Abstract:
An information service system, information service participation management apparatus, information service providing apparatus, and recording medium which are designed to collectively manage identification information once acquired by a participant by the information service participation management apparatus, to once permit the participant who newly requests participation in the information service by the identification information to participate provisionally with the participant&#39;s behavior being recorded for a certain period, to permit/reject official participation depending on the evaluation of the recorded result, to record a history that the participant to whom the identification information has been issued is permitted or rejected participate in which information service, to report the historical information in response to an inquiry from the information service providing apparatus, and further to record a history of the participant to whom the identification information has been issued that in which information service the participant is permitted or rejected to participate so as to publicize the participation history information to other participants.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of Invention 
   The present invention relates to an information service system for providing an information service utilizing the computer network such as BBS (Bulletin Board System), chat system, etc., information service participation management apparatus which gives an ID to the participant of the information service, information service providing apparatus for offering an information service to the permitted participants, and a recording medium in which a computer program for deciding permission/rejection of participation in the information service based on a record of the past behavior of the participant in the information service, or a computer program for publicizing to other participants the record of the participant&#39;s past behavior and companionship relation in the information service is recorded. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
     FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the conventional information service system. 
   A service server  10  provides an information service to a client  30  through which a participant requests participation in the BBS, chat system, etc. when the participation is permitted. The participant registers the ID in the service server  10 , and on each occasion of participation in the information service, transmits the registered ID and password to the service server  10  to make a request for participation in the information service. The participant registers its ID in every service server  10  in which one desires to participate. 
   The service server  10  stores the registered ID in an ID data base  101 , and when it receives a request for participation in the information service from the client  30 , it checks whether the ID transmitted from the client  30  is registered in the ID data base  101  or not, and in case the ID is registered, it judges righteousness of the password. As a result, if the ID is registered and the password is right, the service server  10  notifies the client  30  of permission to participate, and in case the password is wrong or the ID is unregistered, it notifies the client  30  of rejection of participation. 
   Due to the popularity of the Internet, there have been increased opportunities for utilizing the information services through the computer network. In case of registering an ID on the service server, the participant reports personal information such as the address, name, electronic mail address, the credit card number, if necessary, and the like. Such personal information is in danger of being stolen by an intrusion into the network or leaked outside from the service server and used for an evil purpose. 
   However, according to the conventional information service system as mentioned above, because the participant is required to register the ID in each service server, there are increased occasions for the personal information to be leaked outside, and higher risks for being unjustly utilized. In addition, the work of user registration is complicated. 
   Furthermore, in such an information service system, the participant who has used for example discriminative words or taken undesirable behaviors such as to blame or speak ill of other participants, is not known to known by other information service systems. Such a participant, if similarly taking undesirable behaviors, would give other participants uncomfortable feelings, and reliability of the information service system is lost. However, in the past, there has not been any means to judge the reliability of the participant under some criterion so as to prevent an unreliable participant from participating. 
   Furthermore, in the information service which aims at making communication with other participants such as BBS, chat system, etc., anonymous participation is admitted. The participant can join the communication in any name or using freely a plurality of anonymities. Accordingly, the participant is unable to judge the reliability of others, and it becomes difficult to realize communication. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention has been made to settle the problems as mentioned above. It is an object of the invention to provide an information service system, information service participation management apparatus, information service providing apparatus, and recording medium to collectively manage identification information once acquired by a participant by the information service participation management apparatus, to once permit the participant who newly requests participation in the information service by the identification information to participate provisionally with the participant&#39;s behavior being recorded for a certain period, and depending on the evaluation on the recording result, to permit/reject official participation. Thus the participant side is able to conceal the personal information to eliminate anxiety about leakage of the personal information outside, and it is also unnecessary to obtain the identification information from each information service providing apparatus. Further, the information service providing side is able to judge the participant&#39;s reliability at the time of participation in the information service, and to reject participation of the unreliable participant. 
   It is another object of the present invention to provide an information service system, information service participation management apparatus, information service providing apparatus, and recording medium in which it is possible to judge the participant&#39;s reliability at the time of participation in the information service, and to exclude participation of the unreliable participant by recording the history of the participant to whom the identification information has been issued that in which information service the participant is allowed or rejected to participate, and reporting the history information in response to the inquiry from the information service providing apparatus. 
   It is still another object of the present invention to provide an information service system, information service participation management apparatus, information service providing apparatus, and recording medium in which the participants are able to mutually judge the other&#39;s reliability to expect smooth communication, by recording the history of the participant to whom the identification information has been issued that in which information service the participant is allowed or rejected to participate so as to publicize the participation history information to other participants, and by recording information showing companionship relations of the participants to whom the identification information is issued so as to publicize the information on the companionship relation to other participants. 
   In the present invention, the identification information once acquired by the participant is collectively managed by the information service participation control apparatus, the participant who newly requests participation in the information service by this identification information is allowed to participate provisionally, its behaviors are recorded for a predetermined period, and the official participation is allowed/rejected depending on the evaluation of the recorded results. 
   Accordingly, it becomes possible for the participant side to conceal the personal information and to eliminate anxiety about leakage of the personal information outside, and it becomes unnecessary to acquire identification information from each information service providing apparatus. On the information service providing side, it becomes possible to judge the reliability of the participant at the time of its participation in the information service, and to exclude the unreliable participant from participation. 
   In the present invention, the history of the participant to whom the identification information has been issued is recorded that which information service the participant is allowed or rejected to participate, and the history information is reported in response to the inquiry from the information service providing apparatus. 
   Accordingly, it becomes possible to judge the reliability of the participant at the time of its participation in the information service, and to exclude the unreliable participant from participation. 
   In the present invention, there is recorded the history of the participant to whom the identification information has been issued that to which information service the participant is allowed or rejected to participate, and the participation history information is publicized to other participants. Also, the information showing the companionship relations between the participants to whom the identification information is issued is recorded, and the information on the companionship relation is publicized to other participants. 
   Accordingly, the participants can mutually judge the other&#39;s reliability and expect the smooth communication. 
   In the present invention, it becomes possible to limit the scope of publicizing the participation history information or companionship relation information. 
   The above and further objects and features of the invention will more fully be apparent from the following detailed description with accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a conventional information service system; 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of Embodiment 1 of the invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of Embodiment 2 of the invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a block diagram of Embodiment 3 of the invention; 
       FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a modification of Embodiment 3 of the invention; 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of Embodiment 4 of the invention; 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram of a modification of Embodiment 4 of the invention; 
       FIGS. 8A and 8B  are conceptual views showing the service history and access permission table; 
       FIGS. 9A and 9B  are conceptual views showing the participant relation list and access permission table; 
       FIGS. 10A and 10B  are flow charts showing the procedures in Embodiment 1; 
       FIG. 11  is a flow chart showing the procedures in Embodiment 2; 
       FIG. 12  is a flow chart showing the procedures in Embodiment 3; 
       FIG. 13  is a flow chart showing the procedures in the modification of Embodiment 3; 
       FIG. 14  is a flow chart showing the procedures in Embodiment 4; 
       FIG. 15  is a flow chart showing the procedures in the modification of Embodiment 4; and 
       FIG. 16  is a schematic view showing the hardware constitution for realizing the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Embodiment 1 
   Phased participation in service 
     FIG. 2  is a block diagram of Embodiment 1 of an information service system of the present invention. In the drawing, numeral  10  denotes a service server for providing services such as electronic Bulletin Board, chat, etc. to a client  30  on a computer network such as the Internet. 
   Each service server  10  is furnished with an ID data base  101  for storing IDs of permitting participants to participate in the service and a behavior record data base  102  for recording the behaviors of the participant who is allowed provisional participation, which is the preceding step to official participation. For example, in the case of a client server, for recording the number of utterances, number of times of using discriminative words, number of slanders against or aspersions on others, etc. 
   An ID management server  20  issues an ID in response to a request from the client  30  and records the history information that in which service server  10  the participant has been allowed or rejected to participate in a service history  201  [see  FIG. 7A ] based upon to the participant&#39;s ID. 
   The participant declares his or her name, address, electronic mail address, etc. to the ID management server  20 , and participates in the service of the service server  10  by the ID issued by the ID management server  20 . 
   The procedures in Embodiment 1 are explained on the basis of the flow charts of  FIGS. 10A and 10B . In this embodiment, the service server  10  is a chat server, and the client  30  is a chat client. The chat server realizes simultaneous conversations among plural participants by transmitting character data to the chat clients in real time. 
   The participant declares to the ID management server  20  through the client  30  the address, name, electronic mail address, etc. and obtains an ID from the ID management server  20  beforehand (Step S 1 ). 
   The participant sends the ID and password to the service server  10  through the client  30  to request permission for participation (Step S 2 ). The service server  10  judges whether the ID sent from the client  30  is already registered or not (Step S 3 ), and in case of it being already registered, it judges whether the password is right or not (Step S 4 ). If the password is right, it notifies the client  30  of permission to participate (Step S 5 ), while on the contrary if the password is wrong, it notifies the client  30  of rejection of participation (Step S 6 ) to complete the procedures for permission/rejection of participation. 
   In case the ID is not registered in the ID data base  101 , the ID is provisionally registered in the ID data base  101 , and the client  30  is notified of permission of provisional participation (Step S 7 ). The service server  10  records the behavior of the ID during the provisional participation in the behavior record data base  102  (Step S 8 ). The behaviors to be recorded are, for example, the number of utterances, number of times of using taboo words such as discriminative words, etc. 
   The behaviors of the participant during the provisional participation are recorded for a predetermined period, for example, one week, after which the evaluation value of the behavior record is calculated (Step S 9 ). The number of utterances is set to be an evaluation function F 1 , the number of times of using taboo words to be an evaluation function F 2 . The evaluation function F 1  becomes “1” when the number of utterances comes up to the predetermined value of for example 10 times, and “−1” when the number does not come up to the above level. The evaluation function F 2  is “−1” when the number of times of using taboo words comes up to the predetermined value (for example one time), and “1” in other cases. Thus, when the evaluation value of V=F 1 +F 2  is equal to or larger than “0” (predetermined value), the ID which is provisionally registered in the ID data base  101  is officially registered (Sep S 11 ), and the permission on the official participation of this ID is notified to the ID management server  20  (Step S 12 ). On the other hand, in case the evaluation value V is minus, rejection to participation of this ID is notified to the ID management server  20  (Step S 13 ). 
   The ID management server  20  records the information on permission/rejection of the official participation of the ID notified from the service server  10  in the service history  201  (Step S 14 ). 
   Further, the service server  10  notifies the client  30  of the official participation permission/rejection (Step S 15 ). 
   As described above, because the information service providing side judges the reliability of the participant to decide permission/rejection of participation in the information service, the participant need not publicize the personal information such as an address, name, electronic mail address, etc. to certify own reliability at the time of the initial participation in the information service. 
   Embodiment 2 
   Reference to Service History in Other Service 
     FIG. 3  is a block diagram of Embodiment 2 of the present invention, wherein the portions that correspond to those of  FIG. 2  are indicated by the same marks and their explanations will be omitted. In this embodiment, the service server  10 , from which the participation in the information service is requested, queries the ID management server  20 , which collectively manages the service history information such as permission/rejection of participation of each ID in the information service of the service history information of the ID from which participation is requested, and according to the service history information, determines the permission/rejection of participation of this ID in the information service. 
   Accordingly, an ID which has been disqualified from participation in a certain information service cannot obtain qualifications for participation in other information services. 
   In  FIG. 3 , the service server  10  is not provided with a behavior record data base  102  as shown in  FIG. 2 . However, a behavior record data base  102  may be provided, and in the same manner as in the case of Embodiment 1, the behavior of the ID provisionally registered according to the service history information of the ID can be recorded for a certain period to evaluate the behavior, so as to permit/reject official participation in the information service. 
   By this, better judgment of reliability on the participant is assured. 
   Next, the procedures in Embodiment 2 are explained on the basis of the flow chart of  FIG. 11 . In this embodiment, the service server  10  is a chat server, and client  30  is a chat client. 
   The participant declares through the client  30  to the ID management server  20  the address, name, electronic mail address, etc., to obtain an ID from the ID management server  20  in advance (Step S 21 ). 
   The participant sends the ID and password to the service server  10  through the client  30  and requests permission of participation (Step S 22 ). The service server  10  judges whether the ID sent from the client  30  is already registered or not (Step S 23 ), and in case of it being already registered, it judges whether the password is right or not (Step S 24 ). In case the password is right, it notifies the client  30  of permission of participation (Step S 25 ), while on the contrary, in case the password is wrong, it notifies the client  30  of rejection of participation (Step S 26 ) and completes the procedures for permission/rejection of participation. 
   If the ID is not registered in the ID data base  101 , the service server  10  inquires the ID management server  20  of the service history of the ID (Step S 27 ), and the ID management server  20  reports the service history of the ID to the service server  10  (Step S 28 ). 
   The service server  10  judges whether or not there is a record of permission of official participation in other service server  10  in the service history (Step S 29 ). If there is a record of permission of official participation, it notifies the ID management server  20  of official participation permission (Step S 30 ), while on the contrary in the absence of the record of permission of official participation, it notifies the ID management server  20  of rejection of participation (Step S 31 ). 
   The ID management server  20  records in the service history  201  the information on permission/rejection of official participation of the ID notified from the service server  10  (Step S 32 ). 
   Further, the service server  10  notifies the client  30  of permission/rejection of the official participation (Step S 33 ). 
   Embodiment 3 
   Publication of Service History of Other Participants 
     FIG. 4  is a block diagram of Embodiment 3 of the present invention, wherein the portions same as or corresponding to those of  FIG. 2  are indicated by the same marks and their explanations will be omitted. In this embodiment, the participant who requested the participation in the information service to the service server  10  through the client A 30   a  requires the ID management server  20  to browse the service history of another participant participating in the information service through another client B 30   b , and based on the service history, judges reliability of the other participant. For example, one can judge that the participant having permission of official participation from the information service which one relies on should be reliable. 
     FIG. 8A  is a conceptual view of an example of the service history. 
   The item of the service history includes serial number of record, service name, recorder, recording date and time, and recording contents (participation permission/participation rejection). Such service history is recorded on each ID. 
   Next, the procedures in Embodiment 3 are explained on the basis of the flow chart of  FIG. 12 . In this embodiment, explanation is made on the case where the service server  10  is a chat server, and the client A 30   a  and client B 30   b  are chat clients. 
   The participants declare through the client A 30   a  and client B 30   b  respectively to the ID management server  20  the respective addresses, names, electronic mail addresses, etc., to obtain respective IDs from the ID management server  20  in advance (Step S 41 ). 
   The participant, through the client B 30   b , sends the service server  10  the ID and password to require permission of participation (Step S 42 ). The service server  10  decides the permission/rejection of participation of the participant through the client B 30   b  by the means as described above, and notifies the ID management server  20  of the permission/rejection of the participation (Step S 43 ). The ID management server  20  records the permission/rejection of the participation of the ID notified from the service server  10  in the service history  201 . 
   The participant, through the client A 30   a , sends the ID and password to the service server  10  and requests permission of participation (Step S 44 ). The service server  10  does not register the ID sent from the client A 30   a , if it is already registered in the ID data base  101 , and registers if it is unregistered, and judges whether the password sent from the client A 30   a  is right or not (Step S 45 ). In case the password is right, it notifies the client A 30   a  of the permission of participation (Step S 47 ), while on the contrary, in case the password is wrong, it notifies the client A 30   a  of the rejection of participation (Step S 46 ) and completes the procedures for permission/rejection of participation. 
   In this case, when the participant through the client A 30   a  judges the reliability of the participant in order to realize communication with the same who participates in the same information service through the client B 30   b , the participant through the client A 30   a  requires the ID management server  20  of the service history of the participant through the client B 30   b  (Step S 48 ). The ID management server  20  notifies the client A 30   a  of the service history of the participant through the client B 30   b  (Step S 49 ). 
     FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a modification of Embodiment 3. In this modification, in addition to Embodiment 3, an access permission table  202  for limiting the scope of publication of the service history is provided on the ID management server  20 . 
     FIG. 8B  is a conceptual view of an example of the access permission table. 
   Each participant can designate the item in the service history as contents of publication, and the ID as the target of publication permission. 
   Next, the procedures in the modification of Embodiment 3 are explained on the basis of the flow chart of  FIG. 13 . Since the steps S 51  –S 58  are same as the steps S 41  –S 48  in  FIG. 12 , the explanation thereof is omitted. 
   When the participant through the client A 30   a  requests the ID management server  20  to supply the service history of the participant through the client B 30   b  (Step S 48 ), the ID management server  20  refers to the access permission table  202  and judges whether the ID of the participant through the client A 30   a  is included in the target of permission on publication or not (Step S 59 ). If the ID of the participant through the client A 30   a  is not included in the target of permission on publication, rejection of publication of the service history information of the participant through the client B 30   b  is notified to the client A 30   a  (Step S 60 ). On the other hand, in case of the ID being included in the target of permission on publication, the service history of the participant through the client B 30   b  is notified to the client A 30   a  (Step S 61 ). 
   Embodiment 4 
   Publication of Other Participant&#39;s Companionship Relation List 
     FIG. 6  is a block diagram of Embodiment 4 of the present invention, wherein the portions corresponding to those of  FIG. 2  are indicated by the same marks and their explanations will be omitted. In this embodiment, the participant who requested the participation in the information service to the service server  10  through the client A 30   a  requires the ID management server  20  to browse the information which shows the companionship relation of the participant who participates in the information service through the other client B 30   b , and based on the companionship relation information judges reliability of the other participant. It can be determined, for example, that the other participant is reliable if the companionship relation information includes an ID of the acquaintance of the individual whose ID the former participant knows. 
   The companionship relation information as shown in  FIG. 9A  is recorded in the behavior record data base  102  the time the participant is participating in the information service. For example, when the participant has logged out the information service, the information is notified to the ID management server  20  and recorded in the service history  201 . 
     FIG. 9A  is a conceptual view of an example of the participant relation list as the companionship relation information. 
   In the item of the participant relation list there is included the ID of the companion of communication, acquainted site, and date and time of exchange of electronic calling cards. Such participant relation list is recorded on each ID. 
   Next, the procedures in Embodiment  4  are explained on the basis of  FIG. 14 . In this embodiment, explanation is made on the case where the service server  10  is a chat server, and the client A 30   a  and client B 30   b  are chat clients. 
   The participants declare through the client A 30   a  and client B 30   b  respectively to the ID management server  20  the respective addresses, names, electronic mail addresses, etc., to obtain respective IDs from the ID management server  20  in advance (Step S 71 ). 
   The participant through the client B 30   b  sends the service server  10  the ID and password to require permission of participation (Step S 72 ). The service server  10  decides the permission/rejection of participation of the participant through the client B 30   b  by the means as described above, and, along with the permission/rejection of participation, records in the behavior record data base  102  the information showing the behavior of the companion in the information service (Step S 73 ), the service server  10  notifies the ID management server  20  of the information showing the behavior of the companion along with the information on permission/rejection of participation for example, when this participant is logged out the information service or other cases (Step S 74 ). The ID management server  20  records the permission/rejection of the participant of the ID notified from the service server  10  and the information showing the companion&#39;s behavior in the service history  201 . 
   The participant through the client A 30   a  sends the ID and password to the service server  10  and requests permission of participation (Step S 75 ). The service server  10  does not register the ID sent from the client A 30   a , if it is already registered in the ID data base  101 , and registers if it is unregistered, and judges whether the password sent from the client A 30   a  is right or not (Step S 76 ). If the password is wrong, it notifies the client A 30   a  of the rejection of participation (Step S 77 ) and completes the procedures for permission/rejection of participation. 
   On the other hand, in case the password is right, permission of participation is notified to the client A 30   a  (Step S 78 ). At this time, when the participant through the client A 30   a  judges the reliability of the participant in order to realize communication with the same who participates in the same information service through the client B 30   b , the participant through the client A 30   a  requires the ID management server  20  of the participant relation list of the participant through the client B 30   b  (Step S 79 ). The ID management server  20  transmits to the client A 30   a  the participant relation list of the participant through the client B 30   b  (Step S 80 ). 
     FIG. 7  is a block diagram showing a modification of Embodiment 4. In this modification, in addition to Embodiment 4, an access permission table  202  for limiting the scope of publication of the participant relation list is provided on the ID management server  20 . 
     FIG. 9B  is a conceptual view of an example of the access permission table. 
   Each participant can designate the ID of the partner as content for publication, and give permission to publish the ID. 
   Next, the procedures in the modification of Embodiment 4 are explained on the basis of the flow chart of  FIG. 15 . Since the steps S 81  –S 89  are same as the steps S 71  –S 79  in  FIG. 14 , the explanation thereof is omitted. 
   When the participant through the client A 30   a  requests the ID management server  20  to supply the participant relation list of the participant through the client B 30   b  (Step S 89 ), the ID management server  20  refers to the access permission table  202  and judges whether the ID of the participant through the client A 30   a  is included in the target of permission on publication or not (Step S 90 ). In case that the ID of the participant through the client A 30   a  is not included in the target of permission on publication, rejection of publication of the participant relation list of the participant through the client B 30   b  is notified to the client A 30   a  (Step S 91 ). On the other hand, in case of the ID being included in the target of permission on publication, the participant relation list of the participant through the client B 30   b  is transmitted to the client A 30   a  (Step S 92 ). 
     FIG. 16  is a schematic view showing the hardware constitution for realizing the present invention. This hardware comprises a personal computer  81  as a processing apparatus, a display  82  for displaying the character data and the like, and a keyboard  83  and a mouse  84  as input apparatus. The personal computer  81  inputs the program for carrying out the processing as described above from the recording medium such as a portable type recording medium  85  including a magnetic disk, CD-ROM, etc., a line memory  86  provided for example in the center with which communication of program can be made in wireless or by cable with the personal computer  81 , or a processing apparatus side memory  87  such as a RAM or hard disk provided on the personal computer  81 , and the like. 
   As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds thereof are therefore intended to be embraced by the claims.