stored in the status storage unit 218 and the content can still be used (S114), the reproduction of the regular content with a temporary license is permitted. The content reproduction unit 220 reproduces the regular content (S116).

  Here, the determination processing in step S114 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, if the reproduction target content ID acquired by the reproduction control unit 222 from the content selection unit 228 is not included in the status storage unit 218, the process proceeds to step S118 in FIG. If included, the process proceeds to step S202 in FIG. 8, and the reproduction control unit 222 reads the reproduction start date and time 604 associated with the corresponding content ID (S202). Thereafter, the reproducible period 504 is read from the temporary license 208 stored in the license storage unit 204 (S204). A request is made to the current date and time acquisition unit 230 to acquire the current date and time (S206). Then, it is determined whether the content is still within the reproducible period based on the acquired reproduction start date / time, reproducible period, and current date / time (S208). Specifically, for example, when the result of subtracting the reproduction start date from the current date is less than or equal to the reproducible period, it is still within the reproducible period, so that reproduction of the regular content corresponding to the content ID is permitted (S210). ), And proceeds to step S116 in FIG. On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S208, if the reproducible period has passed, the reproduction of the regular content corresponding to the content ID is prohibited (S212), and the process proceeds to step S118 in FIG.

  Returning to FIG. 7, the description of the processing after step S118 is continued. The reproduction control unit 222 compares the status information stored in the status storage unit 218 with the temporary license in step S118 (S118), and determines whether or not the regular content can be reproduced with the temporary license (S120). ). The processing in step 120 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 9. The playback control unit 222 reads the playback upper limit number from the temporary license in step 302 (S302), and the total number of content IDs stored in the status storage unit 218. Is calculated (S304). After that, the acquired upper limit number of reproductions is compared with the total number of content IDs (S306). If the total number of content IDs is less than the upper limit number of reproductions, regular content can still be reproduced with a temporary license (S308). Proceed to step S122. On the other hand, if the total number of content IDs is equal to or greater than the upper limit number of reproductions, reproduction of regular content with a temporary license is not permitted (S310), and the process proceeds to step S128 in FIG. ).

  If the reproduction of the authorized content with the temporary license is permitted in step S120, the user determines whether to reproduce with the temporary license by displaying a message on the display device 702 included in the content reproduction device 104 in step S122. (S122). When the user selects not to perform playback using the temporary license, the content playback unit 220 plays the preview content (S128). On the other hand, when the user selects to perform reproduction with a temporary license, the content reproduction unit 220 reproduces regular content (S124). Thereafter, the reproduction control unit 222 instructs the status update unit 224 to update the status information in the status storage unit (S126). Specifically, the content ID of the reproduced regular content and the reproduction start time are written in the status storage unit 218.

  The content reproduction process has been described above. Next, based on FIGS. 10 and 11, an update process of information indicating the number of reproduced regular contents in the status storage unit 218 performed by the status update unit 224 when a regular license is acquired will be described.

  First, in step S402, the license receiving unit 202 acquires a regular license from the license issuing server 102 (S402). The license receiving unit 202 or the status update unit 224 acquires a content ID from the received regular license (S404). Thereafter, the status update unit 224 searches the acquired content ID from the status storage unit 218 (S406). If the corresponding content ID is stored in the status storage unit 218 as a result of the search in step S408, the process proceeds to step S410, and the status update unit 224 starts the reproduction stored in association with the corresponding content ID and the content ID. The time is deleted from the status storage unit 218 (S410). Referring to FIG. 11, when the regular license 214 e is acquired, the included content ID “0005” is deleted from the status storage unit 218.

  On the other hand, if the corresponding content ID is not stored in the status storage unit 218 in step S409, the process proceeds to step S412 and the content ID stored in the status storage unit 218 has passed the reproducible period. It is checked whether there is any (S412). Specifically, for example, the status update unit 224 requests the current date acquisition unit 230 to acquire the current date and time, reads the reproducible period 504 included in the temporary license from the license storage unit 204, and stores it in the status storage unit. It is possible to determine whether or not there is a playback-ready period by sequentially reading the playback start time and comparing it with the current date and time. As a result of the determination, if there is one that has passed the reproducible period, the reproduction start date and time and the associated content ID are deleted from the status storage unit 414 (S414). On the other hand, if there is no content that has passed the reproducible period, the process proceeds to step S416, and if the content ID is stored in the status storage unit 218, the arbitrary content ID and the associated reproduction start date and time are deleted. (S418).

  In step S420, the number of acquired licenses is compared with the number of times the processing from step S404 has been performed up to the present, and the same processing is performed for all acquired regular licenses.

  When a regular license is acquired by the above process, the number of regular contents reproduced by the temporary license is reduced. Therefore, the number of regular contents that can be played back with the temporary license is restored according to the number of acquired regular licenses.

  The content playback apparatus 104 according to the first embodiment has been described above. By configuring the content reproduction apparatus 104 according to the first embodiment as described above, in order to freely use the pre-installed regular content, it is necessary to obtain a regular license corresponding to the regular content, but the regular content Can be used by a user under a predetermined condition by a pre-installed temporary license. In addition, the preview content corresponding to the regular content and the trial license for playing the preview content are preinstalled in the content reproduction device 104, so that the user first plays the preview content and the regular content of what he / she likes. Can be reproduced with a temporary license to confirm the regular content to be purchased before purchase, and then the regular license can be purchased to freely reproduce the regular content. Accordingly, a license for a content that is not desired by the user who purchased the content playback apparatus 104 is not installed in advance and the license for the license is not charged in advance, and a license corresponding to the content is not acquired from the server one by one. The user is not forced to be inconvenienced by the fact that the content cannot be used.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, the content reproduction apparatus 804 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The content playback device 804 according to the second embodiment can store the playback history of the trial listening content and the regular content, and can transmit the stored playback history to the external recommendation server via the communication network 106. In addition, the content reproduction apparatus 804 can receive recommendation information created by the recommendation server based on the transmitted reproduction history from the recommendation server. In addition, among the recommended contents, the contents that are not owned by the content reproduction apparatus 804 can be received from the recommendation server or another external information processing apparatus. Hereinafter, the content playback device 804 will be described focusing on the differences from the content playback device 104 according to the first embodiment.

  Similar to the content playback apparatus 104 according to the first embodiment, the content playback apparatus 804 can be connected to the license issuance server 102 via the communication network 106, and a recommendation server (FIG. 5) that transmits and receives playback history and recommendation information, which will be described later. (Not shown). Note that the license issuance server 102 and the recommendation server may be configured by the same server device by providing the license issuance server 102 with the function of a recommendation server. The content playback device 804 can also be connected to a content providing device (not shown) that is an external information processing device that transmits content to the content playback device 804. The license issuing server 102 or the recommendation server may have the function of the content providing device, and the content reproduction device 804 may receive content from the content providing device via the communication network 106. In addition, the content playback device may have the function of a content providing device, and the content playback device 804 may receive content from other content playback devices by, for example, infrared communication or wireless communication. In the present embodiment, a case where the recommendation server has the function of the content providing apparatus will be described.

  Based on FIG. 13, the functional configuration of the content reproduction apparatus 804 according to the present embodiment will be described. The content playback device 804 includes, for example, a license reception unit 202, a license storage unit 204, a content storage unit 212, a status storage unit 218, a content playback unit 220, a playback control unit 222, a status update unit 224, Content status display unit 226, content selection unit, current date and time acquisition unit 230, content acquisition unit 806, recommendation information reception unit 808, playback history transmission unit 810, content update unit 812, and playback history storage unit 814 Etc. Portions having substantially the same functions as those of the content reproduction apparatus 104 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof is omitted.

  The reproduction history storage unit 814 stores the reproduction history of the trial listening content and the regular content reproduced by the content reproduction unit 220. Specifically, the reproduction control unit 222 writes the content ID of the reproduced sample content, the title name or artist name of the music included in the sample content, and the like in the reproduction history storage unit 814. Further, the reproduction control unit 222 reproduces the content ID of the authorized content permitted to be reproduced based on the temporary license 208 and the status storage unit 218, the title name and artist name of the music included in the authorized content, and the like. It is written in the history storage unit 814.

  The reproduction history transmission unit 810 has a function of acquiring the reproduction history stored in the reproduction history storage unit 814 and transmitting the reproduction history to the recommendation server via the communication network 106. Specifically, when a transmission instruction is received from the user via the input device included in the content reproduction device 804, or when the recommendation server is the same server device as the license issuing server 102, for example, the license receiving unit 202 When the regular license is received, the content ID, the title name of the music, the artist name, and the like stored as the reproduction history are read from the reproduction history storage unit 814 and transmitted to the recommendation server. In addition to the above, the transmission history transmission timing includes, for example, a charger for charging the content playback device 804 provided with a connection function to the communication network 106 so that the content playback device 804 can charge the charger for charging. You may comprise so that the said reproduction | regeneration log | history may be transmitted via the connection function to the communication network 106 provided in the charger at the timing mounted.

  The recommendation server that has received the playback history from the playback history transmitting unit 810 recommends to the user who uses the content playback apparatus 804 as the transmission source based on the content ID, the title name of the music, the artist name, and the like included in the playback history. Create recommendation information that is content information. Specifically, for example, the content ID of the content including the music having the similar characteristics is extracted by extracting the commonality of the melody from the characteristics of the melody of the music included in each content corresponding to the plurality of received content IDs. The name of the music to be played and the name of the artist can be used as recommendation information. Alternatively, a content ID, a song name, or the like of content including a song by the same artist as the artist name included in the reproduction history may be used as recommendation information.

  The recommendation information receiving unit 808 has a function of receiving the recommendation information from the recommendation server. After receiving the recommendation information, the recommendation information receiving unit 808 also displays the title name, artist name, and the like of the music included in the recommendation information on the display device included in the content playback device 804.

  The content acquisition unit 806 has a function of receiving content from the recommendation server based on the recommendation information received by the recommendation information receiving unit 808. Specifically, regarding the content specified by the user via the input device based on the recommendation information displayed on the display device by the recommendation information receiving unit 808, an acquisition request is transmitted to the recommendation server, and the corresponding content is transmitted to the recommendation server. Receive from.

  The content update unit 812 stores the content received by the content acquisition unit 806 from the recommendation server in the content storage unit 212 and deletes unnecessary regular content from the content storage unit 212. Unnecessary regular content is regular content that is not used by the user among regular content preinstalled in the content reproduction apparatus 804.

  Based on FIG. 14 and FIG. 15, the flow of processing performed by the reproduction history transmission unit 810, the recommendation information reception unit 808, the content acquisition unit 806, and the content update unit 812 will be described.

  First, in step S502 of FIG. 14, the playback history transmission unit 810 of the content playback device 804 reads the playback history from the playback history storage unit 814 and transmits the playback history information to the recommendation server (S502). The recommendation server extracts preference information based on the received reproduction history information (S504). Specifically, as described above, the preference of the user who uses the content device 804 is extracted based on the content ID and artist name included in the reproduction history information. The recommendation server creates recommendation information including information on the content to be recommended based on the extracted preference information (S506), and transmits it to the content reproduction apparatus 804 (S508).

  The recommendation information receiving unit 808 of the content reproduction device 804 displays the received recommendation information on the display device, and allows the user to select a desired song for purchase (S510). When the user selects a purchase desired song via the input device, the recommendation information receiving unit 808 provides the content acquisition unit 806 with the content ID of the content including the selected song, and the number of contents including the selected song. Is provided to the content update unit 812. The content updating unit 812 deletes the same number of regular contents from the content storage unit 212 based on the number of contents acquired from the recommendation information receiving unit 808 (S512). The content acquisition unit 806 transmits an acquisition request regarding the content including the user's purchase desired song based on the content ID acquired from the recommendation information receiving unit 808 to the recommendation server (S514).

  After receiving the acquisition request from the content reproduction device 804, the recommendation server transmits the corresponding content and a license for reproducing the content to the content reproduction device 804 based on the acquisition request (S516). At this time, the recommendation server may perform billing processing according to the content to be transmitted.

  The content acquisition unit 806 of the content playback device 804 receives the content and license from the recommendation server and provides them to the content update unit 812. The content update unit 812 stores the acquired content in the content storage unit 212, and similarly stores the acquired license in the license storage unit 204 (S518).

  Next, the regular content deletion process in step S512 of FIG. 14 will be described with reference to FIG. The content update unit 812 first searches the license storage unit 204 for a regular license (S602). Specifically, for example, based on the license ID, it is checked whether any regular license is stored in the license storage unit 204. If a regular license is stored, the content ID included in the regular license is read and temporarily stored in a RAM or the like (S604).

  After temporarily storing the content ID for all the regular licenses stored in the license storage unit 204, the content update unit 812 refers to the playback history storage unit 814 (S606) and is stored in the playback history storage unit 814. All the content IDs are read out and temporarily stored in the RAM or the like in the same manner as described above (S608).

  Through the above processing, the content ID of the regular content for which the regular license has been purchased, and the content ID of the trial listening content and the regular content that have been reproduced by the user are temporarily stored in the RAM or the like. That is, the content corresponding to the temporarily stored content ID is used by the user, and the other content is content that the user has never used. Therefore, content that has never been used may be unnecessary for the user.

  Therefore, the content update unit 812 selects regular content having a content ID other than the content ID temporarily stored by the above processing as a deletion target, selects arbitrary regular content by confirming deletion to the user, and the content storage unit. The regular content is deleted from 212 (S610).

  As described above, by deleting the same number of regular contents as the number of contents desired to be purchased from the content storage unit 212, the content playback apparatus 804 recommends the user's desired content without exceeding the storage capacity of the content playback apparatus 804. It can be obtained from the server. In addition, by selecting the deletion target as described above, it is possible to delete from the content storage unit 212 regular content that is not used by the user from a plurality of pre-installed regular content, that is, that is highly likely not to meet the user's preference. can do. As a result, by repeating the above processing, the regular content that does not conform to the user's preference preinstalled in the content storage unit 212 is replaced with the user's desired content received from the recommendation server. Only the regular content according to the user's preference is stored, and the content reproduction device 806 can be customized according to the user's preference.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  The present invention can be applied to a content reproduction apparatus, and in particular, can be applied to a content reproduction apparatus in which content is preinstalled.

1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a content reproduction system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the content reproduction apparatus in the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the regular license and regular content in the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the audition license and the audition content in the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the temporary license and regular content in the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the status memory | storage part in the embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the content reproduction process in the same embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the content reproduction control processing in the same embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the content reproduction control processing in the same embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the regular license acquisition process in the same embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the status information update process in the embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which showed the screen displayed on the display apparatus of the content reproduction apparatus in the embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the content reproduction apparatus in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the content acquisition process in the same embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the regular content deletion process in the same embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Content reproduction system 102 License issue server 104a, 104b, 104c Content reproduction apparatus 106 Communication network

Claims (19)

A content playback device that controls playback of content stored in advance in the content playback device before the sale of the content playback device:
A content storage unit for storing a regular content group composed of a plurality of regular contents stored in the content reproduction device in advance before sale of the content reproduction device, and a trial content group composed of trial content corresponding to the regular content; ;
A regular license for reproducing the specific regular content, a temporary license for reproducing any one or more regular content included in the regular content group, and an arbitrary one included in the trial content group Or a license storage unit capable of storing trial licenses for reproducing two or more trial contents;
A status storage unit that stores status information indicating a reproduction status of the one or more regular contents according to the temporary license;
A status update unit for updating status information in the status storage unit;
A playback control unit that controls playback of the regular content and the trial content based on any license stored in the license storage unit;
A reproduction history storage unit for storing the reproduction history of the trial content and / or the reproduction history of the regular content according to the temporary license;
With
The reproduction control unit
Controlling playback of the trial content based on the trial license;
Controlling reproduction of the authorized content based on the authorized license;
Controlling reproduction of the regular content based on the temporary license and status information in the status storage unit;
The playback history storage unit stores an identifier that uniquely identifies the played trial content from the trial content group and / or an identifier that uniquely identifies the played regular content from the regular content group,
The content playback device includes:
A content reproduction device further comprising: a content update unit that deletes from the content storage unit regular content corresponding to trial content identified by the identifier and / or any regular content other than regular content identified by the identifier . Wherein the temporary license includes information indicating the maximum number of playable said normal content, the content playback apparatus according to claim 1. Said status information includes information indicating the number of the reproduced said normal content, the content playback apparatus according to claim 2. The reproduction control unit obtains the upper limit number of the reproducible regular content from the temporary license, obtains the number of the replayed normal content from the status storage unit, and the number of the regular content satisfies the upper limit number. If it does not exceed the permitted playback of the any regular content, limits the play when it exceeds, the content reproduction apparatus according to claim 3. The content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temporary license includes information indicating a period during which one regular content can be used. Wherein the status information includes identifier uniquely identifying the normal content reproduced from the normal content group, the content reproduction apparatus according to claim 5. The status information includes information indicating an elapsed usage period of the reproduced regular content,
The status storage unit, and the identifier, and information indicating the use age of the normal content identified by the identifier is stored in association with the content reproduction apparatus according to claim 6. The reproduction control unit obtains a period in which the one regular content can be used from the temporary license, obtains a usage elapsed period of the regular content from the status storage unit, and the usage elapsed period is the usable period. If it does not exceed the permits the reproduction of the normal content identified by the identifier associated with the elapsed time for said gain, the content reproducing apparatus according to claim 7. The status update section, the updates the status information of the status memory section based on the reproduction state of the normal content corresponding to the temporary license, the content reproducing apparatus according to claim 1. The temporary license is stored in advance in the content reproduction apparatus before the sale of the content reproduction apparatus, content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1. The trial license is stored in advance in the content reproduction apparatus before the sale of the content reproduction apparatus, content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1. The sample content is a predetermined portion of said normal content, the content playback apparatus according to claim 1. The sample content is lower quality than the normal content, the content playback apparatus according to claim 1. A license receiving unit that receives the regular license from a license issuing server that issues the regular license via a communication network;
It said normal license is acquired from the license issuing server by the license receiving unit, the content playback apparatus according to claim 1. The status update section, the license in accordance with the number of normal license acquired by the reception unit, and updates the information indicating the number of the reproduced said normal content in the status storing unit, content reproduction according to claim 14 apparatus. A reproduction history transmission unit for transmitting the reproduction history stored in the reproduction history storage unit to an external server;
A recommendation information receiving unit for receiving, from the external server, recommendation information related to one or more contents to be recommended based on the transmitted reproduction history;
Further comprising a content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1. Further comprising a content acquisition section for acquiring one or more contents is the recommended based on the recommendation information from an external device, the content playback apparatus according to claim 16. A content playback device that controls playback of content stored in advance in the content playback device before sale of the content playback device:
Based on a regular license for reproducing specific regular content, regular license-based reproduction control for controlling reproduction of the specific regular content included in a regular content group composed of a plurality of regular contents stored in the content storage unit Processing and;
Temporary licenses for reproducing any one or more of the regular contents included in the regular content group, and status information indicating the reproduction status of the one or more regular contents according to the temporary license are stored. and the status information in the status storage unit has a temporary license based regeneration control process for controlling the reproduction of the normal content based on;
Trial license use reproduction control processing for controlling reproduction of the trial content based on a trial license for reproducing any one or two or more trial contents included in the trial content group composed of trial content corresponding to the regular content When;
A status update process for updating status information in the status storage unit when reproduction of the arbitrary regular content is permitted in the temporary license utilization reproduction control process;
A computer program for running :
The reproduction history storage unit for storing the reproduction history of the trial content and / or the reproduction history of the regular content according to the temporary license has an identifier for uniquely identifying the reproduced trial content from the trial content group and / or Or an identifier for uniquely identifying the reproduced regular content from the regular content group;
Causing the content reproduction apparatus to execute content update processing for deleting from the content storage unit regular content corresponding to trial content identified by the identifier and / or any regular content other than regular content identified by the identifier Computer program for. A method for controlling the reproduction of content stored in the content reproduction device in advance before the sale of the content reproduction device :
A regular license using step for controlling reproduction of the specific regular content included in a regular content group composed of a plurality of regular contents based on a regular license for reproducing the specific regular content;
Temporary licenses for reproducing any one or more of the regular contents included in the regular content group, and status information indicating the reproduction status of the one or more regular contents according to the temporary license are stored. and the status information in the status storage unit has a temporary license usage step of controlling the reproduction of the normal content based on;
A trial license using step of controlling reproduction of the trial content based on a trial license for reproducing any one or more of the trial contents included in the trial content group composed of trial content corresponding to the regular content;
A status update step of updating status information in the status storage unit when the reproduction of the arbitrary regular content is permitted in the temporary license use step;
Only including in any order,
The reproduction history storage unit for storing the reproduction history of the trial content and / or the reproduction history of the regular content according to the temporary license has an identifier for uniquely identifying the reproduced trial content from the trial content group and / or Or an identifier for uniquely identifying the reproduced regular content from the regular content group;
A content reproduction control method further comprising: a content update step of deleting, from the content storage unit, regular content corresponding to trial content identified by the identifier and / or any regular content other than regular content identified by the identifier .

Images