Information processing method, program, and information processing device

Abstract

The information processing device 10 comprises a receiving unit 101 that receives content data and a request to issue an NFT from a user's terminal device 20, a storage unit 102 that stores the received content data in a memory unit 100, an NFT issuing unit 103 that sets information about the received content data in an NFT and issues the NFT to the user's wallet, a copying unit 104 that copies the received content data, a digital watermark embedding unit 105 that embeds a digital watermark in the copied content data, a first output unit 106 that outputs the digital watermark-embedded content data to the terminal device 20, and a second output unit 107 that outputs a program to the terminal device to delete the content data received from the terminal device 20.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The disclosed technology relates to an information processing method, a program, and an information processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known a technology (NFT (Non-Fungible Token)) that enables content data such as images, videos, characters used in games, and music to be treated as non-fungible tangible objects by recording tokens linked to the content data on a blockchain. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses the use of NFT as information that proves the authenticity of an avatar. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7485235 Summary of the Invention

[0004] However, since content data can be easily copied, there is a problem in that the uniqueness of the content data cannot be guaranteed simply by recording the token linked to the content data on the blockchain.

[0005] Therefore, one of the objects of the disclosed technology is to provide an information processing method, a program, and an information processing device that can guarantee the uniqueness of content data.

[0006] In one aspect of the disclosed information processing method, an information processing device receives a request for issuing content data and an NFT from a user's terminal device, stores the received content data in a memory unit, sets information about the received content data in an NFT and issues the NFT to the user's wallet, copies the received content data, embeds an electronic watermark in the copied content data, outputs the content data with the embedded electronic watermark to the terminal device, and outputs a program for deleting the content data received from the information processing terminal to the terminal device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the disclosed technology, the uniqueness of content data can be guaranteed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing device and a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a content data DB according to an embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a metadata DB according to an embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of an NFT according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of content data in which a digital watermark is embedded according to an embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block configuration of a terminal device according to an embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure of an information processing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 10]FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating another example of the processing procedure of the information processing system according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, components with the same reference numerals have the same or similar configurations.

[0010] <Information Processing System 1> An information processing system 1 according to the disclosed technology will be described below. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system 1 according to an embodiment. The information processing system 1 shown in Fig. 1 includes an information processing device 10, one or more terminal devices 20, and an external system 30.

[0011] The information processing device 10, terminal device 20, and external system 30 in the information processing system 1 transmit and receive data to and from each other via a communication network N such as the Internet, an intranet, a wireless LAN, or mobile communications. The information processing device 10, terminal device 20, and external system 30 may be configured with multiple processing devices (which may include a database). The network N may be configured with a wireless network or a wired network. Examples of networks include a mobile phone network, a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) network, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network, including communications conforming to IEEE802.11 (so-called Wi-Fi (registered trademark))), 3G (3rd Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation), 5G (5th Generation), WiMax (registered trademark), infrared communication, visible light communication, Bluetooth (registered trademark), a wired LAN, a telephone line, a power line communication network, and a network conforming to IEEE1394, etc.

[0012] <Information processing device 10> The information processing device 10 is configured as a server, a personal computer, or the like. The information processing device 10 performs some of the information processing functions provided by the information processing system 1, such as managing content data (hereinafter also referred to as content data) such as images, videos, characters used in games, audio, novels, manga, and music. The information processing device 10 may be configured using one or more information processing devices 10, or may be configured using a virtual server (such as a cloud server). The information processing device 10 may also be called a computer. The information processing device 10 receives content data from a user's terminal device 20, copies the received content data, and embeds a digital watermark in the copied content data. Hereinafter, the content data received from the user's terminal device 20 is also referred to as original content data, and the content data with the embedded digital watermark is also referred to as copied content data.

[0013] <Terminal device 20> For example, a user can operate the terminal device 20 to output content data stored in the terminal device 20 to the information processing device 10. Furthermore, the user can view the content data output by the information processing device 10 via the terminal device 20. The terminal device 20 is a computer such as a mobile phone (including a smartphone), a portable game machine, a non-portable game machine, a television receiver, a tablet, or a personal computer. The terminal device 20 may also be called a computer.

[0014] An application program (app) for using the service provided by the information processing device 10 may be installed in the terminal device 20. The app may be web browsing software. The app may cause the terminal device 20 to execute at least a part of the processing disclosed in the following embodiments in the service provided by the information processing device 10. When the app is executed, the terminal device 20 may access the information processing device 10 and transmit and receive information used to execute the app.

[0015] <External System 30> The external system 30 is a system that manages a distributed ledger in response to requests from the information processing device 10 and / or the terminal device 20. The external system 30 is configured to be able to communicate with the information processing device 10 and the terminal device 20. The external system 30 is configured from multiple information processing terminals and can manage the ledger in a distributed manner.

[0016] The distributed ledger managed by the external system 30 is managed using a so-called blockchain mechanism to make it difficult to tamper with. A common blockchain-based distributed ledger management mechanism is adopted. The external system 30 may include, for example, multiple information processing terminals, such as computers, that manage the distributed ledger using blockchain technology. The information processing terminals are connected to each other via a network. The network may include network N in FIG. 1. The information processing terminals may communicate with each other in a peer-to-peer manner, and one of the information processing terminals may obtain data, for example, related to NFT transactions. The information processing terminal creates a block containing the obtained data, adds it to the blockchain, and transmits information about the added block to the other information processing terminals. The other information processing terminals verify the accuracy of the received block and, if the verification is successful, add the block to the blockchain. The information processing terminals then finalize the blockchain, for example, according to the number of linked blocks. Through the above process, the same distributed ledger is stored across multiple information processing terminals that make up the external system 30. The recorded data may be encrypted as appropriate. The external system 30 may be constructed using, for example, Ethereum. The number of information processing terminals that make up the external system 30 may change over time.

[0017] Tokens that can be issued by an external system 30 such as Ethereum include fungible tokens and NFTs. Unlike fungible tokens, NFTs are non-fungible tokens. NFTs can have unique value that distinguishes them from other NFTs. NFTs have a unique identifier (hereinafter also referred to as NFT-ID) that enables them to be distinguished from other NFTs. The NFT-ID is information that identifies the NFT and is recorded by the external system 30 when the NFT is issued. A unique value that makes the NFT unique is recorded in the NFT-ID, ensuring its non-fungibility. NFTs can be traded in the same way as fungible tokens. The transaction history of NFTs is recorded in the external system 30. A distributed ledger managed by the external system 30 can record, for example, NFT holders and ownership history. In this embodiment, as an example, the NFT is described as a token issued based on the ERC (Ethereum Request for Comments) 721 standard, but the NFT is not limited to this and may be a token issued based on other standards.

[0018] <Hardware configuration> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing device 10 and the terminal device 20. The information processing device 10 and the terminal device 20 each include a processor 11 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a memory (e.g., RAM (Random Access Memory) or ROM (Read Only Memory)), a storage device 12 such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and / or an SSD (Solid State Drive), a network IF (Network Interface) 13 for wired or wireless communication, an input device 14 for accepting input operations, and an output device 15 for outputting information. The input device 14 is, for example, a keyboard, a touch panel, a mouse, and / or a microphone. The output device 15 is, for example, a display, a touch panel, and / or a speaker. The information processing terminal constituting the external system 30 may also have a hardware configuration similar to that described above.

[0019] <Block configuration> (Information processing device 10) 3 is a diagram showing an example block configuration of the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 includes a memory unit 100, a reception unit 101, a storage unit 102, an NFT issuance unit 103, a duplication unit 104, a digital watermark embedding unit 105, a first output unit 106, and a second output unit 107. The information processing device 10 may further include an acquisition unit 108, a similarity calculation unit 109, and a transaction unit 110.

[0020] The memory unit 100 can be realized using a memory device 12 included in the information processing device 10. In addition, the reception unit 101, storage unit 102, NFT issuing unit 103, duplication unit 104, digital watermark embedding unit 105, first output unit 106, second output unit 107, acquisition unit 108, similarity calculation unit 109, and transaction unit 110 can be realized by the processor 11 of the information processing device 10 executing a program stored in the memory device 12.

[0021] The program can be stored in a storage medium. The storage medium storing the program may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory storage medium is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory or a Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM).

[0022] The storage unit 100 stores data necessary for the information processing device 10 to execute information processing. This includes a content data DB 100a and a metadata DB 100b. The content data DB 100a and the metadata DB 100b may be stored in the storage unit 100, or may be recorded in a distributed ledger managed by the external system 30. It is possible to add data items to be stored in each DB as needed.

[0023] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of content data DB 100a. Content data DB 100a shown in Fig. 4 manages various information about content data. Content data DB 100a may store a user ID, owner address information, original content ID, copy content ID, original content storage location, copy content storage location, and deletion information in association with each other.

[0024] The user ID is information that identifies the user who owns the accepted content data. The user ID may also be information that identifies the user who will be the owner of the issued NFT. The owner address information is information regarding the address of the NFT owner. The owner address information may be, for example, the wallet address of the NFT owner.

[0025] The original content ID is information that identifies the received content data. The original content ID may be information that identifies content linked to an NFT. The copy content ID is information that identifies copy content data. The original content storage location is information that indicates the storage location of the received content data. The copy content storage location is information that indicates the storage location of the copy content data. The information that indicates the storage location may be, for example, address information in the storage unit 100, or may be a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for referencing the original content data and / or copy content data.

[0026] The deletion information is information relating to the deletion of the content data from the terminal device 20 that transmitted the content data. The deletion information may be, for example, log information indicating that the content data has been deleted from the terminal device 20, or information indicating that the content data is no longer stored in the terminal device 20.

[0027] Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the metadata DB 100b. The metadata DB 100b shown in Figure 5 manages various types of metadata information, which is information about content linked to NFTs. The metadata DB 100b may store a metadata ID, content name information, content description information, the storage location of the original content, and the storage location of the copied content in association with each other.

[0028] The metadata ID is information that identifies the metadata of the received content data. The content name information is information related to the name of the content, such as the title or title of the content. The content description information is information related to the description of the content. The content description information may be, for example, description information related to the content received arbitrarily from the user, or description information related to the content acquired by the information processing device 10, such as the data format and file size. The original content storage location and the copy content storage location are the same as those described above. By including the original content storage location and the copy content storage location in the metadata, information that enables viewing of the content data can be linked to the NFT. Note that it is not necessary to include both the original content storage location and the copy content storage location in the metadata; for example, the metadata may include only the copy content storage location.

[0029] The reception unit 101 receives content data from a user. For example, the user operates the terminal device 20 to read the content data stored in the storage unit 200 and transmit it to the information processing device 10. The reception unit 101 receives the content data transmitted from the terminal device 20. The reception unit 101 also assigns an original content ID corresponding to the received content data. For example, the user may transmit content data stored in an external storage device instead of the storage unit 200 to the information processing device 10. The reception unit 101 may receive content name information, content description information, etc. as content metadata from the user, and may also receive holder address information for receiving an NFT.

[0030] The reception unit 101 also receives a request to issue an NFT (hereinafter also referred to as an NFT issuance request). The NFT issuance request may include, for example, a user ID and an original content ID. The reception unit 101 may receive an NFT issuance request from the terminal device 20, or may receive an NFT issuance request from another system if the content data is sold in another system. Note that the content data can also be sold in the information processing device 10.

[0031] The storage unit 102 stores the received content data in the memory unit. For example, the storage unit 102 assigns a metadata ID corresponding to the received content data, associates the original content ID, content name information, content description information, and original content storage location with the metadata ID, and stores the data in the metadata DB. The storage unit 102 also associates the user ID of the user who sent the content, owner address information, original content ID, metadata ID, and original content storage location with the metadata ID, and stores the data in the content data DB.

[0032] In response to the issuance request, the NFT issuing unit 103 sets information about the received content data in an NFT and issues the NFT to the user's wallet. The NFT issuing unit 103 may, for example, request the external system 30 to issue an NFT and accept the issued NFT. The NFT issuing unit 103 may link the received NFT to the owner address information of the user's wallet. The information about the content data may be an NFT-URI (Uniform Resource Identifier). The information about the content data may also be the storage location of metadata corresponding to the original content. The storage location of the metadata may be address information of the metadata DB 100b in which metadata associated with a metadata ID corresponding to the original content ID is stored. The information about the content data may also be the storage location of the original content, such as address information indicating the storage location of the original content.

[0033] The NFT issuing unit 103 may, for example, generate an NFT-URI indicating the storage location of metadata associated with a metadata ID corresponding to the original content ID included in the NFT issuance request. The storage location of the metadata may be address information of the metadata DB 100b in which the metadata associated with the metadata ID is stored. The NFT issuing unit 103 can link the original content data to the NFT by recording the generated NFT-URI as an NFT on the blockchain. Note that the NFT issuing unit 103 may, for example, obtain metadata stored in the metadata DB 100b based on the metadata ID corresponding to the original content ID included in the NFT issuance request, and generate an NFT-URI indicating the obtained metadata.

[0034] The NFT issuing unit 103 also acquires owner address information based on, for example, the original content ID included in the NFT issuance request. The NFT issuing unit 103 issues an NFT that contains information including the generated NFT-URI and owner address information, and stores it in the user's wallet. This allows the user to send and receive NFTs using their own owner address information. The NFT issuing unit 103 may also collect a fee from the user who made the NFT issuance request and issue the NFT after payment is complete. This allows the costs associated with issuing the NFT to be recovered.

[0035] Once the issuance of an NFT linked to content data is complete, the user can check the NFT stored in their wallet. To view the content data, the information contained in the NFT linked to the content data is required. This allows the NFT linked to content data to prove that the owner of the NFT is the owner of the content data.

[0036] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of an NFT issued by the NFT issuing unit 103. The issued NFT 600 includes an NFT-ID, owner address information, and an NFT-URI. The NFT 600 may also include erasure information, transaction information, and other information. Transaction information is information regarding the transaction conditions for content data. The transaction information may include, for example, information regarding the royalty calculation method, royalty payment destination, and other royalty collection conditions associated with the distribution of content data. The transaction information may also include information regarding secondary distribution, such as where the content data will be resold.

[0037] The copying unit 104 copies the received content data. For example, the copying unit 104 copies the received content data and has at least two pieces of content data: the received original content data and the copied content data.

[0038] The digital watermark embedding unit 105 embeds a digital watermark in the copied content data. The digital watermark embedding unit 105 may embed, for example, an original content ID as a digital watermark in the copied content data. The content of the digital watermark embedded by the digital watermark embedding unit 105 may be either immutable or variable. An example of a variable additional image may be information about the date of receipt of the content data, the owner, etc.

[0039] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of content data (copy content data) in which a digital watermark is embedded. As shown in FIG. 7, the digital watermark 710 added to the copied content data 700 may be a non-transparent, perceptible digital watermark such as a stamp. If the digital watermark is non-transparent and perceptible, a content viewer cannot copy the content data even if they misuse the screenshot function of the terminal device 20, for example. Note that the digital watermark 710 added to the copied content data 700 may be a transparent, hard-to-perceive digital watermark.

[0040] The storage unit 102 assigns a copy content ID to the content data (copy content data) in which the digital watermark is embedded. The storage unit 102 associates the copy content ID and the copy content storage location with the original content ID and stores them in the content data DB.

[0041] The first output unit 106 outputs the copied content data to the user. By accepting the copied content data with the embedded digital watermark, the user can obtain the authentically copied content data from the transmitted content data.

[0042] The second output unit 107 outputs a program for deleting the received content data (hereinafter also referred to as a deletion program) to the terminal device 20. The deletion program deletes the content data, for example, from the storage unit 200 of the terminal device 20 in which the received content data is stored. The deletion program may be realized, for example, by using a plug-in or an applet. An applet is a small program that is based on a certain application and is loaded and executed on that application. The second output unit 107 may output a programmed applet for deleting the received content data to the terminal device 20, have it loaded on a browser, and execute the deletion program on the terminal device 20.

[0043] An example of the operation of the deletion program will be described. For example, the deletion program is embedded in a web page for the terminal device 20 to upload files. When the terminal device 20 accesses this web page using a browser, this applet is executed by the browser of the terminal device 20 to delete content data stored in the terminal device 20. Specifically, when content data is uploaded from the terminal device 20, the deletion program identifies the storage source of the content data file and deletes data such as files corresponding to the content data requested for deletion. The deletion program may also delete the content data from the storage location in the storage unit 200 where the content data was stored so that the deleted content data cannot be recovered. At this time, the storage location in the storage unit 200 where the deleted content data was stored may be overwritten with a dummy value. This allows the content data to be deleted so that it cannot be recovered. Note that the user may be required to grant permission to access local files as a condition for using the system.

[0044] The second output unit 107 may output a deletion instruction as the program to be deleted. The deletion instruction may be, for example, a sanitize command that completely erases the storage unit 200. The terminal device 20 may execute deletion of the content data based on the deletion instruction.

[0045] Through the above process, the accepted content data is deleted from the user's terminal device 20. The content data does not remain in the user's terminal device 20, but is transferred from the terminal device 20 to the information processing device 10 as if it were a tangible object. Therefore, the original content data accepted from the user is stored in the information processing device 10, making it unique. This prevents the user, who owns the original content data, from freely copying the content data, thereby ensuring the uniqueness of the content data. Even if a user creates content identical to the original content or stores the same content as the original content in a storage unit other than the storage unit 200, no NFT is associated with the identical content. Therefore, the uniqueness of content associated with an NFT can be guaranteed. Furthermore, since the accepted content data is deleted from the user's terminal device 20, the content data does not remain in the user's terminal device 20, thereby saving memory, etc., in the storage unit 200 of the user's terminal device 20. Furthermore, the original content data received from the user is unique to the information processing device 10, so the risk of the original content data being tampered with can be reduced.

[0046] The storage unit 102 may store the received content data (original content data) and the content data with the embedded digital watermark (copy content data) in association with each other in the storage unit.

[0047] Through the above processing, the original content data and the copy content data can be stored in association with each other in the storage unit 100. For example, a viewer who wishes to view the content data transmits a request to the information processing device 10 to view the content data. In this case, the information processing device 10 can output the copy content data, which is stored in association with the original content data in the storage unit 100, to the viewer. As a result, the viewer can view the copy content data without viewing the original content data.

[0048] The acquiring unit 108 may acquire, from the terminal device 20, erasure information indicating that the received content data has been deleted from the storage unit 200. The erasure information may be information from the terminal device 20 that proves that the data has been properly erased. The acquiring unit 108 may acquire a log recording the data erasure executed by the terminal device 20, and use the log recording the data erasure as the erasure information. The log recording the data erasure may include history information regarding the erasure process recorded in the terminal device 20 in conjunction with the execution of the erasure process. The log recording the data erasure may further include a start log indicating the start of the erasure process (such as the start date and time of the erasure process), an end log indicating the end of the erasure process (such as the end date and time of the erasure process), information regarding the storage unit 200 from which the data was erased, and the like. The acquiring unit 108 may, for example, request a reliable specialist to erase the data and acquire the data erasure information from the specialist.

[0049] The storage unit 102 may store the acquired deletion information of the content data in the storage unit in association with the original content ID.

[0050] The NFT issuing unit 103 may obtain the deletion information based on the original content ID included in the NFT issuance request, for example. The NFT issuing unit 103 can issue an NFT including the obtained deletion information and store it in the wallet of the user specified in the NFT issuance request.

[0051] Through the above process, when an NFT is issued, erasure information indicating that the content data linked to the NFT has been deleted can be set in the NFT. This allows evidence of the uniqueness of the content to be linked to the NFT. The uniqueness of the content linked to the NFT can be guaranteed based on the erasure information.

[0052] The similarity calculation unit 109 calculates the similarity between content data stored in the storage unit 100 and newly received content data. When new content data is received from the user terminal device 20, the similarity calculation unit 109 may calculate the similarity between the content data stored in the storage unit 100 and the newly received content data. The similarity calculation unit 109 may, for example, extract feature quantities of the content data stored in the storage unit 100 and the newly received content data. Any known method may be used to extract feature quantities. For example, feature quantities may be extracted using a feature extractor that holds spatial information, such as a CNN (convolutional neural network).

[0053] Furthermore, the similarity calculation unit 109 may calculate the similarity based on the feature amounts of the content data stored in the storage unit 100 and the feature amounts of the newly received content data. The similarity calculation unit 109 may calculate the similarity, for example, by a method using statistical similarity, or may calculate the similarity by an approximation method using clustering. For example, the similarity calculation unit 109 may calculate the similarity between the feature amounts of the content data stored in the storage unit 100 and the newly received content data by using statistical similarity such as KL distance, PE distance, optimal transport, or independence test.

[0054] Furthermore, the similarity calculation unit 109 may calculate the similarity in the range of, for example, 0 to 100%, and the larger the similarity, the more similar the content data stored in the storage unit 100 is to the newly received content data.

[0055] If the calculated similarity is greater than a predetermined value, the similarity calculation unit 109 may determine that the content data stored in the storage unit 100 and the newly received content data are similar. Alternatively, if the calculated similarity is less than a predetermined value, the similarity calculation unit 109 may determine that the content data stored in the storage unit 100 and the newly received content data are dissimilar.

[0056] If the similarity calculation unit 109 determines that the content is similar, the NFT issuing unit 103 does not need to issue an NFT for the newly received content data.

[0057] Through the above processing, the similarity calculation unit 109 can determine whether the content data stored in the storage unit 100 is similar to the newly received content data. If the similarity calculation unit 109 determines that the content data are similar, the NFT issuing unit 103 can guarantee the uniqueness of the content already linked to the NFT by not issuing an NFT for the newly received content data.

[0058] When newly receiving content data having continuity as content data from the user's terminal device 20, the similarity calculation unit 109 may calculate the similarity between the content data stored in the storage unit 100 and the newly received content data having continuity. Contiguous content data is, for example, content data having temporal continuity, and may include video, music, audio, and animation. Furthermore, the similarity calculation unit 109 may determine that the newly received content data having continuity is similar to the content data stored in the storage unit 100 if a predetermined portion of the newly received content data having continuity has a similarity greater than a predetermined value with a portion of the content data stored in the storage unit 100. When the similarity calculation unit 109 determines that the content data having continuity is similar to the content data stored in the storage unit 100, the NFT issuing unit 103 may not issue an NFT for the newly received content data having continuity.

[0059] Through the above process, the similarity calculation unit 109 can determine whether the content data stored in the storage unit 100 and the newly received content data having continuity are similar. Furthermore, the similarity calculation unit 109 determines that the newly received content data having continuity are similar if a predetermined portion of the newly received content data having continuity has a similarity greater than a predetermined value with a portion of the content data stored in the storage unit 100. As a result, if the predetermined portion of the newly received content data having continuity is similar to a portion of the original content data, the NFT issuing unit 103 can not issue an NFT for the content data having continuity that includes at least a portion of the content data already linked to an NFT. Note that the above-described content data having continuity is not limited to content data having continuity over time, but can also be applied to content data having continuity, such as novels and manga, and similarity can be determined using a predetermined portion in the same manner as the above process.

[0060] The trading unit 110 performs processing related to the buying and selling of NFTs. The trading unit 110 performs processing for selling NFTs as so-called primary distribution, such as processing for a user to sell an NFT to a third party and processing charges related to the sale of NFTs. The charging process can use a general known method. Note that when selling content data, a user may sell NFTs on the information processing device 10, or may sell NFTs in cooperation with another system.

[0061] The trading unit 110 may also process NFT transactions between users, including purchasers. The trading unit 110 performs processing related to so-called secondary distribution. For example, when an NFT is transferred, the trading unit 110 can request the external system 30 to issue information that sets the transferee user as the holder of the NFT. Note that the trading unit 110 may perform the above-mentioned processing on the information processing device 10 instead of the external system 30.

[0062] When the trading unit 110 receives a request to transfer an NFT from the terminal device 20, it may request the external system 30 to issue information for transferring the NFT. The information for transferring the NFT may include information identifying the NFT, a user ID indicating the transferor, a user ID indicating the transferee, a transfer price, etc. The trading unit 110 may charge the transferee user for the transfer price or pay the transferor user for the transfer price. The trading unit 110 may also move the NFT from a wallet associated with the transferor user ID to a wallet associated with the transferee user ID. The trading unit 110 may issue NFTs free of charge within the information processing device 10 and allow users within the system to trade NFTs free of charge. However, when trading NFTs in an external system 30, the NFT may be traded for a fee in accordance with the trading regulations of the external system 30. The trading unit 110 may perform the above-mentioned processing on the information processing device 10 instead of the external system 30.

[0063] (Terminal device 20) FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a block configuration of the terminal device 20. The terminal device 20 includes a storage unit 200, a UI (User Interface) unit 201, a control unit 202, and a wallet unit 203. The storage unit 200 can be realized using the storage device 12 included in the terminal device 20. The UI unit 201 and the control unit 202 can be realized by the processor 11 of the terminal device 20 executing a program stored in the storage device 12. The program can be stored in a storage medium. The storage medium storing the program may be a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium. The non-transitory storage medium is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a storage medium such as a USB memory or a CD-ROM.

[0064] The storage unit 200 stores content data and data necessary for the control unit 202 to execute information processing.

[0065] The UI unit 201 has a function of receiving various inputs from a user and displaying various service screens on a display. The UI unit 201 may also display content on a display (display unit) of the terminal device 20 in accordance with an instruction from the information processing device 10.

[0066] The control unit 202 cooperates with the information processing device 10 to provide various functions necessary for executing information processing.

[0067] The wallet unit 203 is a wallet for managing NFTs and the like provided in the terminal device 20, and may be configured, for example, by a program that functions as an NFT wallet. The wallet unit 203 is, for example, for sending and receiving NFTs to and from the information processing device 10, and can receive NFTs from the information processing device 10 via a network by specifying the wallet address of the wallet unit 203. Note that NFTs may also be received using a wallet configured, for example, by Ethereum's Web3-API or other means.

[0068] When the wallet unit 203 receives an NFT from the information processing device 10, it can store the received NFT. The wallet unit 203 may store the NFT in the storage unit 200 in association with a wallet address.

[0069] Note that this does not only include a configuration in which an application program that functions as a wallet is installed on the terminal device 20 and NFTs are managed on a local terminal, but also a configuration in which NFTs held by a user are managed in an online wallet provided on the web. In other words, the storage location of NFTs is not limited to the terminal device 20, but may also be a server device on the cloud.

[0070] Regarding the block configuration described above, all or some of the memory unit 100, reception unit 101, storage unit 102, NFT issuing unit 103, duplication unit 104, digital watermark embedding unit 105, first output unit 106, acquisition unit 108, similarity calculation unit 109, and trading unit 110 included in the information processing device 10 may be configured to be provided in the terminal device 20. In other words, the various processes according to this embodiment may be executed by the processor of the information processing device 10, may be executed by the processor of the terminal device 20, or may be executed by the processors of the information processing device 10 and the terminal device 20 in cooperation with each other.

[0071] <System Operation> Next, the operation of the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment will be described. Fig. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure of the information processing system 1.

[0072] In step S101, the reception unit 101 receives a request to issue content data and an NFT from the user's terminal device 20.

[0073] In step S102, the storage unit 102 stores the content data received by the reception unit 101 in the storage unit.

[0074] In step S103, the NFT issuing unit 103 requests the external system 30 to issue an NFT in which information about the content data is set, based on the NFT issuance request received by the receiving unit 101. The external system 30 issues an NFT in response to the NFT issuance request. When requesting the issuance of an NFT, the NFT issuing unit 103 may output an NFT-URI and holder address information as information about the content data to the external system 30. The external system 30 may issue an NFT in response to the NFT issuance request using an information processing terminal belonging to the P2P network. The information processing terminal of the external system 30 may issue the NFT if there is no problem with the NFT issuance request received from the NFT issuing unit 103. The information processing terminal of the external system 30 records the generated NFT on the blockchain. Note that if the information processing device 10 is capable of executing the process of issuing an NFT, the NFT issuing unit 103 may issue the NFT.

[0075] In step S104, the NFT issuing unit 103 accepts an NFT issued by the external system 30. The NFT issuing unit 103 may accept the generated NFT and / or NFT-ID from a blockchain managed by the external system 30.

[0076] In step S105, the NFT issuing unit 103 stores the NFT in the user's wallet based on the owner address information set in the NFT. Furthermore, the NFT issued by the external system 30 is not limited to being accepted by the NFT issuing unit 103 and then stored in the user's wallet by the NFT issuing unit 103. For example, the external system 30 may store the NFT in the user's wallet based on the owner address information set in the NFT.

[0077] In step S106, the copying unit 104 copies the received content data to generate content data that is a copy of the original content data.

[0078] In step S107, the digital watermark embedding unit embeds a digital watermark in the copied content data. The digital watermark embedding unit may assign a copy content ID to the content data in which the digital watermark is embedded (copy content data).

[0079] In step S108, the first output unit 106 outputs the content data with the embedded digital watermark (copy content data) to the user's information processing terminal.

[0080] In step S109, the second output unit 107 outputs a program for deleting the content data received from the terminal device 20. The terminal device 20 executes the deletion program, thereby deleting the content data from the storage unit 200 of the terminal device 20. In other words, the content data does not actually remain in the hands of the user, but is transferred from the terminal device 20 to the information processing device 10 as if it were a tangible object.

[0081] Through the above process, the original content data received from the user is unique and stored in the information processing device 10. This prevents the user, who is the owner of the original content data, from freely copying the content data, and the system of the present disclosure can guarantee the uniqueness of the content data.

[0082] Another example of the processing procedure of the information processing system 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Note that processing similar to the processing described with reference to Fig. 9 will be omitted.

[0083] Steps S201 and S202 are the same as steps S101 and S102. Steps S203 and S204 are the same as steps S106 and S107. Steps S206 and S207 are the same as steps S108 and S109. Steps S211 and S212 are the same as steps S104 and S105.

[0084] In step S205, the storage unit 102 stores the original content data and the copy content data in which the digital watermark is embedded in the storage unit 100 in association with each other.

[0085] In step S208, the terminal device 20 executes a program for deleting the received content data, and deletes the content data.

[0086] In step S209, the acquisition unit 108 acquires deletion information indicating that the received content data has been deleted from the terminal device 20.

[0087] In step S210, the NFT issuing unit 103 requests the external system 30 to issue an NFT that contains information about the content data and the deletion information acquired from the acquisition unit 108, based on the NFT issuance request received by the reception unit 101. The external system 30 issues an NFT in response to the NFT issuance request.

[0088] Through the above processing, the original content data and the copy content data can be associated and stored in the storage unit 100. Furthermore, when an NFT is issued, deletion information indicating that the content data linked to the NFT has been deleted can be set in the NFT, making it possible to link the NFT with evidence showing the uniqueness of the content.

[0089] Although the embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, this is merely an example for explaining the present disclosure, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to only this embodiment. The present disclosure can be implemented in various other embodiments.

[0090] For example, the reception unit 101 may receive a request to view content data from a user. When receiving the request to view content data, the reception unit 101 may receive information about the rights held by the user, such as an NFT-ID corresponding to the content data, or may receive information about authentication from the user.

[0091] The receiving unit 101 may refer to the owner address information corresponding to the received NFT-ID from the blockchain and determine whether it matches the owner address information of the user who received the viewing request. In addition, a viewing right may be set for the NFT, and the receiving unit 101 may determine whether the user's owner address information is set in the viewing right corresponding to the received NFT-ID.

[0092] The receiving unit 101 may provide original content data if the user's owner address information matches the owner address information corresponding to the NFT-ID or if it is determined that the user has viewing rights based on the user's owner address information. The original content data to be provided may be identified from the NFT-URI corresponding to the NFT-ID. The receiving unit 101 may provide copied content data if the user's owner address information does not match the owner address information corresponding to the NFT-ID or if it is determined that the user does not have viewing rights based on the user's owner address information.

[0093] Through the above process, content can be provided based on the owner address information of the content linked to the NFT. The information processing device 10 may provide copied content data to users whose owner address information does not match the owner address information corresponding to the NFT-ID. As a result, the terminal device 20 viewing the content can only view the copied content data, and cannot obtain duplicate data of the original content data, thereby ensuring the uniqueness of the content. Note that the information processing device 10 may always provide only the location where the copied content data is stored.

Claims

1. The information processing device receiving a request for issuing content data and an NFT from a user's terminal device; storing the received content data in a storage unit; Setting information about the content data stored in the storage unit in the NFT, and issuing the NFT after the information about the content data has been set to the user's wallet; copying the received content data; Embedding a digital watermark in the copied content data; outputting the content data in which the digital watermark is embedded to the terminal device; outputting to the terminal device a program for deleting content data stored in the terminal device, the content data corresponding to the received content data; An information processing method that performs the above.

2. The storing step includes: storing the received content data and the content data in which the digital watermark has been embedded in a storage unit in association with each other; The information processing method according to claim 1 .

3. acquiring deletion information indicating that the received content data has been deleted from the terminal device; Issuing to the user's wallet: setting the acquired erasure information in the NFT; The information processing method according to claim 1 .

4. When new content data is received from the user's terminal device, calculating a similarity between the content data stored in the storage unit and the newly received content data; Issuing to the user's wallet: If the similarity is greater than a predetermined value, the NFT is not issued for the newly accepted content data. The information processing method according to claim 1 .

5. Calculating the similarity When new content data having continuity is received from the terminal device of the user, the content data stored in the storage unit; calculating a similarity between the newly received content data having continuity, Issuing to the user's wallet: When a predetermined portion of the newly accepted content data having continuity has a similarity greater than a predetermined value with the content data stored in the storage unit, the NFT is not issued for the newly accepted content data having continuity. The information processing method according to claim 4.

6. In the information processing device, receiving a request for issuing content data and an NFT from a user's terminal device; storing the received content data in a storage unit; Setting information about the content data stored in the storage unit in the NFT, and issuing the NFT after the information about the content data has been set to the user's wallet; copying the received content data; Embedding a digital watermark in the copied content data; outputting the content data in which the digital watermark is embedded to the terminal device; outputting to the terminal device a program for deleting content data stored in the terminal device, the content data corresponding to the received content data; A program that executes.

7. a reception unit that receives a request for issuing content data and an NFT from a user's terminal device; a storage unit that stores the received content data in a storage unit; an NFT issuing unit that sets information about the content data stored in the storage unit in the NFT and issues the NFT after the information about the content data has been set to the user's wallet; a copying unit that copies the received content data; a digital watermark embedding unit that embeds a digital watermark in the copied content data; a first output unit that outputs the content data in which the digital watermark is embedded to the terminal device; a second output unit that outputs to the terminal device a program for deleting the content data stored in the terminal device, the program corresponding to the received content data; An information processing device comprising:

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