Fan club management device, method, and computer program

Abstract

To improve a degree of satisfaction of a fan and eliminating financial difficulties of an artist altogether through the operation of a fan club.SOLUTION: A server, which is a fan club management device, transmits stock data that represents a stock signifying a status or a right as a member of a fan club to a user who wants to join the fan club. A member having joined the fan club within an initial offer period receives the transmission of the stock data for a primary stock. A primary member can introduce a candidate for a secondary member, the secondary member can introduce a candidate for a tertiary member, and an (n-1)th member can introduce a candidate for an n-th member to the fan club, respectively. The purchase price per share of the stock that the n-th member would purchase in order to join the fan club is made lower than that of the (n-1)th member.SELECTED DRAWING: None

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for managing a fan club, which is a group of fans of an artist. [Background technology]

[0002] In this application, an "artist" is defined as a person who provides music (naturally including videos; the same applies below) to viewers through singing, performing, creative activities, etc. A long time ago, artists' main source of income was sales of CDs (Compact Discs) that recorded music data. However, as the evolution of digital technology changed the way people listened to music, CD sales dropped significantly, as is well known. As a result, the traditional business model of artists whose income was based on CD sales collapsed. This goes beyond an issue for individual artists, to an issue for the music industry as a whole. The lack of funding for the music industry is slowing down the entire music industry.

[0003] As the business model in which income was primarily derived from CD sales has collapsed, artists' main sources of income have now shifted to ticket sales for live performances in front of an audience, sales of merchandise that often accompany live performances, and collection of membership fees from fan club members (which can be of various types, such as monthly or yearly fees). Of these, collecting membership fees from fan club members is important for artists or fan clubs because it guarantees regular income with a certain degree of certainty. Also, by providing various benefits to fan club members from the artist or the fan club, it is possible to increase the fan club members' satisfaction with the artist, thereby increasing the members' motivation to attend live performances and purchase merchandise. Therefore, fan clubs are extremely important for today's artists, and it can be said that attracting many fans to fan club members and increasing the satisfaction of fan club members is a matter of life and death. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, as mentioned above, most conventional fan clubs are run on a membership fee basis. Of course, concert tickets and merchandise are also sold through fan clubs, but the reality is that the only money that fan club members pay to the fan club, and not in exchange for other goods or services, is basically the membership fee.

[0005] On the other hand, some fans are willing to pay more to the artist either directly or through their fan club. This is evident from the recent general use of the term "oshikatsu." "Oshikatsu" refers to the general act of admiring and supporting one's favorite artist (however, it is not limited to artists, and in some cases, a favorite object can be a two-dimensional character in an animation). Support can involve no monetary expenditure, such as researching and getting to know your favorite artist deeply, or spreading the word about the artist widely through social media, but it can also involve financial expenditure, such as attending a live performance or purchasing merchandise. In recent years, YouTube (trademark) and other video distribution sites have implemented a function called "tipping (trademark)" that allows viewers to transfer an amount of money they specify to video distributors online. Tipping is a good thing for both video distributors and viewers, as it is a source of income for video distributors and allows viewers to satisfy their desire to support their favorite artists. Thus, even though some fans are willing to bear a financial burden on artists in order to support them, the reality is that they have nowhere to put that money. On the other hand, as already mentioned, artists and the music industry today are often in financial difficulty as a result of the collapse of traditional business models.

[0006] In this situation, if it becomes possible to build a good relationship between fans and artists through a fan club, it may be possible to simultaneously increase fan satisfaction and alleviate the artist's financial difficulties by having the fans pay the artist. If an artist is financially successful, they will have more capital to put into creating their next song, which will in turn increase the excitement that their fans will feel from that next song, creating a positive effect on the relationship between artists and fans, as well as the music industry as a whole. To provide a technique for managing a fan club that can improve fan satisfaction and alleviate financial hardship for artists through the management of the fan club. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the inventors of the present application propose the following invention. The present invention is a fan club management device that manages a fan club, which is a collection of fans who support a specific artist, by distributing shares representing membership in the fan club to the users in combination with a number of user terminals used by a number of users each of which is connected to a specific network and capable of communicating via the network. The fan club management device comprises a transmission / reception mechanism capable of communicating via the network, a rule recording unit which records the rules of the fan club, a member information recording unit which records, for each member, information regarding the stocks held by the member, and an information processing unit which performs information processing based on the rules recorded in the rule recording unit using data sent by the transmission / reception mechanism from the user terminal via the network. Furthermore, when data indicating an intention to purchase the shares at a price of X1 per share and the number of shares desired to be purchased is sent from the non-member user via the user terminal and the network during an initial recruitment period, which is a predetermined period after the start of recruitment for members, and a payment calculated by multiplying X1 by the number of shares desired to be purchased by the user is made to the fan club, the information processing unit in the fan club management device decides to issue to the user, in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, primary shares, which are a type of the shares, in the number desired to be purchased by the user. In both cases, a primary stock management unit records in the member information recording unit that the user is a primary member and the number of primary stocks to be issued to the user, and a user introduced by the primary member is defined as a secondary member candidate, a user introduced by the secondary member is defined as a tertiary member candidate, a user introduced by the n-1 member is defined as an n-th member candidate (where n is a natural number between 2 and N, and N is a predetermined natural number greater than or equal to 3). After the initial subscription period ends, the shares are issued at X per share from the user who is an n-th member candidate introduced by the n-1 member via the user terminal and the network. n You have sent us your intention to purchase at a price of X and the number of shares you wish to purchase. nThe system further comprises: a lower-level stock management unit which, when a payment calculated by multiplying the price by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, decides to issue to the user the number of n-th order shares, which are a type of the stock, that the user wishes to purchase, in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, and records in the member information recording unit that the user is an n-th order member, the number of the n-th order shares to be issued to the user, and information identifying the member who introduced the user; and a stock data generation unit which generates stock data corresponding to the primary stock that the primary stock management unit has decided to issue to the user, or the n-th order shares that the lower-level stock management unit has decided to issue to the user, and transmits the stock data via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network to the user terminal of the user who will become the owner of the stock corresponding to the stock data. In addition, according to the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, the price of the stock is set to X1>X2 when n is 2 or more, and X2 is set to 1 when n is 1 or more. n ≧X n+1 The above conditions are met.

[0008] This fan club management device is used in combination with a user terminal. The user terminal is owned by a user who is a member of a fan club of an artist managed by the fan club management device. The user terminal is capable of communicating via a network, and is, for example, a smartphone, a mobile phone, or a personal computer. The fan club management device is connected to the user terminal via a predetermined network. The network is typically the Internet, but may include other networks such as a LAN (Local Area Network) as part of it. The fan club management device manages fan clubs, which are a group of fans who support a specific artist, by distributing shares representing fan club membership to users. An artist is a person who provides music to users through singing, performing, creative activities, etc. (Of course, there are also cases where the artist is a group consisting of multiple people). Note that the "shares" referred to in this application are different from the status or rights of a member (shareholder) of a corporation, and refer to the status or rights of a fan club member that are given to a person recognized as a fan club member by the fan club management device of the present invention. Furthermore, the shares referred to in this application may be accompanied by the status or rights described below. The fan club management device comprises a transmission / reception mechanism capable of communicating via a network, a rule recording unit which records the rules of the fan club, a member information recording unit which records information regarding stocks held by each member, and an information processing unit which performs information processing based on the rules recorded in the rule recording unit using data sent from the user terminal via the network by the transmission / reception mechanism. The information processing unit includes a primary stock management unit, a lower-level stock management unit, and a stock data generation unit, or functions as a primary stock management unit, a lower-level stock management unit, and a stock data generation unit. The primary stock management unit has a function of managing stocks issued during the initial recruitment period, which is a predetermined period from the start of recruitment of members. During the initial recruitment period, when a non-member user transmits data indicating an intention to purchase stocks at a price of X1 per share and the number of shares desired to be purchased via a user terminal and a network, and the payment calculated by multiplying X1 by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, the primary stock management unit is configured to decide to issue to the user primary stocks, which are a type of stock, in the number desired to be purchased by the user, according to the rules recorded in the rule recording unit. After making this decision, the primary stock management unit records in the member information recording unit that the user is a primary member and the number of primary shares to be issued to the user. In other words, the primary stock management unit has a function of approving the issuance of primary stocks to a user when a user expresses an intention to purchase stocks, including the number of shares to be purchased, and the payment is made. The primary stock management unit also records in the member information recording unit how many primary stocks have been issued to which users. The primary stock management unit had the function of deciding whether to issue primary stocks, while the lower-level stock management unit had the function of deciding whether to issue secondary stocks to secondary members, tertiary stocks to tertiary members, ..., nth-level stocks to nth-level members (where n is a natural number between 2 and N, and N is a predetermined natural number greater than or equal to 3). A user introduced by a primary member is a candidate for a secondary member who will become a secondary member after meeting predetermined conditions, a user introduced by a secondary member is a candidate for a tertiary member who will become a tertiary member after meeting predetermined conditions, and a user introduced by an n-1st-level member is a candidate for an nth-level member who will become an nth-level member after meeting predetermined conditions. After the initial subscription period ends, the lower-level stock management department transfers stocks to users who are candidates for n-th degree members introduced by n-1-th degree members via user terminals and the network at a price of X per share. n You have sent us your intention to purchase at a price of X and the number of shares you wish to purchase. n When the payment of the amount calculated by multiplying the amount by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, a decision is made to issue to the user the number of nth-order shares, which are a type of stock, that the user wishes to purchase, in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, and the fact that the user is an nth-order member, the number of nth-order shares to be issued to the user, and information identifying the member who introduced the user are recorded in the member information recording unit. In other words, the lower-level stock management unit has a function of allowing the issuance of n-th order shares to a user when a user clearly indicates the introducer and the intention to purchase shares, including how many shares to buy, and the price is paid, if the introducer's shares are n-1th order shares. The lower-level stock management unit also records in the member information recording unit how many n-th order shares have been issued to which user. The second order shares and subsequent shares are collectively referred to as "lower-level shares," and the second order members and subsequent members are collectively referred to as "lower-level members." In addition, the numerical parts such as "1," "2," and "n" of primary stocks, secondary stocks, n-th order shares, etc., and the numerical parts such as "1," "2," and "n" of primary members, secondary members, n-th order members, etc., may be referred to as the "order" of stocks and members in this application. The stock data generation unit generates stock data corresponding to the stocks (primary stocks or nth-order stocks) that the primary stock management unit or the lower-level stock management unit has decided to issue. The generated stock data is sent to a transmission / reception mechanism and then to the user terminals of each user via a network. In the present invention, the price of a stock is determined by the rule recorded in the rule recording unit as follows: X1>X2 and n is 2 or more. n ≧X n+1 In other words, in the present invention, the price per share of the 1st share is always higher than that of the 2nd share, and the price per share of the nth share after the 2nd share or after the 2nd share is the same as or lower than the price of the (n-1)th share.

[0009] A fan club managed by the above-described fan club management device follows the following rules. (Rule 1) Primary shares will be sold during the initial subscription period. Users who purchase primary shares will become primary members. (Rule 2) After the initial recruitment period ends, primary members can introduce users who are candidates for secondary membership to the fan club. (Rule 3) Users who are introduced to the fan club by a primary member can purchase secondary shares, and users who purchase secondary shares become secondary members. (Rule 4) After the initial recruitment period ends, secondary members may introduce users who are candidates for tertiary membership to the fan club. (Rule 5) Users who are introduced to the fan club by secondary members can purchase tertiary shares, and users who purchase tertiary shares become tertiary members. (Rule 6) Similarly, thereafter, the n-1th degree member can introduce users who are candidates for nth degree members to the fan club. (Rule 7) A user who is introduced to the fan club by an n-1th degree member can purchase nth degree shares, and a user who purchases nth degree shares becomes an nth degree member. (Rule 8) Primary members through N-1th degree members can introduce users who are potential members to the fan club, but Nth degree members cannot introduce users who are potential members to the fan club. (Rule 9) The price per share of a 1st tier stock is always higher than that of a 2nd tier stock, and for stocks after the 2nd tier stock or subsequent to the 2nd tier stock, the price per share of an nth tier stock is the same as or lower than the price of an n-1th tier stock. In the fan club management device of the present application, the above rules are recorded in the rule recording section directly or in an indirect form adapted so that the above rules are applied.

[0010] When the fan club management device of the present invention is used, the fan club is managed according to the above-mentioned rules, which produces the following effects. First, whether they are primary members or lower-level members such as secondary members, users can purchase as many shares as they like, so they can increase the amount they can pay to artists through the fan club at their own will. This allows fan clubs to earn large income, making it easier for artists to secure income. On the other hand, fans who become members can pay as much as they want to their favorite artists, so they can satisfy their desire to support the artists as much as they like. In addition, primary members and lower-level members excluding N-level members can attract new fans (users) to the fan club through introductions. As already mentioned, fans have a desire to make their favorite artists widely known to the public. Therefore, this kind of introduction system matches the psychology of such fans, and satisfies the fans' desire to support the artist. Also, when fans actively invite potential new fans, it leads to an increase in the number of members in the fan club. Also, the above rule 9, "the price per share of the primary stock is always higher than the price per share of the secondary stock, and for stocks after the secondary stock or after the secondary stock, the price per share of the nth stock is the same as or lower than the price of the n-1th stock" has the effect of increasing the satisfaction of the primary members. This is because the fact that the primary members are the earliest fans and have contributed a higher amount per share than other members satisfies the self-esteem of the primary members, who have had a strong desire to support the artist since the beginning of the operation of the fan club. In addition, since the price of the secondary stock and after is lower than the price of the primary stock, it becomes easier for secondary and subsequent members to join the fan club. If the price per share is gradually reduced when secondary and subsequent members purchase shares to join the fan club, it becomes relatively easy for the fan club to acquire new members even at a stage when the number of members has increased to a certain extent and it becomes difficult to acquire new members. This mechanism is clearly different from the general mechanism of stocks. This is because when a new joint stock company, for example a new venture company, is established, it is usually the investor who participates in the establishment of the venture company who can acquire shares at the lowest price (lowest price per share), and those who subsequently invest in the venture company and acquire shares through a third-party allotment, for example, can only purchase shares at a higher price per share than the investor. In this way, the price of shares in the joint stock company system, where the price per share is generally higher if you acquire shares later, is given the opposite nature to the price of shares referred to in this application. In addition, both the primary shares and the lower shares in this application correspond to the shares in this application. It is also possible to set an upper limit on the number of shares that can be issued. By doing so, it is possible to motivate users to purchase shares. In that case, the following (rule 10) will be recorded in the rule recording section in addition to (rules 1) to (rules 9). (Rule 10) The maximum number of shares that can be issued is z. In this way, it is possible to set an upper limit on the number of shares that the fan club management device can issue. In addition, it is possible to limit the number of primary shares that one user can purchase, which is particularly useful when there is an upper limit on the number of shares that the fan club management device can issue. This prevents a specific user from buying up all the primary shares, thereby preventing the issuance of subordinate shares and direct shares, which will be described later. Similarly, it is also possible to set a limit on the number of primary shares that one user can purchase for subordinate shares and direct shares, which will be described later.

[0011] As described above, in the present invention, the price of a stock is determined by the rule recorded in the rule recording unit as follows: X1>X2 and n is 2 or more. n ≧X n+1 The above conditions are met. Here, the price of a stock is X, where n is a natural number. n >X n+1 In this case, the price per share of the nth tier stock will be lower than the price per share of the n-1th tier stock for all shares, including the 1st tier stock and the lower tier stocks. In this case, Rule 9 above is modified to read as follows: Rule 9.1. (Rule 9.1) For all shares, whether primary or subordinate, the price per share of the nth share will be lower than the price per share of the n-1th share. By doing so, the effect mentioned above that arises from Rule 9, that is, "even when the number of members has increased to a certain extent and it becomes difficult to attract new members, it becomes relatively easy to attract new members," can be more reliably achieved.

[0012] The fan club management device of the present application may also be equipped with a calculation unit that calculates a specified amount of reward to be paid to a user who is an n-1th order member and who introduced a user who is a candidate for an nth order member, based on the data recorded in the member information recording unit. This reward is equivalent to a so-called introduction fee, and it motivates users who are already members of the fan club to introduce new potential members to the fan club, thereby increasing the possibility of attracting new members to the fan club. The calculation unit determines which n-1th degree member introduced a user who is a candidate for a new n-th degree member based on the data recorded in the member information recording unit, and determines how much reward should be paid to each member. The reward is paid from the fan club to the user who is the n-1th degree member, but the payment method is free, and it is also free whether or not the fan club management device has a reward payment function. In addition, it is also possible to appropriately determine how the calculation unit determines the amount of the reward. Rules regarding the reward, such as rules for determining the amount of the reward and when to calculate the amount of the reward, can also be recorded in the rule recording unit. The amount of the reward is calculated as follows: A is the referral fee when an mth member (where m is a natural number from 1 to N-1) introduces an m+1th member. m+1 Let P be the number of m-th order members, who are users who became members through a user's introduction or who have a serial introduction relationship with that user. m+1 In this case, the amount may be calculated using the following formula (Formula 1).

number

[0013] The fan club management device may include a direct stock management unit that, when, after the initial recruitment period ends, a non-member user transmits data indicating an intention to purchase the shares at a price of Y per share and the number of shares the user wishes to purchase via the user terminal and the network, and the payment calculated by multiplying Y by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, decides to issue to the user direct stocks, which are a type of the shares, in the number the user wishes to purchase, according to the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, and records in the member information recording unit that the user is a direct member and the number of the direct stocks to be issued to the user. In this case, the stock data generation unit may generate stock data corresponding to the direct stocks that the direct stock management unit has decided to issue to the user, and transmit the stock data via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network to the user terminal of the user who is to become the owner of the stocks corresponding to the stock data. As described above, the stocks issued by the fan club management device of the present application are basically primary stocks and lower-level stocks. Furthermore, primary stocks and lower-level stocks that are not Nth-level stocks are accompanied by the right (introduction right) for the members who hold them to introduce other users who are not members of the fan club to the fan club. However, some users may already be members of a fan club but may not have anyone around them who can introduce them to the fan club. By allowing users to purchase shares directly as described above after the initial subscription period ends, those who do not have the connections to become a fan club member as a lower-level member can also become a fan club member by obtaining shares directly from the fan club. This will allow users who do not have the connections to become a fan club member. In addition, members who directly hold shares will not have the right (introduction right) to introduce other users who are not members of the fan club to the fan club.

[0014] The fan club management device of the present application may generate viewing data, which is data corresponding to the right of the member user to listen to music provided by the artist, based on the data recorded in the member information recording unit, and may also be equipped with a viewing management unit that transmits the generated viewing data to the user terminal of the member user via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network. The viewing data is data that represents the right to view music provided by an artist. Those who have this data can view music provided by the artist they support through a fan club management device or other devices that operate audio distribution sites or video distribution sites. This right can be granted regardless of the type of stock held by the user. The viewing data may or may not be sent to the user terminal at the same time that the data representing the stock is provided to the user. It is also possible to change the content of the viewing data depending on the type of stocks held by the user. For example, a primary member can view a certain song earlier than a lower-level member, and an nth-level member can view a wider variety of songs than an n+1th-level member. If the viewing data provided to a primary member is more advantageous than that provided to a lower-level member, or if the viewing data provided to a higher-ranking member among the lower-level members is more advantageous, users can be motivated to become a member of the fan club at an earlier stage. Rules regarding the provision of viewing data, such as the contents of the viewing data provided to the user and the timing of providing the viewing data, can also be recorded in the rule recording section.

[0015] The fan club management device of the present application may generate viewing data, which is data corresponding to the right of the member user to view a live performance provided by the artist, based on the data recorded in the member information recording unit, and may also be equipped with a viewing management unit that transmits the generated viewing data to the user terminal of the member user via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network. The viewing data is data that represents the right to view a live performance provided by an artist, and is equivalent to a live ticket. Those who have this data will be able to view a live performance provided by the artist they support. This right can be granted regardless of the type of stocks held by the user. The viewing data may or may not be sent to the user terminal at the same time that the data representing the stocks is provided to the user. It is also possible to change the content of the viewing data depending on the type of stocks held by the user. For example, the content of the viewing data sent to the secondary member may be the same as or less favorable than the content of the viewing data sent to the primary member, and the content of the viewing data sent to the nth member may be the same as or less favorable than the content of the viewing data sent to the n-1th member. If the content of the viewing data provided to primary members is more favorable than that of lower-level members, or if the content of the viewing data provided to higher-ranking members among the lower-level members is more favorable, users can be motivated to become members of the fan club at an early stage. Rules regarding the provision of viewing data, such as the contents of the viewing data provided to the user and the timing of providing the viewing data, can also be recorded in the rule recording section.

[0016] The present inventors also propose a method executed by the fan club management device as one aspect of the present invention. The effects of such a method are equal to the effects of the fan club management device according to the present invention. One example of such a method is to manage a fan club, which is a collection of fans who support a specific artist, by distributing shares that represent membership in the fan club to the users, by combining it with multiple user terminals used by multiple users each connected to a specific network and capable of communicating via the network, and the method is executed by the information processing unit of a fan club management device that has a transmission / reception mechanism capable of communicating via the network, a rule recording unit that records the rules of the fan club, a member information recording unit that records information regarding the shares held by the members for each member, and an information processing unit that performs information processing based on the rules recorded in the rule recording unit using data sent from the user terminals via the network by the transmission / reception mechanism. The method is executed by the information processing unit, during an initial recruitment period, which is a predetermined period from the start of recruitment for members, when data indicating an intention to purchase the shares at a price of X1 per share and the number of shares desired to be purchased is sent from the user who is not a member via the user terminal and the network, and a payment calculated by multiplying X1 by the number of shares desired to be purchased by the user is made to the fan club, the method determining to issue to the user, in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, the number of primary shares, which are a type of the shares, that the user wishes to purchase, and a primary stock management process for recording in the member information recording unit that the user is a primary member and the number of primary stocks to be issued to the user; a user introduced by the primary member as a secondary member candidate, a user introduced by the secondary member as a tertiary member candidate, a user introduced by the n-1th member as an nth member candidate (where n is a natural number between 2 and N, and N is a predetermined natural number greater than or equal to 3); after the initial recruitment period ends, the user who is an nth member candidate introduced by the n-1th member may purchase the stocks at X per share via the user terminal and the network. n You have sent us your intention to purchase at a price of X and the number of shares you wish to purchase. na lower-level stock management process for, when a payment of the price calculated by multiplying the price by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, deciding to issue to the user the number of nth-level shares, which are a type of stock, that the user wishes to purchase, in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording section, and recording in the member information recording section that the user is an nth-level member, the number of the nth-level shares to be issued to the user, and information identifying the member who introduced the user; and a stock data generation process for generating stock data which is data corresponding to the primary shares decided to be issued to the user in the primary stock management process, or data corresponding to the nth-level shares decided to be issued to the user in the lower-level stock management process, and transmitting the stock data via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network to the user terminal of the user who is to become the owner of the shares corresponding to the stock data. In this method, the price of the stock is set to X1 > X2 and n is 2 or more according to the rule recorded in the rule recording unit. n ≧X n+1 The above conditions are to be satisfied.

[0017] The inventor of the present application also proposes, as one aspect of the present invention, a computer program for causing a specific computer, for example a general-purpose computer, to function as a fan club management device. The effect of such a computer program is equal to the effect of the fan club management device of the present invention, and it is possible to cause a specific computer to function as the fan club management device of the present invention. One example of such a computer program is a computer program that combines a specified computer with a plurality of user terminals used by a plurality of users, each of which is connected to a specified network and capable of communicating via the network, to manage a fan club, which is a collection of fans who support a specified artist, by distributing shares that represent membership in the fan club to the users, and causes the computer to function as a fan club management device that has a transmission / reception mechanism capable of communicating via the network, a rule recording unit that records the rules of the fan club, a member information recording unit that records information regarding the shares held by the members for each member, and an information processing unit that performs information processing based on the rules recorded in the rule recording unit using data sent by the transmission / reception mechanism from the user terminal via the network. This computer program determines to issue to the information processing unit, in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, the number of primary shares, which is a type of the shares, that the user wishes to purchase, to the user in the amount that the user wishes to purchase, in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, when, during an initial recruitment period, which is a predetermined period after the start of recruitment for members, a non-member user transmits, via the user terminal and the network, an expression of intent to purchase the shares at a price of X1 per share and data indicating the number of shares the user wishes to purchase, and a payment calculated by multiplying X1 by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club. In addition, when a primary stock management process is performed in which the fact that the user is a primary member and the number of the primary stocks to be issued to the user are recorded in the member information recording unit, and a user who has been introduced by the primary member is defined as a secondary member candidate, a user who has been introduced by the secondary member is defined as a tertiary member candidate, and a user who has been introduced by the n-1th member is defined as an nth member candidate (where n is a natural number between 2 and N, and N is a predetermined natural number greater than or equal to 3), after the initial recruitment period ends, the shares are transferred from the user who is an nth member candidate introduced by the n-1th member via the user terminal and the network at X per share. nYou have sent us your intention to purchase at a price of X and the number of shares you wish to purchase. n When a payment of the price calculated by multiplying the price by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, a lower-level stock management process is executed which decides to issue to the user the number of nth-level shares, which are a type of stock, that the user wishes to purchase, in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, and records in the member information recording unit that the user is an nth-level member, the number of the nth-level shares to be issued to the user, and information identifying the member who introduced the user; and a stock data generation process which generates stock data that corresponds to the primary shares decided to be issued to the user in the primary stock management process, or the nth-level shares decided to be issued to the user in the lower-level stock management process, and transmits the stock data via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network to the user terminal of the user who is to become the owner of the shares corresponding to the stock data. In addition, the computer program is configured to set the price of the stock to X when X1>X2 and n is 2 or more, according to the rule recorded in the rule recording unit. n ≧X n+1 The above conditions are to be satisfied. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a fan club management system including a server as a fan club management device and a large number of terminals according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the appearance of a terminal included in the system shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of a terminal included in the system shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 4] 2 is a block diagram showing functional blocks generated within a terminal included in the system shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing functional blocks generated within a server included in the system shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 6]FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a login screen displayed on a terminal display when a user purchases primary shares. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display of the terminal when a user has already logged in to purchase primary shares. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image that prompts a user to pay the purchase price of primary shares, which is displayed on a terminal display when the user purchases primary shares. [Figure 9] 2 is a diagram showing an example of data recorded in a member information recording unit of a server included in the system shown in FIG. 1 at the time of sale of primary shares. [Figure 10] 13 is a diagram showing an example of a login screen displayed on a terminal display when a user purchases lower-tier shares. [Figure 11] 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display of the terminal when a user has already logged in to purchase lower-tier shares. FIG. [Figure 12] 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image that is displayed on a terminal display when a user purchases subordinate shares, prompting the user to pay the purchase price for primary shares. FIG. [Figure 13] 2 is a diagram showing an example of data recorded in the member information recording unit of the server included in the system shown in FIG. 1 when the subordinate shares are sold. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a login screen displayed on a terminal display when a user directly purchases stocks. [Figure 15] 13 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on the display of the terminal when a user has logged in to directly purchase stocks; FIG. [Figure 16] 2 is a diagram showing an example of data recorded in a member information recording unit of a server included in the system shown in FIG. 1 at the time of direct stock sales. [Figure 17] A tree diagram showing the relationships between users who have an introduction relationship with a person who became a member through their introduction, starting from a certain user. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] A preferred embodiment of the present invention and its modifications will now be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the embodiment and the modified examples, the same symbols are used for the same objects, and the same description will be omitted in some cases.

[0020] FIG. 1 shows an outline of the overall configuration of a preferred embodiment of a fan club management system including a fan club management device according to the present invention. The system according to the embodiment includes a plurality of terminals 100-1 to 100-N (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as “terminals 100”) and a server 200. All of these are connectable to a network 400. In this embodiment, the network 400 is, but is not limited to, the Internet, although portions of the network 400 may include other networks, such as a LAN, an intranet, or the like. The terminal 100 in this embodiment corresponds to a user terminal in this application. The user terminal is owned by each user and used by each user. For example, just as it is common for one person to connect to the same Internet site from a smartphone, a tablet, and a stationary personal computer, the same user may use multiple terminals 100. On the other hand, the server 200 in this embodiment corresponds to a fan club management device as referred to in the present application. The server 200 and the terminals 100-1 to 100-N are capable of communicating with each other via a network 400.

[0021] Next, the configuration of the terminal 100 will be described. The configuration of each of the terminals 100-1 to 100-N is the same in terms of its relationship with the fan club management device of the present invention. The terminal 100 includes a computer. More specifically, the terminal 100 in this embodiment is configured by a general-purpose computer. The terminal 100 may be a smartphone, tablet, notebook computer, desktop computer, wearable terminal, etc. All of them are required to be capable of communicating via the network 400, and to be capable of generating functional blocks described later by installing a computer program described later, and to be capable of executing processes described later, and other specifications are not particularly important as long as they are capable of doing so. The terminal 100 may be a publicly known or well-known device, and a commercially available device is sufficient. For example, if the terminal 100 is a smartphone or a tablet, the terminal 100 as a smartphone may be, for example, an iPhone (trademark) manufactured and sold by Apple Japan LLC, and the terminal 100 as a tablet may be, for example, an iPad (trademark) manufactured and sold by Apple Japan LLC. If the terminal 100 is configured as a notebook computer, desktop computer, wearable device, or the like, any of these may be commercially available. In the following, the discussion will proceed assuming that the terminal 100 is a smartphone, although this is not limited to this.

[0022] An example of the external appearance of the terminal 100 is shown in FIG. The terminal 100 includes a display 101. The display 101 is for displaying still images or moving images, and may be a publicly known or well-known display. The display 101 is, for example, a liquid crystal display. If the terminal 100 is a desktop personal computer, the display 101 is external, but in the present application, the terminal 100 is still considered to be equipped with the display 101. The terminal 100 also includes an input device 102. The input device 102 is for a user to input desired information into the terminal 100. The input device 102 may be a publicly known or well-known display. The input device 102 of the terminal 100 in this embodiment is a button type, but is not limited to this, and may be a numeric keypad, a keyboard, a trackball, a mouse, a voice-to-text input device, a tap key, or the like. In particular, when the terminal 100 is a notebook computer, a desktop computer, or a wearable terminal, the input device 102 will be an external device such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a tapping switch, but in this application, the terminal 100 is still considered to have the input device 102. Also, when the display 101 is a touch panel, the display 101 also functions as the input device 102, which is the case in this embodiment.

[0023] The hardware configuration of the terminal 100 is shown in FIG. The hardware includes a central processing unit (CPU) 111, a read only memory (ROM) 112, a random access memory (RAM) 113, and an interface 114, which are interconnected by a bus 116. The CPU 111 is a computing device that performs computations. The CPU 111 executes a computer program recorded in, for example, the ROM 112 or the RAM 113 to perform the processes described below. Although not shown, the hardware may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or other large-capacity storage device, and the computer program may be recorded in the large-capacity storage device. In addition, the CPU 111 may be a graphics processing unit (GPU) or general purpose computing on GPU (GPGPU) in consideration of future improvements in computational processing capabilities. In the present application, a so-called CPU is adopted as the CPU 111 as an example of an embodiment. The computer program here includes at least a computer program for causing terminal 100 to execute processes (for example, processes for making terminal 100 function as a user terminal according to the present invention) described below. This computer program may be pre-installed in terminal 100, or may be post-installed in terminal 100. This computer program may be installed in terminal 100 via a predetermined recording medium such as a memory card, or via a network such as a LAN or the Internet. The computer program may include data used when CPU 111 executes information processing according to instructions based on the computer program. ROM 112 records computer programs and data necessary for CPU 111 to execute the processes described below. The computer programs recorded in ROM 112 are not limited to the above, and if terminal 100 is a smartphone, computer programs and data necessary for terminal 100 to function as a smartphone, for example, computer programs and data for implementing functions such as calling and e-mail, are recorded. Terminal 100 is also capable of browsing homepages based on data received via network 400, and is equipped with a known web browser to enable this. The RAM 113 provides a work area necessary for the CPU 111 to perform processing. In some cases, the RAM 113 may store (part of) the above-mentioned computer programs and data. The interface 114 exchanges data between the CPU 111, the RAM 113, etc., which are connected by the bus 116, and the outside. The above-mentioned display 101 and the input device 102 are connected to the interface 114. The operation contents input from the input device 102 are input from the interface 114 to the bus 116. As is well known, image data for displaying an image on the display 101 is sent from the bus 116 to the interface 114, and is output from the interface 114 to the display 101. The interface 114 is also connected to a transmission / reception mechanism (not shown), which is a well-known means for communicating with the outside via a network 400, which is the Internet, and thereby the terminal 100 is able to transmit data via the network 400 and receive data via the network 400. Such data transmission / reception via the network 400 may be performed by wire or wirelessly. For example, when the terminal 100 is a smartphone, such communication would normally be performed wirelessly. As long as this is possible, the configuration of the transmission / reception mechanism may be publicly known or well-known. Data received by the transceiver mechanism from the network 400 is received by the interface 114, and data passed from the interface 114 to the transceiver mechanism is sent by the transceiver mechanism via the network 400 to an external party, for example, the server 200.

[0024] 4 are generated within the terminal 100 as a result of the CPU 111 executing the computer program. Note that the following functional blocks may be generated by the functions of the above-mentioned computer program alone for causing the terminal 100 to function as the user terminal of the present invention, or may be generated by cooperation between the above-mentioned computer program and an OS or other computer programs installed in the terminal 100. In the terminal 100, an input unit 121, a control unit 122, an image generating unit 123, an output unit 124, and a stock data recording unit 125 are generated in relation to the functions of the present invention. Of these, the control unit 122 and the image generating unit 123 correspond to the arithmetic unit (CPU 111) in terms of hardware, or are realized by the function of the arithmetic unit that executes information processing according to the instructions of the above-mentioned computer program. When viewed as hardware, the input unit 121 and the output unit 124 correspond to the interface 114, or are realized by the function of the interface 114. More specifically, the input unit 121 and the output unit 124 conceptually correspond to the connection portion between the interface 114 and the bus 116. The stock data recording unit 125 is realized in hardware by a recording device, that is, the RAM 113, or a large-capacity recording device. All of the information processing performed by these functional blocks is realized by the CPU 111 .

[0025] The input unit 121 receives an input from the interface 114 . The input to the input unit 121 from the interface 114 includes an input from the input device 102. The input from the input device 102 includes, for example, data on a user ID, which is identification information unique to each user for identifying the user, and login data, both of which will be described in detail later. Input from the input device 102 also includes purchase request data, which requests the server 200, which serves as a fan club management device, to purchase shares, both of which will be described in detail later. The purchase request data is input together with share count data. The share count data is data that specifies the number of shares that the user wishes to purchase. In addition, introducer data, which will also be described later, may also be input from the input device 102. The data input from the interface 114 to the input unit 121 includes data input from the transmission / reception mechanism to the interface 114. The transmission / reception mechanism may receive data (for example, stock data and image control data, which will be described later) sent from the server 200 via the network 400. In any case, the input unit 121 sends the data received from the interface 114 to the control unit 122 .

[0026] The control unit 122 controls all of the functional blocks created within the terminal 100 . The control unit 122 has, for example, the following functions. User ID data and login data may be input to the control unit 122. When the control unit 122 receives these, it links the user ID data with the login data, and further attaches data specifying the server 200 as the destination, before sending them to the output unit 124. Introducer data may be input. When the control unit 122 receives this, it links the login data with the user ID data and the introducer data, and further attaches data specifying the server 200 as the destination, before sending them to the output unit 124. Purchase request data and number of shares data may also be input to the control unit 122. Upon receiving these, the control unit 122 links the purchase request data with the number of shares data, and further sends them to the output unit 124 with data specifying the server 200 as the destination. The control unit 122 may also receive image control data. When the control unit 122 receives the image control data, the control unit 122 sends an instruction to the image generation unit 123 to generate image data for displaying an image based on the image control data on the display 101 of the terminal 100. The control unit 122 may also receive stock data. When the control unit 122 receives the stock data, the control unit 122 sends the stock data to the stock data recording unit 125 and records the stock data in the stock data recording unit 125.

[0027] The image generation unit 123 may receive an instruction to generate image data for an image based on the image control data. When the image generation unit 123 receives the image control data, it generates image data based on the image control data and sends it to the output unit 124. As described above, the stock data recording unit 125 may record stock data by the control unit 122. That is, the stock data recording unit 125 has a function of recording stock data.

[0028] The output unit 124 outputs data generated by the functional blocks in the terminal 100 to the interface 114 . As described above, the control unit 122 may send data of a user ID and login data linked to each other, with data specifying the server 200 as the destination attached, to the output unit 124. The output unit 124, which has received this, sends the data to the transmission / reception mechanism via the interface 114. The transmission / reception mechanism sends the user ID data and login data to the server 200 via the network 400. As described above, the control unit 122 may send data of a user ID and login data linked to each other, with data specifying the server 200 as the destination attached, and introducer data to the output unit 124. The output unit 124, which has received this, sends the data to the transmission / reception mechanism via the interface 114. As described above, there are cases where the output unit 124 receives from the control unit 122 purchase request data and share count data that are linked to each other and that are accompanied by data specifying the server 200 as the destination. Upon receiving this, the output unit 124 transmits the data to the transmitting / receiving mechanism via the interface 114. The transmitting / receiving mechanism transmits the purchase request data and share count data to the server 200 via the network 400. Furthermore, image data may be sent from the image generating unit 123 to the output unit 124. Upon receiving the image data, the output unit 124 sends the image data to the interface 114. The image data is sent from the interface 114 to the display 101, and an image based on the image data is displayed on the display 101.

[0029] Next, the configuration of the server 200 will be described. When viewed as hardware, the server 200 may be an existing publicly known or well-known server. In addition, the hardware configuration may also be general, and roughly speaking, it may follow the hardware configuration of the terminal 100, in which a CPU 111, a ROM 112, a RAM 113, and an interface 114 are connected via a bus 116. However, the server 200 generally has a large-capacity storage device such as an HDD, an SSD, or the like. The configurations and functions of the CPU, ROM, RAM, interface, bus, and large-capacity storage device of the server 200 are the same as those of the terminal 100. A transmitting / receiving mechanism for communicating with devices outside the server 200 via the network 400, similar to that of the terminal 100, is connected to the interface of the server 200. Information (data) sent from the bus to the interface is sent to the transmitting / receiving mechanism, and is then sent from the transmitting / receiving mechanism to, for example, the terminal 100 via the network 400. Data sent from the terminal 100 via the network 400 and received by the transmitting / receiving mechanism is sent from the transmitting / receiving mechanism to the interface, and from the interface to the bus. Note that the interface of the server 200 may be connected to a display and input device similar to those of the terminal 100, but as this is not particularly relevant to the present application, a description of these will be omitted.

[0030] By executing a computer program recorded in a ROM, a large capacity storage device, or the like in the server 200 to cause the server 200 to function as the fan club management device of the present invention, the following functional blocks are generated in the server 200. The following functional blocks may be generated by the function of a single computer program for causing the server 200 to function as the fan club management device of the present invention, or may be generated by cooperation between the computer program and an OS or other computer programs installed in the server 200. The computer program may be pre-installed in the server 200, or may be post-installed in the server 200. In this case, the computer program may be installed in the server 200 via a predetermined recording medium such as a memory card, or via a network such as a LAN or the Internet. These circumstances are the same as those in the case of the terminal 100. Within the server 200, in relation to the functions of the present invention, an input unit 221, a control unit 222, a primary stock management unit 223A, a lower-level stock management unit 223B, a direct stock management unit 223C, a stock data generation unit 224, a payment management unit 225, a member information recording unit 226A, a rule recording unit 226B, a viewing management unit 227A, a viewing management unit 227B, an image control unit 228, an output unit 229, and a remuneration management unit 300 are generated (Figure 5). Of these, the control unit 222, the primary stock management unit 223A, the lower-level stock management unit 223B, the direct stock management unit 223C, the stock data generation unit 224, the payment management unit 225, the viewing management unit 227A, the viewing management unit 227B, the image control unit 228, and the remuneration management unit 300 correspond to a computing device (which is not limited to a CPU in the description of the embodiment) in terms of hardware, or are realized by the functions of a computing device that executes information processing in accordance with the instructions of the above-mentioned computer program. When viewed as hardware, the input unit 221 and the output unit 229 correspond to an interface, or are realized by the function of an interface. More specifically, the input unit 221 and the output unit 229 conceptually correspond to a connection portion between an interface and a bus. The member information recording unit 226A and the rule recording unit 226B are realized as hardware by a recording device, that is, a RAM or a large-capacity recording device. The rule recording unit 226B may also be realized by a ROM.

[0031] The input unit 221 receives an input from an interface. The data input to the input unit 221 from the interface is data sent from the terminal 100 via the network 400 and received by the transmission / reception mechanism of the server 200 . The data that the transmitting and receiving mechanism accepts from the terminal 100 will be described in detail later, but includes, for example, user ID data and login data that are linked to each other, user ID data, login data, and introducer data that are linked to each other, purchase request data and number of shares data that are linked to each other, etc. When these data are accepted from the interface, the input unit 221 sends each of these data to the control unit 222. The data input from the transmitting / receiving mechanism includes payment data, which will be described in detail later. The payment data is sent, for example, from an external device that manages payments, such as a payment device managed by a bank, a credit card company, a prepaid payment method, or other electronic payment provider. The payment data is data that at least indicates which user has paid how much to the fan club.

[0032] The control unit 222 controls all of the functional blocks created in the server 200 . The control unit 222 has a function to determine whether the current date and time falls within the initial collection period. The initial collection period is a predetermined period from when the server 200, which is the fan club management device of the present application, starts selling shares. The start and end of the initial collection period are determined by data recorded in the rule recording unit 226B, which will be described later. The length of the initial collection period can be, for example, about three months. The control unit 222 has a function for grasping the current date and time, for example, a clock function or a function for reading data related to the current date and time from an external device, and is capable of determining whether the current date and time falls within the initial collection period using the data of the current date and time grasped by such publicly known or well-known functions. The control unit 222 also has an authentication function for determining whether or not a user can log in to the server 200. The control unit 222 may receive data of a pair of user IDs and login data from the input unit 221. When the control unit 222 receives data of a user ID and login data linked to each other, it has a function of authenticating the user having the user ID, and when the authentication is approved, it has a function of approving the user's login to the service provided by the server 200, which is a fan club management device. The control unit 222 may receive data of a user ID, login data, and introducer data linked to each other from the input unit 221. When the control unit 222 receives data of a user ID, login data, and introducer data linked to each other, it also authenticates the user having the user ID. In addition, when the control unit 222 receives these three types of data, it has a function of determining which shares of the subordinate shares can be sold to the user. When making such a determination, the control unit 222 uses data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A, and the details of the process will be described later. In order to authenticate users, the control unit 222 records user IDs assigned to users of all terminals 100. The user IDs may be recorded in the member information recording unit 226A, for example. The user ID is a unique identifier for each user, and may be, for example, a string of at least one of letters, numbers, and symbols. The user ID for each user may be issued to each user by the server 200 as a fan club management device, or may be determined by each user and notified to the server 200 in advance. In any case, it is easy to prepare a large number of user IDs that are all unique in relation to others, and to make them retainable in, for example, the control unit 222 of the server 200 or an appropriate recording device, by referring to publicly known or well-known technologies. Of course, a combination of a user ID and a password can be used to authenticate a user. It is also possible to perform user authentication using a user's physical or behavioral characteristics, such as a fingerprint or iris, without using a user ID. In any case, it is possible to apply appropriate publicly known or well-known technologies to authenticate a user. If the login is approved, an instruction to generate image control data is sent to image control unit 228. Details of the authentication process in this embodiment will be described later. The control unit 222 instructs the viewing management unit 227A to generate viewing data at a predetermined timing, which will be described later. Also, the control unit 222 instructs the viewing management unit 227B to generate viewing data at a predetermined timing, which will be described later. The control unit 222 instructs the image control unit 228 to generate image control data, as described below, at a predetermined timing, as described below. The control unit 222 also has a function of determining the purchase price per share of stocks to be purchased by the user, and a function of determining the price of the stocks that the user wishes to purchase. The purchase price per share of stocks and the price of the stocks that the user wishes to purchase are reflected in the image displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100. The instruction to generate image control data sent by the control unit 222 to the image control unit 228 may include content such as to include the correct purchase price per share of stocks or the correct price of the stocks that the user wishes to purchase in the image displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100.

[0033] The control unit 222 also controls a primary stock management unit 223A, a lower-level stock management unit 223B, and a direct stock management unit 223C, which will be described later, each of which has a function of determining the issuance of stocks to users. The primary stock management unit 223A, the lower-level stock management unit 223B, and the direct stock management unit 223C each have a function to determine the issuance of primary stocks, lower-level stocks, and direct stocks, all of which will be described later. In this embodiment, the stocks (stock data) issued by the server 200 as the fan club management device of the present application include primary stocks, lower-level stocks, and direct stocks. However, of these, only the primary stocks and lower-level stocks are essential as stocks to be issued, and direct stocks are not essential. If the server 200 does not issue direct stocks, the direct stock management unit 223C is not necessary, and the control unit 222 does not need a function to control the direct stock management unit 223C. The control unit 222 may receive purchase request data and number of shares data that are linked to each other from the input unit 221. The control unit 222 sends this data to any one of the primary stock management unit 223A, the lower-level stock management unit 223B, or the direct stock management unit 223C. In other words, the control unit 222 allocates the purchase request data and number of shares data that are linked to each other to any one of the primary stock management unit 223A, the lower-level stock management unit 223B, or the direct stock management unit 223C.

[0034] As described above, the control unit 222 may receive the purchase request data and the number of shares data that are linked to each other from the input unit 221. The purchase request data and the number of shares data that are linked to each other may be sent to the control unit 222 during the initial subscription period or after the end of the initial subscription period. The case where the purchase request data and the number of shares data linked to each other are received within the initial subscription period is when the user wishes to purchase primary shares, as will be described later. On the other hand, if the linked purchase request data and share count data are received after the end of the initial subscription period, as will also be described below, this is the case when the user wishes to purchase subordinate shares or when the user wishes to purchase shares directly.

[0035] When the control unit 222 receives purchase request data and share count data that are linked to each other during the initial subscription period, the control unit 222 sends the user ID data of the logged-in user and the share count data to the primary stock management unit 223A, since this indicates that the user wishes to issue primary shares. In addition, at an appropriate timing after sending the user ID data and the number of shares data to the primary stock management unit 223A, the control unit 222 may receive payment data indicating that the user has paid the purchase price for the primary stocks he or she desired to purchase from the payment management unit 225. When such payment data is received, the control unit 222 is configured to send the payment data to the primary stock management unit 223A. The paid data is as follows: As described above, payment data may be input from the input unit 221 to the payment management unit 225. This is data that at least indicates which user has paid how much to the fan club. The payment data is sent to the server 200 from a predetermined payment device that the user used to pay money to the fan club, for example, a payment device managed by a bank, a credit card company, an electronic payment provider, or the like. On the other hand, before or after the control unit 222 sends the user ID data and the number of shares data to the primary stock management unit 223A, the control unit 222 sends information about the purchase price waiting for payment (that is, information that identifies at least the amount of the purchase price waiting for payment and the user who should pay the purchase price) to the payment management unit 225. If the payment data received by the payment management unit 225 corresponds to the purchase price of stocks that are waiting for payment, the payment management unit 225 generates paid data assuming that the user has paid the purchase price of the stocks, and sends the generated paid data to the control unit 222. In this way, the payment management unit 225 has a function of confirming whether or not the purchase price of the stocks has been paid by the user in cooperation with the control unit 222. The so-called payment confirmation function, which is a function of confirming whether or not a certain price has been paid, is of course publicly known or well-known. Therefore, the payment confirmation function of the payment management unit 225, which is performed in cooperation with the control unit 222, can be appropriately constructed using publicly known or well-known technology.

[0036] When the control unit 222 receives purchase request data and number of shares data that are linked to each other after the end of the initial subscription period, as described above, the user wishes to purchase subordinate shares or directly purchase shares. Here, the user who sends the purchase request data and the number of shares data from the terminal 100 has previously logged in to the server 200. If the user has sent introducer data when logging in, the user wishes to purchase lower-tier shares (more precisely, shares of a specific order among lower-tier shares). If the user has not sent introducer data when logging in, the user wishes to purchase shares directly. If the control unit 222 receives purchase request data and number of shares data linked to each other from the terminal 100 that had previously sent the introducer data after the end of the initial subscription period, this indicates that the user wishes to issue lower-level shares, so the control unit 222 further links the linked purchase request data and number of shares data to the introducer data that it had previously received, and sends them to the lower-level stock management unit 223B. In addition, at an appropriate timing after sending the user ID data, the number of shares data, and the introducer data to the lower-layer stock management unit 223B, the control unit 222 may receive payment data from the payment management unit 225 indicating that the user has paid the purchase price for the lower-layer shares that the user wishes to purchase. When such payment data is received, the control unit 222 is configured to send the payment data to the lower-layer stock management unit 223B. The function of the payment management unit 225 when the user is attempting to purchase lower-layer shares is the same as when the user wishes to purchase primary shares. If the control unit 222 receives purchase request data and number of shares data linked to each other from a terminal 100 that has not previously sent introducer data after the end of the initial subscription period, this indicates that the user wishes to issue shares directly, so the control unit 222 sends the user ID data and number of shares data of the logged-in user directly to the stock management unit 223C. In addition, at an appropriate timing after sending the user ID data and the number of shares data to the direct stock management unit 223C, the control unit 222 may receive payment data from the payment management unit 225 indicating that the purchase price for the direct stocks desired to be purchased by the user has been paid. When such payment data is received, the control unit 222 is configured to send the payment data to the direct stock management unit 223C. The function of the payment management unit 225 when the user is about to purchase direct stocks is the same as when the user is about to purchase primary stocks.

[0037] The primary stock management unit 223A has a function of determining how many primary stocks to issue to a user. As described above, the primary stock management unit 223A may receive from the control unit 222 data on the user IDs of logged-in users who are linked to each other and the number of shares data. When the primary stock management unit 223A receives the data, it means that the user wishes to purchase primary stocks. Then, when payment data indicating that the purchase price for the primary stocks that the user wishes to purchase has been paid is sent from the control unit 222, the primary stock management unit 223A decides to issue the primary stocks that the user wishes to purchase in the number desired by the user, which is specified by the number of stocks data. When the primary stock management unit 223A decides to issue primary stocks, it sends information (or data; in this embodiment, it is user ID data, although it is not limited thereto) for identifying the user to whom the primary stocks are to be issued, data for identifying the type of stocks to be allocated to the user (in this case, the stocks to be issued are primary stocks), and data indicating the number of stocks held by the user, all linked together, to the member information recording unit 226A, and records them in the member information recording unit 226A. Also, when the primary stock management unit 223A decides to issue primary stocks, it sends the same data as that sent to the member information recording unit 226A to the stock data generation unit 224. The lower layer stock management unit 223B has a function of determining how many lower layer stocks are to be issued to a user. As described above, the lower-level stock management unit 223B may receive from the control unit 222 data on the user ID of a logged-in user, the number of shares data, and the introducer data, which are linked to each other. When the lower-layer stock management unit 223B receives the data, it means that the user wishes to purchase the lower-layer stocks. Then, when the control unit 222 sends payment data indicating that the purchase price for the lower-layer stocks that the user wishes to purchase has been paid, the lower-layer stock management unit 223B decides to issue the lower-layer stocks that the user wishes to purchase in the number desired by the user, which is specified by the share count data. When the lower-level stock management unit 223B decides to issue lower-level stocks, it sends information (or data; not limited to this, but in this embodiment, it is user ID data) for identifying the user to whom the lower-level stocks are issued, data for identifying the type of stocks to be allocated to the user (i.e., any of secondary stocks to Nth-level stocks), and data indicating the number of stocks to be issued to the user to the member information recording unit 226A in a linked state, and records them in the member information recording unit 226A. As will be explained later, the writing of the above-mentioned data by the lower-level stock management unit 223B to the member information recording unit 226A is slightly different from the writing of the above-mentioned data by the primary stock management unit 223A to the member information recording unit 226A. When the lower-level stock management unit 223B writes to the member information recording unit 226A, the introducer data received from the control unit 222 is used. In addition, when the lower-level stock management unit 223B decides to issue lower-level stocks, it sends to the stock data generation unit 224 the data sent to the member information recording unit 226A, excluding the introducer data. The direct stock management unit 223C has a function of determining how many shares to directly issue to a user. As described above, the direct stock management unit 223C may receive from the control unit 222 data on the user IDs of logged-in users who are linked to each other and data on the number of shares. When the direct stock management unit 223C receives these data, it means that the user wishes to purchase direct stocks. Then, when payment data indicating that the purchase price for the direct stocks that the user wishes to purchase has been paid is sent from the control unit 222, the direct stock management unit 223C decides to issue the direct stocks that the user wishes to purchase in the number desired by the user, which is specified by the share count data. When the direct stock management unit 223C decides to issue direct stocks, it sends information (or data; in this embodiment, it is user ID data, although it is not limited to this) for identifying the user to whom the direct stocks will be issued, data for identifying the type of stocks to be allocated to the user (in this case, the stocks to be issued are direct stocks), and data indicating the number of stocks held by the user, all linked together, to the member information recording unit 226A, and records them in the member information recording unit 226A. Furthermore, when the direct stock management unit 223C decides to issue direct stocks, it sends the same data as it sent to the member information recording unit 226A to the stock data generation unit 224.

[0038] The stock data generating unit 224 has a function of generating stock data. The stock data is data corresponding to stocks given to users. Moreover, stocks refer to the status or rights of a fan club member given to a person recognized as a fan club member by the fan club management device. However, as will be described later, stocks may be accompanied by other statuses or rights. As will be described later, in this embodiment, the right to obtain viewing data and viewing data may be accompanied by stock data. The data format of the primary stock data is free, as is the case with the data of the lower-level stocks and the data of the direct stocks. However, it is preferable that the data of each stock is unique from each other. The stock data generation unit 224 may receive from the primary stock management unit 223A data on the user ID, data specifying the type of stock to be issued as primary stock, and stock count data, all linked together. Upon receiving these, the stock data generation unit 224 generates stock data corresponding to the stock to be provided to the user. The generated stock data is stock data for primary stocks. The number of pieces of stock data generated is the same as the number specified by the stock count data. The stock data generation unit 224 transmits the generated stock data to the output unit 229 together with information specifying the user's terminal 100 to which the data is to be sent. The stock data generating unit 224 may receive data on the user ID, data specifying the type of stock to be issued, and stock count data from the lower-level stock management unit 223B in a linked state. Upon receiving these, the stock data generating unit 224 generates stock data corresponding to the stock to be provided to the user. The generated stock data is stock data for stocks corresponding to the data specifying the type of stock (any of secondary stocks to Nth-order stocks). The number of stock data generated is the same as the number specified by the stock count data. The stock data generating unit 224 transmits the generated stock data to the output unit 229 together with information specifying the user's terminal 100 to which the data is to be sent. The stock data generation unit 224 may receive data on the user ID, data specifying the type of stock to be issued as direct stock, and stock count data from the direct stock management unit 223C in a linked state. Upon receiving these, the stock data generation unit 224 generates stock data corresponding to the stock to be provided to the user. The generated stock data is stock data on direct stock. The number of pieces of stock data generated is the same as the number specified by the stock count data. The stock data generation unit 224 is configured to send the generated stock data to the output unit 229 together with information specifying the user's terminal 100 to which the data is to be sent.

[0039] The viewing management unit 227A has a function of generating viewing data. The viewing management unit 227A generates viewing data when the control unit 222 issues an instruction to generate the viewing data. The viewing data corresponds to the right of a fan club member to listen to music provided by the artist he or she supports. The viewing data is provided to the fan club member who holds shares. When generating viewing data, viewing management unit 227A refers to the data recorded in member information recording unit 226A and generates viewing data based on the data recorded in member information recording unit 226A. Details of the method of generating viewing data will be described later. The data format of the viewing data is free, but it is preferable that each piece of viewing data is unique. When the viewing data is generated, the viewing management unit 227A attaches a destination indicating the user's terminal 100 to which the viewing data should be sent to the viewing data, and sends the data to the output unit 229. The destination information is provided to the viewing management unit 227A from the control unit 222, for example.

[0040] The viewing management unit 227B has a function of generating viewing data. The viewing management unit 227B generates viewing data when the control unit 222 issues an instruction to generate viewing data. The viewing data corresponds to the right of a fan club member to view a live performance provided by an artist that the fan club member supports. The viewing data is provided to the fan club member who holds shares. When generating viewing data, the viewing management unit 227B refers to the data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A and generates viewing data based on the data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A. The details of the method of generating viewing data will be described later. The data format of the viewing data is free, but it is preferable that each viewing data is unique. When the viewing data is generated, the viewing management unit 227B attaches a destination indicating the user's terminal 100 to which the viewing data should be sent to the viewing data, and sends the data to the output unit 229. The destination information is provided to the viewing management unit 227B from the control unit 222, for example. Incidentally, like the viewing management unit 227A, the viewing management unit 227B is not essential.

[0041] The image control unit 228 has a function of generating image control data. The image control data is data for controlling an image displayed on display 101 of terminal 100 operated by a user. Therefore, the image control data is transmitted from server 200 to terminal 100 via network 400. The image control unit 228 generates image control data when an instruction to generate image control data is given by the control unit 222. The instruction includes an instruction as to what type of image control data is to be generated. When the image control data is generated, the image control unit 228 attaches a destination indicating the user terminal 100 to which the image control data should be sent to the image control data, and sends the data to the output unit 229. The destination information is provided to the image control unit 228 from the control unit 222, for example.

[0042] The output unit 229 has a function of transmitting data sent from the stock data generation unit 224, the viewing management unit 227A, the viewing management unit 227B, and the image control unit 228 to the transmission / reception mechanism of the server 200 via an interface. Stock data on primary stocks, subordinate stocks, or direct stocks is sent from the stock data generation unit 224. Viewing data is sent from the viewing management unit 227A, viewing data is sent from the viewing management unit 227B, and image control data is sent from the image control unit 228. As described above, the stock data, viewing data, viewing data, and image control data are provided with information (data) specifying the destination terminal 100. The data, together with the information specifying the destination, are sent from the output unit 229 to the transmission / reception mechanism. The transmitting / receiving mechanism transmits the stock data, viewing data, viewing data, and image control data via the network 400 to the terminal 100 specified by the information specifying the destination.

[0043] The rule recording unit 226B records rules for issuing stocks. In this embodiment, the rule recording unit 226B also records rules for providing viewing data to users and rules for providing viewing data to users. Each of the functional blocks described above formed in server 200, particularly control unit 222, primary stock management unit 223A, lower-level stock management unit 223B, direct stock management unit 223C, stock data generation unit 224, payment management unit 225, member information recording unit 226A, viewing management unit 227A, and viewing management unit 227B, reads out rules from rule recording unit 226B as necessary and executes information processing according to the read out rules. In view of this, arrows indicating the flow of data from rule recording unit 226B to the numerous functional blocks described above should be drawn in Fig. 5, but the arrows have been omitted to avoid making the diagram too complicated. The rules recorded in the rule recording unit 226B are, for example, the rules exemplified below. However, the rules recorded in the rule recording unit 226B do not necessarily have to be the rules exemplified below, and may be indirect adaptations of the rules exemplified below as long as it is possible to cause each functional block to execute stock issuance and other processes based on the rules exemplified below. Examples of rules regarding the issuance of stocks include the following. Note that the following rules do not include rules for directly controlling the stock management unit 223C, the viewing management unit 227A, and the viewing management unit 227B, but the rules for controlling them can also be recorded in the rule recording unit 226B, and this is done in this embodiment. (Rule 1) Primary shares will be sold during the initial subscription period. Users who purchase primary shares will become primary members. (Rule 2) After the initial recruitment period ends, primary members can introduce users who are candidates for secondary membership to the fan club. (Rule 3) Users who are introduced to the fan club by a primary member can purchase secondary shares, and users who purchase secondary shares become secondary members. (Rule 4) After the initial recruitment period ends, secondary members may introduce users who are candidates for tertiary membership to the fan club. (Rule 5) Users who are introduced to the fan club by secondary members can purchase tertiary shares, and users who purchase tertiary shares become tertiary members. (Rule 6) Similarly, thereafter, the n-1th degree member can introduce users who are candidates for nth degree members to the fan club. (Rule 7) A user who is introduced to the fan club by an n-1th degree member can purchase nth degree shares, and a user who purchases nth degree shares becomes an nth degree member. (Rule 8) Primary members through N-1th degree members can introduce users who are potential members to the fan club, but Nth degree members cannot introduce users who are potential members to the fan club. (Rule 9) The price per share of a 1st tier stock is always higher than that of a 2nd tier stock, and for stocks after the 2nd tier stock or subsequent to the 2nd tier stock, the price per share of an nth tier stock is the same as or lower than the price of an n-1th tier stock. (Rule 10) The maximum number of shares that can be issued is z.

[0044] In this embodiment of the fan club system operated by server 200, which corresponds to the fan club management device of the present application, primary members who are the owners of primary shares and lower-tier members who are the owners of lower-tier shares (excluding Nth-tier members) can introduce new users to the fan club. Although not limited to this, in this embodiment, a reward having the nature of a referral fee is paid to a member who introduces a new user to the fan club. The remuneration management unit 300 has a function of determining the amount of such remuneration. The remuneration management unit 300 corresponds to the calculation unit in this application. The method for calculating the amount of remuneration and the timing for calculating the amount of remuneration will be described later. The reward management unit 300 must have the function of calculating the amount of reward, but does not necessarily have to have the function of paying the reward to the user. This point will also be described later.

[0045] Next, a method of using and operation of the fan club management system including the server 200 and the terminal 100 described above will be described.

[0046] <Primary share purchase by users> The sale of primary shares by the server 200 is conducted within an initial offering period, which is a predetermined period from the start of the sale of shares, and users can purchase primary shares only during the initial offering period. The fact that the primary shares will be sold is advertised, for example, on the homepage of a fan club provided by the server 200, so that users will know that an artist is recruiting members for its fan club or that primary shares are being sold. As described above, the control unit 222 has a function of determining whether the current date and time is within the initial subscription period. The following process, which describes the purchase of primary shares by a user, is executed only during the period in which the control unit 222 determines that the current date and time is within the initial subscription period and before the control unit 222 determines that the initial subscription period has ended. The process performed by the user to purchase primary shares includes a process of logging in to the server 200 via the terminal 100 (login process) and a process of purchasing primary shares (primary share purchase process). It is possible to set an upper limit on the number of shares that can be issued from the server 200, which is a fan club management device. For example, by setting an upper limit on the number of shares that can be issued for each of the primary shares, the lower tier shares, and the direct shares, an upper limit can be set on the total number of shares distributed from the server 200. It is also possible to set an upper limit on the number of shares that can be issued without setting an upper limit on the number of shares that can be issued for each of the primary shares, the lower tier shares, and the direct shares. Although not limited to this, the server 200 of this embodiment sets an upper limit on the number of shares that can be issued without setting an upper limit on the number of shares that can be issued for each of the primary shares, the lower tier shares, and the direct shares. In addition, although not limited thereto, in this embodiment, there is an upper limit on the number of primary shares, subordinate shares, and direct shares that one user can purchase. The upper limit on the number of shares that can be purchased for each type of stock may or may not be the same for all shares, but in this embodiment, the upper limit on the number of shares that can be purchased for each type of stock is set to 5 shares.

[0047] (Login process) The login process is as follows: However, before the login process is executed, each user notifies the server 200 of his / her own user ID via his / her own terminal 100 and registers the user ID in advance in the server 200. Although not limited to this, in this embodiment, the user ID of each user is recorded in the member information recording unit 226A by the control unit 222. It should be noted that the login process described below is merely an example, and it is of course possible to apply any of the many login processes available in the world. Terminal 100 may be able to access server 200 using a dedicated viewer provided by a computer program installed on terminal 100, but is not limited to this in this embodiment, terminal 100 is able to access server 200 via network 400 using a web browser.

[0048] First, a user accesses server 200 by inputting the URL of server 200 into, for example, the address bar of a web browser. The URL is input using input device 102. URL data is transmitted from input device 102 to control unit 122 via interface 114 and input unit 121. The control unit 122 attaches the URL data to the access request data and sends it to the transmission / reception mechanism via the output unit 124 and the interface 114. The transmission / reception mechanism of the terminal 100 transmits the access request data via the network 400 to the server 200 specified by the URL. The server 200 receives the access request data through its transmission / reception mechanism. The access request data is sent from the transmission / reception mechanism to the control unit 222 via the interface and the input unit 221. The control unit 222 sends to the image control unit 228 data specifying the terminal 100 that sent the access request as the destination, as well as data commanding the generation of an image corresponding to a login screen. The image control unit 228 generates image control data for displaying an image corresponding to the command from the control unit 222 on the display 101 of the terminal 100. The image control unit 228 sends the generated image control data to the transmission / reception mechanism via the output unit 229 together with data specifying the destination of the data. The transmitting and receiving mechanism transmits the image control data via the network 400 to the terminal 100 specified by the data specifying the destination, that is, the terminal 100 that has sent the access request to the server 200 .

[0049] The terminal 100 receives the video control data at its transmission / reception mechanism. The image control data is sent to the control unit 122 via the interface 114 and the input unit 121, and is further sent from the control unit 122 to the image generation unit 123. The image generation unit 123 generates image data for displaying an image on the display 101 based on the image control data. The image generating unit 123 sends the generated image data to the output unit 124. The image data is sent from the output unit 124 to the display 101 via the interface 114. An image based on the image data is displayed on the display 101. 6A shows an example of an image displayed on the display 101. This is a so-called login screen. As shown in the figure, the image displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100 includes the characters "User ID" 501, an input box 502 directly below it, and a button 503 labeled "Send."

[0050] Box 502 directly below the character string 501, "User ID," is a space for the user to input the user ID required for login processing. Button 503, "Submit," is a so-called "Decision" button, and when the user presses (clicks; the same applies below) this button 503, the user ID displayed in box 502 at that time is decided as the user ID to be input. When logging in, the user inputs a unique user ID that each user has into box 502 below character 501 labeled USER ID, as shown in FIG. 6(B). Of course, each user normally knows their own user ID and can input the user ID. The user ID is input using input device 102. The user ID is, for example, English letters, numbers, or a combination of these, and the user can input the user ID from input device 102 using a publicly known or well-known method. The user inputs a user ID into box 502 and presses button 503 labeled "Send." When the user presses button 503 labeled "Send," login data is input from input device 102 along with the user ID data corresponding to the user ID written in box 502. The login data and user ID data are sent from input device 102 to control unit 122 via interface 114 and input unit 121. The control unit 122 links the login data and the user ID data together, attaches data specifying the server 200 as the destination, and sends the data to the output unit 124. The login data and the user ID data that are linked together are sent to the transmission / reception mechanism via the output unit 124 and the interface 114, and are further sent to the server 200 via the network 400. As a result, the server 200 performs a process of authenticating the user based on the user ID.

[0051] The server 200 receives the login data and the user ID data, which are linked to each other, through its transmission / reception mechanism. The login data and the user ID data are sent from the interface to the control unit 222 via the input unit 221. The control unit 222, which has received the data, performs a process of authenticating the user. The control unit 222 judges whether or not the user ID sent from the terminal 100 matches the user ID in the member information recording unit 226A, in which the user IDs of all users are recorded. If the user ID data sent from the terminal 100 matches one of the user ID data recorded in the control unit 222, the user using the terminal 100 that sent the user ID is authenticated as a legitimate user having that user ID, and the user is permitted to use the fan club management service thereafter. On the other hand, if the user ID sent from the terminal 100 is not one recorded in the control unit 222, the above authentication is not performed, and the user is not permitted to use the fan club management service. As already mentioned, a password or other information may be used for authentication.

[0052] When authentication is successful, the control unit 222 instructs the image control unit 228 to generate the next image control data. The image control unit 228 generates the next image control data. This image control data is sent to the terminal 100 in the same manner as the image control data for displaying a login screen on the display 101 of the terminal 100. In terminal 100, image generation unit 123 generates image data based on the image control data, in the same manner as when a login screen is displayed on display 101 of terminal 100, and the generated image data is sent from image generation unit 123 to display 101. As a result, an image such as that shown in FIG. 7(A) is displayed on the display of terminal 100. When this image is displayed on the screen of display 101, the login process is completed.

[0053] (First stock purchase process) The first stock purchase process is as follows: 7(A), the text 511 "Welcome 111aaaa" is displayed on the screen of the display 101. The "111aaaa" in this text is, of course, just an example, the user ID of the user who has logged in. Additionally, text 512 stating "You can purchase primary shares / The purchase price of one share is X1" is displayed on the screen of the display 101. This enables the user to understand that the shares that the user can purchase are primary shares and that the price per share is X1. Here, the price per primary share displayed on the screen of the display 101 was determined by the control unit 222 in the server 200 based on the rules recorded in the rule recording unit 226B. The control unit 222 sent an instruction to the image control unit 228 in the server 200 to generate an image including the price X1 determined by the control unit 222, and the image control unit 228 generated image control data in accordance with the instruction, so that the image data generated by the image generation unit 123 of the terminal 100 based on the image control data includes the price X1 per primary share. Below the text 512 are displayed text 513 saying "Enter the number of shares you wish to purchase" and a box 514 for the user to enter the number of shares they wish to purchase. Further below that is displayed a button 515 saying "Submit." As shown in FIG. 7(B), the user inputs the number of primary shares he / she wishes to purchase into the box 514 using the input device 102. In FIG. 7(B), the user wishes to purchase three primary shares. When the user decides to purchase that number of primary shares, the user presses the button 515 labeled "Submit." The button 515, like the button 503, has the nature of a so-called decision button. In this embodiment, the upper limit of the number of primary shares that one user can purchase is set to 5. Therefore, the number that the user can input into the box 514 is set to be any number between 1 and 5. The user is free to notify the user of this fact, for example, by using the image shown in FIG. 7(A), or to display an error message when a number of 6 or more is input into the box 514. When the user inputs the number of primary shares he wishes to purchase in box 514 and presses button 515 marked "Submit," purchase request data is generated and input from input device 102 together with share count data, which is data identifying the number input in box 514 (the number 3 in this case). The purchase request data and share count data are sent from input device 102 to control unit 122 via interface 114 and input unit 121. The control unit 122 links the purchase request data and the number of shares data together, attaches data specifying the server 200 as the destination, and sends the data to the output unit 124. The linked data are sent via the output unit 124 and the interface 114 to the transmission / reception mechanism, and are further sent to the server 200 via the network 400.

[0054] The server 200 receives the purchase request data and the number of shares data, which are linked to each other, through its transmission / reception mechanism via the network 400. These data are sent from the transmission / reception mechanism to the control unit 222 via the interface and the input unit 221. When the control unit 222 receives purchase request data and number of shares data that are linked to each other during the initial subscription period, the control unit 222 links the user ID data of the logged-in user and the number of shares data to each other and sends them to the primary stock management unit 223A. The primary stock management unit 223A is in a state of holding the user ID data and the number of stocks data. In this case, the number of primary stocks specified by the number of stocks data that the user specified by the user ID wishes to purchase is in a state of waiting for payment, so to speak. On the other hand, the control unit 222 determines (calculates) the purchase price to be paid by the user for the number of primary shares that the user wishes to purchase. Since the control unit 222 knows that the price per share of the primary shares is X1, the control unit 222 can calculate the price of the primary shares to be paid by the user simply by multiplying the price per share by the number specified by the share count data. In this example, the price is 3×X1. The control unit 222 promptly sends the price of the primary shares and information for identifying the user who will pay the price (e.g., user ID data) to the payment management unit 225 after requesting the price of the primary shares to be paid by the user. This corresponds to the information on the price awaiting payment as described above. The control unit 222 also instructs the image control unit 228 to generate the next image control data. The instruction includes information on the purchase price of the primary stock that the user is about to purchase. The image control unit 228 generates the next image control data. This image control data is sent to the terminal 100 in the same manner as the image control data for displaying the login screen on the display 101 of the terminal 100. In the terminal 100, the image generation unit 123 generates image data based on the image control data, in the same manner as when the login screen is displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100, and the generated image data is sent from the image generation unit 123 to the display 101. As a result, an image such as that shown in FIG. When this image is displayed on the screen of the display 101, the user has provisionally reserved three primary shares.

[0055] 8, characters 521 saying "Welcome 111aaaa" are displayed on the screen of the display 101. As with the characters 511, "111aaaa" in this character is the user ID of the logged-in user. Additionally, text 522 stating "The purchase price for three primary shares is 3 x X1" is displayed on the screen of display 101. In other words, the image displayed on display 101 reflects the price of the shares the user is about to purchase. This allows the user to recognize the purchase price of the three primary shares that he or she is about to purchase. Furthermore, text 523 is displayed on the screen of display 101 stating "If you pay the purchase amount within one day, your stocks will be issued. Payment method is XX." This text allows the user to recognize the payment deadline and payment method for the stock purchase price. Of course, the payment deadline is not limited to one day. Also, there may be multiple payment methods.

[0056] The user makes payment to the fan club by the payment due date. The payment method can be according to the prior art, for example by credit card or electronic payment service, or by bank transfer. When the price of the primary shares is paid, payment data, which is data indicating at least which user has paid how much to the fan club, is input to the payment management unit 225 from an external device that manages payments, for example, a payment device managed by a bank, credit card company, electronic payment provider, etc. The payment data is, for example, sent to the server 200 via the network 400, received by the transmission / reception mechanism of the server 200, and received by the payment management unit 225 via the interface, the input unit 221, and the control unit 222. When the payment management unit 225 determines that the amount of payment to the user and fan club indicated by the received payment data matches the user and amount previously received from the control unit 222 that were awaiting payment, the payment management unit 225 generates paid data indicating that the amount of payment for the primary shares awaiting payment has been paid. The paid data is sent from the payment management unit 225 to the primary stock management unit 223A via the control unit 222. If the user does not make the appropriate payment by the payment deadline, the payment management unit 225, which does not receive the payment data, does not generate the paid data. Therefore, since the following process is not executed, the issuance of the primary stock is not decided by the primary stock management unit 223A, and the user does not receive the issuance of stock data for the primary stock. The situation in which the user does not make the appropriate payment by the payment deadline is the same when the user desires the issuance of subordinate stocks or direct stocks. When the paid data is received, the primary stock management unit 223A decides to issue primary stocks to the user corresponding to the payment in the number corresponding to the stock number data sent by that user. Once such a decision has been made, the primary stock management unit 223A sends the user ID of the user who will acquire the primary stock, data specifying the type of stock (primary stock) to be allocated to the user (hereinafter referred to as stock type data), and stock count data specifying the number of shares that the user will hold, all linked together to the member information recording unit 226A and the stock data generation unit 224.

[0057] In the member information recording unit 226A, a user ID, a stock type data, and a stock number data are recorded in a linked state to each other. An example of the data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A is shown in FIG. The stock data generation unit 224, which has received the user ID, stock type data, and stock count data, generates stock data corresponding to the stocks to be issued to the user. The number of stock data to be generated is the number specified by the stock count data. The stock data may be generated by any method, but in this embodiment, the stock data is generated as follows. In the example described so far, a user with a user ID of "111aaaa" is trying to purchase "3" shares of the stock type data "primary stock" corresponding to the stock number data. In this case, the stock data generation unit 224 generates the first of the three stock data by performing a predetermined operation on the character string "111aaaa / primary / 1st" to obtain a hash. Similarly, the stock data generation unit 224 performs a predetermined operation on the character string "111aaaa / primary / 2nd" to obtain a hash as the second stock data, and performs a predetermined operation on the character string "111aaaa / primary / 3rd" to obtain a hash as the third stock data. That is, in this example, the stock data is generated as a hash obtained from the character string "user ID / stock type data / stock data generation order". Since the "user ID" is unique for each user and the "stock data generation order" is unique among the stocks held by the same user, if such a stock data generation method is adopted, all stock data given to all users will basically be unique. If you do not want identical stock data to be generated, you can make all stock data given to all users unique by concatenating a plain text string of "user ID / stock type data / stock data generation order" with a hash obtained from the string of "user ID / stock type data / stock data generation order." After generating stock data on the primary stocks, the stock data generation unit 224 transmits the generated stock data to the output unit 229 together with information specifying the user's terminal 100 to which the data is to be sent, in a state where the data are linked to each other. The output unit 229 sends the stock data and the information specifying the destination to the transmission / reception mechanism via the interface. The transmission / reception mechanism transmits the stock data to the terminal 100 of the user specified by the information specifying the destination, that is, the terminal 100 of the logged-in user, via the network 400.

[0058] A logged-in user receives stock data through his / her terminal 100, and more particularly through the terminal's 100 transceiver mechanism. The stock data is sent from the transmitting / receiving mechanism to the control unit 122 via the interface 114 and the input unit 121. The control unit 122 sends the stock data to the stock data recording unit 125, and the stock data is recorded in the stock data recording unit 125. The user now has the primary stock, or more precisely, stock data about the primary stock representing the primary stock, and has the rights of a fan club member.

[0059] Through the above-mentioned process, many users purchase primary shares. As many users purchase primary shares, many sets of the above three pieces of data are written to the member information recording unit 226A. As a result, a database indicating which member (user) owns which shares and how many shares is started to be constructed in the member information recording unit 226A. An example of the data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A is shown in FIG. 9(B). At this point, we are still in the initial subscription period and only the first round of shares has been sold. After that, when the initial subscription period ends, the control unit 222 determines that the initial subscription period has ended. This ends the initial subscription period during which the primary shares are sold, and sales of the subordinate shares and direct shares begin.

[0060] <User purchase of underlying shares> The sale of the lower-level shares by the server 200 is carried out after the initial recruitment period ends. The fact that the lower-level shares are being sold is advertised, for example, on the homepage of the fan club provided by the server 200, so that users can know that an artist is recruiting members for the fan club or that the lower-level shares are being sold. In addition, users who have 1st-level shares (fan club members) or users who have lower-level shares up to N-1st-level shares in the case where there are N-level shares can invite new users who are not yet members of the fan club to the fan club as new members of the fan club, so that users can know that an artist is recruiting members for the fan club or that the lower-level shares are being sold by being invited as a member. As described above, the control unit 222 has a function of determining whether the current date and time is within the initial subscription period. The following process for the user's purchase of the lower-tier stocks is executed after the control unit 222 determines that the current date and time is after the end of the initial subscription period. The process performed by the user to purchase subordinate shares includes a process of logging in to the server 200 via the terminal 100 (login process) and a process of purchasing subordinate shares (subordinate share purchase process). In this embodiment, the lower tier shares are from 2nd tier shares to Nth tier shares (N is a predetermined natural number equal to or greater than 3). Of course, this is not limited to this, but in this embodiment, N is assumed to be 5. In other words, the lower tier shares are from 2nd tier shares to 5th tier shares, and members who hold 1st tier shares to 4th tier shares have the right to invite new users to the fan club, while members who hold 5th tier shares do not have such a right. In other words, an Nth tier member who holds Nth tier shares does not have the right to invite other users to the fan club.

[0061] (Login process) The login process is as follows: In this case, the user who is a candidate for a new member executes the login process. Each user, like the user who wishes to purchase the primary stock, needs to notify the server 200 of his / her user ID via his / her terminal 100 and register the user ID in the server 200 in advance before the login process is executed. A user who purchases underlying shares also accesses the server 200 using his / her terminal 100. In this case, the terminal 100 also accesses the server 200 via the network 400 using a web browser, although this is not limited thereto.

[0062] The user accesses the server 200 by inputting the URL of the server 200 into, for example, the address bar of a web browser, in the same manner as when purchasing primary shares. Then, in the same manner as when purchasing primary shares, access request data is transmitted from terminal 100 to server 200, and image control data is transmitted from server 200 back to terminal 100 that transmitted the access request. As explained in the case where the primary stock is purchased, an image based on image data generated by the image generating unit 123 based on the image control data is displayed on the screen of the display 101 of the terminal 100. An example of the image displayed on the display 101 is shown in Fig. 10(A). This is a so-called login screen.

[0063] The image displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100 is basically the same as the login screen when the user attempts to purchase primary shares, and as shown in the figure, includes the characters "User ID" 501, an input box 502 directly below it, and a button 503 labeled "Submit." The meanings and functions of these are the same as those described for the login screen when the user attempts to purchase primary shares. However, in this case, the image displays the words "Introducer's User ID" 504, and an input box 505 directly below it. Box 505 is a field for inputting the user ID of the user who has become the introducer, which is an example of information for identifying the user who has become the introducer for introducing the logged-in user to the fan club. A user attempting to log in can easily learn the user ID of the introducer by being notified of the introducer's user ID by the introducer verbally, by email, or by other means. If there is no introducer, the user does not need to input the introducer's user ID in box 505, but if there is an introducer, the user inputs the introducer's user ID in box 505. If the introducer is an n-1th order member, the user attempting to log in is a candidate for an n-th order member. Also, introducers are members of the fan club from 1st order members to N-1th order members (4th order members in this embodiment). Fig. 10(B) shows a state in which the user has entered his / her own user ID in box 502 for entering his / her own user ID, and the introducer's user ID in box 505 for entering the introducer's user ID. Of course, this is not the only case, but the introducer's user ID entered in box 505 in Fig. 10(B) is "111aaaa", which is the user ID of the user who purchased the primary shares in the above example explaining the purchase of primary shares. The user ID of the user attempting to log in is "222aabb". After inputting the user's own user ID in box 502 and the introducer's user ID in box 505, the user presses button 503 marked "Send." When the user presses button 503 marked "Send," login data is input from input device 102 along with the user ID data corresponding to the user ID written in box 502 and the user ID data corresponding to the introducer's user ID written in box 505. The login data, the user's own user ID data, and the introducer's user ID data are sent from input device 102 to control unit 122 via interface 114 and input unit 121. The introducer's user ID data is data for identifying the introducer, and is the introducer data that has appeared in the explanation so far. The control unit 122 links the login data and the data of the two user IDs to each other, attaches data specifying the server 200 as the destination, and sends the data to the output unit 124. The login data and the data of the two user IDs that are linked to each other are sent to the transmission / reception mechanism via the output unit 124 and the interface 114, and are further sent to the server 200 via the network 400. As a result, the server 200 performs a process of authenticating the user based on the user ID.

[0064] The server 200 receives the login data and the data of the two user IDs linked to each other through its transmission / reception mechanism. The login data and the data of the two user IDs are sent from the interface to the control unit 222 via the input unit 221. The control unit 222, which has received this data, performs the process of authenticating the user in the same manner as when a primary stock is purchased. Two user IDs are sent from the terminal 100 to the server 200, and the user ID used by the control unit 222 for authentication is of course the user ID of the user who has logged in, that is, the user ID entered in box 502 on the login screen. If the user is authenticated as a legitimate user, the user is permitted to use the fan club management service thereafter, whereas if the user is not authenticated, the user is not permitted to use the fan club management service, as described above.

[0065] When authentication is successful, the control unit 222 instructs the image control unit 228 to generate the next image control data. The image control unit 228 generates the next image control data. This image control data is sent to the terminal 100 in the same manner as the image control data for displaying a login screen on the display 101 of the terminal 100. Prior to generating the next image control data in the image control unit 228, the control unit 222 determines which of the lower-tier shares, from the second-tier stock to the N-tier stock (in this embodiment, N=5 as described above), the user who has requested login can purchase. In other words, the control unit 222 determines which of the lower-tier shares can be sold to the user. When making this determination, the control unit 222 uses the introducer's user ID of the two user IDs sent from the input 221 and the data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A. The control unit 222 searches for user IDs registered in the member information recording unit 226A using the introducer's user ID as a search word. If a user ID identical to the introducer's user ID is found, the strain type data linked to that user ID is read out. If the introducer's user ID is "111aaaa", as is clear from FIG. 9(B), the strain type data "primary" is read out. As described above, if the introducer is an n-1th order member, the user who is about to log in becomes a candidate for an nth order member. In other words, in the case of a sale of lower-level stocks, the logged-in user can purchase lower-level stocks of an order that is +1 to the order of the stocks specified by the read-out type data. The control unit 222 determines the stocks of an order that is +1 to the order of the stocks specified by the read-out type data as lower-level stocks that the logged-in user can purchase. The control unit 222 also determines the price per share of the stocks. The rule recording unit 226B records the price per share of each lower-level stock. The control unit 222 reads out the price per share of the nth order stocks (where n is a natural number between 2 and N (=5)) that the user can purchase from the rule recording unit 226B, and determines the read price as the price of the nth order stocks that the user can purchase. According to the rules recorded in the rule recording unit 226B, the price X1 of the first stock and the price of the nth stock are determined as follows: "X1>X2, and n is 2 or more, if X1>X2, then X1>X2, and n is 2 or more, if X1>X2, then X1>X2, and n is 2 or more, then X1>X2, and n is 2 or more, if X1>X2, then X2>X2, and n is 2 or more, then X2>X2, and n is 2 or more, if X2 ... n ≧X n+1 Furthermore, although not necessarily limited to this embodiment, the data recorded in the rule recording unit 226B may be such that "when n is a natural number, X n >X n+1 That is, in this embodiment, but not limited to, the n+1 tier shares are always set to be cheaper than the n tier shares, regardless of whether they are primary or subordinate shares. The price of the nth stock is X n As described above, the stocks that can be purchased by the user who is trying to purchase stocks in the example described so far are secondary stocks. Therefore, the control unit 222 determines the price of the secondary stocks to be X2. The control unit 222 includes the type of stocks that the logged-in user can purchase (any of 2nd to N(=5)th order stocks) and data on the stock price per share of the stock in the instruction to generate image control data to be sent to the image control unit 228. Therefore, based on the image control data generated by the image control unit 228, the image to be displayed later on the display 101 of the terminal 100 will reflect such information.

[0066] Similar to when a user purchases primary shares, the image control data generated by the image control unit 228 is sent from the server 200 to the terminal 100 of the logged-in user. Then, in the same manner as when the user purchases the primary stock, within the terminal 100, the image generation unit 123 generates an image based on the image control data, and an image is displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100 based on the image data sent from the image generation unit 123 to the display 101. An example of the image displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100 at that time is shown in FIG. 11(A). When this image is displayed on the screen of display 101, the login process is completed.

[0067] (Subordinate stock purchase processing) The lower tier stock purchase process is performed similarly to the primary stock purchase process. The login screen shown in FIG. 11(A) is the same as the login screen at the time of the first stock purchase shown in FIG. 7(A) except for the points described below as differences. Display 101 displays characters 511 including the user ID of the currently logged-in user, such as "Welcome 222aabb." Additionally, on the screen of the display 101, text 512 is displayed saying "You can purchase 2nd tier shares / The purchase price of 1 share is X2." This is a display to inform the user that the shares that the user can purchase are 2nd tier shares and that the price per share is X2. This is the difference between the login screen when purchasing lower tier shares and the login screen when purchasing 1st tier shares. Note that when the shares that the user can purchase are nth tier shares, the text 512 is displayed saying "You can purchase nth tier shares / The purchase price of 1 share is X2." n "It is." The login screen for purchasing lower-tier shares, like the login screen for purchasing primary shares, also displays text 513 saying "Please enter the number of shares you wish to purchase" and a box 514 for the user to enter the number of shares they wish to purchase, below text 512. Further below that, a button 515 with the word "Submit" written on it is displayed. As in the case of purchasing primary shares, the user inputs the number of nth order shares (secondary shares in this case) that he / she wishes to purchase into box 514 using input device 102, as shown in FIG. 11(B). In FIG. 11(B), the user wishes to purchase four secondary shares. Once the user has decided to purchase that number of secondary shares, he / she presses button 515 marked "Submit." Note that the number that can be input into box 514 is limited to five or less, as in the case of purchasing primary shares. When the user inputs the number of shares he wishes to purchase in box 514 and presses button 515 marked "Submit," purchase request data is generated and input from input device 102 together with share count data, which is data identifying the number input in box 514 (the number 4 in this case). The purchase request data and share count data are sent from input device 102 to control unit 122 via interface 114 and input unit 121. The control unit 122 links the purchase request data and the number of shares data together, attaches data specifying the server 200 as the destination, and sends the data to the output unit 124. The linked data are sent via the output unit 124 and the interface 114 to the transmission / reception mechanism, and are further sent to the server 200 via the network 400.

[0068] The server 200 receives the purchase request data and the number of shares data, which are linked to each other, through its transmission / reception mechanism via the network 400. These data are sent from the transmission / reception mechanism to the control unit 222 via the interface and the input unit 221. After the initial subscription period ends, when purchase request data and number of shares data that are linked to each other are received from the terminal 100 of a logged-in user, and if that user has previously sent introducer data, the control unit 222 links the linked purchase request data and number of shares data to the introducer data (i.e., the introducer's user ID) that was previously received, and sends them to the lower-level stock management unit 223A. As a result, the lower-level stock management unit 223B holds the user ID data, the number of shares data, and the introducer data. In addition, the lower-level stock management unit 223B uses the received introducer data, i.e., the introducer's user ID, as a search word, in the same manner as the control unit 222 previously performed, to search the member information recording unit 226A to read out the stock type data "1st order", and further increments the order by "+1" to determine that the stock the user is about to purchase is a 2nd order stock. In this way, the lower-level stock management unit 223B is able to determine the type of stock the user is about to purchase (any of 2nd order stocks to Nth order stocks (=5th order stocks)) using the introducer data and the data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A. However, the lower-level stock management unit 223B does not need to repeat the determination of the type of stock the user is about to purchase that has already been performed by the control unit 222, and may receive from the control unit 222 the stock type data indicating the type of stock the user is about to purchase, which is information already held by the control unit 222. In any case, once the stock type data has been grasped, the lower-level stock management unit 223B will hold the user ID data of the user who is attempting to purchase shares, stock type data indicating the type of stock the user is attempting to purchase, number of shares data indicating the number of shares the user is attempting to purchase, and introducer data indicating the introducer. In this state, the number of shares indicated by the stock type data and which the user identified by the user ID wishes to purchase and which is specified by the number of shares data is in a state of waiting for payment, so to speak. On the other hand, the control unit 222 determines (calculates) the purchase price to be paid by the user for the number of nth order shares that the user wishes to purchase, as was done in the case of purchasing the first order shares. n (in this example, the price per share of the 2nd stock is X2), we can simply multiply that price per share by the number specified in the share count data to determine the price for the nth stock that the user must pay. In this example, the price is 4 x X2. The control unit 222 promptly requests the payment for the nth order shares (secondary shares in this example) to be paid by the user, and then transmits the payment for the nth order shares and information for identifying the user who will pay the payment (e.g., user ID data) to the payment management unit 225. This corresponds to the information on the payment awaiting payment as described above. The control unit 222 also instructs the image control unit 228 to generate the next image control data. As in the case of purchasing the first stock, this instruction includes information about the price of the nth stock that the user is purchasing. The image control unit 228 generates the next image control data. This image control data is sent to the terminal 100, as in the case of the image control data for displaying a login screen on the display 101 of the terminal 100. In the terminal 100, the image generation unit 123 generates image data based on the image control data, in the same manner as when a login screen is displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100, and the generated image data is sent from the image generation unit 123 to the display 101. As a result, an image such as that shown in FIG. When this image is displayed on the screen of the display 101, the user has provisionally reserved four secondary shares.

[0069] 12, the text 521 "Welcome 222aabb" is displayed on the screen of the display 101. This is the user ID of the logged-in user, just like in the case shown in FIG. Additionally, text 522 stating "The purchase price for 4 secondary shares is 4 x X2" is displayed on the screen of the display 101. In other words, the image displayed on the display 101 reflects the price of the shares the user is about to purchase. This allows the user to recognize the purchase price of the 4 secondary shares that he or she is about to purchase. Also displayed on the screen of the display 101 are characters 523 indicating the payment deadline and payment method for the purchase price of the stocks.

[0070] The user makes payment to the fan club by the payment due date. The payment procedures are the same whether you are purchasing primary or subordinate shares. When a user makes a payment, the payment management unit 225 receives the payment data. If the payment is successfully made, the payment management unit 225 generates payment completion data. The payment data is sent from the payment management unit 225 via the control unit 222 to the lower-level stock management unit 223B. When the paid data is received, the lower-level stock management unit 223B decides to issue to the user corresponding to the payment, the number of shares of the stock type specified by the stock type data corresponding to the stock count data sent by that user. After making such a decision, the lower-level stock management unit 223B sends the user ID of the user who will acquire the n-th order stock, the stock type data specifying the type of stock to be allocated to the user (secondary stock in the example described), the stock number data specifying the number of stocks the user will have, and the introducer data in a linked state to the member information recording unit 226A. The lower-level stock management unit 223B also sends the data excluding the introducer data from these four pieces of data to the stock data generation unit 224.

[0071] The member information recording unit 226A records the user ID, stock type data, and stock number data in a linked state. An example of the data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A is shown in Fig. 13(A). In the case of a subordinate stock, in addition to the three types of data in the case of a primary stock, introducer data (data of the introducer's user ID) is added, so a total of four data are recorded in a linked state. The stock data generation unit 224, which has received the user ID, stock type data, and stock number data, generates stock data corresponding to the stocks to be issued to the user. The number of stock data generated is the same as the number specified by the stock number data. As in the case of primary stocks, stock data for subordinate stocks may be generated by any method. In this embodiment, the stock data is generated in the same manner as for primary stocks. In other words, stock data for the lower-tier shares is generated as a hash obtained from the string "user ID / stock type data / stock data generation order", or by concatenating the hash obtained from the string "user ID / stock type data / stock data generation order" with the plain text string "user ID / stock type data / stock data generation order". After generating stock data on the subordinate stocks, the stock data generation unit 224 transmits the generated stock data to the output unit 29 together with information specifying the user's terminal 100 to which the data is to be sent, in a state where the data are linked to each other. As in the case of the primary shares, the stock data for the subordinate shares is transmitted from the server 200 to the terminal 100 via the network 400 and recorded in the stock data recording unit 125 of the terminal 100 as in the case of the primary shares. The user now has stock data on the lower tier stocks, or more precisely, on the lower tier stocks that represent the lower tier stocks, and has the rights of a fan club member.

[0072] Through the above-mentioned process, many users purchase lower-level stocks. As many users purchase lower-level stocks, many sets of four data items, namely, user ID, stock type data, stock number data, and introducer data, are written into the member information recording unit 226A. As a result, a database begins to be constructed in the member information recording unit 226A indicating which member (user) holds which stock, how many shares, and further, who the introducer is when a certain user is a lower-level member. An example of data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A is shown in FIG. 13(B). While the sale of lower tier shares is underway, sales of 2nd through N(=5)th tier shares will be conducted in parallel. In Fig. 13(B), the secondary member with user ID "222aabb" joined the fan club through the introduction of the primary member with user ID "111aaaab". Similarly, the tertiary member with user ID "456oopp" joined the fan club through the introduction of the secondary member with user ID "222aabb", the quaternary member with user ID "450cccc" joined the fan club through the introduction of the tertiary member with user ID "456oopp", and the quintal member with user ID "225baab" joined the fan club through the introduction of the quaternary member with user ID "450cccc". The users with the user IDs "111aaaab", "222aabb", "456oopp", "450cccc", and "225baab" respectively form a series of introduction relationships, in which the users at the front introduce the users at the back to the fan club. Note that in Figure 13(B), some user IDs and introducer data are enclosed in frames to clearly indicate the users in the introduction relationships described above, and have no other intention. In this way, new members invite the next number of members to join the fan club. Moreover, in this embodiment, the later a user joins the fan club, the lower the price per share of stocks purchased to join the fan club. This allows many users to join the fan club operated by the server 200, which is a fan club management device.

[0073] <Direct purchase of shares by users> The sale of direct shares by the server 200 is carried out after the initial subscription period ends, similar to the sale of subordinate shares. The following process for the purchase of direct shares by a user is executed after the control unit 222 determines that the current date and time is after the initial subscription period ends. The fact that a direct stock sale is taking place is advertised, for example, on the home page of a fan club provided by server 200, so that users can know that an artist is recruiting members for their fan club or that a direct stock sale is taking place. Neither primary nor lower-level members are involved in the sale of direct shares. Users purchase shares directly, so to speak, from the fan club or from the server 200, which is a fan club management device that manages the fan club. The role of direct shares is to create a way for users who wish to join the fan club but cannot find an introducer to purchase shares after the sale of primary shares has ended, and join the fan club. The process performed by the user to directly purchase stocks consists of a process of logging in to the server 200 via the terminal 100 (login process) and a process of directly purchasing stocks (direct stock purchase process).

[0074] (Login process) The login process is as follows: When performing the login process, the user accesses the server 200 via the terminal 100 in the same manner as when purchasing subordinate shares. As a result, the same login screen as that when purchasing the Subordinate Shares is displayed on the display 101 of the user's terminal 100. The login screen is the same as that shown in FIG. 10(A) referred to in the explanation of purchasing the Subordinate Shares.

[0075] The image displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100 includes the words "User ID" 501, an input box 502 directly below it, a button 503 labeled "Send," the words "Introducer's User ID" 504, and an input box 505 directly below it. A user who purchases shares directly does not have an introducer, so no input is made in the introducer field. 14 shows a state in which the user has entered his / her own user ID into box 502 for entering his / her own user ID, and has left box 505 for entering the introducer's user ID blank. The user ID of the user attempting to log in is "852qrss". The user inputs his / her own user ID in box 502 and leaves box 505 blank, and then presses button 503 marked "Send." When the user presses button 503 marked "Send," login data is input from input device 102 together with the user ID data corresponding to the user ID written in box 502. The login data and the user ID data are sent from input device 102 to control unit 122 via interface 114 and input unit 121. From there, the process is the same as for purchasing underlying shares. The login data and the user's own user ID data are sent from the terminal 100 to the server 200 via the network 400. As a result, the server 200 performs a process of authenticating the user based on the user ID.

[0076] The server 200 receives the login data and the user ID data, which are linked to each other, through its transmission / reception mechanism. The login data and the user ID data are sent to the control unit 222, as is clear from the above description. The control unit 222 that receives the data performs the process of authenticating the user in the same manner as when a primary stock is purchased. If the user is authenticated as a legitimate user, the user is permitted to use the fan club management service thereafter, whereas if the user is not authenticated, the user is not permitted to use the fan club management service, as described above.

[0077] When authentication is successful, the control unit 222 instructs the image control unit 228 to generate the next image control data. The image control unit 228 generates the next image control data. This image control data is sent to the terminal 100 in the same manner as the image control data for displaying a login screen on the display 101 of the terminal 100. The control unit 222 is configured to treat a user who requests login without sending introducer data after the sale of the primary shares has ended as a user seeking to directly purchase shares. Prior to generating the next image control data in the image control unit 228, the control unit 222 determines the price per share of direct stock, which is stock that the user who has requested login can purchase. In this embodiment, the price of direct stock is Y. Data corresponding to the price of direct stock is recorded in the rule recording unit 226B. The control unit 222 determines the price read from the rule recording unit 226B to be the price per share of direct stock. The control unit 222 includes data on the types of stocks (direct stocks) that the logged-in user can purchase and the stock price per share of the stock in the instruction to generate image control data to be sent to the image control unit 228. Therefore, based on the image control data generated by the image control unit 228, the information is reflected in the image that is subsequently displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100.

[0078] Similar to when a user purchases primary shares, the image control data generated by the image control unit 228 is sent from the server 200 to the terminal 100 of the logged-in user. Then, in the same manner as when the user purchases the primary stock, within the terminal 100, the image generating unit 123 generates an image based on the image control data, and an image is displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100 based on the image data sent from the image generating unit 123 to the display 101. An example of the image displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100 at that time is shown in FIG. 15(A). When this image is displayed on the screen of display 101, the login process is completed.

[0079] (Direct stock purchase transaction) The direct stock purchase process is performed similarly to the primary stock purchase process. The login screen shown in FIG. 15(A) is the same as the login screen at the time of the first stock purchase shown in FIG. 7(A) except for the points described below as differences. Display 101 displays characters 541 including the user ID of the currently logged-in user, such as "Welcome 852qrss." Additionally, on the screen of display 101, text 542 stating "You can purchase shares directly / The purchase price of one share is Y" is displayed. This is a display notifying the user that the shares that the user can purchase are direct shares and that the price per share is Y. This is the difference between the login screen for direct share purchases and the login screen for primary share purchases. The login screen for directly purchasing shares, like the login screen for purchasing primary shares, displays text 543 saying "Please enter the number of shares you wish to purchase" and a box 544 for the user to enter the number of shares they wish to purchase, below text 542. Further below that, a button 545 saying "Submit" is displayed. As in the case of purchasing primary shares, the user inputs the number of direct shares he / she wishes to purchase into box 544 using input device 102, as shown in FIG. 15(B). In FIG. 15(B), the user wishes to purchase one direct share. Then, when the user has decided to purchase that number of direct shares, he / she presses button 545 marked "Submit." Note that the number that can be input into box 544 is limited to 5 or less, as in the case of purchasing primary shares. When the user inputs the number of direct subsequent shares he wishes to purchase in box 544 and presses button 545 marked "Submit," purchase request data is generated and input from input device 102 together with number of shares data, which is data identifying the number input in box 544 (in this case, the number 1). As in the case of purchasing primary shares, the purchase request data and the share count data are sent from the terminal 100 to the server 200 via the network 400 in a linked state.

[0080] The server 200 receives the purchase request data and the number of shares data, which are linked to each other, through its transmission / reception mechanism via the network 400. These data are sent from the transmission / reception mechanism to the control unit 222 via the interface and the input unit 221. After the initial subscription period ends, when purchase request data and number of shares data linked to each other are received from the terminal 100 of a logged-in user, and if that user has not sent introducer data in advance, the control unit 222 sends the purchase request data and number of shares data linked to each other directly to the stock management unit 223C. As a result, the direct stock management unit 223C holds the user ID data and the number of shares data. In this case, the number of direct stocks specified by the number of shares data that the user specified by the user ID wishes to purchase is in a state of waiting for payment, so to speak. On the other hand, the control unit 222 determines (calculates) the purchase price to be paid by the user for the number of direct shares that the user wishes to purchase. Since the control unit 222 knows that the price per share of the direct shares is Y, the control unit 222 can determine the price of the direct shares to be paid by the user simply by multiplying the price per share by the number specified by the share count data. In this example, the price is Y. The control unit 222 promptly sends the price of the direct shares and data of the user ID, which is information for identifying the user who will pay the price, to the payment management unit 225 after requesting the price of the direct shares to be paid by the user. This corresponds to the information of the price awaiting payment as described above. The control unit 222 also instructs the image control unit 228 to generate the next image control data. The instruction includes information on the purchase price of the direct stock that the user is about to purchase. The image control unit 228 generates the next image control data. This image control data is sent to the terminal 100 in the same manner as the image control data for displaying the login screen on the display 101 of the terminal 100.

[0081] In the terminal 100, the image generation unit 123 generates image data based on the image control data, and the generated image data is sent from the image generation unit 123 to the display 101. As a result, an image conforming to Fig. 8 in the case of a primary stock purchase and Fig. 12 in the case of a subordinate stock purchase is displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100. When this image is displayed on the screen of the display 101, the user is in a state where one direct share has been provisionally reserved. From the image displayed on the display 101, the user can recognize the direct purchase price for one share of stock that he or she wishes to purchase, and also understand the payment deadline and payment method for the stock purchase price.

[0082] The user makes payment to the fan club by the payment due date. The payment procedures are the same as for the primary share purchase. When a user makes a payment, the payment management unit 225 receives the payment data. If the payment is made normally, the payment management unit 225 generates payment completion data. The payment completion data is sent from the payment management unit 225 via the control unit 222 directly to the stock management unit 223C. When the direct stock management unit 223C receives the payment data, it decides to issue direct stocks to the user corresponding to the payment in the number corresponding to the stock number data sent by that user. After making such a decision, the direct stock management unit 223C sends the user ID of the user who will directly acquire the stocks, stock type data specifying the type of stocks (direct stocks) to be allocated to the user, and stock number data specifying the number of stocks the user will hold, all linked together, to the member information recording unit 226A. The direct stock management unit 223C also sends these three pieces of data to the stock data generation unit 224.

[0083] In the member information recording unit 226A, a user ID, stock type data, and stock count data are recorded in a linked state to each other. An example of the data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A is shown in FIG. The stock data generation unit 224, which has received the user ID, stock type data, and stock count data, generates stock data corresponding to the stocks to be issued to the user. The number of stock data to be generated is determined according to the stock count data, as in the case of primary stocks. As in the case of primary stocks, stock data in the case of direct stocks may be generated by any method. In this embodiment, the stock data is generated in the same manner as in the case of primary stocks. In other words, stock data for direct stocks is also generated as a hash obtained from the string "user ID / stock type data / stock data generation order", or by concatenating the hash obtained from the string "user ID / stock type data / stock data generation order" with the plain text string "user ID / stock type data / stock data generation order". After generating stock data on direct stocks, the stock data generating unit 224 transmits the generated stock data to the output unit 229 together with information specifying the user's terminal 100 to which the data is to be sent, in a state where the data is linked to the information. As in the case of primary shares, stock data for direct shares is transmitted from server 200 to terminal 100 via network 400 and recorded in stock data recording unit 125 of terminal 100 as in the case of primary shares. The user now has stock data about the direct stocks, or more precisely, direct stocks that represent the direct stocks, and has the rights of a fan club member.

[0084] Through the above-mentioned process, many users purchase stocks directly. As a result of many users purchasing stocks directly, many sets of three pieces of data, namely, user ID, stock type data, and stock count data, are written into the member information recording unit 226A. These three pieces of data are added to the data shown in FIG. 13(B), for example. Since the sale of direct shares is conducted in parallel with the sale of subordinate shares, the above-mentioned three sets of data for direct shares may be added to the data shown in Figure 13(B) in a mixed state with the four sets of data for subordinate shares. It should be noted that direct stock holders are not allowed to introduce other users to the fan club. For example, after the initial recruitment period ends, a user may enter his / her own user ID in box 502 on the login screen shown in Fig. 10(A), enter the user ID of the user who is the direct shareholder as the introducer in box 505, and then press button 503, thereby sending the login data, his / her own user ID, and the user ID of the user who is the direct shareholder to server 200, which is a fan club management device. In such a case, server 200 may execute a process such as returning an error message to terminal 100 that has requested login, as the introducer is not appropriate. The determination as to whether the introducer is appropriate may be made, for example, by control unit 222 of server 200. In this embodiment, as described above, the upper limit of the number of shares that can be issued, including primary shares, subordinate shares, and direct shares, is set to, for example, z. Although not limited to this, in this embodiment, the control unit 222 constantly monitors the total number of shares held by each user recorded in the member record unit 226A. When the total number of shares held by each user reaches z, the control unit 222 performs processing to stop the sale of shares thereafter.

[0085] <Payment of rewards to introducers> As described above, primary members who are owners of primary shares and lower-tier members who are owners of lower-tier shares (excluding Nth-tier members) can introduce new users to the fan club. Although not limited to this, in this embodiment, a reward having the nature of a referral fee is paid to a member who introduces a new user to the fan club. The timing for the remuneration management unit 300 to calculate the amount of remuneration to be paid to each user can be, for example, each time data of a lower-level member is input to the member information recording unit 226A. Inputting data of a lower-level member to the member information recording unit 226A means that a new lower-level member is born, and in this embodiment, since an introducer always exists when a lower-level member is born, it is reasonable to calculate the amount of remuneration at that timing. In this case, for example, the remuneration management unit 300 can constantly monitor the member information recording unit 226A to see whether a lower-level member has been registered. However, if the remuneration amount is calculated every time the data of a new lower-level member is input to the member information recording unit 226A, the processing becomes cumbersome. To prevent the processing from becoming cumbersome, the remuneration amount may be determined by batch processing, for example, once a week or once a month. In this case, for example, the control unit 222, which has a clock function, can be made to send an instruction to the remuneration management unit 300 to calculate the remuneration amount at a predetermined timing.

[0086] The reward management unit 300 calculates the reward amount for a user who introduces a new user to a fan club, for example, in the following manner. The reward management unit 300 calculates the amount of reward by dividing the referral fee by the referral fee when an mth order member (where m is a natural number from 1 to N-1) introduces an m+1th order member. m+1 Let P be the number of m-th order members, who are users who became members through a user's introduction or who have a serial introduction relationship with that user. m+1 In this case, the amount may be calculated using the following formula (Formula 1).

number

number

number

[0087] Here, A m+1 is the referral fee per person when an mth-order member introduces an m+1th-order member. At this time, A m >A m+1 By doing so, the higher the rank (lower the rank), the larger the reward amount that can be obtained when inviting the next member to the fan club, so it is possible to motivate users to join the fan club at an early stage. A m >A m+1 To achieve this, for example, the following conditions can be adopted: When m is 3 or more, A m =A2×B m-2 (However, 0 <B<1) In this way, the referral fee decreases by a predetermined percentage as the degree of the referred user increases. The reward management unit 300 may be configured to perform the calculation of the reward amount as described above, for example, according to rules recorded in the rule recording unit 226B, and in this embodiment, this is the case. The remuneration management unit 300 must have a function for calculating the amount of remuneration, but does not necessarily need to have a function for paying the remuneration to the user. The reward management unit 300 performs the above-mentioned calculation at a predetermined timing to determine the reward amount. The reward management unit 300 generates reward amount data, which is data corresponding to the reward amount for each user obtained as a result, and sends the reward amount data to the output unit 229 after linking it with the user ID of the user who should receive the reward amount specified by the reward amount data. The output unit 229 sends the remuneration data and the user ID linked to each other via a transmission / reception mechanism to a predetermined device that performs settlement, such as a settlement device managed by a bank, credit card company, electronic settlement provider, etc. The settlement device then makes a payment of the amount specified by the remuneration data from the fan club to the user specified by the user ID. This allows each user to receive a payment of a remuneration in the form of a referral fee from the fan club. In this way, the reward management unit 300 is designed to only calculate the reward amount, and the server 200, which is the fan club management device, does not need to have a function of paying rewards to each user. However, it is also possible to provide the server 200 with a function for paying rewards to each user.

[0088] <Other rights granted to users who hold stock> Other rights that the server 200, which is a fan club management device, grants to users who hold stocks include the following. First, the server 200 may transmit viewing data to the user. The viewing data is data that represents the right to view music provided by an artist. Those who have this data can view music provided by the artist they support via a fan club management device or other devices that operate an audio distribution site or a video distribution site. This right can be granted regardless of the type of stocks held by the user. The viewing data may or may not be sent to the terminal 100 at the same time that the data representing the stocks is provided to the user. The viewing data is generated by the viewing management unit 227A. The viewing management unit 227A generates the viewing data when an instruction to generate the viewing data is received from the control unit 222. The control unit 222 issues the above-mentioned instruction to the viewing management unit 227A, for example, when an artist releases a new song. Upon receiving such an instruction, the viewing management unit 227A generates viewing data for each user. The viewing data may be generated in any manner and in any format. However, when generating the viewing data, the viewing management unit 227A refers to the data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A, and refers to the user ID of each user and at least the type of stocks held by each user. The content of the viewing data generated by the viewing management unit 227A may be changed depending on the type of stocks held by the user. For example, a primary member may be able to view a certain song earlier than a lower-level member, and an nth-level member may be able to view more types of songs than an n+1th-level member. If the content of viewing data provided to a primary member is more advantageous than that provided to a lower-level member, or if the content of viewing data provided to a higher-ranking member among the lower-level members is more advantageous, the user can be motivated to become a member of the fan club earlier. The viewing data may or may not be unique to each user. When the viewing data is generated, the viewing management unit 227A sends the viewing data to the output unit 229 in a state where the viewing data is linked to the user ID of the user who is to receive the viewing data. The viewing data is sent to a transmission / reception mechanism, and from there to the terminal 100 of each user via the network 400.

[0089] Each user receives the viewing data by the terminal 100. The received viewing data is recorded in, for example, the stock data recording unit 125 of the terminal 100 in the same manner as when the terminal 100 receives the stock data. A user can listen to an artist's music by transmitting the listening data from the terminal 100 to a fan club management device or other device that operates an audio distribution site or a video distribution site. The listening data functions like a password for permitting the user to listen to the sound source or video for listening to the music. If the user listens to the music on the terminal 100 that has recorded stock data in its stock data recording unit 125, the terminal 100 will also need a function for playing audio data or video data and outputting the audio from a speaker, earphones, etc. To make this possible, the terminal 100 needs to have a function block such as an audio generation unit similar to the image generation unit 123. The mechanism for outputting the audio from a speaker, earphones, etc. is, of course, well known, so a description thereof will be omitted. Rules regarding the provision of viewing data, such as the content of the viewing data provided to the user and the timing of providing the viewing data, can also be recorded in rule recording unit 226B. In this case, viewing management unit 227A may be configured to generate viewing data according to the rules recorded in rule recording unit 226B.

[0090] The server 200 may also transmit viewing data to the user. The viewing data is data that represents the right to view a live performance provided by an artist, and is equivalent to a live ticket. Anyone who has this data can view a live performance provided by an artist that they support. This right can be granted regardless of the type of stocks held by the user. The viewing data may or may not be sent to the terminal 100 at the same time that the data representing the stocks is provided to the user. The viewing data is generated by the viewing management unit 227B. The viewing management unit 227B generates the viewing data when an instruction to generate the viewing data is received from the control unit 222. The control unit 222 issues the above-mentioned instruction to the viewing management unit 227B, for example, when an artist announces a new live show schedule. Upon receiving such an instruction, the viewing management unit 227B generates viewing data for each user. The viewing data may be generated in any manner and in any format. However, when generating the viewing data, the viewing management unit 227B refers to the data recorded in the member information recording unit 226A, and refers to the user ID of each user and at least the type of stocks held by each user. The contents of the viewing data generated by the viewing management unit 227B may be changed depending on the type of stocks held by the user. For example, the contents of the viewing data sent to the secondary members may be the same as or less favorable than the contents of the viewing data sent to the primary members, and the contents of the viewing data sent to the n-th members may be the same as or less favorable than the contents of the viewing data sent to the n-1th members. If a member at a higher level (holding stocks of a smaller order) can receive viewing data with more favorable or at least less unfavorable contents from the server 200, which is a fan club management device, the user can be motivated to become a member of the fan club earlier. The viewing data may be unique for each user, or it may not be. The advantages and disadvantages of the viewing data can be realized, for example, by the number of times a live show has been seen, the quality of the seats at the live show, etc. Of course, the advantages and disadvantages of the viewing data can also be realized by whether or not the right to visit the dressing room at the live show or the right to purchase specific goods related to the artist is granted, etc. When the viewing data is generated, the viewing management unit 227B sends the viewing data to the output unit 229 in a state where the viewing data is linked to the user ID of the user who is to receive the viewing data. The viewing data is sent to the transmission / reception mechanism, and from there to the terminal 100 of each user via the network 400.

[0091] Each user receives the viewing data by the terminal 100. The received viewing data is recorded, for example, in the stock data recording unit 125 of the terminal 100 in the same manner as when the terminal 100 receives the stock data. The user uses the viewing data, for example, when entering a live concert venue. For example, the viewing data can be handed over to the concert organizer via Wi-Fi (trademark) or other short-range wireless communication, or a two-dimensional barcode based on the viewing data can be displayed on the display 101 of the terminal 100 to hand over the viewing data to the concert organizer, thereby allowing the viewing data to be used like a ticket for the concert. Rules regarding the provision of viewing data, such as the contents of the viewing data provided to the user and the timing of providing the viewing data, can also be recorded in the rule recording unit 226B. In this case, the viewing management unit 227B may generate viewing data according to the rules recorded in the rule recording unit 226B.

[0092] <Other> Regardless of the type of stock, stock data that has been issued and becomes the property of each user can be transferred. For example, stock data may be transferred between private parties at a price agreed upon by the transferor and the transferee, similar to shares of stock for status or rights as a member (shareholder) of a corporation. In this case, all rights related to the stock data may be transferred from the transferor to the transferee by the transfer of the stock data. [Explanation of symbols]

[0093] 100 devices 101 Display 102 Input Device 121 Input section 122 Control section 123 Image Generation Unit 124 Output section 125 Stock Data Recording Section 221 Input section 222 Control section 223A Primary Stock Management Department 223B Lower Share Management Department 223C Direct Stock Management Department 224 Stock Data Generation Department 225 Payment Management Department 226A Member Information Record Section 226B Rules Record Section 227A Viewing Management Department 227B Visitor Management Department 228 Image control section 229 Output section 300 Compensation Management Department

Claims

1. A fan club management device that manages a fan club, which is a group of fans who support a specific artist, by distributing stocks representing membership in the fan club to the users in combination with a plurality of user terminals each used by a plurality of users and capable of communicating via a specific network, said fan club management device comprising: A transmitting / receiving mechanism capable of communicating via the network; A rule recording unit for recording rules of the fan club; a member information recording unit that records information regarding the stocks held by the members for each of the members; an information processing unit that performs information processing based on the rule recorded in the rule recording unit using the data transmitted from the user terminal via the network by the transmission and reception mechanism; It also has The information processing unit includes: During an initial subscription period, which is a predetermined period from the start of subscription for the members, the users who are not members purchase the shares for X per share via the user terminals and the network. １ The person sends a statement of intent to purchase at a price of X and data indicating the number of shares he or she wishes to purchase. １ a primary stock management unit which, when a payment of a price calculated by multiplying the amount by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, determines to issue to the user the number of primary stocks, which are a type of stock, that the user wishes to purchase in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, and records in the member information recording unit that the user is a primary member and the number of primary stocks to be issued to the user; If a user who has been introduced by the primary member is defined as a candidate for a secondary member, a user who has been introduced by the secondary member as a candidate for a tertiary member, ... a user who has been introduced by an n-1st member as a candidate for an nth member (where n is a natural number between 2 and N, and N is a predetermined natural number greater than or equal to 3), after the initial recruitment period ends, the user who is a candidate for an nth member who has been introduced by an n-1st member may purchase the shares at X shares per share via the user terminal and the network. ｎ The person sends a statement of intent to purchase at a price of X and data indicating the number of shares he or she wishes to purchase. ｎ a lower-level stock management unit which, when a payment of a price calculated by multiplying the amount by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, determines to issue to the user the number of n-th order shares, which are a type of the stock, that the user wishes to purchase in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, and records in the member information recording unit that the user is an n-th order member, the number of the n-th order shares to be issued to the user, and information identifying the member who introduced the user; a stock data generation unit that generates stock data, which is data corresponding to the primary stock that the primary stock management unit has decided to issue to the user, or data corresponding to the n-th stock that the lower-level stock management unit has decided to issue to the user, and transmits the stock data via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network to a user terminal of a user who is to become the owner of the stock corresponding to the stock data; It is equipped with And, according to the rule recorded in the rule recording unit, the price of the stock is X １ >X ２ and when n is 2 or more, X ｎ ≧X ｎ＋１ The conditions of Fan club management device.

2. When n is a natural number, X ｎ >X ｎ＋１ That is, 2. The fan club management device according to claim 1.

3. A calculation unit is provided for calculating a predetermined amount of remuneration to be paid to a user who is an (n-1)th degree member and who has introduced a user who is a candidate for an (n)th degree member, based on the data recorded in the member information recording unit.

2. The fan club management device according to claim 1.

4. The amount of the reward is calculated as follows: A is the referral fee when an mth member (where m is a natural number from 1 to N-1) introduces an m+1th member. ｍ＋１ Let P be the number of m-th order members, who are users who became members through a user's introduction or who have a serial introduction relationship with that user. ｍ＋１ In this case, the amount is calculated by the following formula (Formula 1):

4. The fan club management device according to claim 3. [0010]

5. A ｍ >A ｍ＋１ That is, 5. The fan club management device according to claim 4.

6. When m is 3 or more, A ｍ = A ２ ×B ｍ－２ (where 0<B<1) 6. The fan club management device according to claim 5.

7. a direct stock management unit which, when, after the initial subscription period ends, an expression of intent to purchase the shares at a price of Y per share and data indicating the number of shares desired to be purchased are sent from the non-member user via the user terminal and the network, and a payment calculated by multiplying Y by the number of shares desired to be purchased by the user is made to the fan club, decides to issue to the user direct stocks, which are a type of the shares, in the number desired to be purchased by the user in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, and records in the member information recording unit that the user is a direct member and the number of the direct stocks to be issued to the user; The stock data generation unit generates stock data corresponding to the direct stocks that the direct stock management unit has decided to issue to the user, and transmits the stock data to a user terminal of a user who is to become the owner of the stocks corresponding to the stock data via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network.

2. The fan club management device according to claim 1.

8. a viewing management unit that generates viewing data corresponding to the right of the user who is a member to view music provided by the artist based on the data recorded in the member information recording unit, and transmits the generated viewing data to the user terminal of the user who is a member via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network; The fan club management device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. a viewing management unit that generates viewing data corresponding to the right of the user who is a member to view a live performance provided by the artist based on the data recorded in the member information recording unit, and transmits the generated viewing data to the user terminal of the user who is a member via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network; The fan club management device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. The content of the viewing data sent to the secondary members is the same as or less favorable than the content of the viewing data sent to the primary members, and the content of the viewing data sent to the nth members is the same as or less favorable than the content of the viewing data sent to the n-1th members.

10. The fan club management device according to claim 9.

11. A fan club, which is a group of fans who support a specific artist, is managed by distributing stocks representing membership in the fan club to the users in combination with a plurality of user terminals used by a plurality of users each of which is connected to a specific network and is capable of communicating via the network, A transmitting / receiving mechanism capable of communicating via the network; A rule recording unit for recording rules of the fan club; a member information recording unit that records information regarding the stocks held by the members for each of the members; an information processing unit that performs information processing based on the rule recorded in the rule recording unit using the data transmitted from the user terminal via the network by the transmission and reception mechanism; A fan club management device comprising: A method executed by the information processing unit, The information processing unit, During an initial subscription period, which is a predetermined period from the start of subscription for the members, the users who are not members purchase the shares for X per share via the user terminals and the network. １ The person sends a statement of intent to purchase at a price of X and data indicating the number of shares he or she wishes to purchase. １ a primary share management process for, when a payment of a price calculated by multiplying the amount by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, determining to issue to the user the number of primary shares, which are a type of the shares, that the user wishes to purchase in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, and recording in the member information recording unit that the user is a primary member and the number of the primary shares to be issued to the user; If a user who has been introduced by the primary member is defined as a candidate for a secondary member, a user who has been introduced by the secondary member as a candidate for a tertiary member, ... a user who has been introduced by an n-1st member as a candidate for an nth member (where n is a natural number between 2 and N, and N is a predetermined natural number greater than or equal to 3), after the initial recruitment period ends, the user who is a candidate for an nth member who has been introduced by an n-1st member may purchase the shares at X shares per share via the user terminal and the network. ｎ The person sends a statement of intent to purchase at a price of X and data indicating the number of shares he or she wishes to purchase. ｎ a lower-level stock management process for, when a payment of the amount calculated by multiplying the amount by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, determining to issue to the user the number of n-th order shares, which are a type of stock, that the user wishes to purchase in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording section, and recording in the member information recording section that the user is an n-th order member, the number of the n-th order shares to be issued to the user, and information identifying the member who introduced the user; a stock data generation process for generating stock data, which is data corresponding to the primary stock that the primary stock management process has decided to issue to the user, or data corresponding to the n-th stock that the lower-level stock management process has decided to issue to the user, and transmitting the stock data to a user terminal of a user who is to become the owner of the stock corresponding to the stock data, via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network; In addition to carrying out the above, According to the rule recorded in the rule recording unit, the price of the stock is set to X １ >X ２ and when n is 2 or more, X ｎ ≧X ｎ＋１ To satisfy the conditions of method.

12. A given computer, A fan club, which is a group of fans who support a specific artist, is managed by distributing stocks representing membership in the fan club to the users in combination with a plurality of user terminals used by a plurality of users each of which is connected to a specific network and is capable of communicating via the network, A transmitting / receiving mechanism capable of communicating via the network; A rule recording unit for recording rules of the fan club; a member information recording unit that records information regarding the stocks held by the members for each of the members; an information processing unit that performs information processing based on the rule recorded in the rule recording unit using the data transmitted from the user terminal via the network by the transmission and reception mechanism; A computer program for causing a fan club management device to function as a fan club management device comprising: The information processing unit includes: During an initial subscription period, which is a predetermined period from the start of subscription for the members, the users who are not members purchase the shares for X per share via the user terminals and the network. １ The person sends a statement of intent to purchase at a price of X and data indicating the number of shares he or she wishes to purchase. １ a primary share management process for, when a payment of a price calculated by multiplying the amount by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, determining to issue to the user the number of primary shares, which are a type of the shares, that the user wishes to purchase in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording unit, and recording in the member information recording unit that the user is a primary member and the number of the primary shares to be issued to the user; If a user who has been introduced by the primary member is defined as a candidate for a secondary member, a user who has been introduced by the secondary member as a candidate for a tertiary member, ... a user who has been introduced by an n-1st member as a candidate for an nth member (where n is a natural number between 2 and N, and N is a predetermined natural number greater than or equal to 3), after the initial recruitment period ends, the user who is a candidate for an nth member who has been introduced by an n-1st member may purchase the shares at X shares per share via the user terminal and the network. ｎ The person sends a statement of intent to purchase at a price of X and data indicating the number of shares he or she wishes to purchase. ｎ a lower-level stock management process for, when a payment of the amount calculated by multiplying the amount by the number of shares the user wishes to purchase is made to the fan club, determining to issue to the user the number of n-th order shares, which are a type of stock, that the user wishes to purchase in accordance with the rules recorded in the rule recording section, and recording in the member information recording section that the user is an n-th order member, the number of the n-th order shares to be issued to the user, and information identifying the member who introduced the user; a stock data generation process for generating stock data, which is data corresponding to the primary stock that the primary stock management process has decided to issue to the user, or data corresponding to the n-th stock that the lower-level stock management process has decided to issue to the user, and transmitting the stock data to a user terminal of a user who is to become the owner of the stock corresponding to the stock data, via the transmission / reception mechanism and the network; The purpose is to execute the following: According to the rule recorded in the rule recording unit, the price of the stock is set to X １ >X ２ and when n is 2 or more, X ｎ ≧X ｎ＋１ The above condition is satisfied. Computer program.

Images