Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

Ensure that the content licensing status is properly maintained. [Solution] The processing unit of the information processing device determines whether the content stored in the storage unit of the information processing device is in a linked state, meaning it is associated with an account. If it determines that the content is not in a linked state, it controls the information processing device to a deletion-prohibited state, prohibiting the execution of a deletion process to remove the content from the storage unit. The processing unit of the information processing device determines whether the license stored in the storage unit of the information processing device and corresponding to the content is in a linked state, meaning it is associated with an account. If it determines that the license is not in a linked state, it controls the information processing device to a deletion-prohibited state, prohibiting the execution of a deletion process to remove the license from the storage unit.

Description

Technical Field

[0004] ,

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[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, in an information device where login is performed using a user account, there is a technique that enables content to be used in the account in response to the input of license information such as a serial code that is pre-associated with the content (for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, the above conventional technology has a problem that it is troublesome to perform login using an account in advance in order to use content. On the other hand, if content can be used without performing login, the licensed content will not be associated with the account, so it will be difficult to restore the situation before deletion when the content or the license of the content is deleted.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to appropriately maintain the license status of content.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus having a processing unit, The processing unit determines whether the content stored in the storage unit of the information processing device is linked to an account, and if it determines that it is not linked, it controls the information processing device to a deletion-prohibited state, which prohibits the execution of a deletion process to delete the content from the storage unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, the licensing status of content can be properly maintained. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of terminal devices. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the server. [Figure 4] This is a diagram showing the menu screen. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart showing the control procedure for the content addition process. [Figure 6] This is a diagram showing the code input screen. [Figure 7] This diagram shows the license code database. [Figure 8] This diagram shows the license database when the user is not logged in. [Figure 9] This is a diagram showing the terminal license database. [Figure 10] This is a diagram showing the login screen. [Figure 11] This diagram shows the license database after logging in with an account. [Figure 12] This is a flowchart showing the control procedure for content deletion. [Figure 13] This diagram shows the menu screen after logging in with an account. [Figure 14] This is a diagram showing the My Library screen. [Figure 15] It is a diagram showing a license DB after deleting the content of the English-Japanese dictionary Y. [Figure 16] It is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the duplicate content management process. [Figure 17] It is a diagram showing a terminal license DB to which an unassigned license has been added. [Figure 18] It is a diagram showing the first notification screen. [Figure 19] It is a diagram showing a license DB to which an unassigned license has been added. [Figure 20] It is a diagram showing a license DB when login is performed after adding an unassigned license. [Figure 21] It is a diagram showing a My Library screen in a state where an unassigned license has been added. [Figure 22] It is a diagram showing the second notification screen. [Figure 23] It is a diagram showing a My Library screen in another terminal device. [Figure 24] It is a diagram showing the third notification screen.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figure 1, the information processing system 1 of this embodiment comprises a server 10 (external storage device, management device) and a plurality of terminal devices 20 (information processing devices). The terminal devices 20 of this embodiment are electronic dictionary terminals capable of displaying information such as various dictionary content. The plurality of terminal devices 20 are used by multiple different users. Also, one user may own and use two or more terminal devices 20. Each terminal device 20 can communicate with the server 10 via a network N. At least a part of the communication path between the server 10 and the terminal devices 20 may be wireless communication such as a wireless LAN. The network N is, for example, the internet, but is not limited thereto. Hereinafter, a terminal device 20 that is in a state of communication connection with the server 10 will be described as "online state", and a terminal device 20 that is not in a state of communication connection with the server 10 will be described as "offline state".

[0010] As shown in Figure 2, the server 10 comprises a CPU 11 (Central Processing Unit) (first processing unit, first computer, server processing unit), RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, a storage unit 13 (first storage unit), and a communication unit 14. Each part of the server 10 is connected via a data transmission path such as a bus. The CPU 11 is a processor that controls the operation of each part of the server 10 by reading and executing the program 131 stored in the storage unit 13 and performing various arithmetic operations. The server 10 may have multiple processors (for example, multiple CPUs), and the multiple processes executed by the CPU 11 in this embodiment may be executed by these multiple processors. In this case, the processing unit is composed of multiple processors. In this case, the multiple processors may be involved in common processing, or the multiple processors may independently execute different processes in parallel. The RAM 12 provides the CPU 11 with a working memory space and stores temporary data. The storage unit 13 is a non-temporary recording medium readable by the CPU 11 as a computer, and stores the program 131 and various data. The storage unit 13 includes non-volatile memory such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive). The data stored in the storage unit 13 includes an account DB (database) 132, a content DB 133, a license code DB 134, and a license DB 135. The account DB 132 is a database of multiple accounts corresponding to multiple users. The data for each account includes authentication information for the account, such as account information that identifies the account, and a password. The account information and password are generated by user operations on the terminal device 20 and sent to the server 10, where they are registered in the account DB 132. Subsequently, by entering this account information and password on the terminal device 20 and sending it to the server 10, the user can log in to the information processing system 1 with that account. The content DB 133 includes multiple dictionary contents provided to the user in the dictionary management service. The dictionary contents include multiple headwords and explanatory information associated with each headword.The type of dictionary is not particularly limited and may include language dictionaries such as Japanese dictionaries and English-Japanese dictionaries, as well as encyclopedias and glossaries of terms in various fields. The contents of license codes DB134 and DB135 will be described later. The communication unit 14 performs communication operations in accordance with predetermined communication standards. Through these communication operations, the communication unit 14 sends and receives data to and from the terminal device 20 via the network N.

[0011] As shown in Figure 2, the terminal device 20 comprises a CPU 21 (processing unit, second processing unit, second computer), RAM 22, storage unit 23 (second storage unit), display unit 24, operation unit 25, and communication unit 26. Each part of the terminal device 20 is connected via a data transmission path such as a bus. The CPU 21 is a processor that controls the operation of the terminal device 20 by reading and executing the program 231 stored in the storage unit 23 and performing various arithmetic processing. The terminal device 20 may have multiple processors (for example, multiple CPUs), and the multiple processes executed by the CPU 21 in this embodiment may be executed by these multiple processors. In this case, the processing unit is composed of multiple processors. In this case, the multiple processors may be involved in common processing, or the multiple processors may independently execute different processes in parallel. The RAM 22 provides the CPU 21 with a working memory space and stores temporary data. The storage unit 23 is a non-temporary recording medium readable by the CPU 21 as a computer, and stores the program 231 and various data. The storage unit 23 includes, for example, non-volatile memory such as flash memory. The program 231 is stored in the storage unit 23 in the form of computer-readable program code. The information processing system 1 includes a program set having program 131 (first program) stored in the storage unit 13 of the server 10 and program 231 (second program) stored in the storage unit 23 of the terminal device 20. The data stored in the storage unit 23 includes content data 232 and terminal license DB 233, etc. Various dictionary contents are registered in the content data 232. The contents of the terminal license DB 233 will be described later. The display unit 24 displays various information such as dictionary contents according to control signals and image data transmitted from the CPU 21. The display unit 24 can be, for example, a liquid crystal display device that displays using a dot matrix method, but is not limited to this. The operation unit 25 includes, for example, a touch panel superimposed on the display unit 24 and various operation keys, etc. The operation unit 25 detects a contact operation on the touch panel and outputs operation information indicating the location where the contact operation was detected to the CPU 21.Furthermore, the operation unit 25 outputs an operation signal to the CPU 21 in response to an input operation such as pressing an operation key. The communication unit 26 performs communication operations in accordance with a predetermined communication standard. Through these communication operations, the communication unit 26 sends and receives data to and from the server 10 via the network N.

[0012] Next, the operation of the information processing system 1 will be described. The main entity for each operation described below is the CPU 11 of the server 10 or the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20, but for convenience, the server 10 or the terminal device 20 may be described as the main entity for the operation. Also for convenience, when the CPU 11 of the server 10 causes the communication unit 14 to send data to the terminal device 20, it will be described as "CPU 11 sends data", and when the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 causes the communication unit 26 to send data to the server 10, it will be described as "CPU 21 sends data". In the information processing system 1 of this embodiment, in addition to the dictionary content pre-installed on the terminal device 20 at the time of shipment, the user can purchase additional dictionary content (hereinafter simply referred to as "content") and use it on the terminal device 20. Additional content can be used, for example, by purchasing content, putting the terminal device 20 online, and downloading the content data from the content DB 133 of the server 10. The downloaded content is stored in the content data 232 of the storage unit 23. In this embodiment, the method for purchasing content is to purchase a license code L (license information, see Figure 6) corresponding to the content at a store or on an e-commerce (EC) site. When purchasing at a store, the license code L is printed on, for example, a POSA (Point of Sales Activation) card or a serial number card. When purchasing on an e-commerce site, the license code L is included, for example, in an email sent to the user after purchase. By entering this license code L on the terminal device 20, additional content can be downloaded from the server 10, and the content can be used on the terminal device 20. In other words, the terminal device 20 can be granted a license to use the content.

[0013] Various operations related to adding and managing content can be performed from the menu screen 30 shown in Figure 4. The menu screen 30 is displayed on the display unit 24 by selecting a predetermined operation button on the home screen (not shown) of the terminal device 20. Figure 4 shows the menu screen 30 in the state before account login (hereinafter referred to as "unlogged-in state"). Thus, the terminal device 20 of this embodiment can perform certain operations even in the unlogged-in state. The menu screen 30 displays a two-dimensional code 31 for purchasing content, a code input button 32 which is selected when entering a license code L to add purchased content, a My Library button 33 for managing added content, and a login button 34 for logging in with an account. The two-dimensional code 31 contains information about the URL of the e-commerce site where the content license code L can be purchased. By taking a picture of the two-dimensional code 31 with a smartphone or the like, decrypting it, and connecting to the e-commerce site, the content license code L can be purchased. When the My Library button 33 is selected (for example, by touching it via the touch panel), the My Library screen 60 (see Figure 14), which includes a list of content, is displayed on the display unit 24. However, the My Library button 33 can only be selected when the user is logged in with an account (hereinafter referred to as "logged in"). In Figure 4, since the terminal device 20 is not logged in, the My Library button 33 is displayed in a state where selection is disabled, and a note saying "Login required" is displayed within the button. The state where selection is disabled may also be, for example, grayed out. When the selection is disabled, the My Library screen 60 will not be displayed even if the My Library button 33 is selected.

[0014] When the code input button 32 is selected, the content addition process (see Figure 5) for adding content to the terminal device 20 is started. The operation of the information processing system 1 for content addition will be described below in accordance with the flowchart in Figure 5. In Figure 5, the processes executed by the CPU 11 of the server 10 and the processes executed by the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 are shown together. Horizontal arrows represent the process by which one of the server 10 or terminal device 20 sends data to the other. When the content addition process is started, the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 displays the code input screen 40 shown in Figure 6 on the display unit 24 (step S101). The code input screen 40 displays a text box 41 for entering the license code L and a confirmation button 42. The user enters the license code L written on the POSA card, serial number card, or email, etc., into the text box 41. In the example shown in Figure 6, "123-456-789" is entered as the license code L. When the input content of the license code L is confirmed by the selection operation of the confirmation button 42 (step S102 in Figure 5), the CPU 21 transmits the entered license code L and the terminal ID of the terminal device 20 to the server 10 (step S103). The terminal ID is a unique code assigned to the terminal device 20 and corresponds to identification information that can identify the terminal device 20. Therefore, one terminal device 20 can be identified from the terminal ID. The terminal ID is predetermined for each terminal device 20 and stored in the storage unit 23. In this embodiment, the terminal ID of the terminal device 20 used is assumed to be "A012345".

[0015] When the CPU 11 of the server 10 obtains the license code L and terminal ID from the terminal device 20, it determines whether the license code L is valid or not (step S104). Here, the CPU 11 makes the validity determination of the license code L by referring to the license code DB 134 shown in Figure 7. In the license code DB 134, each of the multiple issued and unused license codes L is registered with a content ID and a content name associated with it. The content ID is a unique code assigned to the content, and one content can be identified from the content ID. The CPU 11 determines that the obtained license code L is valid if it matches any of the license codes L registered in the license code DB 134. The CPU 21 then identifies the content ID and content corresponding to the license code L that has been determined to be valid. In the example shown in Figure 7, the content ID "C032" and the content "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" are identified as corresponding to the license code L "123-456-789". In Figure 7, the license code DB134 shows that two different license codes L are associated with the same content, "English-Japanese Dictionary Y". Thus, multiple different license codes L can exist for the same content.

[0016] If the CPU 11 determines that the acquired license code L is valid, it sends to the terminal device 20 usage permission information (for granting a license) to permit the use of the content corresponding to the acquired license code L, along with the content data of that content (step S105). The CPU 11 also associates the terminal ID acquired in step S103 of Figure 5 with the content ID and content corresponding to the acquired license code L and stores them in the storage unit 13 (step S106). Here, the CPU 11 associates the terminal ID with the content ID and content and registers them in the license DB 135 shown in Figure 8. The license DB 135 is a database in which the content to which a license has been granted for each terminal device 20 and its status are registered. Each record in the license DB 135 includes data items for "terminal ID", "account information", "content ID", "content name", and "transfer". Of these, "account information" is used when associating content with an account, as will be described later. "Content ID" and "Content Name" represent the content ID and content name of the content licensed to the terminal device 20 identified by the "Terminal ID". In the example shown in Figure 8, two records R1 and R2 are registered for terminal device 20 with terminal ID "A012345". Record R1 corresponds to the license for "Japanese Dictionary W (Content ID: C0009)" assigned to terminal device 20, and record R2 corresponds to the license for "English-Japanese Dictionary Y (Content ID: 0032)" assigned to terminal device 20. Of these, record R2 is a newly added record as a result of determining in step S104 above that the license code L "123-456-789" is valid. "Transfer" indicates whether the content of that record has been transferred to terminal device 20 (whether it has been downloaded to terminal device 20).

[0017] When the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 obtains usage permission information and content data from the server 10, it stores the obtained (downloaded) content data in content data 232. The CPU 21 also controls the terminal device 20 to a state where it is licensed for the content, depending on the acquisition of the usage permission information (step S107). Here, the CPU 21 registers a record in the terminal license DB 233 shown in Figure 9, which includes the content ID and content name of the content for which the usage permission information was acquired. The terminal license DB 233 is a database where content licensed to the terminal device 20 is registered. The terminal license DB 233 includes a "download" data item that indicates whether the content data of the licensed content has been downloaded to the terminal device 20. In the terminal license DB 233 shown in Figure 9, records r1 and r2, corresponding to records R1 and R2 of the license DB 135 shown in Figure 8, are registered. Of these, record r2 corresponds to "English-Japanese Dictionary Y (Content ID: 0032)" for which usage permission information and content data were obtained in step S105, and since this content has already been downloaded, the "Download" item is set to "Done". Once the content is registered in the terminal license DB233, the CPU21 then displays the content on the display unit 24 in response to user operations to view the content.

[0018] Thus, in this embodiment, even if the terminal device 20 is not logged in with an account, the content can be used by entering the license code L. In this state (the state after step S107 is completed), as shown in Figure 8, in the license DB 135 of the server 10, the content license is associated with the terminal ID of the terminal device 20, but not with an account. Therefore, if the content becomes unavailable on the terminal device 20 due to a malfunction or the like, it becomes difficult to restore the content license status. This is because the terminal ID to which the content is associated is internal data of the terminal device 20, and therefore it is difficult to obtain when the terminal device 20 is not functioning normally due to a malfunction or the like. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the content is linked to the terminal device 20 and then logged in with an account, a process is executed to link the content to the account.

[0019] When an account is logged in, the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 displays the login screen 50 shown in Figure 10 on the display unit 24. The login screen 50 is displayed, for example, when the login button 34 is selected on the menu screen 30 shown in Figure 4. The login screen 50 displays a text box 51 for entering account information A (in this embodiment, an email address) that identifies the user's account, a text box 52 for entering a password, and a confirmation button 53. The user enters the account information A and password of their pre-registered account into the text boxes 51 and 52, respectively. In this embodiment, the case where account information A is an email address is illustrated, but it is not limited to this, and account information A may be an account ID consisting of a code including letters and numbers. When the confirmation button 53 is selected and the input contents of account information A and password are confirmed (step S108 in Figure 5), the CPU 21 sends the entered account information A and password, and the terminal ID of the terminal device 20 to the server 10 (step S109). Specifically, CPU 21 sends account information A to server 10, associated with the terminal ID. Server 10's CPU 11 performs login processing based on the acquired account information A and password (step S110). Here, CPU 11 determines that user authentication was successful and executes login using the account if the acquired account information A and password match the account information A and password of any account registered in account DB 132.

[0020] The terminal ID transmitted from the terminal device 20 to the server 10 in step S109 corresponds to identification information for identifying the license assigned to the terminal device 20. As mentioned above, at this point, the content license is linked to the terminal ID in the license DB 135 shown in Figure 8. The CPU 11 identifies the content ID associated with the acquired terminal ID (step S111). The CPU 11 also links the acquired account information A with the content ID identified in step S111 and stores it in the license DB 135 (step S112). For example, as shown in Figure 11, the CPU 11 links the acquired account information A, "aaa@xxxx.com", with the content IDs (C0009, C0032) by registering the acquired account information A, "aaa@xxxx.com", in the "account information" data item in records R1 and R2. In this case, as shown in Figure 11, the "Terminal ID" data item may be deleted to resolve the mapping between the Terminal ID and the Content ID, or the "Terminal ID" data item may be retained to maintain the mapping between the Terminal ID and the Content ID. When step S112 in Figure 5 is completed, the content addition process is finished.

[0021] Once the content is associated with an account in this way, it becomes possible to transfer the content to another terminal device (here, let's call it "Terminal Device 20z"). For example, to transfer the content of "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" from terminal device 20 to another terminal device 20z, first, "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" is deleted from terminal device 20. This changes the "Transfer" status in the "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" record in license DB135 to "Not Transferred," indicating that it has not yet been transferred, and making it available for transfer to the other terminal device 20z. In this state, if the same account is logged in on the other terminal device 20z, "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" can be downloaded and used on that terminal device 20z. In other words, a license for "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" can be granted to terminal device 20z. After this, the "Transfer" status in the "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" record in license DB135 is updated to "Transferred."

[0022] Next, the operation regarding the deletion of content on the terminal device 20 will be described. In this embodiment, content can only be deleted when the terminal device 20 is logged in. As mentioned above, when the user is not logged in, the association between the account and the content becomes unclear, making it difficult to restore the content's license status after deletion. Furthermore, content can only be deleted when the user is online. If content is deleted from the terminal device 20 while offline, the deletion cannot be reflected in the license DB 135 of the server 10 (i.e., the "Transferred" data item cannot be updated to "Not Transferred"), and the management of the content transfer status will not match the actual situation. In this embodiment, the My Library screen 60 can only be displayed when the user is logged in and online, and the delete button 63 (operator) (see Figure 14) for deleting content is displayed only on the My Library screen 60, thereby controlling the deletion of content when the user is not logged in.

[0023] The content deletion process for deleting content will be described below with reference to Figure 12. The content deletion process starts when the menu screen 30 is displayed on the display unit 24. When the content deletion process starts, the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 determines whether the terminal device 20 is logged in (step S201). If it is determined that the terminal device 20 is logged in ("YES" in step S201), the CPU 21 determines whether the terminal device 20 is online (step S202). If it is determined that the terminal device 20 is online ("YES" in step S202), the CPU 21 proceeds to step S208, which will be described later. If it is determined that the terminal device is not logged in ("NO" in step S201) or is offline ("NO" in step S202), the CPU 21 displays the My Library button 33 with the selection operation disabled, as shown in Figure 4 (step S203). In the state shown in Figure 4, the My Library screen 60 is not displayed in response to the selection of the My Library button 33, and therefore the delete button 63 for deleting content is not displayed on the My Library screen 60. In other words, in this state, content is not deleted in response to the selection of the delete button 63. Therefore, the state shown in Figure 4 corresponds to a "deletion prohibited state in which the execution of the deletion process to delete content is prohibited." Accordingly, the process in step S203 corresponds to the process of controlling the terminal device 20 to the deletion prohibited state. Furthermore, determining whether or not the user is logged in in step S201 corresponds to determining whether or not the content stored in the storage unit 23 of the terminal device 20 is linked to an account. Specifically, determining that the user is not logged in in step S201 corresponds to determining that the content stored in the storage unit 23 is not linked, and determining that the user is logged in in step S201 corresponds to determining that the content stored in the storage unit 23 is linked.As described above, when an account is not logged in, the content is associated with the terminal ID but not with the account. However, when an account is logged in, the content is associated with account information A. Therefore, if the CPU 21 determines that the content is not associated ("NO" in step S201), it controls the terminal device to a delete-prohibited state.

[0024] After this, when the login button 34 is selected and account information A and password are entered on the login screen 50 (step S204), the CPU 21 sends the entered account information A and password, along with the terminal ID, to the server 10 (step S205). The CPU 11 of the server 10 authenticates the acquired account information A and password and executes the login process (step S206), and sends login information indicating successful login to the terminal device 20 (step S207). At this stage, if there is content that is not associated with the account, the CPU 11 identifies the content ID associated with the terminal ID, similar to steps S111 and S112 in Figure 5, and associates the content ID with account information A. Therefore, the process of sending account information A and terminal ID to the server 10 in step S205 corresponds to "the process of sending data to an external storage device to associate content with account information when account information is entered."

[0025] When terminal device 20 is logged in, the CPU 21 of terminal device 20 displays the My Library button 33 on the menu screen 30 in a state where it can be selected, as shown in Figure 13 (step S208). When a selection operation for the My Library button 33 is detected (step S209), the CPU 21 requests the server 10 to send library information (step S210). Here, the library information includes information on the list of content to be displayed on the My Library screen 60. The content to be displayed on the My Library screen 60 is the content associated with the logged-in account (content to which a license has been granted for the account). When the CPU 11 of server 10 receives the request to send library information, it refers to the license DB 135 and identifies the content ID and content associated with the logged-in account. Then, the CPU 11 sends the library information, including the identified content ID and list of content, to terminal device 20 (step S211). For example, in the example shown in Figure 11, the CPU 11 sends library information, including the information of "Japanese dictionary W" and "English-Japanese dictionary Y" associated with account information A "aaa@xxxx.com", to the terminal device 20.

[0026] The CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 displays the My Library screen 60 shown in Figure 14 on the display unit 24 based on the acquired library information (step S212). The My Library screen 60 displays content information 611 and 612 related to content licensed to the logged-in account, a download button 62 (operator) which is selected to download the content data for each content, and a delete button 63 which is selected to execute a delete operation to delete each content. Displaying the delete button 63 corresponds to a "state where the delete operation can be executed". In the example shown in Figure 14, the My Library screen 60 displays the content information 611 and 612 for "Japanese Dictionary W" and "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" which were included in the library information. Since these contents have already been downloaded, the download button 62 is displayed in a state where the selection operation is disabled in the My Library screen 60 of Figure 14. Alternatively, the download button 62 may be hidden.

[0027] When CPU 21 detects a selection operation for any of the delete buttons 63 (step S213 in Figure 12), it sends information to server 10 that identifies the content to be deleted (the content corresponding to the selected delete button 63) (step S214). When CPU 11 of server 10 obtains the information on the content to be deleted, it changes the status of the content in license DB 135 to not transferred (step S215). For example, if the delete button 63 corresponding to "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" is selected, CPU 11 changes the "Transferred" data item in record R2 of "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" to "Not Transferred," as shown in Figure 15. When step S215 is completed, CPU 11 sends deletion permission information to terminal device 20 that authorizes the deletion of the content to be deleted (step S216). When CPU 21 of terminal device 20 receives the deletion permission information, it deletes the content to be deleted from content data 232 and terminal license DB 233, and also deletes the content information 612 of the content to be deleted from the My Library screen 60 (step S217). Once step S217 is completed, the content deletion process is finished.

[0028] While the example illustrates determining whether content is associated when terminal device 20 is not logged in and determining whether content is associated when terminal device 20 is logged in, the method for determining whether content is associated is not limited to this. For example, the CPU 21 of terminal device 20 may directly determine whether content is associated with account information A by referring to the license DB 135 of server 10. Furthermore, while the example illustrates deleting the content itself from the storage unit 23 of terminal device 20 as a deletion process, it is not limited to this. The deletion process may also involve deleting the license to use the content from the storage unit 23. For example, content data related to all content may be stored in the storage unit 23 of terminal device 20 in a state where no license is assigned, and when a license for a certain content is assigned to terminal device 20, that content may be made available for use, and when the assigned license is deleted by the deletion process, that content may be made unavailable. Also, the deletion prohibition state is not limited to a state where the My Library screen 60 cannot be displayed. For example, the deletion-prohibited state may be a state in which the My Library screen 60 is made displayable, and the delete button 63 is displayed on the My Library screen 60 with the selection operation disabled. Alternatively, the deletion-prohibited state may be a state in which the My Library screen 60 is made displayable, and the delete button 63 is hidden on the My Library screen 60. Furthermore, if the terminal device 20 has the function of reading and writing data to an external storage medium (memory card, etc.), content data downloaded when the user is not logged in may not be stored on the external storage medium. This prevents the content data from being deleted on other information devices when the external storage medium is removed from the terminal device 20.

[0029] Next, we will explain the operation when a request for additional duplicate content is made on terminal device 20, that is, when multiple license codes L corresponding to the same content are entered. As shown in Figure 7, there may be multiple different license codes L corresponding to the same content. In other words, multiple license codes L with different code contents may be issued for the same content. For this reason, multiple license codes L corresponding to the same content may be entered on terminal device 20. On the other hand, terminal device 20 is configured so that content data for the same content cannot be downloaded more than once. In other words, it is not possible to assign two or more licenses corresponding to the same content to terminal device 20. If a second or subsequent license code L for the same content is entered on terminal device 20 while logged in with an account, the license for the content corresponding to that license code L can be linked to the account and stored. However, if a second or subsequent license code L is entered on terminal device 20 while not logged in, the second or subsequent license cannot be linked to the account. For this reason, the entered second or subsequent license code L will be wasted. Therefore, in this embodiment, if a terminal device 20 that is not logged in has already been granted a license (second license) to use a certain content (second content), and a request for an additional license (first license) is made by inputting a license code L corresponding to the same content (first content) as the aforementioned content, the license corresponding to license code L is stored in association with the terminal ID. At that time, the license corresponding to the input license code L is stored in the storage unit 23 of the terminal device 20 and the storage unit 13 of the server 10 as an unassigned license that can be assigned to an external device other than the terminal device 20 (for example, another terminal device 20x) (stored in storage unit 13).In other words, when a user newly registers one of several license codes for using a given content, and another license corresponding to one of the license codes L is already registered as an assigned license specifically for the device, the license corresponding to the newly registered license code L is stored as an unassigned license that can be used on external devices. Subsequently, when the user logs in with their account, the second and subsequent licenses that were linked to the terminal ID are linked to the account. When multiple licenses for the same content are linked to an account, the content can be downloaded and used on the same number of terminal devices 20 as the number of licenses.

[0030] The duplicate content management process for managing the addition of duplicate content will be explained below with reference to Figure 16. The duplicate content management process is started when the code input button 32 is selected on the menu screen 30. Here, it is assumed that the terminal device 20 is not logged in at the start of the duplicate content management process. It is also assumed that the terminal device 20 has licenses for the two contents shown in the terminal license DB 233 in Figure 9, and that the license DB 135 on the server 10 is in the state shown in Figure 8. When the duplicate content management process is started, the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 displays the code input screen 40 on the display unit 24 (step S301). Here, it is assumed that a new license code L ("123-456-788" shown in Figure 7) corresponding to the same content as the downloaded content ("English-Japanese Dictionary Y") for which the terminal device 20 has a license has been entered. When the input content of the license code L is confirmed by the selection operation of the OK button 42 (step S302), the CPU 21 sends the entered license code L and the terminal ID of the terminal device 20 to the server 10 (step S303).

[0031] When the CPU 11 of the server 10 obtains the license code L and terminal ID from the terminal device 20, it refers to the license code DB 134 to determine whether the license code L is valid (step S304). If it determines that the license code L is valid, the CPU 11 sends the usage permission information to the terminal device 20 (step S305). When the terminal device 20 obtains the content usage permission information, it accepts a request to add a license to use the content to the terminal device 20. When the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 obtains the usage permission information, it refers to the terminal license DB 233 to determine whether the content corresponding to the usage permission information is duplicate content that overlaps with any content already registered in the terminal device 20 (step S306). Specifically, the CPU 11 determines that the content corresponding to the entered license code L is duplicate content if it is identical to any content already registered in the terminal license DB 233 shown in Figure 9. In this case, the content "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" corresponding to the entered license code L is already registered in record r2 of the terminal license DB 233, so it is determined to be duplicate content. If it determines that the content is duplicate content, the CPU 21 stores the license of the content for which it has obtained usage permission information in the terminal license DB 233 as an unassigned license that can be assigned to an external device (step S307). Specifically, as shown in Figure 17, the CPU 21 adds record r3 corresponding to the entered license code L in the terminal license DB 233, in addition to the already registered records r1 and r2, and sets the "Download" data item to "Not Downloaded". Hereafter, the content "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" corresponding to record r2 shown in Figure 17 will be referred to as "Second Content C2", and the license of this second content (an assigned license specifically associated with terminal device 20) will be referred to as "Second License". Also, the content "English-Japanese Dictionary Y" corresponding to record r3 will be referred to as "First Content C1", and the license of this first content (an unassigned license that can be used by an external device) will be referred to as "First License". After that, the CPU 21 sends the unassigned license information to the server 10 (step S308).This unassigned license information indicates that an unassigned license corresponding to the first content C1 for which usage permission information has been obtained has been registered in the terminal device 20. Furthermore, when the CPU 21 registers unassigned license information, it displays a first notification screen 70 on the display unit 24, as shown in Figure 18, informing that the content data of the first content C1 will not be downloaded (step S309). This first notification screen 70 displays messages such as that the download of already downloaded content has been skipped, and that the content can be downloaded (licensed) to other terminal devices 20 after logging in with an account. Therefore, the first notification screen 70 corresponds to a "screen that notifies that the first license can be assigned to an external device" and a "screen that notifies that the license corresponding to the newly registered license code can be used for external devices."

[0032] When the CPU 11 of server 10 obtains unassigned license information, it associates the terminal ID obtained in step S303 with the first content C1 and stores it in the license DB 135 as an untransferred state. That is, as shown in Figure 19, the CPU 11 adds record R3 corresponding to the entered license code L in addition to records R1 and R2 that were already registered in the license DB 135, and sets the "Transferred" data item in record R3 to "Untransferred" to indicate the untransferred state. As a result, unassigned licenses that can be assigned to external devices are registered and associated with the terminal ID. If the CPU 11 does not obtain unassigned license information from the terminal device 20, it determines that the content corresponding to license code L is not duplicate content and sends the content data of the content to the terminal device 20. Through the processing in steps S301 to S310, even if a second or subsequent license code L corresponding to the same content is entered, the license code L is not wasted and can be stocked as an unassigned license. An upper limit may be set on the number of unassigned licenses that can be stocked. If the number of license codes L corresponding to the same content exceeds the maximum limit, the unassigned licenses will not be registered in steps S307 and S310.

[0033] Subsequently, when the login screen 50 is displayed on the terminal device 20 and account information A and password are entered (step S311), the CPU 21 sends the entered account information A and password, along with the terminal ID of the terminal device 20, to the server 10 (step S312). The CPU 11 of the server 10 performs the login process based on the acquired account information A and password (step S313) and sends login information indicating successful login to the terminal device 20 (step S314). The CPU 11 also identifies the content and content ID associated with the acquired terminal ID (step S315), and stores the acquired account information A and the content ID identified in step S314 in the license DB 135 (step S316). For example, as shown in Figure 20, CPU 11 registers the acquired account information A, "aaa@xxxx.com," in the "account information" data field of records R1 to R3, where the terminal ID "A012345" was recorded, thereby linking account information A with the content IDs of records R1 to R3. This links the unassigned license related to record R3 to the account.

[0034] The CPU 21 of the terminal device 20, which has obtained the login information, displays the My Library button 33 on the menu screen 30 in a state where it can be selected (step S317). When it detects a selection operation for the My Library button 33 (step S318), the CPU 21 requests the server 10 to send library information (step S319). The CPU 11 of the server 10, which has received this request, generates library information based on the license DB 135 and sends it to the terminal device 20 (step S320). Here, the CPU 11 sends library information that includes content information corresponding to records R1 to R3 of the license DB 135 shown in Figure 20. That is, the transmitted library information includes the content information of record R3 related to an unassigned license.

[0035] The CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 displays the My Library screen 60, which reflects unassigned licenses, on the display unit 24 based on the acquired library information, as shown in Figure 21 (step S321). The My Library screen 60 shown in Figure 21 displays content information 611 and 612 corresponding to records R1 and R2, and content information 613 corresponding to record R3. Content information 611 and 612 correspond to content already downloaded to the terminal device 20 and are identical to the content information 611 and 612 shown in Figure 14. Of these, content information 612 corresponds to the second content C2. Content information 613 concerns the first content C1, which corresponds to the unassigned license. Since the first content C1 of content information 613 is identical to the second content C2 of content information 612, it has not been downloaded to the terminal device 20, and cannot be downloaded until the second content C2 is deleted from the terminal device 20. For this reason, in content information 613, the download button 62 is displayed in a state where the selection operation is disabled. Alternatively, the download button 62 may be hidden. Also, in the content information 613, instead of displaying "Downloaded," an information button 64 (indicator) is displayed to indicate that the content data has not been downloaded. When the information button 64 is selected, the CPU 21 displays the second notification screen 80 shown in Figure 22 on the display unit 24. The second notification screen 80 displays the message, "The same content has already been downloaded." The second notification screen 80 corresponds to "a screen that notifies that the second content C2, which is identical to the first content C1, is already stored in the memory unit." The delete button 63 is displayed in the position corresponding to the content information 611 and 612, but not in the position corresponding to the content information 613. This is because the first content C1 of the content information 613 has not yet been downloaded. When step S320 is completed, the duplicate content management process is finished.

[0036] Note that the determination of duplicate content in step S306 may be performed by the CPU 11 of the server 10. In this case, steps S304 to S310 are modified as follows. If the CPU 11 determines in step S304 that the license code L is valid, it refers to the license DB 135 to determine whether the content corresponding to the entered license code L is duplicate content. If it determines that it is duplicate content, the CPU 11 associates the terminal ID obtained in step S302 with the content ID and content corresponding to the obtained license code L and stores it in the license DB 135 as an untransferred state (step S310). When step S310 is completed, the CPU 11 sends to the terminal device 20 usage permission information (to permit registration in the terminal license DB 233) and unassigned license information to the terminal device 20 to permit the use of the first content C1 corresponding to the obtained license code L. In this case, the unassigned license information indicates that the first license for the first content C1 has been associated with the terminal ID and registered as an unassigned license in the server 10. Furthermore, if an unassigned license is registered, CPU 11 does not send the content data of the corresponding first content C1 to the terminal device 20. In other words, it does not allow the content data to be downloaded to the terminal device 20. When the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 obtains the usage permission information and the unassigned license information, it executes step S307 to store the first license of the first content C1 as an unassigned license in the terminal license DB 233.

[0037] As described above, if an unassigned license is associated with an account, the first content C1 corresponding to the unassigned license can be downloaded to the terminal device 20x by logging in with that account on another terminal device 20x, thereby assigning the unassigned license to the terminal device 20x. The operation when logging in to another terminal device 20x using the account of this embodiment will be described below. When logging in to another terminal device 20x using the account and selecting the My Library button 33 on the menu screen 30, the My Library screen 60 shown in Figure 23 is displayed on the display unit 24. On this My Library screen 60, the download buttons 62 for content information 611 and 612 corresponding to records R1 and R2 are displayed in a state where the selection operation is disabled. This is because the content corresponding to records R1 and R2 has already been downloaded to the original terminal device 20 and therefore cannot be downloaded to terminal device 20x. In addition, an information button 65 indicating that the content data cannot be downloaded is displayed for content information 611 and 612. When the information button 65 is selected, the CPU 21 displays the third notification screen 90 shown in Figure 24 on the display unit 24. The third notification screen 90 displays the message, "Already downloaded to another product." Meanwhile, in the content information 613, the download button 62 is displayed in a state where selection is possible. This is because the first content C1 corresponding to record R3 has not been downloaded to the original terminal device 20 and is in an unlicensed state, so it can be downloaded to other terminal devices 20x. When the download button 62 of the content information 613 is selected, the content data of the first content C1 is downloaded to the terminal device 20x, and the record of the first content C1 is registered in the terminal license DB 233. Also, in the license DB 135 of the server 10 shown in Figure 20, the data item "Transferred" in record R3 is changed to "Completed." In this way, the stocked unlicensed licenses can be utilized.

[0038] In addition, although the above example illustrates the input of the license code L for individual content, the license code L for a composite content product containing multiple content items may also be input. In this case, if one of the contents included in the composite content product is duplicate content, an unassigned license will be registered for that duplicate content in the same manner as described above. Furthermore, in the above example, it is possible to check unassigned licenses by displaying the My Library screen 60 on the display unit 24 after logging in, but in addition to this, it may also be possible to display unassigned licenses associated with the terminal device 20 on the display unit 24 before logging in.

[0039] As described above, the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 according to this embodiment determines whether the content stored in the storage unit 23 of the terminal device 20 is in a linked state, meaning it is linked to an account. If it determines that the content is not linked, it controls the terminal device 20 to a deletion-prohibited state, which prohibits the execution of a deletion process to delete the content from the storage unit 23. This prevents content from being accidentally deleted when it is not linked to an account. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the deletion of content at a time when it is difficult to recover the license, and to maintain the content's license status appropriately. If content is accidentally deleted when it is not linked to an account, support from the service provider of the information processing system 1 will be required to recover the license. However, by preventing content deletion due to user error, the burden of support can be reduced.

[0040] Furthermore, the CPU 21 of the terminal device 20 according to this embodiment determines whether the license corresponding to the content stored in the storage unit 23 of the terminal device 20 is in a linked state, meaning it is linked to an account. If it determines that it is not in a linked state, it controls the terminal device 20 to a deletion-prohibited state, which prohibits the execution of a deletion process that deletes the license from the storage unit 23. This prevents the content license from being accidentally deleted when the content is not linked to an account. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the deletion of licenses at a time when it is difficult to recover the license, and to maintain the content license status appropriately.

[0041] Furthermore, the CPU 21 determines that the terminal device 20 is not linked if it is not logged in with an account. This allows for a simple and reliable determination of whether or not the device is linked.

[0042] Furthermore, the CPU 21 determines whether the terminal device 20 is online or not, and if it determines that the terminal device 20 is not online, it controls the terminal device 20 to a state where deletion is prohibited. This makes it possible to delete content or the license of said content only when the terminal device 20 is online. In this way, the server 10 can determine whether or not the content or the license of said content has been deleted on the terminal device 20, so the server 10 can properly manage the content's license status.

[0043] Furthermore, if the terminal device 20 is in a deletion-prohibited state, the CPU 21 either does not display the delete button 63, which is selected to execute the deletion process, on the display unit 24, or it displays the delete button 63 on the display unit 24 with the selection operation disabled. This reliably prevents content or the license for said content from being accidentally deleted when the content is not linked to an account.

[0044] Furthermore, when account information A related to an account is entered in order to log in using an account, the CPU 21 sends data to the server 10 to link the content with account information A. In the above embodiment, the data for linking the content with account information A is account information A and terminal ID. As a result, the server 10 can manage the account and content in a linked manner, so that even if the content or the license for said content on the terminal device 20 is deleted or corrupted, the content's license status can be restored.

[0045] Furthermore, the CPU 21 controls the terminal device 20 so that it can perform the deletion process if the terminal device 20 is not in a deletion-prohibited state. This allows the content or the license for said content to be deleted when the content's license status can be restored, thereby making effective use of the storage area of ​​the storage unit 23.

[0046] Furthermore, the CPU 21 displays a delete button 63 on the display unit 24, which is selected to execute the delete process when the terminal device 20 is not in a delete-prohibited state. This makes it possible to visually understand that the content or the license for said content can be deleted.

[0047] Furthermore, according to the information processing method of this embodiment, the CPU 21 executes the above processing, thereby suppressing the inappropriate deletion of content or the license of said content and ensuring that the content's licensing status is properly maintained. In addition, the program 231 of this embodiment causes the CPU 21 to execute the above processing. This suppresses the inappropriate deletion of content or the license of said content and ensures that the content's licensing status is properly maintained.

[0048] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above embodiments, the terminal device 20 is an electronic dictionary and the content is dictionary content, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, the terminal device 20 may be a general-purpose device such as a smartphone, tablet, or notebook PC. The content may also be videos, music, ebooks, apps (programs), paid articles on news sites, rewards such as items in games, points in point card point accrual services, and various pay-per-use services. For example, music content may be purchased on a smartphone while not logged in and made available for use on the smartphone, and when changing models, the music content may be transferred to a new smartphone by logging in and linking the account and music content. Alternatively, a smartphone app may be designed to allow users to receive and accumulate points on a point card while not logged in, and when changing models or transferring points to another card with a longer expiration date, the points may be transferred by logging in and linking the account and points. Alternatively, users could be allowed to subscribe to paid articles on news sites while not logged in, and then log in to link their account with the articles, allowing them to read purchased articles on multiple devices.

[0049] Furthermore, while the above embodiment illustrates a method in which content data is downloaded from the server 10 when a content license is granted to the terminal device 20, it is not limited to this, and the restrictions on content use may be lifted in accordance with the granting of a license. For example, content data may be pre-installed on the terminal device 20, and the internal settings of the information processing device may be switched so that the content becomes available when a license is granted to the terminal device 20.

[0050] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the terminal ID of the terminal device 20 was used as an example of identification information for identifying the license assigned to the information processing device, but the embodiment is not limited to this. For example, the license code L may be used as identification information. Alternatively, the identification information may be a code or the like issued in one-to-one correspondence with the license at the time of license granting.

[0051] Furthermore, while the above description discloses examples in which the HDD, SSD of the storage unit 13, and the flash memory of the storage unit 23 are used as computer-readable media for the program according to the present invention, the invention is not limited to these examples. Other computer-readable media include information recording media such as CD-ROMs. In addition, carrier waves can also be used as a medium for providing program data according to the present invention via a communication line.

[0052] Furthermore, the detailed configuration and operation of each component of the information processing system 1 in the above embodiments can be appropriately modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Although embodiments of the present invention have been described, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but includes the scope of the invention as described in the claims and its equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 1…Information processing system, 10…Server (external storage device), 11…CPU (first processing unit, server processing unit), 13…Storage unit (first storage unit), 20…Terminal device (information processing device), 21…CPU (processing unit, second processing unit), 23…Storage unit, 24…Display unit, 62…Download button (operator), 63…Delete button (operator), 64…Information button (signal), A…Account information, C1…First content, C2…Second content, L…License code (license information)

Claims

1. An information processing device having a processing unit, The processing unit determines whether the content stored in the storage unit of the information processing device is in a linked state, meaning it is linked to an account, and if it determines that it is not in a linked state, it controls the information processing device to a deletion-prohibited state, which prohibits the execution of a deletion process to delete the content from the storage unit.

2. An information processing device having a processing unit, The processing unit determines whether a license stored in the storage unit of the information processing device and corresponding to content is in a linked state linked to an account, and if it determines that the license is not in a linked state, it controls the information processing device to a deletion prohibited state, which prohibits the execution of a deletion process to delete the license from the storage unit.

3. The processing unit determines that the information processing device is not in the linked state if it is not logged in with the account. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The processing unit further determines whether the information processing device is online or not, and if it determines that the information processing device is not online, it controls the information processing device to the deletion-prohibited state. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The processing unit, when the information processing device is in the deletion-prohibited state, either does not display the operator selected to execute the deletion process on the display unit, or displays the operator on the display unit with the selection operation disabled. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

6. The processing unit, when account information related to the account is entered in order to log in using the account, transmits data to an external storage device for linking the content with the account information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

7. The processing unit, when the information processing device is not in the deletion-prohibited state, causes the operator selected to perform the deletion process to be displayed on the display unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

8. An information processing method performed by a computer in an information processing device, The system determines whether the content stored in the storage unit of the information processing device is linked to an account, and if it determines that the content is not linked, it controls the information processing device to a deletion-prohibited state, which prohibits the execution of a deletion process to delete the content from the storage unit. Information processing methods.

9. An information processing method performed by a computer in an information processing device, The information processing device determines whether a license stored in the storage unit of the information processing device and corresponding to content is linked to an account, and if it is determined that the license is not linked, it controls the information processing device to a deletion-prohibited state, which prohibits the execution of a deletion process to delete the license from the storage unit. Information processing methods.

10. In the computer of the information processing device, A process to determine whether the content stored in the storage unit of the information processing device is linked to an account, and if it is determined that it is not linked, a process to control the information processing device to a deletion-prohibited state, which prohibits the execution of a deletion process to delete the content from the storage unit. A program that executes the command.

11. In the computer of the information processing device, A process to determine whether a license stored in the storage unit of the information processing device and corresponding to content is linked to an account, and if it is determined that the license is not linked, a process to control the information processing device to a deletion-prohibited state, which prohibits the execution of a deletion process to delete the license from the storage unit. A program that executes the command.

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