JP2002006863A - Free delivery method for digital information utilizing communication means - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a free delivery method utilizing a communication means which allows free delivery of digital information, allows the saving of the advertisement rates of an advertizer, enables a user side to receive the free delivery any number of times and can eliminate the problem of infringement of copyright. SOLUTION: A data deliverer 30 inserts the advertisement data provided from the advertizer 20 to the digital information, such as music, provided from a resource provider 10 and delivers the data, free of charge, to a user terminal device through the Internet 40. The data deliverer 30 collects the advertisement rates for the advertizer 20 and pays the royalties on the copyright to the resource provider 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a data distribution source which inserts advertisement data of an advertisement source into digital information such as music provided from a resource provider, and transmits the digital data to a user terminal device through a communication line such as the Internet. The present invention relates to a method for free distribution of digital information using communication means in which data is distributed free of charge, a data distribution source pays a copyright fee to a resource provider, and an advertisement fee is collected from an advertisement source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, digital information such as music is provided to a customer as shown in FIG. 4 from a resource provider 1 in a medium 2 such as a CD (compact disk), which is packaged in a store. , And played back on the user terminal device 3. This form not only takes time until new music information is created and provided to customers, but also adds packaging costs, sales costs by sales outlets, sales staff, etc., and increases prices. There is a problem that it becomes expensive.

However, MP3 (MPEG1 Layer)
With the development of data compression technology such as 3 Audio), music data has been distributed through communication lines such as the Internet. MP3 has a high compression ratio of about 1/10 compared to the data before compression,
It attracts attention as an efficient compression technique that maintains sound quality close to D.

In this digital information distribution system, as shown in FIG. 5, a user terminal device 6 is connected to an information provider 4 via a communication line 5, and a digital signal such as music is transmitted to the user terminal device 6. The information is transmitted and stored. The digital information transmitted from the resource provider 4 to the user terminal device 6 is transmitted in a state where it is compressed and encoded by MP3 or the like, and is reproduced by the user reproducing device 7.

However, MP3 has no copyright protection function, and digital information transmitted from a distributor is transmitted as it is to the user terminal device 6 of each customer.
There is a problem that it is easy to illegally copy the digital information such as music and reproduce it on another device.
Therefore, with regard to distribution of digital information such as music by MP3, large record companies and the like are reluctant and limited to a small number of fields such as indies.

[0006] In addition, there is a case where digital information such as music converted from a CD into MP3 is posted without permission of the copyright holder on the WEB of the Internet, and this has been a problem from the viewpoint of copyright protection. After that, SDMI (Secure Digital Music) was used as a solution for copyright protection.
c Initiative) was launched, and the Standards Review Committee was launched to develop specifications with security features to protect against unauthorized copying for online distribution of music.

As a system conforming to the SDMI specification, T
There are winVQ, ATRAC (registered trademark) 3, etc., each of which has a function of protecting unauthorized copying. This TwinVQ
Is a digital sound source format used by the portable audio player "Lid Audio" jointly developed by NTT and Kobe Steel. This format employs a copy guard function and a digital watermark to solve the problem of copyright protection.
The degree of compression can be adjusted up to 96.

[0008] ATRAC3 is a music distribution plan "MMD (Mo) on PHS, which is planned to be jointly developed by Sony Corporation's" Memory Stick Walkman "and NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., and Toshiba Corporation.
file media distribution service), which is the latest standard of the audio compression technology ATRAC used in MD. With the adoption of the SDMI specification, digital distribution of paid music and the like by major record companies is scheduled to start in earnest.

[0009]

However, this SDMI also has the following problems. (1). Currently the most widespread MP3 players cannot be played due to differences in system. (2). In the current SDMI-compliant system, music cannot be transferred by transferring a file to a new personal computer (personal computer) due to a copyright protection function. Also, when the personal computer is initialized, when the OS is reinstalled, or when the HDD (hard disk) or CPU is replaced, the personal computer is recognized as another personal computer, so that music cannot be reproduced. (3). Because it is a paid service, it becomes necessary to pay a fee online. You can pay by credit card, but there is a security problem.

[0010] Separately, a method of placing a dedicated terminal in a convenience store and performing reception / payment at the convenience store has been considered, but is inferior in terms of ease compared to a method of directly distributing to a user terminal device. That
There are issues.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and enables digital information to be distributed free of charge, to save advertising charges of an advertising source, and to allow a user to receive digital information many times. It is an object of the present invention to provide a digital information free distribution method using communication means capable of suppressing a problem of security and a problem of occurrence of copyright infringement.

Further, the present invention distributes only digital information data, does not waste recording media, and increases the types of digital information registered in the distribution server, so that various types of digital information data can be obtained. In the data distribution source, advertising revenue can be paid, copyright fees can be paid, and the user can be distributed free of charge, so that there is no risk for the user side such as exchange of credit card numbers, which is a problem at the time of payment, and Unlike SDMI, there is no longer the issue of copyright protection that cannot be used on other personal computers, and free distribution services enable re-distribution, and the advertiser can increase the effectiveness of advertising and reduce the number of downloads. Advertising fees can be paid accordingly, and a burden corresponding to the effectiveness of advertising can be paid. An object of the present invention is to provide a free delivery method of digital information using the communication means that.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a method for free distribution of digital information using a communication means according to the present invention is provided. A first step of inserting advertisement data and distributing the data to the user terminal device free of charge via a communication line, wherein the data distributor collects an advertisement fee from the advertisement source and a copyright fee from the resource provider And a second step of paying.

Therefore, the data distribution source inserts the advertisement data of the advertisement source into the digital information provided by the resource provider and distributes the advertisement data to the user terminal device through the communication line free of charge. Copyright fees are paid to the source and advertising fees are collected from the advertising source, enabling digital information to be distributed free of charge, enabling the advertising source to save advertising fees, and allowing users to use digital information many times. Can be received, and security problems and copyright infringement problems can be suppressed.

[0015] Further, the method for free distribution of digital information using the communication means according to the present invention is characterized in that the digital information and the advertising data from the advertising source are stored by a resource provider which holds and manages a large amount of digital information. A first step of receiving at the resource interface unit, and inserting the advertisement data into the digital information received by the resource interface unit at the resource processing unit of the data distribution source to combine the digital information and the advertisement data to form a communication line A second step of storing the digital information for distribution in a storage unit of the data distribution source by compressing the data into a file format that can be distributed by the user, and accessing the user interface unit of the data distribution source from the user terminal device through the communication line. A request for distribution of the digital information for distribution to the data distribution source Performing the third step, reading the distribution digital information stored in the storage unit by the user interface unit, and distributing the distribution digital information to the user terminal device free of charge, and the user terminal device When the end of the distribution of the digital information for distribution is confirmed, the end of the distribution is notified to the user interface unit, and the number of distributions to the user terminal device is counted and added by the user interface unit. A fifth step to be stored in
By counting the number of distributions stored in the storage unit in the resource interface unit and billing the advertising source from the data distribution source for an advertisement fee in accordance with the number of distributions, the advertisement source to the data distribution source A sixth step of paying an advertisement fee and a seventh step of paying a copyright fee to the resource provider when the data distribution source receives the advertisement fee from the advertisement source.

Therefore, when the digital information and the advertisement data from the advertising source are received by the resource interface unit of the data distribution source from the resource provider that holds and manages a large amount of digital information and collectively manages the digital information, the digital information received by the resource interface unit is The advertising data is inserted in the resource processing unit of the data distribution source, and the digital information and the advertisement data are combined and compressed into a file format that can be distributed through a communication line, and the digital information for distribution is stored in the storage unit of the data distribution source. Keep it. When the user terminal device accesses the user interface unit of the data distribution source through the communication line and requests the data distribution source to distribute the digital information for distribution, the digital information for distribution stored in the storage unit by the user interface unit is transmitted. And distributes the digital information for distribution to the user terminal device free of charge.
When the user terminal confirms the end of the distribution of the digital information for distribution, the distribution of the digital information for distribution is notified to the user interface, and the number of distributions to the user terminal is counted and added by the user interface, and stored in the storage. Remember. The resource interface unit counts the number of distributions stored in the storage unit, and charges the advertising source from the data distribution source to the advertising source according to the totaling result, according to the number of distributions. When the advertising fee is paid, the data distributor collects the advertising fee from the advertising source and pays the copyright fee to the resource provider, so that the recording medium is not wasted and the digital information registered in the distribution server is not lost. By increasing the number of types of digital information, it is possible to obtain various types of digital information data, achieve data advertisement income, pay copyright fees, and allow users to distribute free of charge. Eliminates the risk of exchanging credit card numbers, and, unlike SDMI, can be used on other computers for copyright protection No longer has the problem of being able to receive the free distribution service again, and for advertisers, the effectiveness of the advertisement can be enhanced, the advertising fee can be paid according to the number of downloads, and the burden according to the effect of the advertisement can be paid can do.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a free digital information distribution method using communication means of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic system configuration of a free digital information distribution system to which a first embodiment of a free digital information distribution method according to the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, the features of the first embodiment according to the present invention will be described first. In FIG. 1, digital information such as music provided from a resource provider 10 is input to a data distributor 30 and the data distributor 3
0 is the advertising data (digital data) from the advertising source 20
Is entered. The data distribution source 30 inserts the advertisement data provided by the advertisement source 20 into digital information such as music provided by the resource provider 10 and inserts the Internet 40 as a communication line (in the following description, the Internet 40 is used as a communication line). It will be distributed to the user terminal device 50 free of charge through the explanation on the day of the provision. After distributing the digital information to the user terminal device 50, the data distribution source 30 pays a copyright to the resource provider 102 and collects an advertisement fee from the advertisement source 20.

Next, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. This FIG. 2 corresponds to FIG.
1 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a digital information free distribution system shown in FIG. This first described below
In the embodiment, description will be given on the assumption that the distributed digital information is digital information such as music.

In FIG. 2, a data distribution source 300
A resource provider 100 that provides digital information such as music to the resource interface unit 301, an advertisement source 200 that provides advertisement data to the resource interface unit 301 of the data distributor 300, and the Internet 400 as a communication line. , User terminal device 500
And a user reproducing device 600 for reproducing digital information received by the user terminal device 500.
The resource provider 100 collectively holds and manages a large amount of digital information such as music for sale. The advertisement source 200 holds and manages advertisement data. The advertisement source 200 provides the advertisement data to the resource interface unit 301 of the data distribution source 300.

The data distribution source 300 includes a resource interface unit 301, a resource processing unit 302, a storage unit 303, and a user interface unit 304. Of these, resource interface unit 3
01 receives digital information such as music from the resource provider 100, receives advertisement data from the advertisement source 200, and sends it to the resource processing unit 302. Further, the resource interface unit 301 requests the advertisement source 200 from the distribution number information to the advertisement source 200, receives the advertisement fee from the advertisement source 200, and
Pays the copyright fee to the resource provider 100. Between the resource provider 100, the advertising source 200, and the resource interface unit 301, an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a document exchange, and the like can be considered in addition to the connection via the Internet.

The resource processing unit 302 receives digital information such as music and advertisement data from the resource interface 301, inserts the advertisement data into digital information such as music, and compresses the digital information. Insertion of advertisement data into digital information such as music is performed as “voice”. By inserting it as "voice" and making one distribution file, it becomes difficult to separate digital information such as music from advertising data.

In this case, the data compression method is an MP3 or SDMI-compliant TwinVQ or A
There is no particular limitation on TRAC3 or the like. The storage unit 303 stores digital information such as music processed by the resource processing unit 302, and provides digital information such as music to the user interface unit 304 in response to a request from the user interface unit 304. 1 and 2 show a single user terminal device, however, the user interface unit 304 is actually connected to a large number of user terminal devices 500 through the Internet 400 and receives a distribution request from the user terminal devices 500. And distributes digital information such as music to the user terminal device 500.

On the user terminal device 500 side, a communication interface unit 5 for controlling connection with the Internet 400
01, a storage unit 502 for storing digital information such as distributed music, and a user reproducing apparatus 600 for reproducing digital information such as music. The user playback device 600 is used individually by each customer, and is integrated with the user terminal device 500.
It is also conceivable that the portable device is equipped with the portable device 2 and is small.

The user reproducing apparatus 600 includes: a storage section 502 for storing digital information such as music received by the user terminal apparatus 500 in a state of being compressed and encoded;
D / A converter 601 for converting digital information such as compression-encoded music from digital information to analog
And an external output device 60 such as a headphone or a speaker.
And 2.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the free digital information distribution method using the communication means according to the present invention applied to the free digital information distribution system shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the sequence shown in FIG. Description will be made with reference to the drawings. Data provider 30 from resource provider 100
0 is provided to the resource interface unit 301 (step A).
1). In this case, as a method of providing digital information data, use of a medium such as an optical disk or a magnetic disk, or use of a communication network such as the Internet can be considered.

Next, from the advertisement source 200 to the data distribution source 30
The advertisement data is provided to the 0 resource interface unit 301 (step A2). In this case, the advertisement data can be provided by using a medium such as an optical disk or a magnetic disk or using a communication network such as the Internet.

Next, digital information such as music received by the resource interface unit 301 and advertisement data are transferred to the resource processing unit 302 (step A3). The resource processing unit 302 inserts and synthesizes advertisement data into digital information such as music, compresses the data into a file format (MP3 or the like) that can be distributed on the Internet 400, and stores the compressed data as distribution digital information in the storage unit 30.
3 and stored (step A4).

In this state, from the user terminal device 500,
The user interface unit 304 is accessed via the Internet 400, and a request for distribution of digital information such as music is made from the user terminal device 500 to the data distribution source 300 (step A5). As a result, a data read request is issued from the user interface unit 304 to the storage unit 303 (step A6). Upon receiving this request, the user interface unit 30
Then, the data is transferred to No. 4 (step A7).

The user interface unit 304 that has received the data transfer distributes digital information such as music to the user terminal device 500 (step A8).
After confirming that the distribution to the user terminal device 500 has been completed, and notifying the user interface unit 304 of the completion of the distribution from the user terminal device 500, the user interface unit 304 counts the number of distributions to the user terminal device 500, Addition is performed (step A9).

Next, the user interface unit 304 transfers the number of distributions to the user terminal device 500 to the storage unit 303, and the storage unit 303 stores the number of distributions (step A1).
0). The number of distributions stored in the storage unit 303 is transferred to the resource interface unit 301 (step A11).
The number of distributions is counted by the resource interface unit 301,
An advertisement fee is charged from the data distribution source 300 to the advertisement source 200 according to the number of distributions (step A12). The advertising source 200 pays an advertising fee to the data distribution source 300 (step A13). Subsequently, the data distributor 300 pays a copyright fee to the resource provider 100 (step A1).
4).

As described above, in the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. First, digital information such as music is transmitted through a communication line (Internet 400).
In this case, only the data of digital information such as music is distributed, so that the recording medium is not wasted. In addition, by increasing the types of digital information such as music registered in the music distribution server,
You can get a wide variety of music data, even for songs that are not so popular.

Second, the advertisement data is inserted into digital information such as music to be distributed, and the advertisement source bears the advertisement fee according to the number of distributions, so that the data distribution source can obtain advertisement income. The data distribution source can earn income from the advertisement source, the data distribution source can pay the copyright fee to the resource provider, and can distribute the data to the user free of charge.

Further, the advertisement is inserted into digital information such as music as "sound" and distributed as one file, so that the advertisement sound is reproduced every time the music is reproduced. As a result, every time the music is played,
As it is played, the effect of the advertisement is high.

Further, by inserting data that is disturbing to music, such as advertisement sound, compared with pure music data such as data recorded on a CD or data distributed for a fee, the information as "music" information is obtained. The value will go down. In this way, by daringly lowering the value as "music" information, the possibility of unauthorized diversion can be reduced.

In addition, by paying the advertisement fee according to the number of downloads, the advertisement source can bear the burden according to the advertisement effect.

On the other hand, by making the distribution fee free on the user side, the digital information such as music is distributed free of charge to the user. Disappears. In addition, SDMI has a problem that it cannot be used on other personal computers due to copyright protection, but if it is a free distribution service, it may be distributed again.

In the first embodiment, music information is described as an example of digital information to be distributed. However, image information, news (character information), and the like can be considered.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the data distribution source inserts the advertisement data of the advertisement source into the digital information provided by the resource provider, and provides the user terminal device with free of charge through the communication line. And the data distributor pays the copyright fee to the resource provider and collects the advertising fee from the advertising source, enabling free distribution of digital information and reducing the advertising fee of the advertising source. The digital information can be received many times by the user, and security problems and copyright infringement problems can be suppressed.

According to the present invention, the digital information and the advertisement data from the advertisement source are received by the resource interface unit of the advertisement data distribution source from the resource provider, and
The resource processing unit inserts the advertisement data into the digital information and compresses it into a file format that can be distributed over a communication line, stores the digital information for distribution in a storage unit, and accesses the user interface unit from the user terminal device through the communication line. When a distribution request for the digital information for distribution is made, the digital information for distribution is read from the storage unit by the user interface unit and distributed to the user terminal device free of charge, and when the user terminal device confirms the end of the distribution of the digital information for distribution,
By notifying the end of distribution to the user interface unit, the number of distributions is counted by the resource interface unit, and the data distribution source charges the advertisement source for the advertisement fee according to the distribution number, and receives the advertisement fee. In addition to paying the copyright fee to the resource provider, the recording medium is not wasted and various kinds of digital information can be obtained. It is possible to realize free distribution of users with it, and there is no risk for users such as exchange of credit card number which is a problem at the time of payment, and unlike SDMI, it is used on other personal computers for copyright protection The problem of being unable to do so can be solved. In addition, the free distribution service allows users to receive distribution many times, increasing the effectiveness of advertising as an advertising source, and allowing advertising sources to pay advertisement fees according to the number of downloads Becomes
A burden can be paid according to the effect of the advertisement.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic system configuration of a free digital information distribution system to which a first embodiment of a free digital information distribution method using communication means according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a free digital information distribution system to which a first embodiment of a free digital information distribution method using communication means according to the present invention is applied;

FIG. 3 is a sequence explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the first embodiment of the free digital information distribution method using the communication means according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a conventional state of providing digital information such as music to a customer.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a conventional digital information distribution system in the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 100 resource provider, 200, 200 advertising source, 30, 300 data distribution source, 40, 400
... Internet, 50,500 forms ... User terminal device, 301 ... Resource interface unit, 302 ...
... Resource processing unit, 303, 502 ... Storage unit, 304
... User interface unit 501 Communication interface 600 User playback device 601 D / A
Conversion device, 602: external output device.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G11B 20/10 G11B 20/10 H H04H 1/02 H04H 1/02 Z

Claims (13)

[Claims] A first step of inserting the advertisement data of the advertisement source into digital information provided by the resource provider and distributing the advertisement data to the user terminal device via a communication line free of charge; A second step of collecting an advertisement fee from an advertisement source and paying a copyright fee to the resource provider, a free step of digital information distribution using communication means. 2. A first step of receiving the digital information and the advertising data from the advertising source at a resource interface unit of a data distribution source from a resource provider that holds and manages a large amount of digital information collectively. The advertisement data is inserted into the received digital information by the resource processing unit of the data distribution source, the digital information and the advertisement data are combined, compressed into a file format that can be distributed via a communication line, and the distribution digital information is converted to the digital information. A second step of storing the data in the storage unit of the data distribution source, and accessing the user interface unit of the data distribution source from the user terminal device through the communication line to request the data distribution source to distribute the digital information for distribution. A third step to be performed, and the storage unit by the user interface unit A fourth step of reading the distribution digital information stored in the user terminal and distributing the distribution digital information to the user terminal device free of charge, and when the user terminal device confirms the end of the distribution of the distribution digital information, A fifth step of notifying the user interface unit of the end of the distribution, counting and adding the number of distributions to the user terminal device at the user interface unit, and storing the result in the storage unit; The above-mentioned number of distributions is totaled by the resource interface unit, and the data distribution source charges the advertisement source to the advertisement source according to the distribution number, whereby the advertisement source pays the advertisement fee to the data distribution source. And when the data distributor receives the advertisement fee from the advertisement source, a copyright fee is charged to the resource provider. Seventh to pay
A method for free distribution of digital information using communication means, comprising: 3. The digital information according to claim 1, wherein the digital information is digital information of music.
Free digital information distribution method using the communication means described. 4. A method for free distribution of digital information using communication means according to claim 1, wherein said communication line is the Internet. 5. The communication according to claim 1, wherein the user terminal device integrally includes a user reproducing device that reproduces the distribution digital information when receiving the distribution digital information. Digital information free distribution method using the means. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the user reproducing apparatus is portable with a storage unit mounted thereon. 7. The resource processing section inserts the advertisement data to be inserted into the digital information as “sound” to form one distribution file, thereby making it difficult to separate the digital information from the advertisement data. A method for free distribution of digital information using the communication means according to claim 1 or 2. 8. The digital information using communication means according to claim 1, wherein said resource providing unit provides said digital information to a resource interface unit by using an optical disk medium. Free delivery method. 9. The digital using communication means according to claim 1, wherein said resource providing section provides said digital information to a resource interface section by using a medium by a magnetic disk. Free delivery method of information. 10. The communication means according to claim 1, wherein said resource providing section provides said digital information to a resource interface section using a communication network such as the Internet. Digital information free distribution method using 11. The advertisement source according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement source provides the advertisement data to the resource interface unit by using an optical disk medium.
A digital information free distribution method using the communication means according to claim 2. 12. The digital using communication means according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement source provides the advertisement data to the resource interface unit by a medium using a magnetic disk. Free delivery method of information. 13. The communication means according to claim 1, wherein the advertisement source provides the advertisement data to the resource interface unit using a communication network such as the Internet. Digital information free distribution method using