Information processing method, program, and information processing device

Abstract

This information processing device 10 comprises: a reception unit 101 that receives content data and an NFT issuance request from a terminal device 20 of a user; a storage unit 102 that stores the received content data in a memory unit 100; an NFT issuance unit 103 that sets information pertaining to the received content data in the NFT and issues the NFT to a wallet of the user; a duplication unit 104 that duplicates the received content data; an electronic watermark embedding unit 105 that embeds an electronic watermark in the duplicated content data; a first output unit 106 that outputs, to the terminal device 20, the content data in which the electronic watermark has been embedded; and a second output unit 107 that outputs, to the terminal device, a program for deleting the content data received from the terminal device 20.

Description

Information Processing Method, Program, and Information Processing Apparatus

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

[0002] Conventionally, there is 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 physical objects by recording tokens associated with the content data on a blockchain. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses the use of NFT as information for proving the authenticity of an avatar.

[0003] Patent No. 7485235

[0004] However, since content data can be easily replicated, there is a problem that simply recording tokens associated with the content data on a blockchain cannot guarantee the uniqueness of the content data.

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

[0006] In an information processing method according to an aspect of the disclosure, an information processing apparatus receives a content data and an NFT issuance request from a user's terminal device, stores the received content data in a storage unit, sets information related to the received content data in the NFT, issues the NFT to the user's wallet, replicates the received content data, embeds a digital watermark in the replicated content data, outputs the content data with the digital watermark embedded to the terminal device, and outputs a program for deleting the content data received from the information processing terminal to the terminal device.

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

[0008] This figure shows an example of the configuration of an information processing system according to one embodiment. This figure shows an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing device and a terminal device according to one embodiment. This figure shows an example of the block configuration of an information processing device according to one embodiment. This figure shows an example of a content data DB according to one embodiment. This figure shows an example of a metadata DB according to one embodiment. This figure illustrates an example of the data structure of an NFT according to one embodiment. This figure shows an example of content data with an embedded digital watermark according to one embodiment. This figure shows an example of the block configuration of a terminal device according to one embodiment. This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing procedure of an information processing system according to one embodiment. This is a sequence diagram showing another example of the processing procedure of an information processing system according to one embodiment.

[0009] A preferred embodiment of the disclosed technology will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In each drawing, components denoted by the same reference numerals have the same or similar configuration.

[0010] <Information Processing System 1> The information processing system 1 in the disclosed technology will be described below. Figure 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system 1 according to the embodiment. The information processing system 1 shown in Figure 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, intranet, wireless LAN, or mobile communication. The information processing device 10, terminal device 20, and external system 30 may be composed of multiple processing devices (which may include databases). The network N is composed of a wireless network or a wired network. Examples of networks include mobile phone networks, PHS (Personal Handy-phone System) networks, wireless LANs (Local Area Networks, including communication compliant with IEEE 802.11 (so-called Wi-Fi®)), 3G (3rd Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation), 5G (5th Generation), WiMax®, infrared communication, visible light communication, Bluetooth®, wired LANs, telephone lines, power line communication networks, and networks compliant with IEEE 1394, etc.

[0012] <Information Processing Device 10> The information processing device 10 is composed of a server or a personal computer, etc. The information processing device 10 is an information processing device 10 that performs some of the functions of information processing 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, voices, novels, comics, and music. The information processing device 10 may be composed of one or more information processing devices 10, or it may be configured using a virtual server (cloud server, etc.). The information processing device 10 may also be called a computer. The information processing device 10 receives content data from the 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 will also be called original content data, and the content data with a digital watermark embedded will also be called copy content data.

[0013] <Terminal device 20> For example, a user can output content data stored in the terminal device 20 to the information processing device 10 by operating the terminal device 20. The user can also view 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 console, a non-portable game console, a television receiver, a tablet, or a personal computer. The terminal device 20 may also be called a computer.

[0014] Furthermore, the terminal device 20 may have an application program (app) installed for using the service provided by the information processing device 10. 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 embodiments shown below 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 to send 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 terminal device 20. The external system 30 is configured to communicate with the information processing device 10 and terminal device 20. The external system 30 is composed of multiple information processing terminals and can manage ledgers in a distributed manner.

[0016] The distributed ledger managed by the external system 30 is managed in a way that makes it difficult to tamper with using a so-called blockchain mechanism. A common blockchain mechanism for managing the distributed ledger will be adopted. The external system 30 may include, for example, information processing terminals such as computers that manage the distributed ledger using multiple blockchain technologies. The information processing terminals are connected to each other via a network. The network may include network N in Figure 1. The information processing terminals may communicate with each other using a peer-to-peer method, and any of the information processing terminals may, for example, acquire data related to NFT transactions. The information processing terminal creates a block containing the acquired data, adds it to the blockchain, and transmits the information of the added block to other information processing terminals. The other information processing terminals verify the correctness of the received block, and if the verification is successful, they add the block to the blockchain. The information processing terminals determine the blockchain according to, for example, the number of linked blocks. Through the above process, the same distributed ledger will be stored across multiple information processing terminals constituting the external system 30. The recorded data may be encrypted as appropriate. The external system 30 can be constructed using, for example, Ethereum. Furthermore, the number of information processing terminals constituting 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 not fungible. NFTs can have a unique value that distinguishes them from other NFTs. NFTs have a unique identifier (hereinafter also called an 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. The non-fungibility of the NFT is guaranteed by recording a unique value in the NFT-ID that makes the NFT unique. NFTs are tradable in the same way as fungible tokens. The transaction history of NFTs is recorded in the external system 30. The distributed ledger managed by the external system 30 can record, for example, the holders of NFTs and their holding 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> Figure 2 shows 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 have a processor 11 such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a storage device 12 such as memory (e.g., RAM (Random Access Memory) or ROM (Read Only Memory)), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and / or an SSD (Solid State Drive), a network interface 13 for wired or wireless communication, an input device 14 for receiving 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 that constitutes the external system 30 may also have the same hardware configuration as described above.

[0019] <Block Configuration> (Information Processing Device 10) Figure 3 shows an example of the block configuration of the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 includes a storage unit 100, a receiving unit 101, a storage unit 102, an NFT issuing unit 103, a copying 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 implemented using the storage device 12 provided by the information processing device 10. The receiving unit 101, storage unit 102, NFT issuing unit 103, copying 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 implemented by the processor 11 of the information processing device 10 executing a program stored in the storage device 12.

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

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

[0023] Figure 4 shows an example of a content data DB 100a. The content data DB 100a shown in Figure 4 manages various information about the content data. The content data DB 100a may store the following in association: user ID, owner address information, original content ID, copy content ID, original content storage location, copy content storage location, and deletion information.

[0024] The User ID is information that identifies the user who possesses the received content data. The User ID may also be information that identifies the user who will become the holder of the issued NFT. The holder address information is information about the address of the NFT holder. The holder address information may be, for example, the wallet address of the NFT holder.

[0025] The original content ID is information that identifies the received content data. The original content ID may also be information that identifies the content associated with the NFT. The copy content ID is information that identifies the 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 indicating the storage location may be, for example, address information in the storage unit 100, or it may be a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for referencing the original content data and / or copy content data.

[0026] The deletion information is information regarding the deletion of 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 it may be information indicating that the content data is no longer stored in the terminal device 20.

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

[0028] Metadata ID is information that identifies the metadata of the received content data. Content name information is information about the name of the content, such as the title or title of the content. Content description information is information about the description of the content. Content description information may be, for example, descriptive information about the content arbitrarily received from the user, or it may be descriptive information about the content obtained 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 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 mandatory to include both the original content storage location and the copy content storage location in the metadata; for example, only the copy content storage location may be included in the metadata.

[0029] The reception unit 101 receives content data from the user. The user, for example, operates the terminal device 20 to read content data stored in the storage unit 200 and transmits 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. The user may, for example, 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 also receive content name information, content description information, etc., as metadata for the content from the user, and may also receive holder address information for receiving NFTs.

[0030] Furthermore, the reception unit 101 accepts requests for the issuance of NFTs (hereinafter also referred to as NFT issuance requests). An NFT issuance request may include, for example, a user ID and an original content ID. The reception unit 101 may accept NFT issuance requests from terminal devices 20, and if content data is sold through other systems, it may also accept NFT issuance requests from other systems. Note that content data can also be sold through the information processing device 10.

[0031] The storage unit 102 stores the received content data in the storage unit. 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 them in the metadata DB. The storage unit 102 also associates the user ID of the user who sent the content, the owner address information, the original content ID, the metadata ID, and the original content storage location with the content data DB.

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

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

[0034] Furthermore, the NFT issuing unit 103 obtains holder address information, for example, based on the original content ID included in the NFT issuance request. The NFT issuing unit 103 issues an NFT containing information including the generated NFT-URI and the holder address information, and stores it in the user's wallet. This allows the user to send and receive NFTs using their own holder 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 the settlement is completed. This allows the cost associated with issuing the NFT to be recovered.

[0035] Once the issuance of an NFT linked to content data is complete, users can view the NFT stored in their wallet. To view the content data, the information contained in the NFT linked to that content data is required. In this way, the NFT linked to the content data can prove that the owner of the NFT is the owner of that content data.

[0036] Figure 6 illustrates an example of the data structure of an NFT issued by the NFT issuing unit 103. The issued NFT 600 includes an NFT-ID, holder address information, and an NFT-URI. The NFT 600 may also include deletion information, transaction information, and other information. Transaction information is information regarding the transaction conditions of the content data. Transaction information may include, for example, information regarding the collection conditions of royalties associated with the distribution of content data, such as the method for calculating royalties and the recipients of royalties. Transaction information may also include information regarding secondary distribution, such as the resale destinations of the content data.

[0037] The duplication unit 104 duplicates the received content data. For example, the duplication unit 104 duplicates the received content data and has at least two copies: the original received content data and the duplicated content data.

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

[0039] Figure 7 shows an example of content data with an embedded digital watermark (copied content data). As shown in Figure 7, the digital watermark 710 applied to the copied content data 700 may be a transparent, perceptible digital watermark like a stamp. If it is a transparent, perceptible digital watermark, even if a viewer of the content misuses, for example, the screenshot function of the terminal device 20, they will not be able to copy the content data. The digital watermark 710 applied to the copied content data 700 may also 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) to which the digital watermark is embedded. The storage unit 102 associates the copy content ID and the location where the copy content is stored 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 receiving the copied content data with the embedded digital watermark, the user can obtain the content data that has been genuinely copied from the transmitted content data.

[0042] The second output unit 107 outputs a program to delete the received content data (hereinafter also referred to as the deletion program) to the terminal device 20. The deletion program deletes the content data from the storage unit 200 of the terminal device 20 where the received content data is stored. The deletion program may be implemented using, for example, a plugin or an applet. An applet is a small program that is loaded and executed on top of an application. The second output unit 107 may output an applet programmed to delete the received content data to the terminal device 20, load it into 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 a file. When the terminal device 20 accesses this web page using a browser, this applet is operated by the browser of the terminal device 20 to delete the content data stored in the terminal device 20. Specifically, when uploading content data from the terminal device 20, the deletion program identifies the storage source of the file of this content data and deletes data such as files corresponding to the content data targeted for deletion requests. Further, the deletion program may delete the content data from the storage location of the storage unit 200 where the content data was stored so that the deleted content data cannot be restored. At that time, the storage location of the storage unit 200 where the deleted content data was stored may be overwritten with a dummy value. Thereby, the content data can be deleted so that it cannot be restored. Note that it is advisable for the user to obtain permission to access local files as a condition for using the system.

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

[0045] As a result of the above processing, the received content data is deleted from the user's terminal device 20, so the content data does not remain on 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 received from the user is uniquely stored in the information processing device 10. This ensures that the user, who owns the original content data, cannot freely copy the content data, thus guaranteeing the uniqueness of the content data. Furthermore, even if the user creates content identical to the original content, or stores content identical to the original content in a storage unit other than the storage unit 200, an NFT is not associated with that identical content. Therefore, the uniqueness of content with an associated NFT can be guaranteed. In addition, since the received content data is deleted from the user's terminal device 20, the content data does not remain on the user's terminal device 20, thus saving memory in the storage unit 200 of the user's terminal device 20. Furthermore, since the original content data received from the user is uniquely stored in the information processing device 10, 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 the memory unit, associating them with each other.

[0047] Through the above process, the original content data and the copied content data can be stored in the storage unit 100 in association with each other. For example, a viewer who wants to view the content data sends a request to the information processing device 10 indicating that they want to view the content data. In this case, the information processing device 10 can output the copied content data, which is stored in the storage unit 100 in association with the original content data, to the viewer. As a result, the viewer can view the copied content data without being able to view the original content data.

[0048] The acquisition unit 108 may acquire deletion information indicating that the received content data has been deleted from the storage unit 200 from the terminal device 20. The deletion information may be information that proves that the data has been appropriately deleted from the terminal device 20. The acquisition unit 108 may acquire a log recording the data deletion executed on the terminal device 20, and the log recording the data deletion may be used as the deletion information. Note that the log recording the data deletion may include history information regarding the deletion process recorded in the terminal device 20 along with the execution of the deletion process. Further, the log recording the data deletion may further include a start log (such as the start date and time of the deletion process) indicating the start of the deletion process, an end log (such as the end date and time of the deletion process) indicating the end of the deletion process, information regarding the storage unit 200 targeted for data deletion, and the like. Note that the acquisition unit 108 may, for example, entrust a highly reliable professional to delete the data and acquire the data deletion information from the professional.

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

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

[0051] Through the above processes, when issuing an NFT, deletion information indicating that the content data associated with the NFT has been deleted can be set in the NFT. Thereby, evidence indicating the uniqueness of the content can be linked to the NFT. Based on the deletion information, the uniqueness of the content associated with the NFT can be guaranteed.

[0052] The similarity calculation unit 109 calculates the similarity between the content data stored in the memory unit 100 and the newly received content data. The similarity calculation unit 109 may also calculate the similarity between the content data stored in the memory unit 100 and the newly received content data when new content data is received from the user's terminal device 20. The similarity calculation unit 109 may, for example, extract feature quantities from the content data stored in the memory unit 100 and the newly received content data. Any known method can be arbitrarily adopted as the feature quantity extraction method. 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 quantities of the content data stored in the memory unit 100 and the feature quantities of the newly received content data. The similarity calculation unit 109 may calculate the similarity using, for example, a statistical similarity method, or it may calculate the similarity using an approximate method such as clustering. For example, the similarity calculation unit 109 may use statistical similarity methods such as KL distance, PE distance, optimal transport, and independence test to calculate the similarity between the feature quantities of the content data stored in the memory unit 100 and the newly received content data.

[0054] Furthermore, the similarity calculation unit 109 may calculate the similarity in a range of, for example, 0 to 100%, and a higher similarity indicates that the content data stored in the memory unit 100 is similar to the newly received content data.

[0055] 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 if the calculated similarity is greater than a predetermined value. Alternatively, 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 if the calculated similarity is less than a predetermined value.

[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 process, the similarity calculation unit 109 can determine whether the content data stored in the storage unit 100 and the newly received content data are similar. If the similarity calculation unit 109 determines that they 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] The similarity calculation unit 109 may calculate the similarity between the content data stored in the storage unit 100 and the newly received continuous content data when it receives new continuous content data from the user's terminal device 20. Continuity content data refers to, for example, content data that has temporal continuity, and may include video, music, audio, and animation. The similarity calculation unit 109 may also determine that the continuous content data is similar to the content data stored in the storage unit 100 if a predetermined portion of the newly received continuous content data has a similarity greater than a predetermined value to a portion of the content data stored in the storage unit 100. The NFT issuing unit 103 does not need to issue an NFT for the newly received continuous content data if the similarity calculation unit 109 determines that the continuous content data is similar to the content data stored in the storage unit 100.

[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 continuous content data are similar. Furthermore, the similarity calculation unit 109 determines that the content data is similar if a predetermined portion of the newly received continuous content data has a similarity score greater than a predetermined value to a portion of the content data stored in the storage unit 100. As a result, the NFT issuing unit 103 can refrain from issuing an NFT for the continuous content data that includes at least a portion of the content data already linked to an NFT, if the predetermined portion of the newly received continuous content data is similar to a portion of the original content data. Note that the above-mentioned continuous content data is not limited to content data with temporal continuity, but can also be applied to continuous content data such as novels and comics, and similarity can be determined using predetermined portions in the same way as the above process.

[0060] The trading unit 110 processes transactions related to the buying and selling of NFTs. The trading unit 110 processes transactions for selling NFTs as a so-called primary market, such as processing transactions for users to sell NFTs to third parties and processing transactions related to the sale of NFTs. Commonly known methods can be used for the billing process. In addition, the sale of content data may be done by the user selling NFTs on the information processing device 10, or by selling NFTs in cooperation with other systems.

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

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

[0063] (Terminal device 20) Figure 8 shows an example of the 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 implemented using a storage device 12 provided by the terminal device 20. The UI unit 201 and the control unit 202 can be implemented 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 in which the program is stored may be a computer-readable non-temporary storage medium. The non-temporary storage medium is not particularly limited, but may be a USB memory or a CD-ROM, for example.

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

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

[0066] The control unit 202, in cooperation with the information processing device 10, provides various functions necessary for executing information processing.

[0067] The wallet unit 203 is a wallet for managing NFTs and the like stored 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 sending and receiving NFTs to and from the information processing device 10, and for example, by specifying the wallet address of the wallet unit 203, NFTs can be received from the information processing device 10 via the network. NFTs may be received using a wallet configured by means of, for example, 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 also store the NFT in the storage unit 200 in association with the wallet address.

[0069] Furthermore, this may include not only the configuration in which an application program that functions as a wallet is installed on the terminal device 20 and NFTs are managed on the local terminal, but also the configuration in which NFTs held by the 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, it is also possible to configure the terminal device 20 to provide all or part of the following components included in the information processing device 10: the storage unit 100, the receiving unit 101, the storage unit 102, the NFT issuing unit 103, the duplication unit 104, the digital watermark embedding unit 105, the first output unit 106, the acquisition unit 108, the similarity calculation unit 109, and the transaction unit 110. In other words, the various processes according to this embodiment may be executed by the processor of the information processing device 10, by the processor of the terminal device 20, or by the processors of the information processing device 10 and the terminal device 20 working together.

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

[0072] In step S101, the reception unit 101 receives a request from the user's terminal device 20 for the issuance of content data and NFTs.

[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 with content data information set in the NFT, based on the NFT issuance request received by the receiving unit 101. The external system 30 issues the NFT in response to the NFT issuance request. When requesting the issuance of an NFT, the NFT issuing unit 103 may output to the external system 30 an NFT-URI as information about the content data and owner address information. The external system 30 may also process the issuance of an NFT in response to the NFT issuance request by an information processing terminal belonging to the P2P network. The information processing terminal of the external system 30 may issue the NFT if there are no problems 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 in the blockchain. Furthermore, if the information processing device 10 is capable of performing the process of issuing an NFT, the NFT issuing unit 103 may issue an NFT.

[0075] In step S104, the NFT issuing unit 103 receives an NFT issued by the external system 30. The NFT issuing unit 103 may also receive a 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 holder address information set in the NFT. However, the process is not limited to the NFT issuing unit 103 receiving the NFT issued by the external system 30 and the NFT issuing unit 103 storing it in the user's wallet. For example, the external system 30 may store the NFT in the user's wallet based on the holder address information set in the NFT.

[0077] In step S106, the duplication unit 104 duplicates the received content data and generates content data that duplicates the original content data.

[0078] In step S107, the watermark embedding unit embeds a watermark into the copied content data. The watermark embedding unit may also assign a copy content ID to the content data (copy content data) into which the watermark has been embedded.

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

[0080] In step S109, the second output unit 107 outputs a program to delete the content data received from the terminal device 20. By executing the deletion program, the terminal device 20 can delete the content data from its storage unit 200. In other words, the content data does not remain in the user's possession and is transferred from the terminal device 20 to the information processing device 10 as if it were a physical object.

[0081] As a result of the above processing, the original content data received from the user becomes unique as stored in the information processing device 10. Therefore, the user, who is the owner of the original content data, cannot freely copy the content data, and thus the system disclosed hereof can guarantee the uniqueness of the content data.

[0082] Referring to Figure 10, another example of the processing procedure of the information processing system 1 will be explained. Note that processing similar to that explained with reference to Figure 9 will be omitted.

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

[0084] In step S205, the storage unit 102 associates the original content data with the copy content data with the embedded digital watermark and stores it in the memory unit 100.

[0085] In step S208, the terminal device 20 executes a program to delete 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 containing information about the content data and deletion information obtained from the acquisition unit 108, based on the NFT issuance request received by the receiving unit 101. The external system 30 issues the NFT in response to the NFT issuance request.

[0088] Through the above process, the original content data and the copied content data can be associated and stored in the storage unit 100. In addition, 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, thereby linking the NFT with evidence demonstrating the uniqueness of the content.

[0089] The embodiments described above are illustrative examples for the purpose of explaining the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure to these embodiments only. The disclosure can also be implemented in various other embodiments.

[0090] For example, the reception unit 101 may receive viewing requests from users of content data. When receiving viewing requests, it may also receive information about the rights held by the user, such as an NFT-ID corresponding to the content data, and may receive authentication information from the user.

[0091] The reception unit 101 may refer to the holder address information corresponding to the received NFT-ID from the blockchain and determine whether it matches the holder address information of the user who made the viewing request. Alternatively, viewing rights may be set for the NFT, and the reception unit may determine whether the user's holder address information is set for the viewing rights corresponding to the received NFT-ID.

[0092] The reception 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 determines, based on the user's owner address information, that the user has viewing rights. The provided original content data may be identified from the NFT-URI corresponding to the NFT-ID. The reception 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 determines, based on the user's owner address information, that the user does not have viewing rights.

[0093] Through the above processing, 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 that of the NFT-ID. As a result, the terminal device 20 that views the content can only view the copied content data, and cannot obtain a copy of the original content data, thus guaranteeing the uniqueness of the content. The information processing device 10 may also always provide only the storage location for the copied content data.

Claims

1. An information processing method comprising: an information processing device receiving a request for the issuance of content data and an NFT from a user's terminal device; storing the received content data in a storage unit; setting information relating to the received content data in the NFT and issuing the NFT to the user's wallet; copying the received content data; embedding a digital watermark in the copied content data; outputting the content data with the embedded digital watermark to the terminal device; and outputting a program to the terminal device to delete the received content data.

2. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the storage includes associating the received content data and the content data with the embedded digital watermark with each other and storing them in a storage unit.

3. The information processing method according to claim 1, further comprising obtaining deletion information indicating that the received content data has been deleted from the terminal device, and issuing the deletion information to the user's wallet, wherein the obtained deletion information is set in the NFT.

4. When new content data is received from the user's terminal device, the information processing method according to claim 1 further includes calculating the similarity between the content data stored in the storage unit and the newly received content data, and issuing an NFT to the user's wallet, wherein if the similarity is greater than a predetermined value, the NFT is not issued for the newly received content data.

5. The information processing method according to claim 4, wherein calculating the similarity includes calculating the similarity between the content data stored in the storage unit and the newly received continuous content data when new continuous content data is received from the user's terminal device, and issuing to the user's wallet includes not issuing the NFT for the newly received continuous content data if a predetermined portion of the newly received continuous content data has a similarity greater than a predetermined value to the content data stored in the storage unit.

6. A program that causes an information processing device to execute: receiving a request for the issuance of content data and an NFT from a user's terminal device; storing the received content data in a storage unit; setting information regarding the received content data in the NFT and issuing the NFT to the user's wallet; copying the received content data; embedding a digital watermark in the copied content data; outputting the content data with the embedded digital watermark to the terminal device; and outputting a program to the terminal device to delete the received content data.

7. An information processing device comprising: a receiving unit that receives requests for the issuance of content data and NFTs from a user's terminal device; a storage unit that stores the received content data in a storage unit; an NFT issuance unit that sets information relating to the received content data in the NFT and issues the NFT to the user's wallet; a copying unit that copies the received content data; a watermarking unit that embeds a watermark in the copied content data; a first output unit that outputs the content data with the watermark embedded to the terminal device; and a second output unit that outputs a program to the terminal device to delete the received content data from the terminal device.

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