Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Hiroki Yamauchi

Natsume Matsuzaki

Yuusaku Ohta

Yuichi Futa

Masaya Miyazaki

Toshihisa Nakano

Toshihisa Abe

Yuko Tsusaka

Hiroyuki Iitsuka

Soichiro Fujioka

Masashi Yamaguchi

Naoshi Usuki

Takumi Tanabe

A system including a server holding content and a terminal using the content, whereby the terminal is registered in the server if a communication time between the terminal and the server is less than or equal to a reference value. A measuring unit of the server measures a communication time from transmitting measuring information to the terminal until receiving response information from the terminal, and repeats the transmission, the reception, and the measurement until the measured communication time is less than or equal to the reference value. An elapsed-time measuring unit measures an elapsed time from when the measuring unit first begins measuring the communication time, and a transmission unit transmits, to the terminal, status notification information showing a processing status depending on the elapsed time. A response unit of the terminal receives measuring information from the server and transmits response information to the server when the measuring information is received.

Server, terminal apparatus, device registering system, registering method, registering program and recording medium

Provided is a content management device, which is connected with a plurality of terminal devices for performing a content moving operation while considering the conveniences of the users of the individual terminal devices. The content management device comprises a content storage unit stored with one or more contents, a move information management unit stored with first range information indicating the partial or entire range of the content to be moved, a range information receiving unit for accepting second range information indicating the range requiring the move, from one terminal device, a judgement unit for deciding whether or not the range indicated by the first range information and the range indicated by the second range information overlap at least partially, and a control unit for permitting the required range to be moved to the terminal device, in case the decision by the judgement unit is NO.

Contents management system, and contents management device

A content management system which can prevent a content from being copied exceeding the limited number of copies for the content. The content management system includes a first content management device and a second content management device. The first content management device stores period information that indicates an available period during which a first external device is permitted to use a copied content which has been copied from the content, and outputs the period information to the second content management device when the content is moved. Upon receiving the period information from the first content management device, the second content management device judges whether the available period of the copied content has expired, using the received period information, and if it is judges that the available period has not expired, it inhibits the content from being copied to the second external device.

Content management system and content management unit

When a PC transmits a content request to a device registration apparatus in which a permitted number of devices have already been registered, an expiration time management unit judges whether any registration information registered in a registration list management unit has an exceeded registration expiration time. If registration information with an exceeded registration expiration time is registered in the registration list management unit, the registration list management unit deletes this registration information, and newly registers registration information of the PC.

Device registration system and device registration apparatus

A time authentication device identifies clocks that show a time falling within the predetermined permissible range as compared with a time shown by the time authentication device. In a time authentication device embodied as a distribution device, a time-relation information storage unit stores a playback-device-time measured by a clock unit of a playback device, and also stores a distribution-device-time measured by a clock unit when the playback-device-time is acquired. The time authentication unit acquires from the playback device a target time measured by the clock unit, and also acquires an authentication time measured by the clock unit when the target time is received. The time authentication unit then calculates a first difference, a second difference, an authentication difference. If the authentication difference is smaller than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the time authentication unit judges that the clock unit of the playback device is valid.

Time authentication device, time authentication method, computer program, recording medium, integrated circuit, and time authentication system

In a server, an echo-request transmitting unit transmits echo-request data to a target device, and an echo-reply receiving unit receives echo-reply data from the target device. A time measuring unit measures, as the target time, the time required between transmission of the echo-request data and reception of the echo-reply data, and compares the target time with the reference time. In this way, the server judges whether the target device connected to its network belongs to a predetermined group.

Group judgment device

In a server, an echo-request transmitting unittransmits echo-request data to a target device, and an echo-reply receiving unitreceives echo-reply data from the target device. A time measuring unitmeasures, as the target time, the time required between transmission of the echo-request data and reception of the echo-reply data, and compares the target time with the reference time. In this way, the server judges whether the target device connected to its network belongs to a predetermined group.

A content management system formed from a playback apparatus that requests and plays content, and a content management apparatus that manages duplication and deletion of content. The playback apparatus notifies group information of the playback apparatus to the content management apparatus, acquires information from the content management apparatus showing whether requests are permitted, and duplicates/deletes content. By judging whether the playback apparatus belongs to a group, and notifying whether a duplication request is permitted or rejected, based on in-group and out-group remaining numbers that show the remaining number of duplications permitted of apparatuses in-group and out-group, respectively, the content management apparatus relaxes restrictions on in-group content duplication as compared with out-group content duplication, and thus improves convenience for users in a home network, while protecting the rights of copyright holders, with respect to content duplication and usage.

Content-duplication management system, apparatus and method, playback apparatus and method, and computer program

A key delivery apparatus that prevents improper use of contents, and manages a decryption key for decrypting encrypted content and a suppliable number showing how many times the decryption key is suppliable, with respect to one or more terminal apparatuses connected to a network. The key delivery apparatus receives a supply request for the decryption key from a terminal apparatus, and if the terminal apparatus is a legitimate supply target, judges whether the terminal apparatus is a first-type that manages a content-usage period or a second-type that does not manage the content-usage period, and if the suppliable number has a remaining number, supplies to the terminal apparatus, the decryption key and a key-usage period of the decryption key when judged that the terminal apparatus is the first-type and the decryption key when judged that the terminal apparatus is the second-type.

Key delivery apparatus, terminal apparatus, recording medium, and key delivery system

A server and a client hold common secret information in respective secret information holding units. A server Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) unit in the server generates a CRC code after adding the secret information to communication data, and transmits the communication data with the CRC code attached. A client CRC unit of the client generates a CRC code after adding the secret information to communication data, and checks whether or not an error has occurred in the communication data on the communication path. Since the client holds the secret information, the client determines that an error has not occurred, and obtains the communication data. On the other hand, a router, which does not hold the secret information, is unable to obtain the communication data. This prevents the communication data from being transferred to devices outside an authorized domain.

Transmission/reception system

A content distribution system in which content transmission/reception is suppressed when there is a high risk of contents being stolen by a third party during communication. A content server acquires a communication distance indicating how far the content server is from a terminal in data communication. The content server conducts content transmission/reception when the communication distance is less than or equal to a predetermined value, and suppresses content transmission/reception when the communication distance exceeds the predetermined value.

Content distribution system

A highly-convenient content duplication management system for allowing users to duplicate a content as long as the duplication is in compliance with a given usage right. In the system, a request destination device stores a content and a permitted number of duplications of the content. In response to a duplication request, the request destination device judges whether or not the request source device is an in-group device that belongs to the same group as the request destination device. When judging that the request source device is an in-group device, the request destination device transmits the content together with a permitted number that is equal to or smaller than the currently stored permitted number. The request destination device then updates the currently stored permitted number by subtracting the permitted number transmitted.

Content duplication management system and networked apparatus

A security communication packet processing apparatus () comprises an encryption processing unit () that performs encryption processing and decryption processing in a data block unit of B1 bits, an authentication processing unit () that performs authentication processing in a data block unit of B2(=n&#xd7;B1) bits in parallel to the encryption processing or the decryption processing in the encryption processing unit () and outputs an authentication value, a data block accumulation unit () that accumulates the data blocks from the encryption processing unit () and outputs the data blocks to the authentication processing unit () when the accumulated amount of the data blocks reaches B2 bits, a packet construction unit () that reconstructs a packet with the data blocks from the encryption processing unit () and the authentication value from the authentication processing unit (), and an encryption and authentication processing control unit () that divides the inputted packet into the data blocks of B1 bits and outputs the data blocks sequentially to the encryption processing unit.

Growing community of inventors

Ibaraki, Japan

Hiroki Yamauchi